One pick, several options
by, Greg Hutchins

Donnie Walsh take note: Danny Ainge has given you the blueprint to go from worst to first in one year. Ainge's plan to rebuild the Boston Celtics from a 24 game winner to an NBA champion started with a savvy draft day deal. After losing out on a golden opportunity to draft Greg Oden thanks to the unlucky bounce of a few ping pong balls, Ainge parlayed his misfortune into a championship building block. Trading the 5th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft for perennial All-Star Ray Allen turned out to be a bank heist for the much-maligned GM. Rather than gamble on pairing Paul Pierce with rookie Jeff Green and facing 2-3 more years of rebuilding, Ainge secured the services of one of the league's premier shooters. He also dumped the salaries of Wally Szczerbiak & Delonte West while picking up an additional draft pick (# 35) that became Glen "Big Baby" Davis. A few weeks later, Ainge's placed a call into former teammate Kevin McHale regarding Kevin Garnett's availability and the rest is shall we say championship history.

Every prominent lottery candidate with the exception of Derrick Rose & Michael Beasley has worked out at the MSG Training Center. Reports are O.J. Mayo & Jerryd Bayless shot the lights out during their drills while DJ Augustin showed off his floor general ability. Joe Alexander validated the belief that he may be the steal of the draft with his impressive athleticism and work ethic. Russell Westbrook drew comparisons to Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo. Danilo Gallinari chose to workout solo (which concerned many) but showed promise.

Danny Ainge's 2007 draft day agenda seems eerily reminiscent to Donnie Walsh's plight. Walsh has played his cards close to the vest, but appears to be weighing all of his options. Some insiders believe he's itching to make a trade to shed Zach Randolph's contract, but Randolph's recent nightclub skirmish may squash that opportunity. A more plausible scenario would be trading starting center Eddy Curry. Curry is owed $31.5MM over the next 3 seasons and would clearly slow down D'Antoni's run & gun attack. With teams like Washington, Atlanta & Detroit in the market for size, Walsh's trade options abound.

Should Donnie Walsh trade down, there is a distinct possibility he will make a run at his former team's franchise player, Jermaine O'Neal. O'Neal had until June 30th to decide whether to test the market and become an unrestricted free agent, but elected not to opt out of the final two years of his contract. Although he's owed $44MM, acquiring him would not hinder Walsh's plan to be under the cap in 2010 when Lebron James hits the open market. Walsh may be inclined to call his former protégé Larry Bird about a swap of assets. Surely, Bird would want fan favorite David Lee and/or Jamal Crawford in return. If Walsh can get Bird to take 1-2 of his albatross contracts plus the 6th pick for O'Neal, it's a win-win scenario considering Augustin may still be on the board at 11. Walsh could conceivably leave The Garden with an All-American point guard, a premier shot blocker and a legion of energized fans.

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