Hope You're Taking Notes Because Danny Ainge Is Crushing It This Summer

I honestly don't think this summer could realistically be going much better for the Celtics.

With little money and few roster spots available, Boston has re-signed Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass, Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green while also adding Jason Terry. The only notable player to leave has been Ray Allen so I think you have to say that the team has improved immeasurably thus far since Wilcox and Green didn't appear in the playoffs (in Green's case all season).

Today, the C's acquired guard Courtney Lee from the Rockets in a sign-and-trade deal; Houston gets guard E'Twaun Moore, forward JaJuan Johnson and forward Sean Williams. In addition, swingman Sasha Pavlovic was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers along with two second-round picks and cash considerations.

Lee gets a four-year deal worth $21.5 million according to Yahoo! Sports.

With Avery Bradley expected out for training camp and the beginning of next season, Lee will likely start at least until Bradley returns. That shouldn't be a problem since Lee has started nearly half (135 of 287) of the games he's played in his four NBA seasons.

A first-round pick in 2008 by Orlando (22nd overall) out of Western Kentucky, Lee went to the NBA Finals in his rookie season yet he was traded to the Nets before the next season. After one year with the Nets, he's spent the last two in Houston. I can't explain why he's been on three teams in four years since as far as I know, he's not a headcase or anything. All I can surmise is that it means he is coveted by other teams so for whatever reason, he keeps getting moved.

In 2011-12 with the Rockets, Lee averaged 11.4 points per game, 1.2 steals, 83% from the free throw line, 40% on 3-pointers and 43% from the field in 58 games (26 starts). His best individual season was 2009-10 with the Nets. In 71 games (66 starts), he put up 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 87% on free throws and 43% from the field.

Lee is 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds so he's able to check the bigger shooting guards in the NBA without many problems. When you combine him with Bradley and Terry, you sense that will be one of the Celtics' biggest strengths next season.

Moore was having a good summer with Boston's summer league squad but he's not a true point guard so he faced an uphill battle to get any playing time behind Rajon Rondo. Johnson was a first-round pick in 2011 so he's the guy that could potentially do something in Houston or elsewhere (I read he'd request a trade from there). He barely played in his rookie season and he didn't do anything really this summer. Johnson is very skinny so he doesn't really have a position despite being 6-foot-10. He seems like a nice kid so hopefully he can find his game at some point, he was a great college player at Purdue.

As for Williams, there was no way he would return to the Celtics. He is awful and won't be in the NBA in a year. Ditto for Sasha, he wouldn't have made the team with this infusion of talent since he barely played last season.

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The Dream Is Over: Celtics' Unbeaten Summer League Run Goes Down In Flames

After three very solid games in a row to start the 2012 Orlando Summer League, the Celtics laid an egg this afternoon against the Pistons.

Detroit (3-1) led the whole way and coasted to an easy 93-79 victory over Boston (3-1) to hand them their first loss of the week or summer if you will. All you need to know about how one-sided it was: the Pistons shot 12.5% better (48.6-36.1) and dished out 14 more assists (23-9).

Here come the excuses: the Celtics gave their main starters a bit of a break so the bench guys started. Not that it mattered since the Pistons were on fire all game long; credit to Boston for cutting it to seven in the fourth but they were never really in it.

Former Kentucky point guard Brandon Knight looked like Rajon Rondo with a game-high 19 points and 14 assists. Austin Daye had 15 points and eight rebounds, Khris Middleton scored 12 points and UConn product Andre Drummoned added 10 points and eight rebounds.

The two real bright spots for the C's were JaJuan Johnson (17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks), who had his best performance of the week and Kris Joseph (17 points, 11 rebounds), who continues to open eyes. Jamar Smith had 13 points, Jared Sullinger struggled from the field (2-for-9) but still managed 11 points and seven rebounds while Dionte Christmas scored his customary 10 points.

Boston closes out its week in Orlando with a matchup against the host Magic (2-2) tomorrow morning (10 a.m., NBA TV). After that, the C's will fly to Las Vegas as they are also participating in NBA Summer League in Sin City. Their first game there is on Monday night vs. Atlanta (6 p.m., NBA TV).

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Celtics Keeping Rolling In Orlando Summer League, Too Bad The Wins Are Meaningless

The beauty of NBA Summer Leagues is that provided you have a working DVR, you can watch your favorite team play a bunch of games in a short period of time. The results don't mean much and the rosters are made up of many has-beens, never weres and never will-bes but still, there is a reason to pay attention. You could be seeing the next great rookie or guy that comes out of nowhere like Jeremy Lin.

Boston (3-0) is the only unbeaten team left in Orlando as they knocked off Indiana (2-1) 85-77 this afternoon. It's unusual to see a Summer League team, which are usually thrown together at the last minute, have chemistry but the C's appear to work well together.

Six Celtics scored in double-figures led by Jared Sullinger (16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) and E'Twaun Moore (15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists). Kris Joseph (12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals) continues to be the most pleasant surprise for the Green and Dionte Christmas (10 points, 5 assists, 3 steals) has a good chance to make some NBA team while Jamar Smith (12 points) and JaJuan Johnson (11 points, 5 rebounds) both provided a lift off the bench.

The Pacers were a two-man team with Lance Stephenson (19 points, 7 turnovers) hogging the ball and Miles Plumlee (18 points, 8 rebounds) cleaning up inside despite his goofy hairdo.

There was plenty to like about Boston's effort since they basically outworked Indiana in every category which must have drove Larry Bird (sitting courtside) crazy. The Celtics shot 11% better from the field (51.6-40.6), grabbed six more rebounds (37-31), handed out twice as many assists (16-8), made one more steal (10-9) and two more blocks (7-5).

It was tight the whole way but the Celts outscored the Pacers in every quarter. Boston led 18-15 after one quarter and 36-31 at halftime. The C's edged the Pacers 19-18 in the third then both teams exploded in the fourth (30-28 Boston).

Once again, Boston gets the early start (11 a.m., NBA TV) as they face Detroit (2-1) tomorrow afternoon. Look out for UConn big man Andre Drummond on the Pistons, who has the potential to be great in the NBA or a complete bust. Nobody really knows which is part of what makes the Connecticut native so intriguing.

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2012 NBA Summer Leagues: Feel The Excitement In Orlando & Las Vegas

Just a quick reminder that if you consider yourself a true hoops junkie like myself, you will definitely want to tune into NBA TV the next few weeks for the Orlando Summer League (July 9-13) and NBA Summer League in Las Vegas (July 13-22).

The fun starts tomorrow as the Orlando Summer League kicks off at 11 a.m. with the Brooklyn Nets taking on the Orlando Magic. The Celts face the Oklahoma City Thunder at 1 p.m. (bless you DVR). Here's the rest of the schedule, note that the games are closed to the public.

Orlando Summer League
Date Time Opponent
Monday, July 9 1:00 p.m. Oklahoma City Thunder
Tuesday, July 10 5:00 p.m. Brooklyn Nets
Wednesday, July 11 11:00 a.m. Indiana Pacers
Thursday, July 12 11:00 a.m. Detroit Pistons
Friday, July 13 10:00 a.m. Orlando Magic

Here's the schedule for Vegas, that one should be much more exciting with many more teams and actual crowds. I officially hate anyone that gets paid to cover those contests.

NBA Summer League
Date Time Opponent Venue
Monday, July 16 4:00 p.m. Atlanta Hawks, Cox Pavilion
Tuesday, July 17 10:00 p.m. Chicago Bulls, Cox Pavilion
Thursday, July 19 6:30 p.m. Sacramento Kings, Thomas & Mack Center
Saturday, July 21 10:30 p.m. Milwaukee Bucks, Thomas & Mack Center
Sunday, July 22 6:00 p.m. Los Angeles Clippers, Cox Pavilion

According to the blog Secret Rival, these are the players that will at least start on the Celtics' roster tomorrow afternoon in Orlando. True to form in summer league games, things are pretty fluid so some guys might leave, get hurt, etc. so by no means is this final.

He lists age, position and what team they played for most recently.

BOSTON CELTICS
Craig Brackins (24) - C - Maine (D-League)
Dionte Christmas (25) - SG - Rethymno (Greece)
Jonathan Gibson (24) - SG - Trabzonspor (Turkey)
JaJuan Johnson (23) - F - Celtics
Kris Joseph (23) - SF - 51st pick out of Syracuse
Stephane Lasme (29) - PF - Obradoiro (Spain)
Fab Melo (22) - C - 22nd pick out of Syracuse
E'Twaun Moore (23) - SG - Celtics
Jamar Smith (25) - SG - BK Prostejov (Czech Rep)
Jared Sullinger (20) - PF - 21st pick out of Ohio State
Sean Williams (25) - F/C - Celtics/Mavericks

Things to note about those players:
1) Brackins prepped at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire before going to Iowa State
2) Christmas played at Temple, he was a very good college player
3) Lasme went to UMass-Amherst and nearly made the Celtics last season.
4) Johnson, Moore and Williams were buried on Boston's bench in the playoffs last spring so they'll be trying to show what they have.
5) All three 2012 draft picks are scheduled to play.

It is understandable if the NBA Summer Leagues don't do it for you; I get that it's a sickness to watch more than one or two of these games and I can accept that. Still, keep in mind that many of these players make NBA rosters if not next season then in the near future. It's also a great chance to get your first look at the next crop of rookies around the NBA and get a feel for who is going to be good, bad, etc.

Last of all, it's the MLB All-Star break aka the most dead period in the sports year so there really aren't any other options as far as this week goes. Follow me on Twitter (@RichSlate) since I will be watching all the Celtics' games and tweeting about them. If I feel like they deserve some blog posts, I'll do that too.

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Sixers Hand Celtics Their Worst Loss In The Big 3 Era

As far as I'm concerned, March is all about college basketball. The NBA might as well take the month off. So while I will be keeping tabs on the Boston Celtics, I can't say that I will be living and dying with every possession.

I recorded tonight's Celtics game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center and I'm so glad I saw plenty of Tweets about the game and score. The Sixers (23-17) handed the Celtics (20-18), their worst loss in the Big 3 era, 103-71.

I'm happy to report that I didn't watch a second of it. Normally, I view everything be it a blowout win or loss but I couldn't pull the trigger on this one. I guess I needed to save some brain cells.

In this condensed 66-game season, perhaps no team benefits more than the Sixers. They're young, athletic and deep. That's why they'll overachieve during the regular season then in all probability come back to reality once the playoffs begin. They're more suited to this insane schedule than an older team like the Celts as everybody and their mother knows.

Boston's five-game win streak went out the window as they suffered plenty of embarrassment including not making a single 3-pointer. With the victory, Philadelphia gained a full game on the Celtics in the standings; the Sixers lead by two although the Celts have two games in hand. I guess playing two overtime games in a row and on back-to-back nights, not to mention traveling to the far away city of Philly was too much for the C's to handle.

Evan Turner led Philly with a career-high 26 points and nine rebounds. Showing how much of a blowout it was, the Sixers' next three highest scorers all came off the bench: Elton Brand (18 points, 9 rebounds), Lou Williams (15 points) and Nikola Vucevic (14 points, 12 rebounds) each put up nice numbers. Andre Iguodala had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Jrue Holiday had 10 points and six assists.

Paul Pierce (15 points) and Brandon Bass (12 points) along with JaJuan Johnson (10 points off the bench) were basically the only Celtics with any semblance of pride.

These teams will meet twice more, maybe Boston will opt to show up for one of those. That would be a treat.

The Portland Trail Blazers (19-20) visit TD Garden on Friday night. It is a pivotal game for Boston and basically a must-win since after that they depart on a season-long eight-game (really) road trip that stretches across the West Coast and takes up most of March.

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KG Sits With A Hip Flexor And Pistons Shock The Celtics At TD Garden

Kevin Garnett sat out for the first time this season and as a direct result, the Boston Celtics lacked any passion or heart.

The Detroit Pistons (9-22) came into TD Garden tonight and beat the Celts (15-13) 98-88, sending Boston on a pivotal road trip with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Going 11-8 at home during an easy schedule to start the 2011-12 season is not how Doc Rivers and company drew it up. Now, they'll finish with 24 of their final 38 games on the road. Hope you enjoy the jet life guys.

Rajon Rondo scored a career-high 35 points but his other numbers were more modest: six assists, five rebounds, four steals. The team won't be successful when he's asked to carry that much of the load offensively. Not surprisingly, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen each were limited to 10 points. They combined for 16 shot attempts while Rondo took 27 shots.

Chris Wilcox started for KG and put up a similar line: 17 points and nine rebounds. JaJuan Johnson notched 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Three Pistons had 22+ points which is hard to fathom since they're an awful team. Rodney Stuckey led Detroit with 25 points while Greg Monroe had 22 points and nine rebounds. Ben Gordon put up 22 points off the bench.

Boston was only down one point (73-72) heading into the fourth but they folded in the final frame, getting outscored 25-16.

The Celtics will embark on their second longest road trip of the season, surpassed only by an insane eight-game trip in March. It's stretched out even longer since the All-Star break happens next weekend as well. They play three contenders (Chicago, Dallas, Oklahoma City) and two teams going nowhere (Detroit, Cleveland) although the Pistons and Cavaliers have both beaten Boston already this season.

The fun gets started tomorrow night as Boston rolls into Chitown for the double whammy: second night of a back-to-back and they beat the Bulls on Sunday. Yeah, it could get ugly.

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Ice Cube Thought Rajon Rondo Had A "Good Day"

I will freely admit that I'm just about the biggest Felger and Mazz honk that you'll find in New England. I have listened to their show since the Sports Hub was created and I try my best to have it on as much as possible from 2-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. I almost always agree with Felger and Mazz about basically everything Boston sports related but I feel like they're dead wrong on one thing at the moment: Rajon Rondo.

While they want to run Rondo out of town and trade him for Pau Gasol or somebody else, I'm content with watching Boston's current best player and also the future of the franchise.

This afternoon, Rondo turned in his 15th career triple-double (including playoffs) with 32 points, 15 assists (including 2 back-to-back sick alley oops) and 10 rebounds as the Celtics (15-12) picked up their biggest win of the season, 95-91 at TD Garden against the NBA's best team, the Chicago Bulls (23-7).

It was a far cry from Boston's no show loss on Friday in Toronto and it snapped a two-game losing streak for the Green. Chicago had come in on a five-game winning streak of its own.

The win comes with an MVP award shaped asterisk since Bulls guard Derrick Rose sat out with back spasms. I'm also not blind to the fact that Rondo still can't shoot jumpers consistently or hit free throws (although he was 10 for 13 today including 4 for 4 late in the 4th quarter).

His game will never be clean like Chris Paul's or Deron Williams' but his unique skill set is a perfect fit for this team; yes we overhype him because he's one of ours but I think it's silly to think that point guards like Rondo are easy to find. That's why you have to build around him through free agency and trades after this season.

Kevin Garnett added 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, Chris Wilcox (staring for the injured Jermaine O'Neal) had 11 points and nine rebounds, Ray Allen scored 11 points and Paul Pierce had nine points.

Other than Rondo's transcendent game, the thing I take away from this one is JaJuan Johnson. In his most extensive playing time in his NBA career (33 minutes), the rookie from Purdue proved that he's not shy about shooting (6 for 13 from the floor) as he had a career-high 12 points.

The immortal C.J. Watson led the Bulls with 22 points and six assists he started for Rose. Carlos Boozer (22 points, 7 rebounds) only plays on one end of the floor (offense) but he does it well. Joakim Noah had 16 points and nine rebounds while first-time All-Star Luol Deng (10 points) was neutralized.

The Celtics led 28-23 after the first quarter and 48-43 at halftime. Boston was up 72-66 heading into the fourth but it took them almost the entire frame to shake the Bulls.

Since former Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau (a Salem State alum!) took over the Bills, Chicago has always owned the C's. They play solid defense, they're big and they control the paint. When Rose is healthy, I give them a slight edge over the Heat since Miami still has no depth and LeBron poops his pants in every fourth quarter.

Boston shot much better (49.3-38.6%) but Chicago hit twice as many 3-pointers (6-3). The Celts had a season-high nine blocks while the Bulls only had two. Boston had five more turnovers (18-13) but they ran much more (33-7 fast break points).

Today's win evened up the season series at 1-1. They'll play twice more, both in Chicago, including on Thursday which is basically guaranteed to be a Bulls win if Rose suits up.

Bad news on the injury front: while Keyon Dooling and Avery Bradley played in this game, Brandon Bass didn't and he'll reportedly miss 10-14 days with knee inflammation which is never a good thing. He's been Boston's best bench player so that's a big loss for however long he's out.

The Celts get a few days off before they host one of the NBA's bottom feeders, the Detroit Pistons, on Wednesday. Boston picked up its first win of the season back on Dec. 30 when they rolled 96-85 over the Pistons. Since the C's just lost to the Raptors, I won't say a loss to the Pistons is impossible but it's not likely.

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It took A While But The Celts Are Rounding Into Form, Win Their Fourth Straight

Sadly Tony Allen wasn't able to suit up this afternoon in his return to Boston and his new squad similarly didn't show up as the Boston Celtics (13-10) waxed the Memphis Grizzlies (12-12) 98-80 this afternoon at TD Garden.

Zach Randolph has been out for a while with a knee injury and he's their best player so that explains why Memphis-which made a run to the Western Conference semifinals last season-has been so inconsistent out of the gates this season.

Brandon Bass missed the game for the Celts with a sore knee but they rolled on anyway to their fourth straight win.

Kevin Garnett led all scorers with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds. For the third game in a row, KG hit a 3-pointer (by design). I never thought I'd write those words but he seems to have a decent touch from long range. Apparently, he used to shoot 3s once in a while with the Timberwolves but thanks to college and alcohol, I really can't remember that.

Paul Pierce had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists while Ray Allen (4 of 14 shooting) added 12 points and Rajon Rondo handed out 14 assists. Chris Wilcox put up 12 points and five rebounds off the bench while rookie JaJuan Johnson had his second good performance in a week with 10 points, four rebounds and two blocks (not all in garbage time either).

An interesting note: Pierce is now nine points behind Larry Bird (ever hear of him?!) for second in all-time scoring for the Celtics. Expect him to break that in the first half, maybe even the first quarter of the next contest.

With Super Bowl 46 hanging over everyone, the Grizzlies thankfully didn't put up much of a fight. Rudy Gay had 21 points and seven rebounds but Sam Young was the only other starter in double-figures with 10 points. O.J. Mayo scored 15 off the bench and Dante Cunningham had 10 points in the loss.

The C's led 24-16 after one quarter and 43-35 at halftime. They were still up eight (69-61) after three and they saved their best for last with a strong fourth (29-19).

Boston owned almost every category: shooting percentage (49.3%-36.8%), 3s (7-3), free throws made (19-13), rebounds (45-38), assists (28-13), steals (9-5), fast break points (26-10) and points in the paint (44-34).

The worst team in the NBA, the Charlotte Bobcats, come to the Garden on Tuesday night. It will be a worthless game except for the fact that Pierce will pass Bird which is pretty remarkable. Get ready for the big one on Thursday: the Lakers make their only appearance of the season on Causeway Street for a primetime matchup.

Go Patriots!

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It's Gotta Be Rough Being A Toronto Sports Fan

What did I tell you? The Toronto Raptors are beyond pathetic, particularly when Andrea Bargnani doesn't play.

Tonight was the second game of a back-to-back for the Boston Celtics (11-10) but it didn't matter one bit as they embarrassed the Raptors (7-16) 100-64 at TD Garden.

The 36-point win was Boston's biggest margin of defeat since 2008. They also reached the 100-point plateau for the first time in six games and went over .500 (gulp) for the second time in 2011-12.

The most notable part of this one-sided outcome for me was JaJuan Johnson. The rookie forward from Purdue went 5 for 5 from the floor and set a new career-high with 11 points. E'Twaun Moore (his college and now Celtic teammate) has been a pleasant surprise already, he had eight points as well, but if the C's can get something out of Johnson, they're really onto something.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds. He's been outstanding the last few weeks, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him get Eastern Conference player of the month or something like that. Ray Allen had 12 points and Avery Bradley (who is starting to grow on me) posted 11 points.

Brandon Bass had 12 points off the bench and the best aspect of this game for Boston was that no starter played over 26 minutes. 12 of the 13 Celtics who played scored, only Chris Wilcox (0 points) was blanked.

Jerryd Bayless had 14 points off the bench for the Raptors and Ed Davis put up 10 points and 12 rebounds.

I'll put it this way: Toronto didn't score more than 19 points in any quarter. Can you say mailing it in?

The Celts play the Raptors twice more this season (both in Toronto), so you can add two more wins to their 2-0 record so far against Toronto.

Super Bowl 46 weekend officially kicks off (in my mind at least) on Friday night as the Celtics host the Knicks for the rematch of their Christmas Day thriller won by New York 106-104. Rajon Rondo could return and regardless (Celts are 6-2 without him), New York has been playing terrible lately so I expect a different result this time.

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Boston Celtics Draft A Pair Of Purdue Teammates

For about two minutes last night, my dream came true as the Boston Celtics drafted a player from my alma mater (Providence College) at No. 25 in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft: shooting guard Marshon Brooks (@marshon2).

PC's last first round pick was Austin Croshere in 1997 so these occasions don't exactly frequently occur. I had my Ryan Gomes Celtics jersey on (probably the only one in existence outside of Gomes' extended family and friends) and all was right in the world.

However, as soon as I started tweeting about it and receiving congratulatory text messages, I read on Twitter that Brooks would be dealt to the New Jersey Nets (at No. 27) and they would pick Purdue power forward JaJuan Johnson (6-10, 220 pounds) for the C's. FYI, his Twitter handle is @BoilerBaller25

The Celts made it two Boilermakers as they selected Johnson's teammate E'Twaun Moore (guard, 6-4, 191 pounds) at No. 55 in the late second round.

Putting aside my obvious bias towards Brooks (who is going to be a legitimate scorer off the bench in the NBA right away), I have to say that Johnson and Moore both seem like good fits for Boston, a team that has a championship window of only a year or two more.

I will admit that I never watch Big Ten basketball since it is the most boring league in college basketball but I heard both these names a ton and they put up good numbers and most importantly, went to school four years apiece. This was supposedly a bad draft class but Boston was smart to go for two players that have done all they can to get better on and off the court in college.

The Celtics don't need more projects like Avery Bradley (last year's first round pick, a guard from the University of Texas), who barely played last season and looks years away from making any sort of impact.

Around this time of year, everyone and their mother literally produces a mock draft and becomes an expert on all the NBA prospects. The site that I trust the most is nbadraft.net so therefore I was intrigued to see what they said about the two newest members of the Green and White.

This is their profile on Johnson.

This is their profiled on Moore.

It's tough to say how they will pan out and it's frustrating that there is no NBA Summer League this summer due to the probable NBA lockout. Still, grabbing a pair of teammates from a solid college program appears to be a smart move. They'll have a built in support system and hopefully be able to bring Boston two things they really lack: youthful energy and production off the bench.

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