How old are the Celtics in comparison to other title teams? Since 2004-2005, championship team starters averaged to be 27.4 years old. The oldest were naturally the Spurs in 2007. Their starting five in the Finals that year began the season at an average age of 30.6 years old. The Celtics enter this season at 30.2 years old if we project Kendrick Perkins as the starter for a theoretical Finals and 32.8 if we go with Shaquille O’Neal, the probable opening night starter. The Celtics, in essence, are trying to be the second oldest team since 2004 to win the title. It’s relatively easy to argue that the competition is greater now than it was in 2007, with the Pau-Gasol-era Lakers, the Heat, and the Magic in play, but those are the numbers.  

Moore has already placed the Magic outside the ring of championship contenders, a decision with which I disagree. 

Does he do the same with the C’s? Click and read.

The news is irrelevant in basketball terms, but you can expect a segment of Celtics fans to use phrases like “end of an era” and “a sad day for the franchise” in reacting to it. And the era, in theory, isn’t really any more “over” tonight than it was yesterday. This is a make-good contract with the Bulls—a training camp invite—and Scal could be back on the market in a month. Also: Shamsports lists the deals for both Von Wafer and Delonte West as only partially guaranteed, meaning the C’s could open up a roster spot without eating the full value of either contract.

But if this is good-bye, we can say this: Brian Scalabrine’s legacy is more interesting than that of your average 12th man.  He’ll be remembered for:

• parlaying a season in which averaged 6.3 points per game into a 5-year (!), $15 million contract with the Celtics; 

• inspiring all sorts of fun T-shirts;

• an amazing post-concussion head band;

• spurring uncomfortable discussions about whether Boston fans still need a white player—any white player—to cheer for;

• filling in admirably during the 2009 playoffs after KG’s season-ending injury—and after suffering multiple concussions during the regular season; 

• inspiring hate mail to Tom Haberstroh after Haberstroh named Scal one of the five worst rotation players in Celtics history in a piece for ESPN.com;

• becoming the most strangely loved Boston athlete since….?

Here’s Spoelstra on LeBron, via the Miami Herald:

“LeBron certainly will play minutes during the game at point guard and handle the ball a lot…He will be a facilitator. He’ll be so many different things. We want to take advantage of all his skills.”

More:

Spoelstra will use preseason to decide whether to start Mario Chalmers or Carlos Arroyo or an intriguing lineup with swingman Mike Miller starting and James and Wade handling the ball.

And here’s Spoelstra on Mike Miller:

Defensively, James, Wade and Miller “are smart enough to know how to get in position against smaller point guards,” Spoelstra said. “Dwyane has guarded point guards often, LeBron the same. Mike has guarded three positions virtually his whole career. He once played half a season as [Memphis'] backup point guard.”

What does this mean for the Celtics?

This discussion might be a bit premature, but a PG-less Heat line-up would present some obvious challenges to Rajon Rondo.

• Has he improved his jump shot?

Point guards close to Rondo’s size (6’1”) are more apt to defend him in a traditional way—chasing him around or under picks, trying to stick with him on screen/rolls, etc. That’s how “normal” point guards defend against everyone else, and that’s the style they—and their coaches—are usually most comfortable having them play.

Wade and LeBron aren’t like that. Wade guarded Rondo for extended stretches in the first round last season, and he almost always hung several feet off of Rondo, daring him to shoot jumpers while waiting to jump into passing lanes or otherwise act as a super-athletic help defender. LeBron is an accomplished help defender, and he’d likely defend Rondo the same way. LeBron didn’t defend point guards with Cleveland as much as Wade has done in Miami, but it’s unclear if that was LeBron’s preference or if Mike Brown felt more comfortable watching opposing PGs abuse Mo Williams.

We’ve seen the C’s offense is vulnerable to droughts when Rondo can’t create, and Rondo has more trouble creating when presented with a packed lane. The only way to unpack it is to hit jumpers. Can he do it?

• Who does Rondo guard?

Wade is 6’4” and comfortable pulling up in mid-range and operating on the block. The latter isn’t his best skill, but he can do it. LeBron is 6’8” and experimented with a low post game last season. Mike Miller is 6’8” and gets to the rim more often than you’d expect, according to Hoopdata. He doesn’t shoot often from the mid-range and has no post game, but a seven-inch height advantage turns unwilling post/mid-range players into easy scorers.

• Do the Heat dictate the front line match-ups, or do the Celtics?

If Haslem-Bosh ends up being the Heat’s crunch time front line, how should Boston respond? Perk and Shaq would have a hard time keeping up with either Bosh or Haslem, but they’d have an enormous one-on-one advantage in the post on offense. Do you stick with a traditional center and hope the benefits outweigh the obvious problems?

Or do you go with KG and Glen Davis, a front line made up of two guys with inconsistent offensive games within 10 feet? What about KG-Jermaine O’Neal?

Again: This is all premature. The C’s and Heat might not play a truly meaningful game (i.e. a playoff game) this season. But if they do, these issues will be front and center.

“It was great to practice every day against the best young talent in the league, a veteran like Chauncey Billups and play for a Hall of Fame coach [Mike Krzyzewski],” Rondo said. “But some of these guys hadn’t played since April. Lamar [Odom] and I had just got out of Game 7. And next season is right around the corner. I feel like I had to take advantage of the opportunity I have right now to win another championship. It’s not often you get to play with four Hall of Famers. Another couple of years and I won’t have that.”

As you probably know, Rondo withdrew from the team shortly after Coach K benched him for an entire exhibition game. Do you believe Rajon that he never really wanted to play to begin with, and that—as Bucher details elsewhere in the story)—Rondo’s agent pushed him to do it? 

I don’t particularly care, and I get why NBA players (and their teams) don’t always want to play in international competitions. The NBA season’s a grind, and players are entitled to relax during the summer if they prefer.

Bradley is one of the biggest question marks on the 2011 Celtics. If his defense is as good as advertised, the C’s almost have to give him a chance to fight for a spot in the rotation. Remember, ESPNU ranked Bradley the single best prospect in his senior class—a class that included John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.