The Celtics walked a small forward tightrope to begin last season, betting that Marquis Daniels — who suffered from a spinal condition and had played more than 60 games only twice in his seven-year NBA career to date — could become a reliable understudy to Paul Pierce. The Celtics entered the season knowing that a Daniels injury would shove Plan A down the stairs. When Daniels fell motionless to the floor in February, the team took drastic measures to fill its crater-sized small forward hole. Daniels got traded to Sacramento for a gallon of milk — err, a 2017 conditional second-round pick. Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson were shipped away. Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic arrived.  The Celtics were never the same.

The Daniels injury can’t be entirely blamed for Boston’s finish, nor can The Trade. But on the day Daniels injured himself, Boston stood 38-12. After the injury, the Celtics crawled to an 18-14 finish. Rajon Rondo believes losing Kendrick Perkins altered his team more than it should have. One could easily argue that the very philosophy which made Boston so singular in the first place — “Ubuntu” — ultimately caused the team to unravel when its fifth finger was sent packing to Oklahoma City. Whether you believe that argument or not, agree on this: despite an injury history that shouted, “Don’t, under any circumstances, use me as your only backup,” the Celtics risked too many of their chips on Daniels.

Now, Daniels (thank God) has resumed workouts. He hopes to return to the NBA next season, and anyone with a beating heart should root for his return to good health and a spot in the league. Both outcomes, according to his agent, seem likely. Because Daniels underwent surgery to repair his spine, he might even return to better health than before the injury. If so, he should find suitors among NBA organizations.

The Celtics could be among the interested teams. When asked what Daniels felt about that possible return coming with the Celtics, Daniels’ agent Mark Bartelstein had only good things to say.

“Marquis loved Boston, [coach] Doc [Rivers], and his teammates,” Bartelstein told ESPN Boston. “Those guys all visited him after his surgery and that meant a lot to him.”

Signing Daniels would not be Boston’s worst option, at least as long as his health is not a hindrance. You could make the case they should sign him. During his time with Boston, he was one of the NBA’s best cutters, never complained about playing time, took advantage of certain mismatches (read: Kyle Korver) when the situation dictated it, ranked in the 96th percentile among all NBA defenders in points allowed per play (according to Synergy Sports via Chris Forsberg), and always played with an even temperament (which is code for two things: 1 — he played with all the emotions of a zombie, and 2 — he was not Tony Allen in the turnover department). He was not an electric scorer like Nate Robinson could be on his best days (okay, so those days were rare in Boston), but Daniels shot a good percentage from the field and understood his limitations. He played team basketball.

But the Celtics should have learned their Marquis Daniels lesson by now — signing him can pay off, but signing him as the only option is not smart. Daniels will get injured next season. That’s not a threat or a prediction, but a fact. He will miss games because he always has. When he does, it’s important to have another option on the bench, as opposed to having no other small forward and believing that Daniels’s injury forces a complete midseason renovation of the NBA’s best team. (I’m not bitter anymore. No, really. Okay, maybe just a little. Okay, I actually still have nightmares.)

No matter whether the Celtics sign Daniels, they should add other (preferably reliable) small forwards. In a perfect world, the other small forwards will remain healthy, and they will be big enough to defend Lebron James but quick enough to switch onto point guards, and they will light nets on fire with flames that fall down from heaven. If you remember, the Celtics made fewer three-pointers than all but four teams last season. Adding three-point shooting needs to be a goal.

And adding Marquis Daniels should be a peripheral move, if the Celtics choose it’s a move they want to make.

(Editor’s note: My game recap will be posted late tonight, so don’t wait up unless you’re a real night owl.)

There are times in life when I wonder—wonder if I have my priorities straight, wonder if I should reorganize my attentions, wonder if I’m an absolute dick.

Hearing that Marquis Daniels may never play basketball again provided one of those moments. I’m pretty sure I haven’t mentioned Daniels once since he was traded away. Maybe once, actually, when I defended the Daniels trade because he wasn’t likely to play again this season and it opened a roster spot the Celtics could use on some other, physically able player. You know what they say, out of sight out of mind, and for Daniels that was definitely true.

I dwelled (dwell) on Kendrick Perkins, because he was essential to Boston’s cause during his time here, and because it was unclear (is unclear, really) whether the Celtics adequately replaced him in terms of their championship hopes. But trading Daniels was different, because Boston actually upgraded his position, and losing Daniels was clearly not important after the Celtics replaced him with Jeff Green. Meanwhile, Daniels wondered whether he would ever play basketball again.

Daniels was never my favorite player. I liked him enough, because he was always calm on the court, always steady. He was a far cry from Tony Allen, and to me, at least, that was Daniels’ best quality. He also cut to the hoop as well as any player the Celtics had, but really, let’s be honest—we’ll only talk about a player’s cutting if he’s not doing much else. Paul Pierce has cut to the bucket for a hoop on countless occasions, but I’ve never once heard someone praise his cutting. Why? Because Pierce scores buckets, many of them, while Daniels often made you forget he was even on the court.

Daniels was at his best against smaller players, when he could take advantage of a mismatch. At some point I became entirely convinced that Daniels, if God had made him a seven-footer, would have been the NBA’s best player. That was exaggeration speaking, but Daniels had a unique ability to put smaller defenders in a blender, finishing a variety of post moves, often from herky-jerky angles. He had the gift of abusing mismatches, but Daniels all too often disappeared on the court. And so I stopped discussing him, the moment he left Boston.

What I didn’t know was that Daniels was “having episodes” in his injured spine, that he was “going numb when he gets hit.” I didn’t know his spinal injury would require surgery, which might end his basketball career. I didn’t know, or didn’t realize, or wasn’t paying attention, that this was about far more than basketball, that Daniels’ injury seemingly threatens his lifestyle as well as, I’m sure, his happiness. Maybe I should have. I saw his head hit Gilbert Arenas, and I saw him fall lifeless to the floor. I was there, at the TD Garden, as he laid motionless on the court. I watched his teammates surround him and kneel next to him, and I could see the amount of concern on their faces. I heard 20,000 people completely silent for minutes, as a stretcher came out to take Daniels away. But the Celtics said he’d be alright in a press conference after the game, and then traded him away. So I stopped paying attention to what happened to Marquis Daniels.

Does that make me a dick? I don’t know. But these are the moments I wonder.

I’m still trying to understand the trade, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll never understand it. Not unless Shaq and Jermaine have been fooling us all along and are actually 100% healthy, in which case the trade almost makes sense. But I’m moving on, for now, until I write my “goodbye, Perk” and “goodbye, Nate” posts, which will inevitably cause me to revisit my homicidal feelings for Danny Ainge.

The Celtics also traded Marquis Daniels today, along with cash, for the Sacramento Kings’ 2017 second-round pick. Coupled with the Erden/Harangody for a second-round pick swap, the Celtics now have three roster spots open for buyout candidates. Which would be fine, if the buyout list included a solid, tough big man known for his physical presence.

Instead, there’s Troy Murphy. And Leon Powe (who, after a few knee surgeries, isn’t quite the same player Celtics fans remember). And whatever other scraps get bought out because their current teams don’t want them. Now, Murphy’s not half bad. He can shoot threes, and even rebounds well. But these Celtics are known for being a tough, physical bunch. Murphy’s not scaring anybody. He’s not going to combat Dwight Howard. He’s not going to counteract Andrew Bynum. He’s not going to send Chris Bosh into a funk. Neither is Powe. Neither is any other buyout candidate the C’s could add.

For now, at least, the Celtics have signed D-Leaguer Chris Johnson. He’s 6’11 and could use a square meal, but has impressive agility for a big man. I’d be surprised if he stays on the Celtics for more than these ten days, but, then again, I no longer have any idea what Danny Ainge is trying to accomplish.

Marquis Daniels may need surgery that would require him to miss the rest of the season. (CSNNE)

“There is a chance that he will miss the season and may need surgery to resume his playing career,” Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, told CSNNE.com Wednesday night. “We’re still gathering information, but that’s where we’re at.”

Doc Rivers has previously cautioned that Daniels would be out for a while, but this is the first time the Celtics have openly admitted Daniels could miss the entire season. If he does miss the whole season (and, really, even if he can return in time for the playoffs), adding small forward help becomes more crucial than ever.

“Right now, we’re just kind of waiting, listening to what other teams have to say, fielding calls and just kind of going from there,” Ainge said.

“We don’t have a lot of assets to trade,” Ainge told CSNNE.com. “So whoever we get, it’ll be a good player who can help us, but it’s not going to be a great, superstar player or anything like that.”

Some of the more talked-about names include Cleveland’s Anthony Parker, Los Angeles Clippers forward Rasual Butler and Indiana’s Dahntay Jones. The Celtics are also hopeful that if a trade doesn’t work out, they might be able to add a player who receives a buyout. Two of the more talked-about options along those lines are Detroit’s Richard Hamilton and Troy Murphy, who was recently traded from New Jersey to Golden State. The Warriors are expected to buy Murphy out.

Which brings me to a question: What if the Celtics DON’T add anyone at the trade deadline, or in a buyout move later on? Would you be okay with that?

I think I would. I’d love to add a difference-maker, of course. The thought of Shane Battier in Green makes me feel like a nine-year old on Christmas morning. But not everyone available makes a difference. The Celtics don’t have a lot to offer, and, as Ainge said, they could add a good player, but definitely not a great, superstar player or anything like that.

Look, I’m not thrilled about the thought of Von Wafer defending Lebron James either. But let’s face it: It’s not like Anthony Parker, Rasual Butler, Sasha Pavlovic, Jason Kapono, Morris Peterson or Richard Hamilton would have any better chance (Dahntay Jones and Shane Battier, on the other hand, defend the ball quite well). You can’t just stop Lebron James with one player, especially if that one player can be traded for with limited assets or added through a buyout scenario.

Would entering the stretch run with zero natural backup small forwards be ideal? Of course not. But Wafer has proven himself adequate at pretending to be a small forward, and the Celtics’ roster — as it stands right now — is capable of winning an NBA championship. Would those chances improve with a Battier or Richard Hamilton coming off the bench? Of course. But would they improve because Anthony Parker or Rasual Butler take Wafer’s minutes? I’m not so sure they would.

There’s always something a team can improve. The Celtics could use a small forward, in theory, as long as he’s not Sasha Pavlovician. They could also use an extra big man, if Kendrick Perkins intends to be injured for any extended period of time. But they can win with the players they have now, and we shouldn’t forget that if the deadline comes and goes with no deal.

P.S. – Jermaine O’Neal, says Danny Ainge, hopes to return in March (“probably the latter part of March”). That would give O’Neal a month or so to ready himself for the playoffs. But if I’ve learned one thing from the Jermaine O’Neal era, it’s this: expect to push back that return date.

P.P.S. – This is kind of random, but why would Troy Murphy ever want to sign with Boston, rather than Miami or Orlando? In Orlando, he’d be the only big, viable option off the bench. In Miami, he’d play certain minutes. In Boston? He might earn a DNP-CD every single night. If I’m Troy Murphy, I immediately head to one of the Florida teams. He’ll love the warm weather (though I’m sure he still won’t get much of a tan), and could finally play minutes for a contender. Heading to Boston, just to play behind Boston’s glutton of big men, makes no sense.

When Shaq first injured himself, the injury was considered day-to-day. Two weeks later, the prognosis keeps getting worse, because Shaq’s injury simply won’t heal.

The other day, he showed up to the Celtics-Heat game… wearing a walking boot. The story gets worse. Shaq won’t play again before the All-Star break, and could miss the entire four-game Western Conference road trip after the break. (ESPN Boston)

“Shaq, honestly, it’s just not healing right now,” said Rivers. “We’re hoping after the [All-Star] break at some point, obviously. When he first injured it we all thought it was a one- or two-game thing, and now it’s been longer, and now it’s getting to the point where we’re not sure if he’ll play on the west coast trip or not. We’re hoping he will. Right now we think he will, maybe not every game, maybe we play him every other game, but if we had to play today, I don’t know if Shaq could play today.”

If Shaq keeps experiencing setbacks, I’m going to have to start calling him Jermaine. Speaking of the other injured O’Neal, the real Jermaine’s doing alright, all things considered.

“He’s doing great, honestly,” said Rivers. “I think he feels really happy that he did the surgery. You can tell it’s a race with him, because he wants to get back so he can try to help us.”

If it’s really a race, Jermaine’s obviously the turtle. Maybe a drunken turtle, because his progress (can I call it progress?) is slow, but not so steady.

Marquis Daniels will also take a while to return (if he can return this season). Doc Rivers has twice told reporters that Daniels will be out for awhile.

“They’re going to do an evaluation and then they’re going to have to make a decision on where they go from there,” said Rivers. “Guys, ‘Quis is not going to be back anytime soon.”

If doctors determine Marquis Daniels won’t be able to play again this season, according to the Boston Globe, the Boston Celtics will likely buy out his contract to free a roster spot. Hmmm. They don’t trust Von Wafer as a small forward — not at all — and would need to add a wing to replace Daniels in the rotation.

The Globe gives a list of players who could be available free agents after the buy-out period.

Various players could become available as the deadline approaches: Sacramento’s Carl Landry, Washington’s Josh Howard (a player the Celtics have coveted), Cleveland’s Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker, Denver’s Arron Afflalo, Detroit’s Tracy McGrady and Chris Wilcox, the Clippers’ Rasual Butler and Craig Smith, former Milwaukee All-Star Michael Redd, and New York swingman Roger Mason.

There are actually some intriguing names on that list, no? I’d be okay with Moon, Parker, Afflalo, McGrady, or Butler, and — if they hadn’t died many moons ago — I’d be okay with Michael Redd or Josh Howard, too. Craig Smith and Carl Landry aren’t small forwards, so they don’t fit in Boston (even if they’re both talented, if immensely undersized [height-wise only], post players).

Best case scenario (I think?), doctors determine Daniels will miss no more than a month, meaning he’d return healthy in plenty of time for the playoffs. Worst case scenario, Daniels can’t return and gets bought out, so the Celtics coax Adam Morrison off the streets to continue his NBA career — if you can call it a career.

Just kidding, guys. Morrison, like Josh Howard and Michael Redd, actually passed away quite some time ago.