The Celtics have picked 19-year old point guard Avery Bradley with the 19th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Bradley played in 34 games (32 starts) for Texas last season and he averaged 11.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The Celtics will have Bradley learn behind Rajon Rondo for a while. Bradley is too small at 6’2″, 180 pounds to consider using him at shooting guard. Bradley has a nice upside so I like this pick for the Celtics even if it doesn’t fill a need.

The biggest question heading into this summer is if Paul Pierce with exercise his early termination option on his contract so that he can enter the free agent market. My gut feeling is that he won’t opt out as he has been a Celtic his whole NBA career and I think he feels comfortable there. Ray Allen wants to return but it will be interesting to see if the Celtics are willing to pay the going rate for an aging player like him. Tony Allen has been saying all of the right things about wanting to stay in Boston but what if another team offers him good money and a starting job? I would think he would leave in that situation. Nate Robinson, Marquis Daniels and Shelden Williams are all players the Celtics would probably take back if they agree to take what Boston offers them. I don’t see them getting into bidding wars for any of those three guys. I don’t see Michael Finley and Brian Scalabrine wearing green uniforms next season. The Celtics have to decide if they are going to make a run of it again in 2010-11 or if they are going to try to shed some payroll.

Starting Celtics’ center Kendrick Perkins tore his MCL and ACL in his right knee which will cause him to miss the deciding game of the NBA Finals tomorrow night in L.A. Perkins has started all 23 of the Celtics’ playoff games to this point and he averaged 25.0 minutes, 5.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. The Celtics will miss Perkins’ size inside as Glen “Big Baby” Davis will likely replace him in the starting lineup. Davis has played in all 23 games (1 start) this post season for the Celtics and he is averaging 20.1 minutes, 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. I have little doubt that Davis can step up and have a big game for the Celtics and he is a better offensive player than Perkins so that will work in the Celtics’ advantage. Rasheed Wallace will also likely see a bump in playing time tomorrow night. He has played in 23 games (0 starts) for the Celtics this post season and he is averaging 16.3 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Wallace has always stepped up the bigger the games get and I think tomorrow night qualifies as a big one.

Paul Pierce did not play his best in the first round against the Miami Heat, averaging only 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists while hitting 46% of his shots.  In round two against the Cleveland Cavaliers he was even worse, putting up only 13.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game, while shooting only 35% from the field.  Thanks to Rajon Rondo’s great overall play in the first two rounds, along with Ray Allen’s shooting, the Celtics were able to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against an Orlando Magic team that had not even been challenged yet in the playoffs.  Pierce and the Celtics knew coming into this series that it would take more than Rondo filling up the stat sheet for the Celtics to knock off the defending Eastern Conference Champions.  The Celtics needed Pierce to step up his play in this series, and so far so good.  In the first two games (both Boston wins), Pierce is averaging 25.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and is hitting 58% of his shots on a very efficient 14-24 shooting.  He is also doing a good job of drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line, where he has hit 17-21 (81%) in the two games.  Pierce and the Celtics have a commanding 2-0 lead in the series, but that doesn’t mean they can let up.  Dwight Howard the rest of the Magic are hungry to get back to the NBA Finals, so Pierce and company need to continue to play like they have in the first two games and finish off the Magic in as few games as possible.

In Rajon Rondo’s short career with the Boston Celtics so far, he seems to always step up when it matters most.  Rondo, who has to be considered one of the top point guards in the game, brings out his best game every postseason.  He was a key reason the Celtics won the 2008 NBA Championship, although the “Big 3″ get most of the credit.  Remember, however, that many doubted the Celtics could win a title with the then inexperienced Rondo running the point.  He shut his critics up then, and he has continued to do so since.  He already puts up some great numbers in the regular season, but in each of the last three year’s Rondo has significantly improved his numbers in the playoffs.  This year he is having a monster postseason, averaging 17.7 points, 11.0 assists, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals.  He is shooting 48% from the field and has added the three-pointer to his arsenal by hitting 43% (6/14) behind the arc.  During the regular season Rondo only averaged 13.7 points, 9.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 steals.  Rondo’s 29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists, ans 2 steals in game four against the Cavaliers was one of the best postseason performances by a point guard ever.  It helped the Celtics tie the series 2-2 and it gave them the momentum leading into their game five blowout win over the Cavs on Tuesday night.  Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen may still be the “Big 3″, but if the Celtics make it back to the NBA Finals this season Rondo deserves most of the credit.

The NBA has suspended Kevin Garnett for game #2 against the Heat for elbowing Quentin Richardson in the face during an altercation in game #1. Garnett played 33 minutes in the first game of this series finishing with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot. Rasheed Wallace will likely start at power forward tomorrow night against the Heat. He played in 14 minutes in game #1 against the Heat and he had 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot. This could be huge as the Heat will match up better against Wallace then they did against K.G. Rasheed Wallace will have to rise to the occasion like he has in the past tomorrow night for the Celtics.

The Celtics have signed 36-year old SG/SF Michael Finley. Finley played in 25 games (6 starts) for the Spurs this season and he averaged 15.8 minutes, 3.7 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. He has now played in 1,082 games (874 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 34.8 minutes, 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. I can’t figure out where the minutes for Finley are going to come from but I still like the signing for the Celtics as you can never have too many good players.

Paul Pierce, who is the Boston Celtics’ leading scorer, returned to the lineup on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons after missing a week due to a thumb injury.  Pierce looked a little rusty in their game against the Pistons and was not very aggressive on either end of the court.  He played 29 minutes and only had 9 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.  Being back on the court was a great sign for the Celtics though, and Pierce bounced back very nicely last night.  He looked like his old self in the Celtics’ win over the Bobcats, and came out much more aggressively.  In only 27 minutes he lit it up for 27 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block en route to a Celtics 104-80 blowout win.  If this is a sign of things to come for the Pierce and the Celtics down the stretch, then they may get themselves back to the team that started the season 23-5.  Injuries and age looked like they were really starting to catch up with the Celtics, as they even lost to the 6-54 New Jersey Nets recently.  However, if they have a healthy and determined Paul Pierce back, it could change the whole dimension of their team.  Hopefully for the Celtics’ sake, last game was not a fluke for Pierce and he can get this Celtics team back on track.

Paul Pierce is listed as “day to day” but the All-Star small forward is considering taking some extended time off to heal up.  Pierce injured his thumb pretty badly against the Lakers last Thursday, but continued to play through it.  It was obvious Pierce was not healthy, with his shot struggling and his minutes drastically cut.  Pierce is also suffering from the flu and didn’t even come to the arena in the Celtics 110-106 win over the Knicks last night.  This could be a huge hit to the Celtics, who seem to be cursed with the injury bug this season.  Kevin Garnett has also missed an extended period of games this season and still does not look 100% with his weak knee.  Pierce is the Celtics’ go-to-guy and arguably their best player though.  He is averaging 17.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 35.3 minutes per game.  Pierce has been shooting the ball great this season too, hitting 44% of his threes and 46% overall.  More and more signs are pointing to this Celtics dynasty coming to an end, as Rajon Rondo is the only player who is young and/or healthy out of the Celtics’ top players (Pierce, Garnett, Rondo, and Allen).

The Boston Celtics have acquired 25-year old SG/PG Nate Robinson and 24-year old forward Marcus Landry from the Knicks for 31-year old SG Eddie House, 25-year old SG J.R. Giddens and 22-year old SG/SF Bill Walker. Robinson has played in 30 games (2 starts) for the Knicks this season and he is averaging 24.4 minutes, 13.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He has now played in 312 games (61 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 24.8 minutes, 12.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Marcus Landry is in his rookie year in the NBA and he has played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Knicks this season and he is averaging 6.4 minutes, 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds per game.

Eddie House played in 50 games (0 starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 16.9 minutes, 7.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. House played in 209 games (2 starts) in his three years with the Celtics and he has averaged 18.2 minutes, 7.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Giddens played in 21 games (1 start) for the Celtics this season and he was averaging 4.7 minutes, 1.1 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game. Walker played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Celtics this season and he was averaging 3.6 minutes, 1.0 point, 0.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

I like this trade for the Celtics who have improved the bench with the addition of the very exciting Nate Robinson.