Allow Me to Speculate On All of This Speculation

(Photo courtesy of CBTC)

By: Greg Payne

I'll say it now: There will be many questions in this post and I won't necessarily be answering all of them. At this point, if so many "sources" and media personalities can speculate on trade rumors and specific players, why can't I speculate on why those rumors are even being brought up?

I believe that if Danny Ainge trades away any one of the "Big Three" or Rajon Rondo, it would count as "blowing up" this team. The second you trade away such a significant piece, it's clear you're most likely heading in an entirely new direction. But why would the Celtics want to head in a new direction, right now, when it appears they have so much going for them? With the steady improvements made by Kendrick Perkins and Rondo in this most recent postseason, you're simply looking at a much more colossal and powerful version of the same starting five who led the team to the title back in 2008. Where's the logic in breaking something like that up?

Does Ainge have his heart set on going young again? Does he believe this kid Tyreke Evans is the second coming to a guy like Dwyane Wade? What about not going completely young, just younger? Is it all about being competitive in the summer of 2010 when the balance of power could very easily shift in the NBA for the next ten seasons? Is it out of fear that LeBron James could elect to play for two of the five teams in the Atlantic Division that are not located in Boston? Is Ainge dealing with an underlying fear that his own players, such as Eddie House, Glen Davis and Rajon Rondo will turn on him if he doesn't offer them enough money?

If Kevin Garnett's veins are aggressively popping out of his head in anticipation for next season the way Wyc Grousbeck says they are, isn't that fact alone enough to make you want to give this group at least one, if not two, more chances at the title before switching up the personnel? Is only two years together a fair amount of time? Were we all that shocked when they won a championship that first season together that this suddenly became a two to three year project maximum as opposed to a possible four or five year experiment when it was first put together?

Didn't the Celtics keep shoveling out young teams for the four or five seasons before the championship? Weren't those years enough to prove that young players (and not necessarily the great ones like Dwight Howard and LeBron) are not capable of winning a championship? So suddenly they switched it around, brought in proven veterans with a steady cast of role players, and suddenly they're hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy!

I'm even going to bring Al Jefferson back into this equation. We traded away Big Al for KG knowing full well that Al would be playing in All-Star games for seven or eight seasons after Garnett retired. And we were going to be able to live with that as long as we saw an extra banner or two or three hanging in the rafters. If we gut this team now and give up on it, didn't we just waste Al Jefferson, who right now is the most gifted offensive big man in the NBA? If we were going to go for that whole youth thing again and bring in those ratty teenagers with their music, why didn't we just say screw that KG deal and hold on to Big Al and go with him for the next decade?

But I think now that we have won a championship with this group and we've seen exactly what it takes to do so, we just expect to do it all over again. We look at the names of the guys on our roster and it's clear that we're going to be able to compete for a championship for as long as that core remains together. And that's another thing!

This core has won a title together...they now know what it takes. Do you know how much teams sacrifice just to bring in someone who has been to the Finals before? It could be the fourth string point guard and the team will present him to the fans like some sort of ancient mystical tribe sacrificing a small goat to the Gods! Think back to how many stories were written in 2008 about James Posey's championship experience? It's one of the reasons he was brought here in the first place. So why would we bring in guys who haven't even made it to the NCAA championship game, let alone the NBA Finals after a grueling 82-game schedule?

Our goal is still a championship, right? Isn't that what this is all about? Isn't that what every year is all about? And since the Celtics were so high on the "one game at a time motto" in 2008, can't I drop the, "Why don't we take this one year at a time?" line? Why do we need to be so focused on being competitive in two or three years when we have such an ample and glaring opportunity to take home another title this coming season? If there's a two or three year dry spell after our "Big Three" are gone where we cough up 45-50 win teams and make it to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals at best before we re-acquire the necessary players, who cares? Wouldn't that be worth it? Are we losing sight of the value of a championship here?

Are we putting issues like money and contracts and the salary cap ahead of titles now? Are we that spoiled? Is the "This is Boston. We only accept championships!" line just a load of BS at this point?

I don't know about you, but I want to win a championship again. And I want to do it with this current group of guys. Not because I like them all as much as I do, but because they are, in fact, the best group of men for the job. And the bottom line is, that's all that should count right now.

Stay Tuned.