Boston Celtics: 7 Reasons the 2012 Draft Is Crucial to the Celtics' Future

By now, all anyone knows of the Celtics is that they are old, rickety and seemingly allergic to success.

They are also resilient, proud and stubborn, but none of these six qualities is going to help them all that much going forward beyond this year's postseason. Particularly the first three.

Free agency will help the C's, especially when you consider that all but four of their current players are coming off the books. But it's the draft where they can really do some things to at least change their fortunes, if not irrevocably alter them.

Here are a few reasons why.

1. Age

Hey, it's the most obvious so why don't we list it first, right?

The Celtics are on the cusp of the Eastern Conference Finals playing with a core that's median age is 36. One of their chief bench contributors is 32 and another is 30. 

They need, need, need to get younger and fast.

They can do just that in the draft, more so if they package one or more of their three picks (two in the first round) with a player either on the current roster or in a sign-and-trade, and move up.

Whether or not they try to re-sign Kevin Garnett or Ray Allen for another year or two, drafting one or two guys who can contribute is key to the team's next 5-10 years.

2. Rajon Rondo

The Celtics' most maddening player is a greyhound out there, a guy who always looks like he was born to run.

It's up to the C's to go out and get him some running mates, a couple of guys who can get out on the break with him, quicken the pace by a factor of 10 and finish some more of his otherworldly feeds at the rim instead of 15-20 feet from the basket.

Rondo's ongoing penchant for doing something stupid at a bad time, whether it's bumping a referee or not bothering to show up for a potential playoff clincher, will always make him a candidate to be moved as long as it remains an issue.

But if the Celts are planning to keep him beyond his current contract and rebuild the team around him, they'd better start drafting the parts to do that this summer.

3. Size

Here's another news flash for you: The Celtics can't rebound.

It's not as big a problem against Philly (except in Game 4; you know the one in which the C's blew an 18-point, second-half lead), who aren't terribly big or physical up front, as it is against a lot of other teams 

Still, what's been an issue all year long will likely rear its head again if the C's are to advance in the playoffs. The idea of watching them try to out-rebound a team like San Antonio or Oklahoma in the Finals is not terribly appealing.

In looking to use this draft to bolster the team's future, GM Danny Ainge has to be looking at big men who are tough, physical and have the will to want to hit the glass.

There may not be too many of those guys down in the low 20s, where the Celts' first two picks are, so here's another reason for them trying to moving up.

4. Offense

Not only do the Celtics have major difficulty rebounding, they also can't score with much consistency these days.

The C's are a jump-shooting team and when those jumpers aren't falling, like on Wednesday night, they're pretty much cooked (although the alarmingly low shooting percentage in Game 6 was exacerbated by Rondo's no show).

Paul Pierce's knee troubles have robbed him of a good deal of his ability to create his own offense. And even though one assumes that Pierce will be back to his old self come opening night (after rest, rehab and surgery), the C's would be wise to look for some offensively skilled players in both free agency and the draft.

The Celts averaged 91.8 points per game in the regular season, less than Washington and New Jersey. Three times against Philly, they've failed to break 85.

Draft offense, Danny. Do it.

5. Relevance

After the breaking up of the previous Big Three, the Celtics slid down a hill of mediocrity until they hit a big steaming pile of irrelevance. 

Even those couple of years in the early part of the 2000s when they made back-to-back playoff trips (one to the Eastern Finals) behind Pierce, Antoine Walker and Kenny Anderson, the buzz that one might associate with a team achieving such things was missing.

With the advent of this Big Three, the championship in 2008 and the near-miss in 2010, the Celts leaped back into the big boy chair, both locally and nationally.

As Allen, Pierce and Garnett fade off into the sunset, it would be wise for the C's to make some sort of splash to get a guy they can pair with Rondo as the new face of the franchise and carry it through the rest of the decade. 

Potentially moving up, way up, in this draft, would make that a more likely possibility and the Celtics should certainly explore that course of action.

Sucking is bad. Being irrelevant is worse.

6. Marketing

It's unfortunate that this is something that must be taken into consideration, but in this day and age, there's no way around it.

No one is suggesting that the Celts need the next LeBron or Kobe (although for on-court purposes, that would be nice). But, tying this into relevance, being able to promote a player or two as something like the "Next Great Celtic(s)" would do wonders for keeping interest in the team at a high level and just might attract some interesting names in free agency in the coming years as well.

Imagine, if you will, Celtics fans, looking at a billboard high above TD Garden while you're sitting in traffic on 93 South featuring Rondo, a free agent like Roy Hibbert or O.J. Mayo and a draft stud like Sullinger, Terrence Jones or even Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. 

You'd be pumped, wouldn't you?

7. The Future

OK fine, it is in the title of the slideshow. But the future of the Celtics, whether their season ends Saturday night, in two weeks or next month, is of major consequence.

Ainge already left his biggest mark on this franchise when he acquired Allen and the Garnett five summers ago and the Celts won their 17th championship a little less than a year later. 

He has a chance to make an even bigger one this summer.

We already know that the Celts will potentially have a mountain of cash to play with come free agency. But what Ainge does with this draft will likely define the offseason.

Does he trade up? Stay put at No. 21 and No. 22? 

Does he even know what kind of team he wants to build going forward?

These are questions that may well have an impact on the C's for years to come. We'll see what the answers are in about a month's time.