Shaquille O’Neal had perhaps the grandest entrance any player signed for the veteran minimum has ever had, arriving in Waltham to greet a phalanx of cameras, reporters and a group of kids from summer camp.
Shaq dressed for the occasion in a suit and bow-tie and generally said all the right things and dropped enough one-liners to make everyone happy. My colleague Kirk Minihane has the details in his column.
But once the pomp and unusual circumstance was over, the real news took place. In addition to introducing O’Neal, the Celtics also signed Luke Harangody to a two-year deal and later announced that they have waived Rasheed Wallace. For good measure Von Wafer was also in Waltham to meet the press.
The Celtics are almost done fashioning a squad that will try to hold off Miami and Orlando in the East and challenge the Lakers in the West, but there are still a few more tweaks to be made.
You’ve got questions, we try to provide some answers.
IS SHAQ REALLY COOL WITH COMING OFF THE BENCH?
He said he was and Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge both said Tuesday that they think it’s the right play. In fact, both went out of their way Tuesday to make it clear where they stood.
“We expect him to play a role off our bench,” Ainge said. “Shaquille has discussed those issues [with us]. He’s made it clear that they won’t become issues. We’re trusting him that they won’t be and he’ll play a role that is different than any role that he’s played in his career.”
Ainge said he talked to several players and they all gave their unanimous consent to the deal. Kevin Garnett even flew in from Hawaii to mark the occasion, spending the entire press conference up in the rafters. (He did yell out that Doc was a hater after a few good-natured jokes about KG’s age.)
Rivers said that he would like to have the roles figured out by the end of training camp and that he prefers to work with a set lineup. He also mentioned the advantage of bringing Shaq off the bench to give the second-unit a go-to scorer in the post.
“I told him there was not 30 minutes on this team,” Rivers said. “There will be 20-25 minutes. I asked him if that was OK because that’s the only way it will work. We talked about coming off the bench. It’s very important when you get a guy like Shaq to be up front and honest and tell him where you see he’ll be. If he can accept that he’ll fit our mold.”
The expectations for Shaq are clear and it appears that he has bought in to them.  
WHAT ABOUT PERK?
The biggest reason for Shaq’s arrival is the uncertain status of Kendrick Perkins as he rehabs from knee surgery. Perkins is not expected back until the All-Star break and that may be a best-case scenario.
The reality is that no one knows when he will return and the Celtics aren’t taking any chances.
“Kendrick has a very bright future and obviously he knows that we think very highly of him,” Ainge said. “We’re not certain when he is going to be 100 percent and that does allow us to be patient with Kendrick. At the same time I’m sure Kendrick is worried and nervous because we are going to win basketball games with this frontline even when he’s not playing. Hopefully he can just focus on getting healthy and competing for his job back.”
There are no guarantees for Perkins and the Celtics have added insurance in his absence. Those are the stakes this season.
CAN LUKE HARANGODY CONTRIBUTE?
Time will tell. Harangody impressed everyone with his play in Orlando and parlayed that into a two-year guaranteed deal.
“He’s going to be a player in this league,” Rivers said. “He’s quirky offensively. He’s had to figure out a way to score and not be dominant athletically. I love players like that because that means that they play with their head. Those are the type of players that make it in our league.”
That’s a good start but summer league and the NBA are two entirely different things. The Celtics also like what they have in first-round pick Avery Bradley.
The upside for Bradley in his rookie season is that he becomes a smaller version of Tony Allen defensively. The worst-case scenario is that he spends most of the year in the D-League gaining experience. Considering that he’s just 19 years old, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
The good news for the Celtics is that they’re not counting on either rookie to play a meaningful role this season. That will allow them both time to develop.
HAS VON WAFER MATURED?
For many the enduring image of Von Wafer in an NBA uniform is when Rockets coach Rick Adelman sent him back to the locker room during a playoff game. Wafer apologized the next day, but the damage had been done.
The Rockets didn’t renew his contract, even after a breakout year in which he averaged almost 10 points a game, and he spent a year in exile.
“I just acted out at the wrong time,” Wafer said. “I love Coach Adelman. He’s the first coach who gave me an opportunity to play. I never talked back to him. I just acted out at the wrong moment. It cost me. It cost me a lot. That just can’t happen.”
Wafer signed with a team in Greece last season, but he bought his way out of his contract and his attempts to return to the NBA were thwarted when it was reported that he failed physicals in Memphis and Houston. The Mavericks eventually did sign him to a 10-day contract but he never saw action.
Wafer said that he’s fine physically and that mentally he’s a much stronger player. He knows he has a lot to prove this season.
“I didn’t want to go out that way,” he said. “A lot of bad things were said about me. That’s why I’m here early trying to get ready. This is a big year for me. I can’t go out like that. I’ve got too much pride. I’m more mature now. I know how this business works. You work hard, keep your mouth shut and stay out of trouble and you’re going to be blessed and fortunate.”
The biggest knock on Wafer is his defense, which he also acknowledged.
 “Not good,” he said. “I’ve heard bad things about my defense. I think I’m an OK defender. The name of the game is putting more points up on the board than the other team.”
Wafer will find out soon enough that OK doesn’t cut it defensively with the Celtics, but he is more prepared for the challenge.
WHAT ABOUT THAT LAST ROSTER SPOT?
The Wallace move means that the Celtics won’t use his contract to try to land another player. In the end there simply wasn’t a match, so they elected to move on.
Rivers would like to add another shooter. So would everyone else in the NBA. The list of available swingmen has been picked clean, but there are still three names floating in the ether that are or could be available: Rudy Fernandez, Delonte West and Larry Hughes.
West and Hughes are free agents and would have to agree to come for the veteran minimum, which is all the Celtics have to offer. Hughes is a career 41 percent shooter and there’s even a website called heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com.
West has history with the Celtics and has proven to be a capable NBA player, albeit one with baggage. But shooting is not his strong suit, either.
Fernandez is a different case. He’s still on his rookie deal with the Blazers and is young, cheap and talented. Fernandez has chafed over a lack of playing time in Portland and it’s difficult to see how that would change in Boston playing behind Ray Allen, but it would be a coup if Ainge could pull it off.
It’s also possible that the Celtics could go to camp with what they have. They have Oliver Lafayette and Tony Gaffney on nonguaranteed deals and they like both players.
The answer to the ultimate question -- is this team good enough to win a championship? -- will have to wait.