So Far, It's Been an Offseason to Forget

(Photo courtesy of DGA Productions)

By: Greg Payne

I don't want to come off as a complete pessimist here, but so far, this offseason has frankly been one to forget. From all of the rumored surgeries, to the executed surgeries, to coaches possibly leaving and these vicious trade rumors, free agency (the last beacon of hope) can't come soon enough. Hopefully then, I'm writing about all of the good things that have been happening. Here's our offseason so far:

May 18: No time is wasted, as a mere day after the season ends we learn that associate head coach Tom Thibodeau will interview for the Philadelphia 76ers head coaching vacancy. While we certainly can't blame Tibs for wanting to further his career, he continues to be the defensive architect for this team as well as an extremely valuable asset to Doc Rivers.

May 19: We learn that Paul Pierce (bone spurs) and Kendrick Perkins (shoulder) might require offseason surgery and that Ray Allen was battling a somewhat severe hamstring injury throughout the playoffs that apparently wasn't getting better anytime soon.

Why did the Celtics withhold this information from the fans and the media until after the season was over? After struggling to find a realistic solution for Allen's playoff shooting woes and Pierce's inability to take over games at times when we felt he should have, the answer was right in front of us the entire time.

Also on May 19, the Los Angeles Clippers win the NBA Draft Lottery. A concrete sign of the Apocalypse, right? If things start going right for the Clippers, that means some other team needs to take on the role they've been playing the entire time they've been an NBA franchise...

May 20: Gary Tanguay of Comcast SportsNet reveals that Kevin Garnett would have played against the Cleveland Cavaliers had the Celtics made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. If that's not the biggest slap to the face, I'm not sure what is. Not only were we ousted in Game 7 after another grueling series with the Magic, but three days later we learn that if we had pulled it out (say by not allowing that 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter) our best defensive player and our energy guy would have been back in uniform - the player we were all dying to see play again.

May 26: Not only is Thibodeau submitting his resume for the Philadelphia job, but it is announced today that he will also be putting his name in for the Sacramento Kings' gig. Not that we don't want Tibs to succeed, but we had to be pleased when Eddie Jordan was awarded the Sixers job and when it was revealed that Paul Westphal and Kurt Rambis were ahead of Tibs in the running for the Kings' vacancy.

May 26: Kevin Garnett undergoes successful right knee surgery. While this is good news in the sense that KG can now work his way back into form for next season, you never want the true highlight of the offseason so far to be your best player undergoing surgery. KG is expected to make a full recovery, but if we were to receive some KG news, wouldn't we rather it be of the, "Garnett masters Kareem Abdul-Jabbar skyhook" brand?

For the record: Why does no one try and use that move anymore? I'd be willing to bet your average NBA center would transform into a borderline All-Star with that as his main move.

May 27: Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo will miss Team USA minicamp in July in order to partake in Perkins's wedding. While we can't fault Perk getting married, some Celtic representation on Team USA would have been nice, and it probably would have also helped out Perk and Rondo in the All-Star/league-wide respect area.

May 29: The Los Angeles Lakers oust the Denver Nuggets in six games in the Western Conference Finals to move on to the NBA Finals for the second straight season. Oh, happy day.

June 1: The true punch to the gut. Apparently, Wyc Grousbeck and the Celtics knew every significant detail of Kevin Garnett's knee injury, although they originally shrouded us in mystery. Grousbeck claimed the team was being "Belichickian", but to fans not used to such treatment, it somewhat felt like a stab in the back.

June 2: A rumor begins to swirl that the Phoenix Suns are willing to trade Amare Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and the 14th overall pick in this year's draft for Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. This trade certainly seems to make more sense for Phoenix, but rumors typically begin with a fraction of the truth (as they say). Fortunately, this rumor was squashed earlier today.

June 3: Tony Allen has right ankle surgery, after no one knew he had an ankle issue in the first place. Where did this ankle injury come from? Did he hurt it at the tail end of the regular season? Or somewhere in the postseason? Or, did he pull an Aaron Boone and hurt it playing some other sport? Perhaps tennis? No one knows, and as far as I can tell, no one is reporting any of the details surrounding the injury. All we know is the surgery was successful and that Allen is expected to be ready for training camp later this year (I'm not sure if we're counting that as good news or not...)

Looking Ahead: As it stands at this VERY moment, don't expect too much come the June 25th NBA Draft, where the Celtics hold just the 58th selection.

Moratorium gets under way July 1 and rolls right through July 7. Hopefully somewhere between those dates we'll develop a better understanding of who the Celtics are looking to sign. Then, once July 8 hits (free agency begins), maybe we can sign some of those players? You know, because we still want to win and all...

Stay Tuned.