Boston is cursed, all right -- with bad decisions. The blame can be shared among many. Former CEO Dave Gavitt drafted Earl. M.L. Carr presided over the Montross years. Pitino hastily dumped Billups and a list of others. Wallace pulled the trigger on the Baker deal. Even the master, Red Auerbach, erred by insisting on drafting Smith in 1989 and Joseph Forte in 2001.
Every team makes mistakes. Yet Boston's peers have recovered much quicker.
The Lakers, dominant in the '80s alongside the Celtics, won three additional titles from 2000-02. The Detroit Pistons won back-to-back championships in '89 and '90, reloaded, and won again in 2004, thanks, in part, to the Celtics, who arranged a three-way deal that delivered Rasheed Wallace to the Pistons and netted Boston Chucky Atkins and a draft pick.
After Michael Jordan retired, the Bulls endured rocky moments, but made it to the Eastern Conference semifinals this season and are encouraged by a young nucleus that includes Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, and Kirk Hinrich.
The Celtics have a young nucleus, too. Danny Ainge's finest moment was in the 2004 draft, when he grabbed Jefferson, Delonte West, and Tony Allen, all in the first round.
But Ainge's questionable trades have hampered his team. The addition of Wally Szczerbiak left Boston with a high-salaried, injury-prone shooter whose game is incompatible with that of Pierce's and makes the Celtics dangerously deficient on the defensive end.
Ainge's fascination with Sebastian Telfair has been disastrous. He acquired him from Portland along with Theo Ratliff and traded Raef LaFrentz, Dan Dickau, and the No. 7 pick, which turned out to be Brandon Roy, who, in case you missed it, was Rookie of the Year this season.
Roy went to Secaucus this week to represent Portland in the draft lottery. His team had a 5.3 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick, and he brought it home.
You might say Roy is a very lucky young man.
You might believe the Celtics are cursed for passing on him, then watching him win the Oden sweepstakes for his team.
But good teams don't rely on luck. They make their own luck.
It's long past the time for the Boston Celtics to do just that.
Well put
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