Before I get into what is probably going to happen today, I want to say these past years with Doc Rivers, KG, Paul Pierce and to an extent Ray Allen, have been the best in my Celtics lifetime. It made every game regular and post season an awesome feeling seeing KG pump up the crowd, Ray Allen hitting 3s, Pierce being the Truth and Doc being the guy that made it all happen. Now that all of this is happening, it finally is the end of an era and the start of something that could be special.
I'm not mad at Doc Rivers, I am extremely disappointed. When he came here he preached loyalty, devotion to the game and to the Celtics. When he signed the 5 year deal 2 years ago, he said he wanted to be the next Greg Popivich or Jerry Sloan. When the times are getting tough and Danny wanted to rebuild for the future, Doc is turning and demanding to be sent to a better situation for the time being. It sucks, that a guy who we all thought was going to be here for years, is practically abandoning us. However, in Doc's defense, he is bringing NBA talent back, whether it be DeAndre Jordan, cap relief and picks or DeAndre Jordan, Bledsoe, Picks or whatever it is, his last act as a Celtic is helping the Celtics.
When this deal goes through I think it will be Doc/ KG/ Jason Terry for DeAndre Jordan/ Caron Butler/ Willie Green and 2 1st round picks. So what then?
The Celtics will have to search for a new coach and on my radar would be Stan Van Gundy and Lawrence Frank. Probably leaning towards Frank. Frank was an assistant coach here in Boston, he's young, so him being the coach of a young rebuilding team would probably work better than many coaches. Plus, Rondo is familiar with him already, so that is always a good thing.
It's now officially Rondo's team. I like it, with Pierce and KG, I always felt like he was still held back a little bit and unable to do what he really wanted to do, because of their age and style of play. This will open up the floor a lot hopefully.
I believe the Celtics will most likely let Pierce go come June 30th, and the Captain will go to LA to join Doc and KG. It will be a sad way to see Pierce go, I would love to keep him around, but if Danny is committed to this rebuild he has to do it. Plus, with the extra cap relief by losing Paul, will be paramount, especially since I have a feeling they will turn their efforts to Josh Smith.
Smith loves Boston, has always flirted with the notion of playing here and loves Rondo. If they have a team next year of Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Josh Smith and DeAndre Jordan, we are now getting somewhere. It will be a new era, a new Celtics as we know it, a lot more exciting/ frustrating, but it will be working towards something that can not only beat the Heat, but potentially win a Championship.
With everything so up in the air and the uncertainty of the future gives me anxiety, but it also gives me a ton of excitement thinking of what this team can be.