June 18, 2008 - Los Angelas, California. It was a performance for the ages by the MVPs, and Kobe Bryant finally has his fourth ring. More importantly, Kevin Garnett has his first. The Lakers defeated the Detroit Pistons 92 - 87 at the Staples Center...
Today's Boston Globe has the front page story about the Celtics taking the NBA Finals series with their destruction of the Lakers 131-92. The two top scorers for the Celts were Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. However, the stories could have been different if not for the sequence of draft picking in 2007.
What if the envelopes for the top two picks of the draft had contained the Boston Celtics' logo? They deserved it, right? They tanked so many games to finish at 24-58. Looking at their roster at the time, the Celts highest paid players included Wally "double Z" Szczerbiack, Theo Ratliff, and Vin Baker. They earned Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.
So, instead, the cruel lottery balls of the NBA granted the Celtics the fifth pick. They trade it away to get Ray Allen. They then convince KG to come roost in the new Garden. The rest is history.
What if they had the first two picks? First they would have either had Oden's non-playing gimpy knees or Kevin Durant's pretty good year. Second, they would not have had Ray Allen. Third, I'm pretty sure that KG wouldn't want to come be apart of another rebuilding team. Fourth, you probably lose Paul Pierce. If he's still on the team at this time in our alternate NBA universe, he would be shout to any available news media outlet that he wants out of the NBA altogether, ready to run off with Starbury to the former USSR.
So, here's a possible starting five if they had the first pick: Rondo (G), West (G), Pierce (F), Jefferson (F), Perkins (C). Sub in Durant for West if they had the second pick. Expectation, 35-40 wins maybe?
Thank the bounce of the ping pong ball, Celtics fans.
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