Boston Celtics Sign Jermaine O'Neal, Title Dreams Fade With Miami Coup

Now that the LeBron egomania ride is over, other free agents can collectively dust themselves off and continue their quest for an NBA home.  It will be interesting to see which one of them will be clamoring to ride the shoestrings of Dywane Wade, Lebron James and Chris Bosh.

Preseason prognosticators have already anointed them the new Beasts of the East and once again the Boston Celtics are just an afterthought in the aftermath of this frenzy.

I must admit the possibilities in Miami are scary with this new triumvirate of players; but looking good on paper does not mean positive results.  Wade, James and Bosh are still in the throes of finding/defining their legacy; Wade and James more so because of their superstar status.

And it is that alpha-dog tendency that may gum up the works when it comes down to who takes the last shot.

The Eastern conference has become the place to be with at least five teams that can vie for the Eastern Conference crown.

Boston has a punchers chance as the de facto reigning conference champ. They have all five players from their championship run in the fold and just need a few reserves to bolster the bench.

They got Ray Allen to recommit and have recently given Jermaine O'Neal the full mid-level exception.

This is a move I don't understand.  O'Neal comes with a history of knee problems and disappearing acts.  The Celtics rendered him useless in the first round of last year’s playoffs and the Heat just simply let him walk away.

He may have simply been miscast as a second banana because of his injury history; he is more suited to be a fifth-wheel position than a leading man.

Knowing all this, the Celtics still welcomed him to Ubuntu-land. They still need another big man for insurance purposes.

This being said the Celtics may be vying for the services of Brad Miller or Kwame Brown with the Miami Heat.  Miller may well decide that the Sunshine State may be the best place for him to go. 

If that's the case Kwame Brown should be the Celtics target.  Yes, we all know of his underachieving ways, but all the Celtics need him to do is rebound, play defense and hold his own against the Dwight Howards of the world.

Doc Rivers is already opining about the possibilities of having Brown under his tutelage.

If Boston was able to get Brown or another serviceable big man, then the O'Neal signing makes sense.  If not, then they have just pinned their hopes on the services of the wrong O'Neal.