The Celtics are in trade talks with a couple of teams (including the Clippers), so they might end up with more picks in next week’s NBA Draft.  For now though, they only have one pick (#16 overall, first round).  The Celtics are desperate for a legit center.  With that in mind I have them picking Mason Plumlee out of Duke in the first round next week in my mock draft found on bloglockers.com.

The Boston Celtics have a very tough decision to make in free agency.  Paul Pierce is no doubt going to opt in for $15.33 million bucks for the 2013-14.  If the Celtics do the unthinkable and cut Pierce after he opts in, they would save $10 million bucks against the salary cap.  The Celtics also have three other free agents heading into this summer.  Here is who I see staying and leaving:

Paul Pierce – As much as this hurts to say…..I see the Celtics letting Pierce go if they can’t deal him during next week’s NBA Draft.  It’s going to be a shame if things go down like what is being reported to likely happen.  VERDICT:  Leaving

Josh Selby – Selby didn’t play in any games for the Celtics last year and I don’t see that changing in 2013-14.  VERDICT:  Leaving

D.J. White – The Celtics might bring back White, because he plays cheap.  VERDICT:  Staying

Chris Wilcox – Wilcox will be looking for a team that will let him play more.  VERDICT:  Leaving

Power forward Kevin McHale was a part of the best frontcourt I have ever seen.  He teamed up with small forward Larry Bird and Robert “The Chief” Parish, to give the Celtics a dominating front line.  He has shoulders wider than Boris Karloff when he played Frankenstein in the 1930′s all-time classic horror movie.  That helped him box out and get a lot of rebounds in his career.  His best season for the Celtics came back in 1986-87.  He played in 77 games (all starts) in 1986-87 with the Celtics and he averaged 39.7 minutes, 26.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.2 blocked shots as he shot an NBA leading 60.4% from the floor!  McHale played in 971 games in his 13 years with the Celtics and he averaged 31.0 minutes, 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game.  McHale is still #4 in Celtics’ history in games played with 971 of them.  He is also #2 in offensive rebounds (2,358), #5 in defensive rebounds (4,764), #6 in total rebounds (7,122), #2 in blocked shots (1,690) and he’s #5 in points scored (17,335) in Celtics’ history.

35-year old SG/SF Paul Pierce had another solid year in 2012-13 for the Celtics.  He played in 77 games (77 starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 33.4 minutes, 18.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Pierce has now played in 1,102 games (1,099 starts) in his first 15 years with the Celtics and he is averaging 36.6 minutes, 21.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Pierce is the Celtics’ all-time leader in steals (1,583) and three pointers made (1,823).  Pierce is also #3 in games played (1,102), #8 in offensive rebounds (1,008), #3 in defensive rebounds (5,643), #7 in total rebounds (6,651), #4 in assists (4,305), #4 in blocked shots (668) and he’s #2 in points scored (24,021) in Celtics’ history.  Trade rumors are starting to surface with Paul Pierce’s name it it.  I hope they don’t deal him as he should spend his whole career in Celtics’ green.

The Celtics had big time injury issues and they are getting older by the day, so 51-year old head coach Doc Rivers did the best he could.  Rivers led the Celtics to a 41-40 (50.6%) record during the regular season and then they were knocked out in six games in the first round of the playoffs for the Knicks.  Rivers is now 416-305 (57.7%) for the Celtics in his first 9 regular seasons for the Celtics and he is also 59-47 (55.7%) during the playoffs.  The Celtics were the 2007-08 NBA Champs under Doc Rivers.  Rivers now has a 587-473 record during the regular season (55.4%) and he is 64-57 (52.9%) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career.

21-year old power forward Jared Sullinger slid in the 2012 NBA Draft due to back issues.  Sullinger played in 45 games (5 starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 19.8 minutes, 6.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game before blowing out his back and having his season end.  Sullinger had 4 double-doubles last year.  He also had 10 games with at least 10 points and 6 games with at least 10 rebounds.  If he can stay healthy, Sullinger will be a big part of the Celtics’ future.  22-year old center Fab Melo played most of last season in the D-League.  He played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 6.0 minutes, 1.2 points and 0.5 rebounds per game.  Melo needs to start showing something for the Celtics in the near future if he wants to stick around with them for a big longer.

The Celtics had a rough season in 2012-13.  Their leader at both ends of the court blew out his knee in the middle of the season and they weren’t the same team after it happened.  The Celtics finished up the regular season in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division with a 41-40 record, 12.5 games behind the Knicks.  Then the Celtics got knocked out by the Knicks in six games in the first round of the playoffs.  Here is a look at the players who I thought had the biggest impacts for the Celtics in 2012-13, in my opinion:

TEAM MVP:  Paul Pierce:  35-year old SF/SG Paul Pierce is still the best player on the Celtics.  He played in 77 games (all starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 33.4 minutes, 18.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Pierce had 12 double-doubles and he had 1 triple-double for the Celtics in 2012-13.  Pierce had 31 games of at least 20 points, 12 games of at least 10 rebounds and 4 games of at least 10 assists in 2012-13 for the Celtics.

BIGGEST SURPRISE:  Jeff Green:  26-year old small forward Jeff Green missed the entire 2011-12 season due to heart surgery.  The Celtics wanted to take things slowly with Green in 2012-13, but he played in every game for them and his playing time increased as the season went along.  Green played in 81 games (17 starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 27.8 minutes, 12.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  Green had 52 games with at least 10 points and he had 29 games with at least 5 rebounds for the Celtics last year.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:  Rajon Rondo:  27-year old point guard Rajon Rondo’s blown out knee was the disappointment here, as he was his usual outstanding self earlier this year.  Rondo played in 38 games (all starts) for the Celtics in 2012-13 and he averaged 37.4 minutes, 13.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 11.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game.  He had 20 double-doubles and 3 triple-doubles in 2012-13.  He had 7 games in which he scored at least 20 points, 6 games of 10 or more rebounds, 27 games of 10 or more assists and 13 games of 3 or more steals in 2012-13.

The Celtics only shot 38.1% from the floor and they were out-rebounded 42-35 last night, which did them in.  Jeff Green (21 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal) and Kevin Garnett (15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals) led the way for the Celtics in this game.  Paul Pierce only shot 4 of 18 from the floor last night, but he still finished up with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.  Jason Terry (14 points and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes) and Avery Bradley (10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals) also pitched in for the Celtics last night.  The Celtics are now done for the 2012-13 as the Knicks knocked them out 4-2.

Center Kevin Garnett has been on fire lately for the Celtics as he is willing his team to win.  In his last three games against the Knicks, Garnett is averaging 36.7 minutes, 13.7 points, 17.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Garnett has now played in 5 games (all starts) overall against the Knicks and he is averaging 34.2 minutes, 12.2 points, 14.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  The Celtics hope that K.G. keeps up the good work as they are going to need all hands on the deck to come all the way back and beat the Knicks.

The Boston Celtics were all business last night as they only played 7 players and they played excellent defense in holding the Knicks to a paltry 39.5% shooting from the floor.  Jeff Green led the way for the Celtics last night with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.  Brandon Bass (17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal), Jason Terry (17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot in 35 minutes off the bench), Paul Pierce (16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal) and Kevin Garnett (16 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots) also pitched in.  The Celtics gave a very impressive team effort last night and they are now down 3-2 to the Knicks in this series.