At least a few beasts in East
Conference has made noteworthy upgrade
So, can we now block out May 2008 from any potential vacation? Based on what the Celtics' roster looks like now, you can't. Not enough depth. But here's another possible roadblock to the Celtics' apparently presumptive ride to the NBA Finals: the conference in which they play.
The Detroit Pistons did 14 teams a huge favor by caving to the Cavaliers in last spring's Eastern Conference finals. That gave every team in the East some hope. The Charlotte Bobcats are even talking playoffs next season.
But here's a dose of reality. The Celtics aren't quite as good as their followers think (at least not yet). And the East is not as bad as it was last season, which, I admit, is sort of damning the conference with faint praise. But, really, things have gotten a little better in the junior varsity.
The Celtics are the primary beneficiaries of this subtle change, of course, with the additions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. They were two Western Conference All-Stars; Garnett was a regular, Allen a semi-regular. No one of consequence from the East, unless you think Wally Szczerbiak or Al Jefferson rank as significant, went to the West in those deals.
But if you look at the player movement to date, almost all of the significant performers have come to the Eastern Conference from the Western Conference or have remained in the East. Unless you worship with Greg Dickerson at the Altar of Big Al, you can identify only two players of note who have gone from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference -- Grant Hill (Orlando to Phoenix) and Darko Milicic (Orlando to Memphis). If you're a Morris Peterson (Toronto to New Orleans) fan, OK, we'll throw him in as well. But that's about it, folks.
Now consider what has happened to the East since the end of the season. The presumed top free agent who was available, Rashard Lewis, signed with Orlando, leaving the Sonics. Never mind that it was one of the most ludicrous contracts ever awarded a player who may not even be among the top 30 in the league. But he's in the Eastern Conference next season.
You know who else is? Zach Randolph. He is a potential 20-10 guy who now plays for the New York Knicks after a draft-night deal with Portland. No one of consequence was dealt to the Trail Blazers and one of the dead bodies who did go, Steve Francis, was promptly released. Another pretty good player came to the East that night when Charlotte acquired Jason Richardson for the No. 8 overall pick. The Bobcats now have something they've never had -- a guy who can finish games.
A less-heralded defection from the West was Desmond Mason, a frequent flier who played for the Hornets last season. He is back with the Milwaukee Bucks. Smush Parker, one of Kobe Bryant's favorites, is now in Miami.
Those personnel moves alone can lead Garnett to say, "The East has gotten better" and not result in universal derision. He's right. It's still not close to the West, but it's getting a little closer.
There also have been a number of appealing players who played in the East last season and stayed there. Chauncey Billups, who was an unrestricted free agent, stayed in Detroit. Gerald Wallace, presumed to be one of the more attractive free agents, remained in Charlotte. Vince Carter stayed with New Jersey. Mo Williams, who became a hot commodity, re-signed with the Bucks and Antonio McDyess re-signed with the Pistons. Can we even include Jason Kapono, who went from Miami to Toronto?
And in the West? Not much. Jerry Stackhouse re-signed with the Mavericks. Kurt Thomas went from Phoenix to the Sonics. Luis Scola was already the property of the Spurs and now is in Houston. Luke Walton re-signed with the Lakers.
Does this mean there's any chance for the East any time soon? Well, not really. None of the top three teams in the West has regressed, unless you think the Suns losing Thomas hurts their chances. The Spurs and Mavericks are pretty much the same teams and the Rockets appear to have improved. Utah has stayed put, too.
And the East? Right now, primarily because of depth issues, I can't put the Celtics ahead of Detroit or Chicago. For the upcoming season, do you like the Celtics right now better than Miami with a (possibly) healthy Shaquille O'Neal and a (probably) healthy Dwyane Wade? Do you like them better than Cleveland? Washington? Orlando?
What the Garnett deal did is get the Celtics into the playoff picture in the East and, perhaps, at least in the discussion for the conference semifinals and finals. For that, Danny Ainge deserves all the credit. Now, let's see what Danny does with the rest of the roster before we call Mayor Menino for the parade permit.
Generally upset with McHale
When someone writes "The Kevin McHale Story: Minnesota Years," there is going to be a continuing theme: the name of Danny Ainge.
Ainge, of course, goes back a long way with McHale and the two remain close. But boy, has Danny really fleeced his buddy in the two deals made between the Celtics and Timberwolves, so much so that Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan wrote, "McHale waited until he couldn't cut a deal with anybody other than his old buddy, Danny Ainge, the Celtics' GM, who, without a former teammate to take his roster refuse, might have eclipsed McHale as the worst general manager in the NBA."
Ainge has dumped nine players on McHale in the last 18 months. Nine! And we're not talking the '71-72 Lakers roster. ("They ought to retire his number again," e-mailed one reader.) Three of the four players Ainge got in return were top-six draft picks. None of the nine he gave up was a top-12 draft pick. He got McHale to take clubhouse problems Mark Blount and Ricky Davis, and then pried Kevin Garnett away with the potential of Al Jefferson and four other maybes, one of whom has an unfortunate history with firearms.
And in those deals McHale gave up the two players who basically came to epitomize Minnesota basketball this decade: Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak. No wonder McHale was getting hammered -- again -- in the Twin Cities. Wrote Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "The sun will come up tomorrow. Unless, of course, Kevin McHale is somehow put in charge of the solar system. In which case the sun will implode and we all will die." Ainge said his relationship with McHale had nothing to do with either deal. You believe that? I don't.
They can start making plans
The Celtics catch a break of sorts with their 2007-08 schedule in terms of intraconference opponents. Each season, the Celtics play four games each against Atlantic Division foes and four games each against six of the other 10 Eastern Conference teams. This season, they only have three games each against the Pistons and Magic (good news) and three each against the Pacers and Hawks (bad news).
Orlando and Indiana make only one appearance each in Boston, so if you've been saving your Jim O'Brien voodoo doll, you'll have to wait until April 2. Orlando's only Garden showing is Dec. 23.
The players are bound to be bummed that there is only one trip to Atlanta, a favorite haunt, and that game is April 12, a Saturday. (Given that the Celtics play the night before, take the Hawks and the points in that one.) And their only trip to Detroit will be Jan. 5.
As for the Celtics being the new darlings of television, it should be noted that they are on network TV 10 times this season. (We do not include NBA TV in this because, well, no one watches and even fewer people get it.) That's eight more than last season, when the Celtics were scheduled twice and, because of their play, were bumped from both appearances. All of the games are on ESPN or TNT (they had no scheduled TNT appearances last season) and there are no scheduled appearances on ABC. That could change.
And just to give you an idea whom the networks still love, the Heat (24 times), Suns (24), Lakers (24), Mavericks (23), Cavaliers (22), and Spurs (22) will be the most visible teams on ESPN, ABC, and TNT. A team can make as many as 33 national appearances on ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TV.
Etc.
Putting in their time
In evaluating the long-term potential of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce, it has been noted many times, and by yours truly, that the three fellows are (or in Pierce's case, soon will be) in their 30s. That doesn't mean what it used to mean because players are coming into the league at an earlier age than before. Fifteen years ago, a guy Garnett's age (31) would likely have played nine seasons. Garnett has played 12. More to the point with Garnett is that he has logged more minutes (35,536) than Isiah Thomas or Larry Bird did in their careers. That might be a concern going forward or maybe we are witnessing another Karl Malone. Allen already has logged almost as many minutes as Kevin McHale did, while Pierce still has a ways to go. But, just to put things in perspective, Garnett has played nearly 11,000 more minutes than Pierce, or the equivalent of three-plus seasons.
Overseas opportunity
Boston native Will Blalock made the Pistons last season as a second-round draft pick, but Detroit decided to let him go and did not pick up his option. "We just didn't have enough roster spots," hoops boss Joe Dumars wrote in an e-mail. "We like Blalock, but didn't have the room to bring him back." Blalock reappeared in the Summer League playing for the Denver Nuggets' entry, but apparently that didn't lead to any gainful employment either. So, with his NBA options dwindling, he decided to sign with Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel, last year's runner-up to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli championships.
Peter May can be reached at P_May@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report. 