NBA Ramblings...

-Of course the Celtics are shopping Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. There are only so many pieces that would be attractive to other teams and you have to see what you can get for them - sentimentality be damned. Allen has a huge expiring contract and Rondo is young, cheap and talented. It isn't like the phone is ringing off the hook for people looking to talk about Big Baby Davis. Plus, you can't move Pierce at this point, he has tenure; and you won't move Garnett, unless you want to go back to the days of drawing 10,000 people to an 18,000 seat building. That leaves Allen, Rondo and Scals' contract as filler.

-I will say this, though: I don't really like Danny's history on draft night. He has this really bad habit of making a deal 4 hours before the draft instead of sitting back and seeing how things unfold first. When you have that many bad teams picking ahead of you, it's never a bad idea to wait and see how (not if) they'll screw up.

-Due to my pre-Celtic love of Kevin Garnett, I will always have a soft spot for the Timberwolves. And, since they have added Gomes and Jefferson they are essentially the Celtics' Western Conference Branch. But, just when I thought I couldn't like them more, they add my favorite Lithuanian, Darius Songaila. Nicely done. Doesn't change the fact that they now own the 5th and 6th picks in a draft where there are only 4 good players, but I'm a fan anyways.

-Congrats on getting Shaq, LeBron. Now you've pretty much screwed yourself. If you still don't win a title next season, people will start to wonder just what the hell you need to win one. If you manage to win a title then it will be more about Shaq getting his fifth then you getting your first. You'll be right where Dwayne Wade is now and Kobe was until about two weeks ago: people will view it as Shaq championship with you as the side kick. That should do wonders for your plan to make yourself a global icon. I know every kid on my block had a pair of Pippen sneakers...

-While Cleveland got better, which is not good for the Celtics, at least the Bucks got even weaker and the Spurs got better by adding Richard Jefferson. While I don't think he was ever as good as people would have us believe (playing with Jason Kidd in his prime always helps... ask Kenyon Martin) he's still better than what was left of Bruce Bowen's career. Anything that strengthens a challenger to the Lakers is a good thing in my mind.

-Despite the Celtics not having a pick in the first round of tonight's draft, I'm actually interested to see how things shape up. I said it around the NFL draft: every fan thinks they could be a GM and this is their chance to spout about how they never would have drafted that guy. Plus, everyone will be looking to sell off expiring contracts and big names that they over-paid for. Should make for lots of deals, which is when the NBA is the most interesting.