First and foremost, there are many ways this offseason can turn. I am not here to make predictions, because anyone who follows this team knows that our GM/President is completely unpredictable. I think that's a good thing to have in the NBA, but it makes for a lot of uncertainty for this team going into 2012/13. Draft day trades, picks, free agents, whole roster turnover...all of these are in play for our Boston Celtics.
But I wanted to highlight one particular feature of our current roster that few pundits mention. Leaving the Big 3 aside (and I would only consider KG to have been essential to our success this year) we are actually a relatively young team.
At Point Guard, we have a 3rd-team All NBA player who is coming of his best stretch of basketball in his career. I would argue that Rondo is the best PG in the league right now, tied with Chris Paul, because Rondo can do things on a court that Chris Paul or Tony Parker could only dream of doing. I believe Rondo should be the cornerstone of this franchise for the next 5 years (assuming no injuries.) What he did in the playoffs this year is nothing short of amazing, with only Lebron and Durant having - arguably - better postseason play. Rondo is 25 years old.
At Shooting Guard, we have a former 1st round pick who was at one time the most highly sought after high school prospect in the country. You don't get to that level of hype without possessing some kind of skill that NBA GM's and coaches drool over. I believe Avery Bradley will be a 1st-team All NBA Defensive player next year (can't control for corrupt voting.) He completely rejuvenated our team with his insane ball pressure abilities. Further, AB developed into a more than reliable offensive option, particularly when paired with Rondo, due to his superior speed and cutting quickness. His ability to knock down the 3-pt shot will improve with time, though he showed he can do that now. The jury is still out if he can play the backup PG, but I don't care about that, because he will be the best defensive guard in the league for the next 5 years. Avery Bradley is 21 years old
AB was not the only bench player to step up and alter our season this year due to injuries and circumstance. With Jermaine O'neal going down and KG moving to the 5, we needed a starting PF to take KG's place. Danny Ainge made his most successful trade (so far) to date when he shipped Big Baby and Von Wafer to Orlando for Brandon Bass. Bass was projected to be an energy guy off the bench for us, who could knock down the open J and get some rebounds (and dunks, which BBD could not do.) When JO went down, Bass was given the starting PF role. Along side Rondo and KG, Bass had his best season in the NBA. Although there were some subpar moments in the playoffs, there were also some tremendous games, including Game 7 against the Heat. Bass has proven to be a perfect fit for a Rondo-lead offense, and by all accounts is a fantastic teammate to boot. He has an option on cheap money ($4M) to come back next year, but certainly is worth more than that for more years. Brandon Bass is 27 years old
We continue to forget that the most significant addition Danny Ainge has made to this team over the past 5 season (outside of draft picks) was the acquisition of a former Top 5 lottery pick in the trade with Perkins. Jeff Green is a former double-digit offensive threat as a 6'10" Small/Power Forward who was the 3rd best scorer on the team representing the West in the NBA finals this year. He missed the entire year for us, after only playing a few months last year, and is coming off of a scary situation involving heart surgery. We do not know what his mind and physical health will be like post-surgery, or if another team will offer him money/years on a deal that we can't match. The good news is that his injury did not involve tendons or muscles in his legs or arms, so assuming that he can get over the conditioning hurdles and any mental challenges of having hear surgery, there is no reason to believe he can't be the player we all know he is capable of. Jeff Green is 25 years old
We definitely required depth at the 5 this year, but there was nothing available in the FA market or anything worthwhile via trades for Danny to pursue. As we all know by now, DA and Doc had a NBDL "rookie" project on the roster who was 4 years removed from college, where he barely played more than 10 minutes a game. How does someone like that make the team for the Boston Celtics? Well, with Greg Stiemsma, we found out in his first game on the court: he is a rim-protecting, shot-blocking machine given the opportunity. Stiemer has one NBA-level skill perfected - shot-blocking - but also showed us in spurts that he has nice polish to his offensive game. He can hit the open set shot out to 18 feet and has decent hands and foot work for a big guy. He was hampered all season by plantar fasciitis, to the point where he actually never practiced. I repeat: we had an NBDL-project "rookie" 4 years removed from college who played limited minutes at Wisconsin, who NEVER PRACTICED, and gave us decent backup minutes at the 5 position. Who knows what we can get out of a healthy Stiemer next year with a full season of preparation? Stiemer is 26 years old
Our 1st round pick from last year barely played at all this season. Much like Jeff Green, he is athletic and versatile 6'10" SF/PF combo player with range and some offensive polish. Much like Avery Bradley last year, we have no idea whether he is terrible, average, or a player waiting to bust out. JuJuan Johnson could just be that athletic wing player we need giving us fire off the bench, running the break with Rondo, and getting those long arms in the passing lanes. JJJ is 23 years old.
We need a reliable backup PG for Rondo, who logged some ridiculous minutes this year and postseason. No one will ever produce what Rondo does, but we could get a complimentary player who can direct the offense, hit the spot up jumpers, and play solid on-ball defense for 10-15 minutes a game. Our 2nd round pick from last year was that type of player. E'twuan Moore showed glimpses this season of being the type of rotation player we need at the PG position, especially in that Orlando game that he single-handedly won for the C's. Doc actually played E'twaun over Avery Bradley (which would seem preposterous right now) early in the season, albeit at the PG position which is not AB's role. I think E'twaun has what we need as a backup PG, so long as he can bring it on defense like Keyon Dooling does. E'twuan Moore is 23 years old.
This does not even include the fact that we are most certainly going to get younger this year with 2 1st-round draft picks. We are looking at a roster going into next season - before we even deal with the 'Big 3' - that is almost completely under the age of 28. Now, the argument would of course be that the team that got us to Game 7 was essentially the Big 3 plus Rondo and Bass, but I would argue that the team that got us to Game 7 is nowhere near what our "best team" could have been given our current roster with the injuries we had. Our best team, meaning the one that had the highest winning percentage this season, didn't even have Ray Allen on it (injury.)
So, in short, our roster is fairly "young" compared to what we are perceived to be. Bring back KG on a 1-2 year deal, and Pierce with 1-2 years left, and we have a team that has the potential to compete athletically with the Heat/Bulls/OKC's of the world, but we still have the veteran presence and championship pedigree that few teams have.
