Is Shaquille O'Neal the Last Piece Needed for the Boston Celitcs?

Danny Ainge is going to surprise us this offseason. I’m not talking about Von Wafer.

He’s going to surprise us by either convincing Shaquille O'neal to take veteran’s minimum salary for a year, or by trading Rasheed Wallace's retiring contract for a player nobody has on their radar.

Personally, I was really rooting for Michael Beasley.

The veteran leadership on the team would’ve toughened him up and he would’ve been an incredible sixth man coming in for any of the Big Three.

That ship has sailed.

Who are we going to swap Sheed’s money for now? Danny, and only Danny knows.

Can you imagine signing Shaq to the league minimum AND bringing in another talent —someone with an ounce of youth left who would contribute this year and for a few years to come?

Gerald Wallace would be an ideal candidate, but I’m not sure the Charlotte Bobcats would be tempted—even with a draft pick in the offer.

Rudy Fernandez (who we traded for Brian Grant and Rondo—look it up) still looks like a distinct possibility, but if Shaq doesn’t come we’ll be very thin in the post especially until Kendrick Perkins comes back.

The Big Three are not going to be as good this year as they were last year, and that’s not a fun reality to cope with, but it’s the truth of the matter just the same.

I’ve already heard some talk about how great our bench looks.

We don’t have Perkins and we barely have any big men—Kevin Garnett is going to get tired, and please don’t bring up Semih Erden as a realistic option.

A strong big man, and another wing player with some defensive ability are still musts this offseason if we want to compete for a championship and not just make the playoffs.

Does anyone want to see the Los Angeles Lakers tie us for most NBA championships of all time?

Thought so. Go fill the roster Danny. Oliver Lafayette and Tony Gaffney don’t count.