The Celtics are a good team. This is, by most accounts, an understatement.
Boston finished with a record of 62-20 last season, despite the fact that the heart and soul of its defense, Kevin Garnett, missed 22 of the team's final 26 games with a knee injury.
Garnett missed the playoffs as well, but that didn't stop the Celtics from taking the eventual Eastern Conference champions to seven games in the second round, before their title defense ended two rounds earlier than they had expected for most of the season.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the NBA's race for a championship is far less interesting with Kevin Garnett on the sidelines. Nothing would have been better to see the Celtics defend their title at full strength last season, and nothing would be better than a full strength Boston squad -- plus Rasheed Wallace -- battling the Cavaliers and the Magic to come out of the Eastern Conference this year.
But while KG is indeed back to practicing with his teammates, as you'll see in the following video clip, his knee appears to be far from ready for the rigors of the regular season.
There are plenty of new faces in Kansas City, but through three weeks of the 2009 season, the results are the same. The Chiefs are 0-3 under new head coach Todd Haley, and quarterback Matt Cassel has looked more like a former seventh-round pick destined for a career as an NFL backup than a cornerstone of the franchise.
After Herm Edwards' three-year reign of terror (the team won nine games and made the playoffs in 2006, but managed just six victories the next two seasons) most Chiefs fans had learned to deal with the weekly disappointments. Not all of them, however.
When Kevin Garnett first sustained his knee injury back in February, it didn't look to be something that would keep him on the sidelines for very long. He initially missed 13 games, then came back for some limited playing time in four contests, before he was shut down by the team, but presumably only until the playoffs.
Well, we all saw how that turned out.
A few weeks turned into the rest of the season, and here we are -- about two weeks before the start of training camp -- and KG still isn't back to playing full-court basketball.
Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it on a topic. We came up with the catchy title, Debate in the Paint. This week: Which team has had the best offseason?
There are certainly teams that have been busier than the Boston Celtics this offseason. But nobody's had a better one.
The Orlando Magic were so active the past couple of months that it's not easy remembering the dozen or so players going in and out; the San Antonio Spurs made a big splash by signing Richard Jefferson; and the Lakers made a lot of noise by going out and getting Ron Artest.
Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it on a topic. We came up with the catchy title, Debate in the Paint. This week: Which team has had the best offseason?
The Los Angeles Lakers started this decade with three consecutive NBA titles. They will finish it by winning the last two.
Anything less would be a surprise.
Although much was made of the summertime roster additions among the top three contenders in the Eastern Conference – Boston, Cleveland, Orlando -- it was the defending champion Lakers who orchestrated the most significant moves in the off-season.
On Friday here on FanHouse, Tim Povtak reported that the Celtics were hot on the trail for free-agent swingman Marquis Daniels to bolster their team as they reload in the OK Corral the Eastern Conference has become this summer.
Looks like the C's have their man.
Daniels' agent confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that the Celtics are in the final stages of working out a sign-and-trade for Daniels with his former club, the Pacers. If that fails, the biannual exception is in the Celtics' back pocket, with Daniels ready to accept.
(Quick aside: Is it just me or is the NBA offseason easily the most fun of any sport?) Anyway, it appears, based on Woj's sources, that this rumor is likely to gain very little steam, primarily because Danny Ainge is dealing with "Bring in Rasheed Wallace to win a championship" Joe Dumars, as opposed to "Draft Darko, Trade Chauncey for Iverson" Joe Dumars.
All rumors involving the Spurs are interesting, and not just because of the team's status as one of the league's best year after year (after year after year). San Antonio does things differently, and ape as other franchises might try, no one can quite replicate the funky method to the Buford/Popovich madness. Even if a rumor susses out false, the anatomy and evolution of said rumor deserves attention. Every bit of understanding helps.
As such, the burgeoning rumor placing Olympiakos center Yiannis Bouroussis in a Spurs uniform for three years, $10-12 million, as reported by 48 Minutes of Hell and backed up by Greek sources ... that makes you pay attention. S.A. is always always looking for an appropriate running mate for Tim Duncan, and anyone who follows European basketball knows Bouroussis' reputation as a bad-ass bruiser. It seems like a match made in Heaven.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
After being discovered in a pickup game by NBA superstar Chauncey Billups, Alex Acker was drafted by the Detroit Pistons, where his first encounter with Rasheed Wallace was truly one for the history books. Acker also spent two seasons with the best teams in Europe -- Olympiacos (Greece) and FC Barcelona (Spain's powerhouse) -- where he faced pepper spray and flare guns during games. In this FanHouse exclusive we hang out with Acker at his L.A. home and get a true inside look at the life of an NBA player.
FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the 
There are plenty of new faces in Kansas City, but through three weeks of the 2009 season, the results are the same. The 
When 
Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our 
Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our 
On Friday here on FanHouse, 
There's a little NBA trading spice coming out of 
All rumors involving the Spurs are interesting, and not just because of the team's status as one of the league's best year after year (after year after year). San Antonio does things differently, and ape as other franchises might try, no one can quite replicate the funky method to the Buford/Popovich madness. Even if a rumor susses out false, the anatomy and evolution of said rumor deserves attention. Every bit of understanding helps.
After being discovered in a pickup game by NBA superstar 
