The year was 2007, and I sat squished alongside five friends in my buddy’s single dorm room. The seating arrangements could have been (much) better: sitting six people into a Skidmore College single is like fitting 17 in a Toyota Corolla. But I was in New York, I didn’t get Fox Sports New England, and my buddy Harry was the only person I knew who shelled out enough money for the cable package that included NBA TV. I wanted to, needed to, watch the new-look Celtics open preseason against the Toronto Raptors in Italy.

The C’s had just suffered through “The Gerald Green Year,” a youth movement of sorts that — combined with Paul Pierce’s injury-riddled campaign — left the Celtics with the NBA’s worst record, Doc Rivers with a bulls-eye on his back that columnists regularly took aim at, and fans with a “please lose as many games as possible so we can select either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant” mentality. When the NBA Draft lottery came and the Celtics were granted the fifth pick, I pondered my options. I could …

1) change allegiances and become a fan of some other team — ANY other team that wasn’t destined for failed season after failed season. But that really wasn’t an option, because, really, what kind of fan switches teams?

2) continue my existence as a miserable Celtics fan, blame Sebastian Telfair for everything bad that happened in life (“my keys got lost — screw you Telfair, you overhyped, underachieving son of a bitch!”), ask God daily why he ever mustered the cruelty to place Green, Telfair, Tony Allen and Wally Szczerbiak on the same team, and fall asleep each night muttering, “Allan Ray. Seriously?”

Or

3) talk myself into fully embracing Yi Jianlian, who Danny Ainge was reportedly enamored with at the No. 5 pick.

I chose the third choice. A seven-foot tall Chinese dude with soft touch and decent athleticism? Forget Durant and Oden! Yi’s the future of basketball! The Celtics got lucky to fall to the No. 5 pick!

FML.

The events that took place following the Draft lottery can only be described as stunning. The Celtics traded for Ray Allen on draft night, turning from laughing stock to “hmm, that team might be fun to watch” literally overnight. Rumors about the C’s acquiring Kevin Garnett shortly followed. I checked into HoopsHype 759 times per day from the computer where I worked at the local swimming pool. On the umpteenth day of The Garnett Watch, HoopsHype afforded me some ridiculously good news, which can only be judged by my reaction: in front of 75 kids, 15 mothers, three hot mothers and my boss, I loudly screamed “F*** YEAH” at the top of my lungs. I almost got fired, but who cares about a job in a time like that? The Celtics had just paired Kevin Garnett with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Thank you, Kevin McHale. Would you like chopsticks with your pu-pu platter?

The Celtics quickly became the hottest ticket around town, but it’s important not to forget: there were serious question marks about whether they could contend in year one of the Big Three era. Ray Allen was 32 years old and coming off double ankle surgery. Paul Pierce had just finished his own injury-prone season. Kevin Garnett was still one of the five or six best basketball players in the world, but could the three of them really carry Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins on their backs? Remember, at that stage, neither Rondo or Perk had accomplished anything in their NBA lives. We knew very little about them. Rondo was young, uber-athletic and showed flashes of unadulterated brilliance, but lest we forget, he spent his rookie year backing up Telfair. And I assure you, it’s never a good sign when your team’s starting point guard was known as “Sebastian Telfair’s backup” just months ago. Perk was hulking, he frowned a lot and he had worked hard during his early years to cut a load of baby fat. But his offensive game was less complete than my latest Rubik’s cube, and it was difficult to calculate his defensive capacity. For so long, his defensive acumen had been hidden alongside young, immature teammates with nary a clue about how to play defense.

I really just used the word nary. But I digress.

For the first time, packed into the tiny dorm room, surrounded by the hot stench of my friends’ body odor, I saw the new-look Celtics in action. A few truths were immediately evident: Kevin Garnett looked odd wearing anything besides Minnesota Timberwolves colors, but he treated even preseason games like the NBA Finals. Ray Allen shot like a goddess, even when he missed, and also has enormous calves. James Posey would help everything, so much, even when he didn’t score. Eddie House had a quicker release than a virgin on his first time. But mostly, I watched and marveled at one thing: in the Celtics offense, the ball moved from side to side like a crowd’s eyes at Wimbledon. Back and forth, forth and back, the Celtics moved the ball like a Pete Carril Princeton team. You could never tell that two of the Big Three had recently been ball-stopping superstars with the basketball constantly in their hands. On this team, surrounded by so much talent, everyone wanted to keep everyone else happy. Maybe even too much so. The C’s passed up a few open shots to make the extra pass. But that was a trivial matter that more practice time would take care of. After watching Gerald Green for the previous year, this was like updating from Soulja Boy to Tupac.

At that point, watching NBA TV in that crowded, hot room, I still had no idea where the Big Three era would lead me. I didn’t know the Celtics would forge so quickly and rattle off 66 regular season wins, more than any team (1985-86, 67 wins) but one in Celtics history. I didn’t know they would struggle to beat the Hawks, barely nudge past a locked-in Lebron, find their inner playoff warrior against the Pistons and embarrass the Lakers in Game 6 to take home the franchise’s 17th title. I didn’t know “Anytthhinngggg isssss posssssiiibblllleeeee.” I didn’t know the slew of what-ifs that would follow in the coming years. What if Garnett didn’t get hurt? What if Perk never tore his ACL? What if Danny Ainge never traded for Jeff Green, or Rajon Rondo never dislocated his elbow? I didn’t know how joyful it would be to root for this Celtics team, even in the playoff losses, always so valiant and selfless and inspired, even if certain regular season games — especially the second night of back-to-backs — have been frightful to observe. I didn’t know Paul Pierce’s transformation into a mature man would finish. I didn’t know Rajon Rondo would blossom into one of the league’s most exciting, creative players, and also one of its most confounding. I didn’t know just how nice it would be to watch Ray Allen spot up on the wing in transition. I didn’t know Eddie House would become one of my favorite Celtics ever, James Posey’s hugs would be etched into my memory forever, or that Perkins — with his jaw that always seems set for war — would prove his worth and then some. I didn’t know losing to the Lakers in Game 7 would hurt so bad. I didn’t know I would come to love Tony Allen, even if I still hated him half the time. I didn’t know Stephon Marbury would be so strange, Glen Davis would make me feel the entire spectrum of human emotions, and Sam Cassell would never, ever stop shooting ill-advised shots. I didn’t know P.J. Brown would play such a crucial role in the only Celtics championship of my lifetime.

I didn’t know four years later, the NBA lockout would threaten to bring the Big Three era to a close without us seeing it through to the end. This glorious era that began when the Celtics got screwed in the NBA lottery might have just one season left. For the love of Scott Pollard, let us — let me — enjoy it.

Whenever the Celtics play Portland, it’s easy to think, “Holy hell, the Celtics could have been stuck with Greg Oden!”

At the time, of course, it wasn’t considered being “stuck with Greg Oden.” It was considered drafting the player some analysts compared to Bill Russell. It was considered drafting the league’s next great center, a franchise cornerstone who would affect games on both ends and win championships for his team. In fact, if my memory is not mistaken, Oden once proclaim his desire to win 15 NBA titles. Umm, yeah, about that.

I think we can all agree it was for the best the Celtics didn’t end up with Oden. 782 surgeries later (just an estimate), Oden has played 82 games in four seasons. He still has time to resurrect his career, but with every injury it makes more sense that Oden’s body will never allow him to be an elite player. It’s sad, when you think about it.

Greg Oden was considered a better professional prospect than any other college or high school player in 2006 (yes, even Kevin Durant). He was destined for greatness, destined for a career filled with nothing but Defensive Player of the Year Awards and championships. Who knows, maybe an MVP trophy or two (or three, or four). And now? Now he rehabs, and probably wonders what could have been. He probably also wonders why. Why so many injuries? Why not someone else? Why me?

Yet Oden isn’t the only Blazer who could have been a Celtic. If Danny Ainge had been smart, Brandon Roy probably should have played in Boston. In 2006, Ainge traded the Celtics’ first-round draft pick (the 7th pick) to Portland for Sebastian Telfair. That pick, which turned out to be Randy Foye, was later swapped for the 6th pick (Brandon Roy). So the pick Ainge traded for Sebastian Telfair turned into Brandon Roy. Ainge effectively traded Roy for a 5’11″, over-hyped point guard whose most significant basketball achievement remains making the documentary, “Through the Fire.”

At the time, Ainge’s blunder looked severe. What kind of moron can pass up an opportunity to scoop up Brandon Roy, just to acquire Sebastian [Bleeping] Telfair? But now I look back on the 2006 and 2007 Drafts with hindsight. The Celtics sure had the basketball gods on their side for two straight years, didn’t they?

In those two drafts, if the Celtics had been what we once considered “lucky”, the Celtics could be the team saddled by a star with bad knees that have no hope of improvement. They could be the team with a franchise center that misses every game with injury. They could be the young team that is more bothered by injuries than any other in the NBA.

Think about it. If the Celtics ended up with Roy, they might have built the future around him. Paul Pierce didn’t want to stay for a rebuilding project, so he might have demanded a trade. If Pierce wasn’t in Boston, there’s no way Kevin Garnett would have agreed to join the Celtics, and there’s no way Danny Ainge would have traded for an old shooting guard named Ray Allen. The Celtics very easily could have been built around Roy, and his injury problems would have been devastating to the entire franchise.

Same with Oden. If the lottery balls had bounced differently, Grandpa Greg would have been drafted by Boston — at least according to Doc Rivers. Paul Pierce, again, might have requested a trade and the Big Three never would have been formed. The Celtics would have built a future around their dominant center, only to find out that dominance is impossible to achieve while constantly in rehab.

Had things gone differently in those two drafts, I don’t know what the Celtics would look like today. But I know the present wouldn’t be so pretty, and that’s enough for me. So thank you, basketball gods, or luck of the Irish, or whatever string of good fortune contributed to the Big Three’s formation.

Things could have worked out far differently, and for the Boston Celtics that would not have been good.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

The order has certainly been reversed since these two entered the NBA.

Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “Still, Rivers said, he would have selected Greg Oden over Durant in the 2007 draft. ‘I was for Oden, completely,’ Rivers said. ‘I just wanted his size and all that. And anybody who tells you otherwise, they have amnesia. That’s all I’ll say. Everyone now, ‘I was Durant, Durant, I loved Durant.’ But I saw Oden’s size and I thought, ‘Go with Oden.’ Clearly, I made a mistake but that’s what I would have done.’ Rivers said the Thunder will be a difficult playoff foe, despite a lack of experience. ‘They’ve got all highly skilled players, Durant is highly skilled,’ Rivers said. ‘The only way you’re going to get [experience] is by getting in it. It’s always dangerous. It’s clear the one thing you want to always avoid is if the best player is on the other team.’”

Scott Souza, MetroWest Daily News – “But as injuries and inconsistency continue to plague Doc Rivers’ club, slugging it out with Atlanta for the No. 3 spot in the East is not a priority for the coach. ‘Not as much as it is for everyone else,’ he said following yesterday’s workout in which Kendrick Perkins (knee tendinitis) returned and Paul Pierce (shoulder stinger) left early. ‘Obviously, I guess you want to avoid Cleveland (in the second round). That’s what everyone is saying. But if you want to win a title, you’ve got play them eventually. You can make the case that it’s better to play them early because you’re fresher and you’re stronger.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Changing dynamics on the Celtics and Daniels’ recovery from thumb surgery have become a debilitating combination for the swingman. Daniels, however, is at a loss for a reason. ‘I don’t know why,’ Daniels said. ‘But I’ve been through worse, man. I’ve been through a whole lot worse than anything that can happen here. It’s really hard to say. But I don’t ever think that this is about making hoops. I just take my shots when they’re there. Just staying aggressive is the important thing for me. But right now I’m just playing within the offense.’ Regaining his aggressiveness may be the issue now, and one that doesn’t appear to bother Celtics management. General manager Danny Ainge has faith that last summer’s valuable free agent simply needs to rediscover his groove. ‘I think Marquis is fine,’ Ainge said. ‘I think he’s had some good moments. Our expectations always seem to climb on the guys who suddenly are playing less minutes. Marquis just needs to get confidence right now. It’s a matter of consistent minutes. We’re trying to work Nate Robinson and Michael Finley into the blend. But I’m not disappointed in Marquis. He just needs timing and rhythm. Sometimes it appears the intensity level isn’t there with a player when it’s instead a case of these other things. We’re also trying to build depth right now, and you need a roster that protects against injuries. Marquis has been injured and so has Tony, so these are things that factor in.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Like every Celtic player, Daniels wants to play, but he understands that Rivers’ decision to go with Allen is simply about giving the C’s the best chance to win. ‘You’re a professional athlete. You’re going to to through ups and downs,’ Daniels told CSNNE.com. ‘Whenever your time comes, no matter what the situation may be . . . you have to stay ready, regardless of what the situation is.’ Daniels’ situation is different than most player demotions. Allen was giving the C’s a bigger lift coming off the bench than Daniels. ‘This is the thing about our team. Everybody here can play,’ Daniels said. ‘It doesn’t matter about the role, this or that. Of course you want to be on the floor, but if another guy has it going, sometimes you have to let them keep going. Tony came in, did some great things. So [coach] Doc [Rivers] felt we needed to roll with that. Things are working out good. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and go from there.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Rivers, who went so far as to call Daniels the most important player to get healthy as the Celtics battled the injury bug in February, isn’t giving up on the versatile swingman, but he needs to see more from Daniels over the final nine games. And Rivers admitted it might actually be up to the team as a whole to get Daniels going again. ‘I think we have to do a better job of getting him the ball in the post and activating hm,’ Rivers said after Tuesday’s practice in which Daniels spent time with the first unit after Pierce’s departure with a shoulder injury. ‘Sometimes a player needs to be activated to get them going, so maybe that [is what Daniels is lacking right now]. I’m reaching, but we do need him. We need him to be the best defensive player on our team at times and to be a better rebounder. We need him to come back with more energy.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.