The Celtics initially picked SG Marshon Brooks with the 25th overall pick.  They then dealt him to the Nets for the 27th overall pick (JaJuan Johnson) and a 2nd round pick in 2014.  22-year old 6’10″, 221 pound power forward JaJuan Johnson came to the Celtics with the 27th overall pick.  Johnson played in 34 games at Purdue last year and he averaged 35.4 minutes, 20.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 2.3 blocked shots per game.  Johnson played in 140 games in his four years in college and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game.  Johnson will likely get right on the floor and give the Celtics good minutes off the bench starting in 2011-12.  He could develop into a starter down the road for the Celtics.

27-year old center Nenad Krstic has signed a 2-year, $8.7 million dollar deal with CSKA Moscow of the Russian League.  He played in 24 games (20 starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 23.0 minutes, 9.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Krstic played in 71 games (67 starts) overall last season for the Thunder & Celtics and he averaged 22.1 minutes, 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Krstic has played in 419 games (373 starts) in his seven years in the NBA and he is averaging 25.2 minutes, 10.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  With Krstic bolting to Russia and Shaquille O’Neal retiring, the Celtics suddenly look pretty thin at center heading into the off-season.

35-year old shooting guard Ray Allen has exercised his player option for the 2011-12 season valued at $10 million bucks.  Allen played in 80 games (all starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 36.1 minutes, 16.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Allen also shot a remarkable 44.4% from behind the three point line last year for the Celtics!  Allen has now played in 312 games (all starts) in his first four years with the Celtics and he has averaged 35.9 minutes, 17.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.  Allen is showing no signs of slowing down, so the Celtics are likely very happy that he’s coming back for another year.

39-year old Shaquille O’Neal has decided to retire from the NBA.  O’Neal played in 37 games (36 starts) for the Celtics last year and he averaged 20.3 minutes, 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game.  He couldn’t stay healthy anymore and that was likely the reason he finally decided to hang up his sneakers.  O’Neal finished his NBA career having played in 1,207 games (1,197 starts) in which he averaged 34.7 minutes, 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game.  The Celtics need to start getting younger so they probably weren’t going to bring Shaq back anyways.

The Boston Celtics have signed 49-year old head coach Doc Rivers to a 5-year, $35 million dollar deal.  Rivers led the Celtics to a 56-26 record (68.3%) during the regular season and they were 5-4 (55.6) during the post-season in 2010-11.  Rivers has been very successful in charge of the Celtics.  In his 7 years with the team, the Celtics are 336-238 (58.5%) during the regular season and he is 46-34 (57.5%) during the post-season.  Rivers has the respect of the veteran roster for the Celtics and he is probably the right guy to handle a team in transition as I don’t see Ray Allen, K.G. and Paul Pierce playing another five years.  Rivers now has a 507-406 (55.5%) record in his career as a NBA head coach and he is 51-44 (53.7%) in the post-season.

The Celtics have signed 31-year old point guard Carlos Arroyo.  Arroyo played in 49 games (42 starts) for the Heat earlier this year and he averaged 20.3 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game on 43.8% shooting from three point range.  He has now played in 554 games (190 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 18.9 minutes, 6.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.  Arroyo should fit in nicely with the Celtics as he is a good outside shooter and he’s a team player.  To make room on the roster for Arroyo, the Celtics decided against renewing 25-year old rookie center Chris Johnson’s contract.  Johnson played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 8.0 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  They shouldn’t miss him too much.

The Celtics have signed 27-year old SG/SF Sasha Pavlovic for the rest of the year.  He played in 14 games (7 starts) earlier this season for the Mavericks & Hornets in which he averaged 15.2 minutes, 3.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  Pavlovic has now played in 466 games (134 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 16.5 minutes, 5.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  This was a nice signing for the Celtics as Pavlovic should be able to help them off the bench.

The Celtics have signed 30-year old PF/C Troy Murphy.  Murphy played in 18 games (4 starts) for the Nets this year and he averaged 16.0 minutes, 3.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  He has now played in 639 games (480 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 29.0 minutes, 11.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  Murphy is also a good outside shooter as he is hitting 39.1% from the three point line in his NBA career.  The Celtics needed help along the frontcourt and Murphy should give them another solid big body.

The Celtics have signed 25-year old rookie center Chris Johnson to a 10-day contract.  He played in 2 games earlier this season for the Trailblazers in which he averaged 8.0 minutes, 2.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Johnson made his debut for the Celtics in last night’s game at Denver.  He played 17 minutes in which he scored 6 points, grabbed 1 rebound and blocked 3 shots.  Johnson needs to make a good impression (like he did last night) if he wants to stick around more than 10 days.

The Celtics have dealt 30-year old SG/SF Marquis Daniels to the Sacramento Kings for cash considerations.  Daniels played in 49 games (0 starts) for the Celtics this season and he averaged 19.1 minutes, 5.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  He played in 100 games (4 starts) in parts of two years with the Celtics and he averaged 18.8 minutes, 5.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  Daniels will likely miss the rest of the season due to a spinal chord injury.  The Kings needed to add some salary or they were going to have to pay a league fine, so the Celtics took advantage of that situation.  The Celtics are going to need Daniels’ roster spot.