Mostly due to the city’s history of racial inequality, partially due to cold and snowy winters, the Boston Celtics have never signed a truly significant free agent. Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Kevin McHale — name a Celtics superstar and he was acquired via trade or through the draft.

The most important free agent signing in franchise history was probably Don Nelson; before he became a zany, successful and entirely unpredictable coach, Nelson was a key figure, albeit a role player, on five Celtics championship teams. But even Nelson came to Boston with little fanfare and few other options — the year before joining the Celtics, Nellie averaged 2.4 points per game for the Los Angeles Lakers. And with the Celtics, he never averaged more than 15.4 points, 27.4 minutes, or 7.3 rebounds. The most important free agent acquisition in the history of the NBA’s winningest franchise never made a single All-Star game.

But Boston’s free agent luck might be changing. According to Stephen Jackson, players are beginning to look at Boston differently than ever before.

“When I first got in the league, I would never have thought about Boston. Ever,” Jackson told ESPN the Magazine’s Ric Bucher. “The way they embraced KG was a big part of changing that.”

The Celtics also have a coach, and a black one at that, known for treating his players well. The Boston players begged Doc Rivers to stay every time rumors flew saying he might take a leave of absence, according to Bucher.

“That’s a big piece of it,” one agent told Bucher. “They’d run through a wall for him.”

As the Celtics attempt to transition from the Big Three era to the “Rondo and whoever else” era, becoming major players in the free agent market has never been more important. The Celtics currently have only three players under contract for the 2012-12 season. That means Danny Ainge will have millions of dollars to play with in the summer of 2012, but convincing Dwight Howard or any other marquee free agent to sign in Boston will mean erasing five decades worth of free agent whiffs. And if Ainge does fail to upgrade the team through free agency, the Celtics could begin a long rebuilding process, one that could revive painful memories of Ricky Davis, Gerald Green and Sebastian Telfair. Either that, or Ainge could settle for second-tier free agents and the Celtics could become mired in what I will call “The Antoine Walker Zone,” where the Celtics make the playoffs every year but never have a chance to contend for a championship.

In his piece, Bucher discussed the possibility of a Jeff Green-Paul Pierce-Rajon Rondo core.

“A nucleus of Green, Rondo and Pierce ‘is definitely a playoff team, especially in the East,’ says an Eastern Conference executive who spoke on a condition of anonymity because the league has a $1 million gag order on its employees during the current lockout,” wrote Bucher.

But the playoffs are not supposed to be the end, not for the Boston Celtics, winners of 17 championships, but the means to the end. The Celtics are supposed to fight for championships, not resign themselves to mediocrity. The Antoine Walker era produced many memorable moments — banked three-pointers to win games, a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, shimmies and shakes galore– but the era that came after it, the Gerald Green era, was more beneficial to winning a title than anything Walker ever accomplished in Boston. With Walker, the Celtics were stuck in quick sand, not going anywhere fast, pretending to make moves that would result in a championship but never really inching any closer. But after gutting the team and rebuilding with young talent (err, if you can call it talent), the Celtics were able to trade assets, contracts and draft picks to acquire the Big Three and bring Boston its 17th title.

In the summer of 2012, when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen become free agents, Danny Ainge might have a choice to make: sign second-tier free agents and maintain a semblance of competitive mediocrity, or gut the entire roster and attempt to rebuild through draft picks and trades.

Or maybe, if the Celtics get lucky, if Stephen Jackson’s sentiments are shared by the rest of the NBA, or at least by the marquee free agents of 2012, the Celtics could skip the rebuilding process and simply reload.

What say you, Dwight?

There would be no talk this time around about the Washington Wizards pissing down their legs, or Andray Blatche woofing with Kevin Garnett and getting the All-Star’s juices flowing.  The Wizards couldn’t hold a 13-point lead last time these two teams met, but a 28-point lead proved to be more than enough.  It might have helped that Blatche decided to keep his mouth shut this time, deciding not to talk trash, preferring to let the Celtics continue to play dead.

But his reason for staying silent was a bit unbelievable.  Read more »

How do you know you’ve pulled a Ricky Davis? Well, either you’ve lost a whole lot of games or attacked the integrity of the game by trying to manufacture the final rebound of a triple-double.

Yesterday, Andray Blatche did the latter. Watch the hustle as he goes after his final rebound: The sad thing is, if he gave that same energy every minute of every game, he’d be an All-Star.

Here’s a post to our fan blog. It was a nice breakdown of potential pickups the C’s could make from the remaining free agents. Post to our fan blog here.

Two years ago the Boston Celtic’s front office decided to sign Sam Casell well into the season. Last year, Stephon Marbury got to join the club late in the year. Both Sam and Marbury ended up being sub-par vets who missed quite a few shots. This year, with the C’s looking to boost the front court and add a swingman, here are some possibilities.

Michael Finley – He’s a SG and SF who could nicely complement ‘Quis. The only problem is he’s shooting 38% from the field. Still, for a guy averaging 15 points per game for his career, I like him, and would welcome him on the Boston team. [Editor's note - One other problem, besides his shooting percentage: He's ancient.]

Larry Hughes – Averaging 9 points a game this season, Larry’s decent, but is shooting only 36%. Attitude issues and lazy defense are issues. Reminds me too much of Sheed, but he could back up Ray and let Quis focus on the 3.

Rashad McCants – If we can get him, I want him! McCants is only 6-4 so he’s limited to 3rd string SG but is a good rotation player. He shot 44% last season and is 43% career wise. Last season, he scored 10 points a game and is similar to Tony Allen, except for TA can rebound and distribute. (Editor’s note: McCants is a better shooter, and might be less likely to turn the ball over.) McCants can score and hustle but has bad character. I’d still like him to score in bursts for 8 minutes a night.

In a nutshell, the C’s could use a swingman who could play and score a little so Ray and Paul can rest before the playoffs. Rashad McCants would be the best fit, but Finley and Hughes could help. Hopefully, we get the right guy, and can position ourselves better for the playoffs.

(Editor’s note: McCants is a guy I haven’t thought about at all. He must be a headcase to not have any suitors after showing decent scoring potential, but the man can certainly score.

Other free agents include Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Mikki Moore and Wally Szczerbiak. I’m unsure whether J.R. Bremer would be willing to accept a buy-out from his current Russian club. I’m kidding about the possibility of adding Bremer to the mix… I think. Reports are that Allen Iverson will be bought out but, with his daughter’s illness that has kept him out of many games, it’s possible he still won’t sign with any other team. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is pretty much already a Cav, even though there’s still a Tayshaun Prince-thin chance he signs with another team.)

I couldn’t help but laugh when reading the latest tweet from Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Clippers have waived Ricky Davis.

Oh, man. Ricky Davis. The man, the myth, the legend. I wonder if he’ll get picked up by any team. I’m going to go with a resounding, “Hell no.”

The Boston Celtics executed the fast break perfectly in the second half and ran away with a 95-89 victory. The game played at the TD Bank Garden, however, followed an all too familiar pattern for the Celtics during their home games.

What is the pattern? I’m glad you asked…

Turnovers!

• Boston had 14 turnovers (5 for Pierce), which doesn’t seem like too high a number on the surface, but many of them were unforced and gave the Clippers an easy transition

Poor Rebounding

• Out-rebounded 48-43 total, 11-5 on offensive rebounds

Rely too heavily on Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Garnett

• Pierce, Rondo, and KG combined for 55 of the 99 Celtics points

No bench production

• Our bench was outscored 31-16 by the Clipper bench, led by Ricky Davis (12 pts) and Craig Smith (13 pts).

Slumping Ray Allen

• Ray Allen- 5/14 FG, 2/7 3P-FG

Despite a common pattern of poor home play, the Celtics were able to win because the defense was much improved with Garnett back in the lineup and Rondo did an abnormally good job guarding Baron Davis, who usually plays well against him because of a significant size advantage.

• Davis had 16 points but on 5/13 FG’s, while the Clippers shot 38.8% as a team.

Player of the Game:

• Rajon Rondo- 16 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals

Play of the Game:

• Rondo stole the ball from Baron Davis, who was posting up, pushed the ball up the court and flipped the ball up in the air behind his back to a trailing Paul Pierce who slammed the ball with two hands.

Blast from the Past:

• Ricky Davis- 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists

Unsung Heroes:

• Kendrick Perkins- 9 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks
• Marcus Camby- 3 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block