Bring out the gimp

In this post from last week I worried about the Celtics being saddled with not one, but two players with big contracts and bad knees.

Today Shira Springer decides it's time to kill my post-Valentine's Day cheer:

''It felt good up until about seven or eight minutes left in the fourth quarter," said Szczerbiak, who is averaging 39.1 minutes with the Celtics. ''Then, it just started buckling and catching and grabbing."

''The doctor looked at it Monday and it was really swollen, really hot."

According to Szczerbiak, team doctor Brian McKeon did not give him a specific diagnosis, though the possibility of arthroscopic surgery after the season was raised. Szczerbiak hopes rest, physical therapy, and strengthening the leg will decrease the swelling and pain. If that doesn't work, a cortisone shot might be in order at some point.

Asked if he thought rest over the break would clear up the injury, Szczerbiak said, ''That's our hope. This has really crept up on me, and it's really caught me off guard completely."

''Quite honestly, my right knee has always been the knee that I've had to stay on top of as far as therapy and stuff like that. When they said [during my physical] that I had stuff going on in my left knee, that was pretty shocking to me."

'Cause if you're going to trade for a player with a ten-year reputation for being slow, led-footed laterally, and a mediocre defender what you really want to hear is that their knees are starting to go.

Not that I have any illusions that Wally Szczerbiak is going to be on the roster the next time the Celtics compete for a championship, but on principal I'd like the players we acquire to gain trade value while we have them, not lose it.