Change one historical Celtics draft decision

[Eddie20]

1986

Celtics trade the #2 overall to the Blazers for picks #'s 15, 24, and 37 and 2 future 1st rd picks. The 86 picks are used on Price, Sabonis (who might have come much earlier if drafted by Boston and recruited by Red to join a title team) or Rodman, and Hornacek.

agree on 1986 but would have picked Bias and had him come to Boston immediately after the draft for a week of introductions/press conferences so he wouldn't be in Maryland partying and taking that fatal dose of coke.

I thought about that too, but assuming Bias reached the very height of his ceiling would that be better than Price, Hornacek, and a 22 year old Sabonis?

Don't have earlier stats, but during the 89-90 ACB season Sabots averaged 23.3 PPG, 13.5 RPG, 3.6 BPG, and 1.9 APG in only 33.3 MPG.

I also would've had another coach as KC was responsible for running the starters into the ground.

Bias was projected to be a counterpoint to Jordan in terms of athletic ability and ability to score.  I like Mark Price -- think he's very underrated -- as well has Hornacek and Sabonis, but having someone even 80-90% as good as Bias was projected to be would be preferable.  That's the type of player that can put a team on his back and carry them in playoff games.   

Supposedly Larry would have retired sooner due to his back and Bias being a solid replacement but maybe he and Mchale take those next 2 seasons to heal (Mchale's foot in 87 and Larry's back in 88) and then come back refreshed with a prime Bias and Reggie to carry the load in 89 and after.  C's would still be in contention with Bias in 87 and 88. 

I'd still take Bias over those 3 players --> player potentially a top all-time player versus 3 solid starters.

Those aren't just solid starters, though. Price and Hornacek were all-stars and had Sabonis played his entire career he would've been a hof and considered an all-time great. He literally could do everything prime Walton could do, but was bigger and could stretch the floor with his shooting.

[TheTruth34]

It's 2007 and Marc Gasol for me.  One, it likely prevents the Lakers from making the trade for older brother Pau (or at least forces them to give up Bynum in the deal). 

Two, if Marc Gasol replaces Perkins, it extends the window of the last big 3 era.  The younger Gasol would have been a great fit in the Celtics system. Huge upgrade over stone hands Perkins.   

The shame of it is we had two cracks in the 2nd round.  We landed Big Baby and Gabe **** Pruitt.

[Big333223]

It's 2007 and Marc Gasol for me.  One, it likely prevents the Lakers from making the trade for older brother Pau (or at least forces them to give up Bynum in the deal). 

Two, if Marc Gasol replaces Perkins, it extends the window of the last big 3 era.  The younger Gasol would have been a great fit in the Celtics system. Huge upgrade over stone hands Perkins.   

The shame of it is we had two cracks in the 2nd round.  We landed Big Baby and Gabe **** Pruitt.

Yep. It looks like Gasol didn't come over for a year but that's fine because we won the championship in '08 anyway. With Gasol on the roster, the Celtics definitely win in '10 and maybe they win in '11 too because the team can build in different ways when you've got Rondo and Gasol on the team in their primes.

[Moranis]

1986

Celtics trade the #2 overall to the Blazers for picks #'s 15, 24, and 37 and 2 future 1st rd picks. The 86 picks are used on Price, Sabonis (who might have come much earlier if drafted by Boston and recruited by Red to join a title team) or Rodman, and Hornacek.

agree on 1986 but would have picked Bias and had him come to Boston immediately after the draft for a week of introductions/press conferences so he wouldn't be in Maryland partying and taking that fatal dose of coke.

I thought about that too, but assuming Bias reached the very height of his ceiling would that be better than Price, Hornacek, and a 22 year old Sabonis?

Don't have earlier stats, but during the 89-90 ACB season Sabots averaged 23.3 PPG, 13.5 RPG, 3.6 BPG, and 1.9 APG in only 33.3 MPG.

I also would've had another coach as KC was responsible for running the starters into the ground.

Bias was projected to be a counterpoint to Jordan in terms of athletic ability and ability to score.  I like Mark Price -- think he's very underrated -- as well has Hornacek and Sabonis, but having someone even 80-90% as good as Bias was projected to be would be preferable.  That's the type of player that can put a team on his back and carry them in playoff games.   

Supposedly Larry would have retired sooner due to his back and Bias being a solid replacement but maybe he and Mchale take those next 2 seasons to heal (Mchale's foot in 87 and Larry's back in 88) and then come back refreshed with a prime Bias and Reggie to carry the load in 89 and after.  C's would still be in contention with Bias in 87 and 88. 

I'd still take Bias over those 3 players --> player potentially a top all-time player versus 3 solid starters.

Those aren't just solid starters, though. Price and Hornacek were all-stars and had Sabonis played his entire career he would've been a hof and considered an all-time great. He literally could do everything prime Walton could do, but was bigger and could stretch the floor with his shooting.

Sabonis was never going to come over as a 22 year old. 

[slamtheking]

1986

Celtics trade the #2 overall to the Blazers for picks #'s 15, 24, and 37 and 2 future 1st rd picks. The 86 picks are used on Price, Sabonis (who might have come much earlier if drafted by Boston and recruited by Red to join a title team) or Rodman, and Hornacek.

agree on 1986 but would have picked Bias and had him come to Boston immediately after the draft for a week of introductions/press conferences so he wouldn't be in Maryland partying and taking that fatal dose of coke.

I thought about that too, but assuming Bias reached the very height of his ceiling would that be better than Price, Hornacek, and a 22 year old Sabonis?

Don't have earlier stats, but during the 89-90 ACB season Sabots averaged 23.3 PPG, 13.5 RPG, 3.6 BPG, and 1.9 APG in only 33.3 MPG.

I also would've had another coach as KC was responsible for running the starters into the ground.

Bias was projected to be a counterpoint to Jordan in terms of athletic ability and ability to score.  I like Mark Price -- think he's very underrated -- as well has Hornacek and Sabonis, but having someone even 80-90% as good as Bias was projected to be would be preferable.  That's the type of player that can put a team on his back and carry them in playoff games.   

Supposedly Larry would have retired sooner due to his back and Bias being a solid replacement but maybe he and Mchale take those next 2 seasons to heal (Mchale's foot in 87 and Larry's back in 88) and then come back refreshed with a prime Bias and Reggie to carry the load in 89 and after.  C's would still be in contention with Bias in 87 and 88. 

I'd still take Bias over those 3 players --> player potentially a top all-time player versus 3 solid starters.

Those aren't just solid starters, though. Price and Hornacek were all-stars and had Sabonis played his entire career he would've been a hof and considered an all-time great. He literally could do everything prime Walton could do, but was bigger and could stretch the floor with his shooting.

Sabonis was never going to come over as a 22 year old. 

agreed, I don't see Sabonis coming over that much earlier as a Celtic draftee.

Price and Hornacek did make all-star teams but would you trade them for Jordan?  no.  That was Bias' projected talent level (elite scorer and defender -- probably not in the discussion for best player ever but top 25 all-time not out of the question).    Price and Hornacek would have been great additions to step in after DJ and Ainge but with Sabonis not coming for a few more years, C's would have been declining (as we saw) in the frontcourt.  As good as Price and Hornacek were, they weren't the players that could carry a team in the playoffs --> go off for 40 points and play D on the other team's top scorer.

Either case would have provided the C's with more talent than they had after the death of Bias but I'd still go with just keeping Bias and keeping him away from the influences that ended up killing him.

[bdm860]

Draft 2001.

We could draft Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph and Tony Parker. We end up drafting Johnson, Kedrick Brown and Joe Forte. Multiple all-star and two busts...and we traded all-star to Suns in Delk/Rogers deal when Suns wanted Brown... Man, our management sucked back then. Thank God to DA and CBS

TP good catch, sorry I accidentally mixed 2000 with 01.

Actually I think you messed something up in the early '90's and it set everything off a year:

Eddie Jones was '94, Kobe was '96, McGrady '97, Manu '99, Hedo '00.


I always wondered how interesting it would be if the C's nailed a late '80's pick, like Shawn Kemp.  Let's face it the 90's sucked, while Kemp and the Sonics were one of the most popular players/teams.  Would he have helped bridge the gap?  Just think of what he could have learned from Bird, McHale, and Parish about playing down low.

Now he wouldn't result in any rings, unless the rest of the dominoes fell just right, but it could have made the 90's much more interesting.

[DinoGanga]

What about a small, recent change? Giannis for Kelly O. I know that tragic draft decision has been beat up on this forum, but replace Sully with the Greek Freak and have him run point at the PF spot would help IT save his energy.

IT
Smart/Bradley
Crowder
GA
Amir

It would have opened up some interesting possibilities for moves this offseason.

[droopdog7]

Kobe over Walker.  Easy.

People will kill me over this probably.

[meangreenmachine]

Given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, obviously the best move would be preventing Kobe from ever becoming a Laker. That would be a bizarre alternate universe...

[Big333223]

Kobe over Walker.  Easy.

People will kill me over this probably.

I wonder what the difference in environment from LA to Boston would've done to change Kobe. But also never having Phil Jackson?

But how would that have changed Pitino? If not Pitino, how would it have changed Jim O'Brian? Maybe O'Brian wins a ring with Kobe in Boston and is not still in the league, coaching someone else and talked about by the media as one of the top coaches out there.

So many dominoes.

[Bobshot]

Given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, obviously the best move would be preventing Kobe from ever becoming a Laker. That would be a bizarre alternate universe...

Kobe wanted to go to the Lakers in the draft. He was emphatic enough about that so Charlotte traded the pick to LA. He was able to pick his team. Shaq did the same in free agency, and bang, you got a championship.

[Beat LA]

1978 - Maurice Cheeks
1979 - Bill Laimbeer
1980 - No misses of note
1981 - No misses of note
1982 - Mark Eaton
1983 - Doc Rivers
1984 - No misses of note
1985 - Manute Bol
1986 - No misses of note
1987 - Šarūnas Marčiulionis
1988 - John Starks

The Celtics, in my view, and I don't know if it was Red or not, but they really didn't do themselves any favors during the run in the 80s.  After 1981, they went 4 drafts without getting even a solid contributor, which is not only mind-boggling, but also, in part, represents why the loss of Bias was so devastating.  You can't go years without drafting well and expect to continue to be able to contend in that era, where you've got to beat the 76ers, Knicks, Bullets (the Bad Boys before the Bad Boys, imo), Hawks, Bucks, Pistons, and Bulls (more so when they had Gilmore earlier before getting Jordan for the sake of this time period) just to GET TO THE FINALS - it's not like we were in the West .

Add in the fact that KC was a terrible coach who ran the starters into the ground and you've got a recipe for disaster.  He should have been fired after the 84 finals, imo.  What kind of a moron takes three and a half games, IN THE NBA FINALS, to figure out that Dennis Johnson should be guarding Magic, which was the precise reason for acquiring DJ in the first place?  Ugh.  The biggest mismatch in the 80s, in my view, wasn't as much on the court as it was on the sidelines and the front office.  KC vs. Riley and Jan Volk vs Jerry West is even more of a mismatch than AC Green trying to guard Robert Parish, for example, lol .

They should have fired Jones and replaced him with Doug Collins, Don Chaney, Bernie Bickerstaff - anyone with half a brain, really (the bar wasn't that high).  The other thing that they could have done was to trade Maxwell, whose contract was up, after 1984, for Walton a season earlier.  Bill was also a free agent and the Lakers were looking at acquiring him (christ, how much help did they need, lol, especially in that joke of a conference called the west), and while free agency was different back then, at least the Clippers would have gotten something for the Big Red Head.  Maybe then we wouldn't have had to include the 86 first rounder, bc aside from the time after he inexplicably won the 1981 postseason/finals mvp over Bird , Maxwell's value was never higher than after his performance in game 7 against the Lakers in 1984.  Besides, anyone who saw that series knew that we needed an actual backup for Parish to at least give us a chance at even bothering Kareem, because we had no backup center.  Make that trade, the deal for Henderson, release ML Carr or just 'encourage' him to retire (he was washed up by then), and also trade our 1984 first rounder for Sichting and essentially assemble the 86 team a year earlier, and, combined with a few other moves which we could have made in the drafts of this era, and we likely could have at least 3-peated from 84-86.  To do so would have required drafting much better over the previous years, however, such as -

1978 - yeah, Cheeks would have been great, but then we never would have gotten DJ (who was a second round pick in 1976), so idk about that one right now, but how could you forget about Michael Cooper!?  Meh, I think I actually would prefer beating those guys for some strange reason, although Cooper did say that his favorite player growing up was Hondo , so I'm sure that I could be persuaded to change my mind   Talk about irony.  Ugh.

1979 - Bill Laimbeer?  Really?  That's blasphemous.  I can't even right now .

1980 - Agree with no misses.  Rambis was available, but same as Laimbeer - please god no.  Both guys were dirty players.

1981 - this is where I disagree.  Yes, we got Ainge at 31, but we also had the last pick of the first round that year at 23, as well as the second pick of the second round at 25.  We chose Charles 'Not Avery' Bradley , and Tracy Jackson, respectively.  You know who was available at those spots?  Jay Vincent, who was taken by Dallas at 24 and probably wouldn't have fit with us, anyway, but it's still hard to pass up that kind of talent, so who knows, and the one that really hurt - Eddie 'Not the Perv' Johnson, who was taken just two picks before Ainge at 29 by the then Kansas City Kings.  Scott Wedman was great, yes, but he was a bit brittle, and EJ could have been the pure shooting wing behind Bird that we didn't have until Wedman.  Johnson averaged 16 ppg over 17 seasons , and was the 6th man of the year in 88-89.  Huge loss.

The other point about the 81 draft is that we lucked out, in a way, with the Lakers taking Mike McGee instead of Larry Nance.  Jerry West had had him in for a workout and wanted to take him, but the Lakers had the then-coach, Paul Westhead, in charge of making the call, and although West pleaded, it fell on deaf ears, and Westhead took Mike McGee, lol, who was like the non-playmaking version of Coop, in a way (he could guard 1-3), but still.  To this day, that still haunts The Logo, and it's easy to see why, although part of me wonders if Nance would have been a great fit on those teams in terms of toughness and rebounding.  Yes, he was a great athlete, shot blocker, and midrange shooter, so he could have, in theory, complimented Kareem, but he doesn't strike me as being a real tough, gritty player, but then again, this was before my time.  So for those of you who were, do you think that it could have worked?  Magic, Scott, Worthy, Nance, and Kareem sounds like an amazing lineup, but Nance seems like he was too nice for his own good at times and not a strong rebounder, which is why Rambis and Green were so effective for them, but Rambis, especially.  He was the only guy who took the ball out from the net before it hit the ground and with one step inbounded the ball, which is why the Lakers could run after made baskets.  It also drives me nuts in watching those old games that, aside from a few instances, no Celtic ever followed and got all over him on the inbounding, which would have slowed them down, or make him through it to Magic, who you then trap, and force Rambis to bring the ball up and initiate the offense, which would have thrown them completely out of whack, but noooooo, everyone just turned tail and headed back up the court, which I can kind of understand, but still.  Make Scott, Worthy, or Rambis bring the ball up.  As opposed to the Celtics who had at least 3 guys who could make a play in DJ, Ainge, and Bird, and McHale and Parish weren't chopped liver, either, in this regard, no one else, save Kareem, could really pass, or even dribble, and I can't understand why no one ever exploited that glaring deficiency.

1982 - taking Darren Tillis with the last pick of the first round instead of Derek Smith, who was selected by the Warriors in the second round at 35.  He was actually waived on September 8, 1983, only to be picked up by the Clippers five days later, so we could have had him there.  Talk about tenacious.  That guy was an all star before he hurt his knee, and other than Reggie Lewis, Len Bias, Bird, and the other starters, he's the only guy who actually attacked Michael Jordan and wasn't afraid of him, and he lit MJ up in Jordan's rookie year.  His size at 6'6" could have also helped against Magic, Worthy, Dominique, Dantley, Aguirre, Alex English, and Drexler, etc., and his post game allowed him to get guys like that, and even Jordan, in foul trouble.  Another swing and a miss.

1983 - They wanted Roy Hinson, but Cleveland snagged him one pick before us.  Doh!  Another huge loss.  Maybe if they had simply gotten Milwaukee's first rounder that year instead of Quinn Buckner , whose presence, along with Fitch's overbearing and controlling nature, disrupted the starting backcourt and pushed Tiny to the bench.  I know that they got Buckner because of Andrew Toney and what had happened in game 7 in 1982 against the 76ers despite rallying, again, from a 3-1 deficit against Philadelphia, but I think that that was an overreaction on the part of management.  The fact that they even got to game 7 against that 76ers team without Tiny who was lost for the series in game 3 makes me think that they would have won that series had he not gotten hurt, Toney or not, but we'll never know . Winning game 2 also would have helped, lol, but if they'd still lost Tiny in game 3 there's a good chance that we still lose that series without him, but who knows?  We definitely would have needed him against the Lakers.

But back to the draft.  Greg Kite!?  I'm speechless, especially when Mitchell Wiggins (23) and Mark West (30) were available.  West was even released by the Mavs on October 23, 1984, only to be signed by the Bucks on November 6 before being released 6 days later, and 11 days after that, the Cavs picked him up, where he played for two and a half seasons.  Add him next the Walton off the bench in 1985 along with Sichting and whoever else we could have gotten as mentioned previously, and that pretty deadly, especially if the other guys are some combination of Wedman, Wiggins, EJ, and Derek Smith.  Maybe even Mike McGee.  Wow .

1984 - agreed, although Steve Colter couldn't have hurt, nor Ron Anderson.  Ben Coleman might also have helped, but if that pick gets us Sichting along with the other moves, we still would have been more than fine .

1985 - disagree.  We traded up with Dallas to try and get Dumars, I believe, but ultimately took Sam Vincent (ugh) instead of Terry Porter.  Other misses are Hot Rod Williams, who was suspended for a year for a point shaving scandal while at college, and Gerald Wilkins, who might have been our pick had we not traded it to the Knicks to get Ray Williams, who we wouldn't have needed if we had had Sichting, but yeah.  Ugh.  Wilkins was an excellent defender and a great athlete, which could have only helped against teams like the Lakers, Sixers, Blazers, Hawks, and Bulls, etc.  At least we would have had a guy outside of Parish who could finish on the break and get ahead of everybody.  Sigh.

Alternatively, perhaps we could have traded the Terry Porter pick to the Mavericks, with whom we traded, anyway, to move up in an attempt to get Dumars, as previously mentioned, for two second rounders, one in that draft and that Knicks' pick, which ended up being the first pick in the second round in 1986 and Mark Price.  Bias and Price in one draft!?  Holy sh1t!

1986 - already mentioned.  Sigh.

1987 - Reggie Lewis with the second to last pick in the first round.  Wow.  We probably would have been able to get him had Bias lived etc., because we likely would have had a better record than the 87 Lakers, who traded their pick to the Spurs in that 'deal' for Mychal Thompson, but I don't think San Antonio would have taken Reggie, but who knows?  Lohaus wasn't a bad pick, although Portland did get Kevin Gamble later in that same draft.  If there's one big takeaway from all of this it's that I wish that we'd had Portland's scouts during the 80s.  Holy crap could they draft.  Maybe just Mike Thibault (who identified Larry Nance, btw)?  Please?  Pretty Please?

1988 - Sure about Starks, although he was a bonehead who played out of control a lot, but maybe he would have been different on our team?  No idea.  Anyway, the big miss was Anthony Mason, who was taken by the Blazers.  Again.  Deng could they draft.  Wow.  Plus, the Lakers really wanted Brian Shaw and the feeling was mutual.  Ugh.  Just hold him hostage and get a future first in 1989 or something in exchange for the rights to swap picks, or just to trade for Shaw, outright.

So to sum up, by the start of the 1988-89 season, we could have had this as team, with no one having ankle, back (well, that was congenital, and Bird paving his mom's driveway really set everything off, but the ridiculous amount of minutes sure didn't help.  Thanks, KC (sarcasm).  That softball game, too, is another huge what if as far as the 80s are concerned), or foot problems -

Parish, McHale, Bird, Ainge, DJ

with a bench of

West, Mason, Bias, Lewis, and Price . Holy sh1t!

Even if DJ had retired or Price and maybe Reggie been made starters, making Ainge the third guard, or maybe even return McHale to his 6th man status, along with Danny, and assemble the starting five as Parish, Bird, Bias, Lewis, and Price, with West, McHale, Mason, and Ainge off the bench.  Again, holy crap. I still like the first lineup better, though, lol.

[Bobshot]

1978 - Maurice Cheeks
1979 - Bill Laimbeer
1980 - No misses of note
1981 - No misses of note
1982 - Mark Eaton
1983 - Doc Rivers
1984 - No misses of note
1985 - Manute Bol
1986 - No misses of note
1987 - Šarūnas Marčiulionis
1988 - John Starks

The Celtics, in my view, and I don't know if it was Red or not, but they really didn't do themselves any favors during the run in the 80s.  After 1981, they went 4 drafts without getting even a solid contributor, which is not only mind-boggling, but also, in part, represents why the loss of Bias was so devastating.  You can't go years without drafting well and expect to continue to be able to contend in that era, where you've got to beat the 76ers, Knicks, Bullets (the Bad Boys before the Bad Boys, imo), Hawks, Bucks, Pistons, and Bulls (more so when they had Gilmore earlier before getting Jordan for the sake of this time period) just to GET TO THE FINALS - it's not like we were in the West .

Add in the fact that KC was a terrible coach who ran the starters into the ground and you've got a recipe for disaster.  He should have been fired after the 84 finals, imo.  What kind of a moron takes three and a half games, IN THE NBA FINALS, to figure out that Dennis Johnson should be guarding Magic, which was the precise reason for acquiring DJ in the first place?  Ugh.  The biggest mismatch in the 80s, in my view, wasn't as much on the court as it was on the sidelines and the front office.  KC vs. Riley and Jan Volk vs Jerry West is even more of a mismatch than AC Green trying to guard Robert Parish, for example, lol .

They should have fired Jones and replaced him with Doug Collins, Don Chaney, Bernie Bickerstaff - anyone with half a brain, really (the bar wasn't that high).  The other thing that they could have done was to trade Maxwell, whose contract was up, after 1984, for Walton a season earlier.  Bill was also a free agent and the Lakers were looking at acquiring him (christ, how much help did they need, lol, especially in that joke of a conference called the west), and while free agency was different back then, at least the Clippers would have gotten something for the Big Red Head.  Maybe then we wouldn't have had to include the 86 first rounder, bc aside from the time after he inexplicably won the 1981 postseason/finals mvp over Bird , Maxwell's value was never higher than after his performance in game 7 against the Lakers in 1984.  Besides, anyone who saw that series knew that we needed an actual backup for Parish to at least give us a chance at even bothering Kareem, because we had no backup center.  Make that trade, the deal for Henderson, release ML Carr or just 'encourage' him to retire (he was washed up by then), and also trade our 1984 first rounder for Sichting and essentially assemble the 86 team a year earlier, and, combined with a few other moves which we could have made in the drafts of this era, and we likely could have at least 3-peated from 84-86.  To do so would have required drafting much better over the previous years, however, such as -

1978 - yeah, Cheeks would have been great, but then we never would have gotten DJ (who was a second round pick in 1976), so idk about that one right now, but how could you forget about Michael Cooper!?  Meh, I think I actually would prefer beating those guys for some strange reason, although Cooper did say that his favorite player growing up was Hondo , so I'm sure that I could be persuaded to change my mind   Talk about irony.  Ugh.

1979 - Bill Laimbeer?  Really?  That's blasphemous.  I can't even right now .

1980 - Agree with no misses.  Rambis was available, but same as Laimbeer - please god no.  Both guys were dirty players.

1981 - this is where I disagree.  Yes, we got Ainge at 31, but we also had the last pick of the first round that year at 23, as well as the second pick of the second round at 25.  We chose Charles 'Not Avery' Bradley , and Tracy Jackson, respectively.  You know who was available at those spots?  Jay Vincent, who was taken by Dallas at 24 and probably wouldn't have fit with us, anyway, but it's still hard to pass up that kind of talent, so who knows, and the one that really hurt - Eddie 'Not the Perv' Johnson, who was taken just two picks before Ainge at 29 by the then Kansas City Kings.  Scott Wedman was great, yes, but he was a bit brittle, and EJ could have been the pure shooting wing behind Bird that we didn't have until Wedman.  Johnson averaged 16 ppg over 17 seasons , and was the 6th man of the year in 88-89.  Huge loss.

The other point about the 81 draft is that we lucked out, in a way, with the Lakers taking Mike McGee instead of Larry Nance.  Jerry West had had him in for a workout and wanted to take him, but the Lakers had the then-coach, Paul Westhead, in charge of making the call, and although West pleaded, it fell on deaf ears, and Westhead took Mike McGee, lol, who was like the non-playmaking version of Coop, in a way (he could guard 1-3), but still.  To this day, that still haunts The Logo, and it's easy to see why, although part of me wonders if Nance would have been a great fit on those teams in terms of toughness and rebounding.  Yes, he was a great athlete, shot blocker, and midrange shooter, so he could have, in theory, complimented Kareem, but he doesn't strike me as being a real tough, gritty player, but then again, this was before my time.  So for those of you who were, do you think that it could have worked?  Magic, Scott, Worthy, Nance, and Kareem sounds like an amazing lineup, but Nance seems like he was too nice for his own good at times and not a strong rebounder, which is why Rambis and Green were so effective for them, but Rambis, especially.  He was the only guy who took the ball out from the net before it hit the ground and with one step inbounded the ball, which is why the Lakers could run after made baskets.  It also drives me nuts in watching those old games that, aside from a few instances, no Celtic ever followed and got all over him on the inbounding, which would have slowed them down, or make him through it to Magic, who you then trap, and force Rambis to bring the ball up and initiate the offense, which would have thrown them completely out of whack, but noooooo, everyone just turned tail and headed back up the court, which I can kind of understand, but still.  Make Scott, Worthy, or Rambis bring the ball up.  As opposed to the Celtics who had at least 3 guys who could make a play in DJ, Ainge, and Bird, and McHale and Parish weren't chopped liver, either, in this regard, no one else, save Kareem, could really pass, or even dribble, and I can't understand why no one ever exploited that glaring deficiency.

1982 - taking Darren Tillis with the last pick of the first round instead of Derek Smith, who was selected by the Warriors in the second round at 35.  He was actually waived on September 8, 1983, only to be picked up by the Clippers five days later, so we could have had him there.  Talk about tenacious.  That guy was an all star before he hurt his knee, and other than Reggie Lewis, Len Bias, Bird, and the other starters, he's the only guy who actually attacked Michael Jordan and wasn't afraid of him, and he lit MJ up in Jordan's rookie year.  His size at 6'6" could have also helped against Magic, Worthy, Dominique, Dantley, Aguirre, Alex English, and Drexler, etc., and his post game allowed him to get guys like that, and even Jordan, in foul trouble.  Another swing and a miss.

1983 - They wanted Roy Hinson, but Cleveland snagged him one pick before us.  Doh!  Another huge loss.  Maybe if they had simply gotten Milwaukee's first rounder that year instead of Quinn Buckner , whose presence, along with Fitch's overbearing and controlling nature, disrupted the starting backcourt and pushed Tiny to the bench.  I know that they got Buckner because of Andrew Toney and what had happened in game 7 in 1982 against the 76ers despite rallying, again, from a 3-1 deficit against Philadelphia, but I think that that was an overreaction on the part of management.  The fact that they even got to game 7 against that 76ers team without Tiny who was lost for the series in game 3 makes me think that they would have won that series had he not gotten hurt, Toney or not, but we'll never know . Winning game 2 also would have helped, lol, but if they'd still lost Tiny in game 3 there's a good chance that we still lose that series without him, but who knows?  We definitely would have needed him against the Lakers.

But back to the draft.  Greg Kite!?  I'm speechless, especially when Mitchell Wiggins (23) and Mark West (30) were available.  West was even released by the Mavs on October 23, 1984, only to be signed by the Bucks on November 6 before being released 6 days later, and 11 days after that, the Cavs picked him up, where he played for two and a half seasons.  Add him next the Walton off the bench in 1985 along with Sichting and whoever else we could have gotten as mentioned previously, and that pretty deadly, especially if the other guys are some combination of Wedman, Wiggins, EJ, and Derek Smith.  Maybe even Mike McGee.  Wow .

1984 - agreed, although Steve Colter couldn't have hurt, nor Ron Anderson.  Ben Coleman might also have helped, but if that pick gets us Sichting along with the other moves, we still would have been more than fine .

1985 - disagree.  We traded up with Dallas to try and get Dumars, I believe, but ultimately took Sam Vincent (ugh) instead of Terry Porter.  Other misses are Hot Rod Williams, who was suspended for a year for a point shaving scandal while at college, and Gerald Wilkins, who might have been our pick had we not traded it to the Knicks to get Ray Williams, who we wouldn't have needed if we had had Sichting, but yeah.  Ugh.  Wilkins was an excellent defender and a great athlete, which could have only helped against teams like the Lakers, Sixers, Blazers, Hawks, and Bulls, etc.  At least we would have had a guy outside of Parish who could finish on the break and get ahead of everybody.  Sigh.

Alternatively, perhaps we could have traded the Terry Porter pick to the Mavericks, with whom we traded, anyway, to move up in an attempt to get Dumars, as previously mentioned, for two second rounders, one in that draft and that Knicks' pick, which ended up being the first pick in the second round in 1986 and Mark Price.  Bias and Price in one draft!?  Holy sh1t!

1986 - already mentioned.  Sigh.

1987 - Reggie Lewis with the second to last pick in the first round.  Wow.  We probably would have been able to get him had Bias lived etc., because we likely would have had a better record than the 87 Lakers, who traded their pick to the Spurs in that 'deal' for Mychal Thompson, but I don't think San Antonio would have taken Reggie, but who knows?  Lohaus wasn't a bad pick, although Portland did get Kevin Gamble later in that same draft.  If there's one big takeaway from all of this it's that I wish that we'd had Portland's scouts during the 80s.  Holy crap could they draft.  Maybe just Mike Thibault (who identified Larry Nance, btw)?  Please?  Pretty Please?

1988 - Sure about Starks, although he was a bonehead who played out of control a lot, but maybe he would have been different on our team?  No idea.  Anyway, the big miss was Anthony Mason, who was taken by the Blazers.  Again.  Deng could they draft.  Wow.  Plus, the Lakers really wanted Brian Shaw and the feeling was mutual.  Ugh.  Just hold him hostage and get a future first in 1989 or something in exchange for the rights to swap picks, or just to trade for Shaw, outright.

So to sum up, by the start of the 1988-89 season, we could have had this as team, with no one having ankle, back (well, that was congenital, and Bird paving his mom's driveway really set everything off, but the ridiculous amount of minutes sure didn't help.  Thanks, KC (sarcasm).  That softball game, too, is another huge what if as far as the 80s are concerned), or foot problems -

Parish, McHale, Bird, Ainge, DJ

with a bench of

West, Mason, Bias, Lewis, and Price . Holy sh1t!

Even if DJ had retired or Price and maybe Reggie been made starters, making Ainge the third guard, or maybe even return McHale to his 6th man status, along with Danny, and assemble the starting five as Parish, Bird, Bias, Lewis, and Price, with West, McHale, Mason, and Ainge off the bench.  Again, holy crap. I still like the first lineup better, though, lol.

Wow. Now there's a nice history of the Celtics over the past 30 years, warts and all. Not bad, if my memory serves me true.  I go back to the days when Easy Ed McCauley was the Celtics center, Cousy and Sharman were the guards. Bridesmaids they were until Auerbach pulled a heist and Russell exploded onto the scene. And then nothing but Championships thru the 60s, except when Russell hurt his ankle in '57 or '58.

True Red was not always a great drafter. And he never picked a decent successor to himself as GM. Bird dropped a thousand hints in the late 80s they needed a couple more guys on the bench, but it never happened, and KC burned out Bird and McHale--shortened their careers.
The Gaston era was a disaster-- he couldn't do anything right. The worst was alienating Bird, who wanted to buy the Celtics and was rebuffed. McHale ignored, too. Instead he embraced ML, who was not prepared for the responsibility. So McHale and Bird would up going elsewhere. Big mistake. Did I forget the Rickster? It was intentional.

The new owners got off on the right foot picking Ainge to run the team. And it resulted in a Championship, thanks to his teammate, McHale. Danny was a very good starting 2 with those Bird teams in the 80s until that dumb GM they had (Volk?) traded him for a couple of stiffs.

I trust guys like Bird, McHale and Ainge implicitly. There is good reason to.