While the veteran Celtics would have benefited if the schedule was picked up on Christmas with no additional games, they will prepare for what is ahead. Luckily, the situation is not as bad as that after the 1998 lockout, when the league played 50 games in roughly 2 ½ months.
The age issue should not hover over the club during training camp. Allen never allows himself to slip out of shape, Paul Pierce looked lean during his stint in Rajon Rondo’s charity game last week at Harvard, and Kevin Garnett has been playing pickup games in Los Angeles.
Center Jermaine O’Neal, who will play a critical role because of Shaquille O’Neal’s retirement, is eight months removed from knee surgery and played during a Las Vegas league in August.
The bigger issue will be the minutes they log during the regular season. Rivers always has made sure to limit the minutes of Garnett, but he now may have to include Pierce and Allen in that equation.
The question here is the rest of the roster. The Celtics will begin camp Dec. 9 with nine players under their control. Jeff Green is a restricted free agent who will be eligible to field offers from other clubs that the Celtics are expected to match. JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore are rookies who barely have met Rivers because of lockout restrictions.
The lack of a summer league hurt the Celtics deeply because Johnson, Moore, and Avery Bradley were unable to get any exposure to NBA competition in an organized setting. They will enter camp needing to fill key roles until team president Danny Ainge brings in veterans to compete for roster spots.
Ainge has pulled off some commendable moves before to rebuild the roster, but one of his toughest tasks will come in the next few weeks when he has to add talent to a salary-cap strapped roster. Glen Davis is an unrestricted free agent and after some grumbling about leaving has changed his mind and said he wants to return to Boston.
