GO FOR 2

The Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and all-stars Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett apparently all visited Detriot Piston’s free agent forward Rasheed Wallace, hoping to add another piece to compete in the growingly competetive East. There’s only one interesting issue here…the Celtics were already one of the most competetive teams in the East.

Photo Courtesy of Keith Allison (Flickr - Creative Commons Licensed)

A healthy Celtics’ roster, as is, appears to be a lock for the playoffs next season – and based on their performances over the last two years, they also have a good shot at reaching the finals. Consider the fact that the Celtics only had Kevin Garnett for 57 games last season, he didn’t play in the playoffs, and the Celtics still went into the second round. You can point to the fact that the Celtics played quite well in the regular season without Garnett, but they weren’t playing playoff-caliber teams during that entire stretch. It was also the regular season, in the playoffs having the experience of a veteran player like Garnett pays increased dividends. It’s also worth noting that Celtics’ point guard Rajon Rondo has improved greatly each of his first three years, and jumped up to over 8 assists a game last year, if he keeps improving then the Celtics have an ideal backcourt with Rondo handling the ball and Allen able to provide great offense.

The big question for the Celtics was simply whether their roster, which is rather advanced in age (read: geezers) could stay healthy for 82 games and the playoffs. Now if you add Rasheed Wallace to the mix, you take a championship caliber roster (remember, they crushed the Lakers with this roster two years ago) and you add an experienced, versatile big man. Wallace averaged over 12 points and 7 rebounds a game last season for the crumbling Pistons, but he also adds a huge amount of versatility. Wallace averaged over a block a game, but still shot over 35% from beyond the arc…making him difficult to guard for forwards. The fact that Wallace can score from everywhere on the floor also helps open things up for Garnett inside, and for Pierce and Allen out on the arc or inside. Rasheed also brings even more veteran experience, and will be working hard to add another title at the end of his career – and you can’t put a value on desperation.

Even with Wallace, you can’t just give the division to Detriot. Cleveland made a big move by adding Shaq, and is really pushing to add Ron Artest, a great scorer and one of the best defenders in the NBA. Still, you can’t deny that the Celtics – if they can stay healthy – are going to be tough on both sides of the ball and have a real chance to mess up what could be  ’The Chosen One’s’ last shot at a title in Cleveland.