Kendrick Perkins: Don't panic; Perk is still a Celtic. But the torn right ACL he suffered in the opening minutes of Game 6 of the Finals will keep him out until roughly the All-Star break in February -- and after that, it'll naturally take him quite some time to get himself into game shape. Given that most players don't fully recover from an ACL tear until the second season back, the best-case scenario seems like it'd be 15 minutes per game or so in the playoffs.
Perkins is the lowest-profile member of Boston's starting five, but his importance should not be overlooked. Although his offensive limitations occasionally forced him to the bench in crunch time, Perk anchors Boston's defense, allowing Rajon Rondo to gamble on the perimeter and Kevin Garnett to roam around in the back.
Tom Thibodeau: It may seem like a stretch to say that an assistant coach could be the second-most important loss of an offseason, but I believe it's true. Thibodeau was the defensive guru on the coaching staff over the past three seasons, during which time the Celtics were arguably the best in the league on that end.
Thibodeau moved on to become the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, a great opportunity for him on a team with a lot of young talent. There was talk this summer of Doc Rivers forgoing the final year of his contract, and because of that, it seems likely that this will be Doc's last year at the helm. I remember hearing the rumor that the Boston front office wouldn't guarantee Thibs that he'd be Doc's successor. I imagine that NBA hiring rules would have something to say about that, but to the extent that the front office anticipates a head coaching vacancy after this year and didn't do everything possible to keep Thibodeau around, it was a mistake.
Tony Allen: Readers who have spent any time talking with me about the Celtics will be surprised to see me lament the loss of Tony Allen. Believe me, it feels just as strange writing it. Tony tantalized some with his potential and athleticism, but I never bought into it; I always saw a physically gifted individual with a seemingly negative basketball IQ.
This past season, however, Tony turned into a pretty valuable player off the bench. Relieved of any ballhandling and offense-initiating responsibilities, he eventually settled into a nice role playing off the ball and driving to the basket, while providing his normal tenacious defense. It wasn't that he finally "got it" -- to my eye, actually, his improvement was as fortunate as it was anything else; layups fell in instead of off and mishandled basketballs somehow found their way back to him -- but I no longer rolled my eyes when he entered the game, something I had always done previously.
Now he's gone, off to Memphis on a three-year deal that will pay him roughly $9.5 million over the course of the contract. It's possible that Tony simply wanted to go somewhere else, but I also remember hearing that Danny didn't want to give him the third year. If that's true, I think it's another mis-step. I know that the team has been doing contracts for the last three years with an eye towards maximizing cap room when KG's deal is up after the 2011-2012 season, but Tony will almost certainly be movable in the third season of his deal, at $3.3 million. And in the interim, he would have been very valuable to the team. We're going to miss his perimeter defense, and his absence leaves us with very few players to backup Paul Pierce.
Rasheed Wallace: My opinion of 'Sheed has fluctuated greatly over the past year or so. I couldn't stand him when he was with the Pistons, but I allowed myself to be excited once Boston signed him and I started paying attention to the stories of him being a great teammate with an exceptional intelligence for the game. I grew more excited during his early performances in green and white, when it looked like he was going to be a nice weapon off the bench.
Like most, however, I grew tired of him during the regular season: tired of his antics with the officials, tired of him not being in shape, tired of his refusal to do anything offensively other than hoist three-pointers. That opinion started to change once the playoffs started, however, and his final performance, a strong first half that helped Boston open a nine-point lead at halftime of Game 7 in LA. He was borderline heroic for those 24 minutes, and even as the season ended in disappointment, I felt reasonably satisfied with him.
A few months of reflection, however, have me changing the opinion once again. Word after Game 7 is that we got tired in the second half, and here I hold Wallace responsible for not being in better shape. It's not his fault that Perkins got hurt, forcing him into a bigger role, but it is his fault for not being prepared for that contingency.
At any rate, Wallace's retirement would be a bigger deal had we not been able to bring in some fairly capable re-enforcements at center during the offseason. Still, I don't expect Shaquille O'Neal to be in any better shape to start the season than Rasheed was, and as a backup center, Wallace's defensive impact is far greater than Shaq's.
Brian Scalabrine: Boston's long-time victory cigar recently signed a non-guaranteed deal to join Thibodeau with the Bulls. I'm fine with Scal -- it's not his fault we gave him a ridiculous contract. At the same time, he was merely adequate in his best moments when called into duty, and there just weren't roster spots available for him.
Shelden Williams: After a decent start to the season during which he got regular playing time in the absence of Glen Davis, Williams regressed throughout the year and was a negative influence when he stepped on the court in the playoffs. He's with Denver now.
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