Shooting guards

Yesterday, I looked at the Celtics point guard situation for next season and the three ways -- free agency, the draft, and player development -- that the situation may change between now and next year. Today I’ll focus on the shooting guards:

Player development:

The Celtics already have on their roster one of the premier shooting guards in the league in Paul Pierce. While Pierce is not a pure shooting guard with his height and post-up abilities, he has played the ‘two’ position the last couple of years with Ricky Davis, and now Wally Szczerbiak, as his small forward.

Unless Danny Ainge is crazy, Pierce is not going anywhere. His spectacular play this season, his attitude, and his desire to remain a Celtic gives Boston one of the premier players in the NBA at his position.

Off the bench, expect Tony Allen to have a breakout season in 2006. Slowed by a knee injury all year, Allen has lacked the explosiveness that made him so exciting in his rookie year. He has shown glimpses of that over the last month, but a full offseason should give TA time to recover and come out firing next year. What can Tony Allen bring to this team next year? Think Ricky Davis with defense. That’s not an exaggeration.

Tony Allen should have a breakout season in 2006. (Reuters)

With Allen and Pierce, the shooting guard position should be very strong next year.

The draft:

The Celtics can also help themselves at this position in the draft. Last week I wrote that the Celtics should draft J.J. Redick. I still think they should, because neither Allen nor Pierce can be classified as a pure three-point shooter. Redick would help this team tremendously in that regard.

Washington’s Brandon Roy may be the most complete player in this draft, but his game is too similar to Allen’s and Pierce’s to make him a good fit for the Celtics. If the Celtics are going to draft a shooting guard this year, he should be a shooter, not a slasher.

Free agency:

Shooting guard is one of the strongest positions on this young Celtics team, and I don’t think it would be wise for Boston to throw a lot of free agent dollars at a veteran scorer. Draft Redick, or leave this position alone.

Check back tomorrow for some thoughts on the three spot.