Every fantasy league has one, so why shouldn't the NBA have a guy who just won't stop making trades.
His name is Danny Ainge, and since his tenure as Celtics' Director of Basketball Operations began in 2003, he has proved very adept at trading for players, then trading them away before they even learn to navigate Boston's one-way streets.
Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chucky Atkins, Dan Dickau, Marcus Banks, Gary Payton have all come and gone via trade on Ainge's watch. In less than four years on the job, he's traded Antoine Walker twice.
The most recent acquisitions, Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff, should be forgiven if they elect to rent, not buy. They arrived from Portland in a draft-day deal that sent LaFrentz, Dickau and the rights to Randy Foye to the Pacific Northwest.
The lack of continuity in Boston's lineup contributed to Boston's dip to 33-49 last season, spoiling an outstanding season by Paul Pierce, the best of his eight-year career in Boston.
Pierce's patience will be rewarded eventually if Ainge can exercise some patience of his own and resist trading the talented members of Boston's kiddie corps. The Celtics return seven veterans under the age of 24, and added Telfair, 21, as well as 6-1 guard Rajon Rondo, 20, in a draft-day trade with Phoenix.
Telfair, Rondo and Delonte West, 23, will vie for minutes at point guard, but the steep price paid for Telfair suggests that he'll be given every chance to take the job even though West had a breakout year (11.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.6 apg) last season.
Kendrick Perkins and Al Jefferson, both 21, are both 6-10, both joined the Celtics straight from high school, and both are poised to take on more prominent roles this season after showing promise in 2005-06. Perkins, Jefferson and Ratliff all figure to earn minutes in the paint; as does surprising 2005 second-rounder Ryan Gomes, who averaged 12.4 points and 7.6 rebounds in 33 starts after Jefferson was sidelined with an ankle injury.
Tony Allen and Gerald Green will find minutes a little tougher to come by behind entrenched starters Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak, but both got experience and figure to handle increased roles this season.
The toughest task for Head Coach Doc Rivers – who took criticism last year for rotating too many players in and out of the lineup – will be identifying his best players and settling on a rotation.
With Pierce leading the way, the Celtics have a high ceiling, but most prognosticators will probably wait until 2007-08 before including the C's on their list of playoff probables.
-- Bill Evans
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I think everyone wants to run more with Phoenix and Dallas showing that you can win that way, but I'm not sure Paul Pierce is a get-up-and-down-the-court kind of guy.
Paul Pierce: Put up career numbers last season despite battling lingering bumps and bruises.
Wally Szczerbiak: Great player but Gerald Green and Tony Allen play the same position. That's a problem for Wally.
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