Celts react to evidence - Boston Herald

Doc Rivers calls this time of the NBA year the “silly season,” but it might be better understood as the semantic season.

As in, when team president Danny Ainge says repeatedly he is not “actively” trying to trade Rajon Rondo [stats], that doesn’t mean he isn’t seeking to learn what every team would give up for his point guard. To do anything less would be dereliction of duty.

And when Doc and Danny say, “I like this team,” that doesn’t mean they believe in their hearts that the Celtics [team stats], as currently constituted, have a good or even fair chance of winning the 2012 NBA championship.

Any stronger feeling would be dereliction of logic.

If you’re considering a walk down the Finals aisle in June, there’d better be some love involved. “Like” isn’t really going to cut it.

When Doc says, “I want to see what we can do when we’re all healthy,” it’s another way of saying he hasn’t yet seen consistent signs the Celtics are capable of standing up in a seven-game series against any of the top-tier teams. Maybe for a night or two, but not better in a best-of-seven.

Close your eyes. Is there any scenario you can picture that has the Celts beating Miami or Chicago in a first-round series? Or a second?

We’re willing to bet Ainge can’t either. And to admit so wouldn’t make him or you disloyal or, worse, like one of them damn media wretches. It would mean that you’ve done a cost-benefit analysis based on facts in evidence.

So if you’re a championship-or-nothing team, which the Celtics have to be with so many thirtysomethings in key roles, there are no grades. This is a pass-fail proposition. The question between now and the March 15 trade deadline is, therefore, what can Danny Ainge do that will make the Celts better in the future?

That’s why he’s willing to listen to calls about Rondo or even bring up his name. Rondo’s their most valuable asset, and if you want to shop in the high-end stores, you have to be willing to pull out your gold card. And know this: If the Celtics don’t move Rondo for something major or get extremely fortunate in the draft, they’ll almost certainly be treading water — at best — in 2012-13.

Why? Because there likely will be just two maximum contract free agents out there this summer, and it’s doubtful in the extreme the Celts will be getting either Dwight Howard or Deron Williams to walk through their door. After that, you’re looking at Eric Gordon, who figures to be restricted (if the Hornets give him the qualifying offer, they can match any bid that comes his way).

So Ainge would be out of his mind not to see what every player in his employ would fetch. It’s also fair to assume he’s been doing that all along — and according to multiple league sources, there just hasn’t been much call for the Big Three.

It’s also interesting to hear cries for the Celtics to blow things up or rebuild on the fly, when they’ve already tried (offering Ray Allen to Sacramento for Kevin Martin in 2010). And by making sure Allen’s deal expired with Kevin Garnett’s and not signing Glen Davis to a multiyear deal and avoiding players who might make them marginally better but handcuff them in the longer run, the Celts have given themselves a fairly clean slate. It was a timed implosion.

The belief here, too, is that the Celtics wouldn’t mind getting worse to get better . . . you know, buy a lottery ticket. If they could find a deal that got them something for the future (a draft pick or the rights to a currently entwined foreigner) but hurt them this year to the point they missed the playoffs, a lucky bounce of the ping-pong balls might be the best thing that could happen to this club. Or do you forget what a Mr. T. Duncan did for San Antonio’s fortunes?

The Celtics are where they are today because in 2007 they chose to cast their lot with veterans who got them one championship and should have won them a second. They have missed out on some better players in the draft, but that can be said about pretty much every team in the last five years that didn’t take Kevin Durant or Derrick Rose.

The Celts have entered the NBA’s purgatory, and they could be here still next season — only without so many famous people. The best you can do for now is enjoy those games like Sunday’s against teams of similar social strata and brace yourself for the inevitable crashes.

Louis Vuitton Handbags
Louis Vuitton Outlet
lv bags