Too Good For Their Own Good

Boston surprise start could ruin the rebuilding project.

Remember when the “original big three” came together? Boston Celtic fans instantly fell into a Christmas-morning mindset, and the streets of “Bean Town” were filled with jubilation.

Dreams of a new dynasty in the National Basketball Association gave the city hope. It’s hard to not dance, jump and smile — like you slept with a hanger in your mouth — when your team acquires Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen for meaningless pieces. Oh yeah, and the Celtics held onto Paul Pierce. That’s definitely a reason to be excited.

Unfortunately for Boston, even with Doc Rivers at the helm, only one championship banner was raised despite consistently being atop the Eastern Conference. It’s been just more than a year since that “big three” was disbanded by Allen taking his talents to Miami. Now Garnett and Pierce are gone, leaving those once promising dreams behind. They’re both in Brooklyn and playing for a man who, just a few months ago, was playing against them.

When the Celtics licked the stamp and packaged its remaining two-thirds of what could have been a historic trio to the Brooklyn Nets, it was assumed the franchise was going to rebuild. It was more than assumed. It was guaranteed. The idea was for rookie head coach, Brad Stevens, to lead them into the future with the help of Rajon Rondo — a top-tier point guard.

All of the sudden, Boston fans forgot about the Pierce-Garnett-Allen train and hopped all aboard the Rondo-Andrew Wiggins express — assuming the Celtics got the best of the never-predictable NBA Lottery.

Well guess what, Boston, your team is winning… at least enough to lead the division.

Boston is 12-14, but that record is decent in an Eastern Conference that could be mistaken for the NBA D-League. Its the fourth seed in the East — yes, I’m aware it’s still December.

But look at it this way: Boston is a top-four team… in December! Wasn’t this supposed to be a team worthy of planting a flag on the floor of the league and claiming a top-three-lottery pick? The Celtics were supposed to have 12 wins by the All-Star break not by Christmas.

So the question has to be asked: what happens if Boston actually makes the playoffs?

If for some reason the Nets and the New York Knicks can’t turn around their mediocre seasons, and Boston continues to win, it will hurt the Celtics’ future.

This upcoming NBA Draft is going to be the deepest crop of prospects since 2003. Everyone knows about Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, etc. Imagine a scenario in which Boston is left out of the lottery. That means its highest pick would come from the Brooklyn Nets, who would give up the less favorable pick between their first-round selection and the pick belonging to the Atlanta Hawks (via the Joe Johnson trade). Well, Atlanta, at the moment, owns the third-best record in the East. So now you’re talking about a playoff team without a roster capable of winning an NBA ring and without lottery picks.

That’s not to say Boston doesn’t already have a talented core of young players, but it could be so much better. Rondo is under contract through next season, and many expect him to test free agency. Why wouldn’t he? Sure, Brad Stevens has said and done all the right things thus far as the Celtics’ new head coach, but it’s always about the benjamins. Rondo is set to make just less than $13 million next season. If he leaves Boston is left with Jeff Green, who has progressed further than anyone expected in the past two seasons, signed through next season with a player option for the 2015-16 season. If Rondo wants to get a price check on his stock, Green will too.

Highly-touted guards, Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford, have qualifying offers for next season, but if a team wants to poison-pill them like the Houston Rockets did Jeremy Lin (backload the contract) then Boston is going to have less to work with than MacGyver.

My personal prediction would be Rondo heading to Hollywood to join forces with Kobe Bryant before the “Black Mamba” rides off into the sunset. Green may choose to embrace his last name, but plenty of teams will throw money his way — including New York.

So maybe Boston should consider trading the 27-year-old Rondo now. He has the most value on the team and could be worth at least a first-round pick if a team is desperate enough. It might even explore trade scenarios for Green. Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge has not been hesitant to pulling the trigger on trades to improve his team, but it’s a different story when trying to build for the future.

No one from within the Boston organization is going to put a sticky note on his or her forehead that says “tank” in bold letters. I don’t think anyone in the NBA would acknowledge the idea of losing on purpose, but it is something to discuss.

In order to rebuild, you have to break down. With the best record in the Atlantic Division, Boston may have to break down a little more if it wants to brighten its future.