I've seen references to the Celtics as the model that the Wizards should follow. The sugggestion was that we have Wall, Arenas and Blatche, (and max dollars available) therefore we should be looking for a big hitter to combine with these guys to reach that Celtic Big 3 level.
The point was made that the Celtics had nothing before those trades but were Champs afterward. I've argued pretty hard against the idea that this is the year to spend big or acquire long term 8-figure contracts. I thought it would be worthwhile to go over what the Celtics had done prior to bringing Garnett, Allen and PIerce together. For one I believe its important to put some details on areas where there is only blurry memory.
Secondly this allows me to agree that the Celtic model is exactly what we should be doing and exactly what Ted wants to do. The catch is that signing a max player this year would short cut the real building that was done in Boston.
Below is a chart I put together showing the 2006 Celtics, sorted by minutes played. I subtracted WallyZ and Scalabrine from the chart. In terms of minutes played but in the interest of full disclosure they came in just after Kendrick Perkins.Not all were drafted by Boston but that is because the NBA rules force teams to pick a player then trade him.
Player | Age | Exp | Draft Rd | Draft Year | |
Al Jefferson | 22 | 2 | 1 |
2004 | |
Ryan Gomes | 24 | 1 | 2 |
2005 | |
Delonte West | 23 | 2 | 1 |
2004 | |
Rajon Rondo | 20 | R | 1 |
2006/PHX | |
Gerald Green | 21 | 1 | 1 |
2005 | |
Paul Pierce | 29 | 8 | 1 |
1998 | |
Sebastian Telfair | 21 | 2 | 1 |
2006/MIN | |
Kendrick Perkins | 22 | 3 | 1 |
2003/MEM | |
Tony Allen | 25 | 2 | 1 | 2004 | |
Leon Powe | 23 | R | 2 | 2006 | |
*Dahntay Jones | 1 |
2003 | |||
*Troy Bell | 1 |
2003 | |||
*Traded to Memphis for the draft rights to Kendrick Perkins. |
1. Jefferson, Gomes, Gerald Green, Telfair and 2 #1's were dealt for Garnett.
2. The #5 pick, Delonte West, WallyZ and a 2 were dealt to Seattle for Ray Allen AND Glen Davis.
The Celtics turned those draft picks into stars while still having a core group of high draft picks who played huge roles in their Title run. Rondo and Perkins start, Allen and Poe were key reserves. So when you ask for the Wizards to follow the Celtic model, I absolutely agree. We should be acquiring as many high picks as possible to both develop and to leverage/package for better players in the future.
We mention the OKC or Spurs model but IMO the Celtics show what can be done when you combine multiple high picks, cap flexibility and, of course, timing. This is the kind of core Ted wants to build here so the Wizards can be good for a decade.