The Celtics Big Three

Come drafy day Danny Ainge was able to pull of a blockbuster deal and send Wally Sczerbiak, Delonte West & the fifth overall pick (Jeff Green) for the face for the Supersoncis Francise Ray Allen, but Danny wasn’t done making deals, and on July 31st Danny Ainge resureccted talks with Minnesotta and was able to bring in a ten time allstar and former league MVP, Kevin Garnett. In return for KG the timberwolves recieved Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, two first round picks, and the expiring contract of Theo Ratliff, giving the Celtic’s three legitimate allstars that can even macth up with the best teams in the NBA. Danny Ainge says “These guys haven’t accomplished anything together yet, to to call them the big three is ubsurd, they can’t be called the big three until they accomplish something”

But the trio of superstar players that the Celtic’s now have, it’s hard to argue that they’re not a top three team in the East, if not the best, and their even capable of competing with the big three of Tony Parker, Mau Ginobli, and Tim Duncan down in San Antonio,and I’d even go as far to say that the Celtic’s are now a championship contender

The Celtic’s werent done making moves and the next day signed three point shooter and back up PG Eddie House, as well as former UNC player Jackie Manuel who was signed from the NBDL and is more known for his defense, but has the ability to lockdown defenders on the wing. And after a stong showing in the Las Vegas Summer League the Celtic’s decided to sign Combo Foward Brandon Wallace out of South Carolina. In the suummer league Wallace showed that he is capable of locking down on defense, and is a great offensive rebounder. Both Wallace an Manuel have very litte offensive game, but they should greatly improve the Celtic’s defense, and with time Wallace should be able to develop a solid offense game due to his lightning fast quick step, and in college Wallace showed that he is capable of hitting the outside jumper, just not on a consistent basis yet.

Rumors have it that next to Danny Ainge’s radar is veteran center Dikembe Mutombo. Mutumbo would add even more defense to the Celtic’s and is capable of being a starter, also PJ Brown has been rumored to sign with the Celtic’s, although the C’s may not have the money that Brown is looking for.

Now lets take a look at the rookies. In the second round the Boston Celtic’s selected combo guard Gabe Pruitt out of USC, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis from LSU. At first I was worried about Glen Davis because of his trouble staying in shape, but in the Las Vegas Summer League, Glen Davis looked to be in the best shape of his life, and was one of the most impressive players in the Summer League. Gabe Pruitt however may have a hard time finding playing time this year, playing behind Rajon Rondo & Eddie House. Pruitt is a great shooter with lackluster playmaking skills, more or less he’s a Delonte West type player with alot more potential, and with the release of Allen Ray, Pruitt is almost a shoe in to get a roster spot with the Celtics. The only problem I see with Gabe Pruitt is that he is more or less a SG trapped in a PG body, but he did get get some PG exprience while playing at USC which is more then Delonte West had.

Another player who could end up being a major contributer for the Celtic’s this seaon is Leon Powe. Powe get a very limited amount of playing time last seaon, but in the short amount of time he get, he was extremely impressive, Powe plays hustle basketball and at only 6′8 he plays like he’s 6′11 and is one of the toughest players Ive seen in a Celtic uniform for a long time, going up for every rebound, and even after two major knee surgery’s in college, Powe does not shy away from physical play. He has a much better offense game then he’s given credit for, and after having a great showing in the Vegas Summer League, expect Leon Powe to see some major minutes this season, and possbly the occasionally start. If the big three decide to feed Powe in the post every know and then, don’t be surprised to see Leon Powe become a 10/10 player, although with the big three in town Powe may have a hard time finding touches.

Now onto Rajon Rondo. He was an extremely impressive defensive player last year, and for a slightly undersized PG he rebounded extremely well. His playmaking skills were less then steller, but with his speed and incredible quickness I fully expect him to have a breakout seaon. With the team that Danny Ainge has built for the upcoming season Rondo will have three legitimate all-stars to dish the ball to, so don’t be surprised if Rajon Rondo’s assists numbers skyrocket from last year.

Jackie Manuel…hmmm well I don’t know much about the kid but after looking over his stats with his short stint in Orlando, he looks like a very solid player for our bench. While playing for the magic, Manuel averaged 5ppg to go along with 1.2spg, and at 6′5, 190lbs he has the frame to play SF, and if he can develop a consistent jump shot, then he could even be moved over the SG, although most of scoring comes from inside the paint.

Now onto Eddie House. I wasn’t really a fan of this signing, but House should definitley add some scoring to our bench. He’s an incredible three point shooter, but the only problem I see with Eddie House is that his shot selection isn’t all that great. And House strikes me as the type of player who needs an impact PG to get him his open shots, and with KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, I’m not so sure how many chances Eddie House will get. Eddie House isn’t really the type of player who can create his own shot off the dribble, he’s more of a catch and shoot type of player, but we should definitley add some offense to a lackluster bench.

And last but not least, Kendrick Perkins. Perkins who has struggled with injuries throughout his career says that he’s finnaly 100% healthy. Call me crazy but Perkins reminds me alot of Jermaine O’neal. O’neal struggled bigtime while playing for the Blazers and got virtually no playing time. Perkins has already showed he can play defense and rebound, he tends to get into foul trouble early, but if he can finally start scoring consistently in the paint, then the Celtic’s could find themselves with a 10/10 starting center, and if Dikembe Mutumbo is brought in to back up Perkins, then the Boston Celtic’s are easily a Championship Contender.

Now Mike Gorman has been reporting that the Celtic’s scouting department has been busy scouting Euroleague players in an attempt to bring in 1 more PG to back up Rajon Rondo. The core of Rondo’s offensive game is driving to the basket as he has virtually no consistent jump shot, and Eddie House is far from a natural PG, so bringing in one more PG, maybe even Brevin Knight would not be a bad idea at all, but the rumors are that Brevin Knight is a horrible locker room guy, and I’m not sure how he’d feel about backing up Rajon Rondo, but Danny Ainge says “Where not done adjusting the roster yet” so Celtic’s fans can expect to see even more changes to the current roster.

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