Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
This is the issue with rebuilding that is so often under-appreciated: You’ve got to be lucky. It has nothing to do with the tired trope about free agents not wanting to sign in Boston. Free agents don’t really like signing anywhere new. They mostly like to stay put, or to be traded before free agency. Ask DeAndre Jordan about that.
Somewhere along the line, something improbable has to happen that shakes free a star player and sends him your way. A general manager in this league can do everything exactly as he should, can plan for trades and free agency carefully and wisely. But he can’t force players like Harden or Howard onto the market — or a guy like Garnett back in 2007, when the Celtics were last able to cash in assets and turn themselves into contenders. Ainge also couldn’t force Michael Jordan to give up his crush on Frank Kaminsky and trade the No. 9 pick.
If you’re running an NBA team, all you can do is keep your roster flexible and your draft-pick balance sheet stocked in your favor. Then you can only wait. It’s a bit like fishing. You might have some excellent new hip waders and the perfect lures, and you might cast a thousand times, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to catch anything.
Sporting News – Celtics’ rebuilding plan didn’t count on never getting any breaks
You’d think a franchise that has a leprechaun mascot and a shamrock logo would be the luckiest team on the planet. No doubt, the Celtics have had their share of good fortune: trading for the draft rights to Bill Russell; drafting Larry Bird as a junior-eligible after five teams passed; and beating the Lakers in overtime in Game 7 of the 1962 finals, after LA’s Frank Selvy (not deadly scorers Jerry West or Elgin Baylor) took an open 18-footer at the end of regulation time to win the championship – and missed it.
But we know the Celtics are not the luckiest team ever. Otherwise, Tim Duncan and Kevin Durant would be wearing green; Bird would’ve had a healthy back; and – hate to say it – Len Bias and Reggie Lewis would be in the Hall of Fame.
So this Sporting News article tells us what we already know. Despite all his best efforts to rebuild the Celtics, Danny Ainge can’t control everything. Boston needs a break and we don’t know where it will come from, or when. Or if it will happen at all.
Actually, as referenced in the article, Ainge has already received one ginormous lucky break. After the disastrous 2007 lottery, going in second worst and dropping to the fifth pick, the Celtics enjoyed the luck o’ the Irish with trades for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Banner 17 ensued.
So there are two ways of looking at the current situation:
- Can lightning strike twice? Not likely.
- In Danny we trust. He did it once, he can do it again.
Have to go with option 2. Perhaps we’re looking through green-tinted glasses, but eventually something big has to break for Boston. It might be KG trade 2.0, Ainge outfoxing the next Billy King, or (dare we hope?) the lottery balls finally bouncing the right way with next year’s Brooklyn and Dallas picks.
After all, Ainge did this to another team famous for leprechauns and shamrocks. He’ll find a way to get lucky.
On Page 2: Salute to Jo Jo
The tumor on his brain was the size of a walnut. The operation to remove it lasted six hours. The wait for news for loved ones was so excruciating that his wife still gets choked up, five years later, replaying the moment doctors came out to say Jo Jo White had survived surgery. As part of the recovery, he had to re-learn to walk.
And now he’s going into the Hall of Fame.
NBA.com – Celtics’ White get his cherry on top with Hall invitation
Nice tribute here to Jo Jo, one of the all-timers, No. 10 on the banner of retired Celtics legends, who’s being enshrined in the Hall of Fame this Friday. With all the attention given to the Bill Russell and Larry Bird eras, the ’70s squads get a bit short-changed. But they won two titles behind three Hall of Famer players – White plus Dave Cowens and John Havlicek – and head coach Tommy Heinsohn (already in the HOF as a player, now being inducted on Friday as a coach).
After such a long wait, not to mention that scary medical crisis, it’s satisfying to see Jo Jo get his due.
Bonus in the video that accompanies the article: Jo Jo assists on a basket by a number 33 who is not Larry Bird, but the less-than-legendary Garfield Smith.
Related: Globe – Celtics great Jo Jo White gets call to the Hall at long last | CSNNE – White grateful to complete well-deserved journey to Hall | With Hall beckoning again, Heinsohn set to make history | Yahoo – Celtics great JoJo White tapes Hall of Fame speech | MassLive – 2015 Basketball Hall of Fame presenters announced
And, finally… First pitch, behind the scenes
WATCH: A behind-the-scenes look at Tommy Heinsohn and JoJo White throwing the first pitch at Fenway park http://t.co/N2OfvXs56x
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 9, 2015
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