True to their word, the Celtics were merely bystanders in what most observers called the weakest draft since 2000, holding steady with the 58th pick where they selected Lester Hudson from Tennessee-Martin.
But the draft was merely a sidebar on a day when the top contenders in the East added mega-watt star power as Cleveland grabbed Shaquille O’Neal and Orlando traded for Vince Carter. Add in Washington’s moves earlier in the week to get Mike Miller and Randy Foye, and suddenly, the Eastern Conference got a whole tougher.
“Vince is a great player,” Boston basketball boss Danny Ainge said after the draft. “That makes Orlando a stronger team. I think the East is getting better. We have our summer plans. Nothing that’s happened has changed any of our plans.”
Ironically -- or maybe not so ironically, given the nature of NBA trade rumors -- the Celtics stood pat, despite an avalanche of rumors to the contrary. Ainge reaffirmed his stance that he’s not looking to move Rajon Rondo.
“Nowhere,” was his response when someone half-jokingly asked where Rondo was going on the post-draft conference call. “Those of you guys that talk to me on a regular basis know that I didn’t say anything (on WEEI) that I haven’t said before. In light of all the rumors it probably made for a better story. We’re not trading Rondo. We love Rondo. We always have. He’s not perfect. He’s a young player that has to get better.”
Still, Ainge couldn’t resist another subtle jab adding, “We just don’t like it when you’re late.”
In the wake of the momentous moves Thursday, where does that leave the Celtics? In the same place they were before Shaq joined forces with LeBron (credit Howard Beck of the New York Times with tabbing Shaq as “The Big Witness”), and Carter was dealt to the Magic.
It’s worth noting that neither the Cavs nor the Magic gave up much value to obtain their new superstars. The price for Shaq was a straight salary dump with Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic going to Phoenix, and the Magic unloading the expendable Rafer Alston, backup big man Tony Battie and Courtney Lee (the best player to leave either of the contenders) to get Carter and Ryan Anderson from New Jersey.
The Celtics don’t have those kinds of pieces to move. If Ainge does make a deal, he would have to part with one of his core players, whether it’s Rondo, Ray Allen or Kendrick Perkins to name the three that have surfaced in various rumors.
That isn’t to say there won’t be a trade in the offing, but with the draft now behind us the chances grow slimmer. Now comes the hard part for Ainge and the Celtics. With the start of free agency just days away, Ainge played it coy when asked about any of his plans although he did say there was nothing new on the Eddie House front. House can opt out of his contract and his agent has made indications that he might.
In the end this may all have been an elaborate smokescreen designed to shake Rondo up a little bit and negotiate publicly on a possible contract extension. But on a day when the Magic certainly got better and the Cavs gave LeBron a new toy, the Celtics played it close to the vest, offering a little sanity to an insane last few days.
Five more things from draft day where every pick is a winner, at least according to ESPN’s expert panel.
1. MEET LESTER HUDSON
With the 58th pick the Celtics chose Lester Hudson, a 24-year-old shooting guard from Tennessee-Martin who rose from a difficult childhood to become the two-time Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.
Hudson never graduated from high school. In fact he didn’t even graduate from junior high. A product of a rough area of Memphis, Hudson had problems with truancy as a young man, but managed to get his life together -- and earn a college degree -- while averaging over 27 points a game.
“He’s a tough kid,” Ainge said. “I don’t care about those kinds of things. I care about how hard he competes. He instigates physical play with the ball in his hands.”
Hudson is only 6-foot-2 but he has long arms and a strong body. He’s a
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