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Exactly a year to the day that he played his last home game in Cleveland, LeBron James and his Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. In a mostly close Game 5 matchup, James helped put away his long time rivals in the Celtics.
Boston’s big three of Pierce, Allen and Garnett combined for 45 points on the night, whereas the Miami pair of Wade and Lebron had 67 points and 17 rebounds with Chris Bosh also chipping in 14 points and 11 boards.
The Heat will now face the winner of the Chicago-Atlanta series in which the Bulls currently have a 3-2 lead.
For the Celtics, the loss means the end of their season and the beginning of the off-season restructuring that has been needed for months.
This year’s Celtics squad saw only five of lasts year’s NBA Finals team return and we will likely see some of the same roster changes as last season.
Head coach Doc Rivers previously stated his intentions to step down from coaching next season to watch his son Austin play college ball for Duke.
Yesterday he announced his is likely to change is mind and said he was “leaning heavily towards coming back”. Assistant coach Lawrence Frank is one of 3 candidates for the head coaching jobs at Golden State and Houston and is likely to move on from the Celtics in 2012.
With Paul Peirce, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett all locked in for next season, the Celtics appear to have a decent core. Shooter Ray Allen said in the post-game press conference yesterday that he plans not to exercise his contract option and instead play with the Celtics through 2012.
Veteran Center Shaquille O’Neal was riddled with injuries all year and has likely played his last NBA game. Shaq has a one year option to stay with Boston, though there is no indication he would be a starter or even fetch serious minutes if he was to return.
Other free-agents include young forwards Glen Davis and Jeff Green and backup guard Delonte West. Davis has stated he would like to see bigger minutes and possible a starting role next season whilst also saying that his ideal situation would be to stay in Boston.
Green will probably fetch upwards of $6 million a year on his next contract despite his relatively poor play with the Celtics. West was a key player this year and will be key to the team next season.
Boston will need at least two out of three of these guys signed if they are to compete next season.
With the team salary likely over the cap as of next season, (the new cap is likely to be lower under the new collective bargaining agreement) they will have about $5.8 million to improve the roster under current rules.
If that money is available they should look to sign a center to fill the void of the Big Diesel. Options in their price range are scarce, with Nazr Mohammed, Jeff Foster and Sam Dalembert the most likely targets.
The money will also go towards a swingman to split minutes with Allen and Pierce, with Jason Richardson an ideal target. The need at the 3 point spot was made evident with Jeff Green’s struggles moving over from power forward following the trade from Oklahoma.
The Celtics will most likely have the 25th pick in the draft come June. Plenty of swingmen and position players are available, but none that will make a serious impact next season.
Although the future seems uncertain for these Celtics, it is likely that GM Danny Ainge will attempt big moves this offseason or else give this team one final one-year title window.
The most likely to be moved is Ray Allen, with nearly every team in the league desiring a shooter as good as he is. There is plenty of demand for the 35 year old veteran with teams like Chicago and Dallas likely to spend big should he be available.
More than likely however this team will be together next season, at least until the trade deadline anyway.
Barring a big trade, the Celtics will have to remain with a very similar roster.
Considering the improved strength of teams in the East (New York, Chicago, Miami) the Celtics may be struggling for a playoff seed, let alone a championship, come 2012.
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