The Celtics are in the lottery for the first time since 1986, and in
it for the first time on their own merit (or lack thereof).  They
have as their net GM:

  Ellie Cutler


She uses the 9th pick on:

  Lamond Murray, SF, 6-7.  Cal
===========================================================================

TEAM NEEDS
----------

The New England Patriots are more popular team in Boston these days
than the Celtics. The C's have bottomed out and are now officially in
the process of rebuilding. Dave Gavitt called a late-season press
conference just to announce this, in case anybody was wondering. This
means it will take more than one draft and one free agent to get them
out of the cellar.  The retirements of Bird and McHale and the
untimely death of Reggie Lewis pulled the worn rug out from under the
once-proud franchise.

This was far and away one of the worst seasons ever for the Celtics.
Records (losing streak, lowest points per quarter, per game, etc etc)
were being broken left and right, none of them pretty.  The end of the
season brought votes of no confidence from the new front office for
Gavitt and Ford. And the new front office drew votes of no confidence
from free agents such as Danny Manning, who has publicly nixed any
idea of signing w/Boston.  Pinckney and Brown were off and on the
trading block, as well as Gamble and Xman, but nobody wanted them. The
fact that 7 or so of the players are free agents of some sort
detracted from real team play.

Boston has too many needs to draft solely on position, so expect them
to take the BPA. They need a new attitude. They also need scoring,
rebounding, and some lane cloggers.

CENTER: (Parish, Earl, Radja, Wenstrom) With Parish likely to be
leaving town soon and Acie Earl not quite ready for prime time, the
center spot is one of Boston's most immediate needs. Radja can play
backup minutes there, but belongs at PF. Boston was horrible at
clogging the paint--teams drove right through at will. Acie Earl will
not stop this. (Bryant Reeves might, but that's next year...) Earl has
the potential to be a good backup at the 4/5, but needs more
development to hold his own against Ewing or O'Neall (though he did
have some nifty blocks and steals against Mourning early on). I like
Acie Earl, and think he can be a real player, if he can toughen up. He
He has definite talent under the basket, if he can get there without
being shoved out of position. He is a great shot blocker, can score,
and should do better next year when he doesn't get called for rookie
fouls all the team.

POWER FORWARD: (Radja, Pinckney, Earl, McDaniel) Pinckney (FA) was
thisclose to being shipped to Minnesota purgatory for journeyman
big-guy Mike Brown, but one of the Wolves honchos nixed the trade at
the last minute. Ho Hum. Eddie didn't excel on the boards like he did
last year, and his offense remained an exercise in futility (have you
ever seen anyone miss from the one-foot range with such consistency?).
The pearl of the year was Dino Radja, who went from "Isn't he that guy
we drafted back in the second round who didn't want to play here?" to
fan-darling. The real McCoy (bearing an eerie resemblence to Bird),
Radja held down the PF slot (taking over as starter) most of the year,
and finished on the all-rookie 2nd team. He has nowhere to go but up,
and should be the starting PF for Boston for the next 4 years. The
closest thing to untouchable on the team.

SMALL FORWARD: (Fox, Gamble, McDaniel, Oliver) Ford finally let Rick
Fox take over his rightful place as starting SF (over Gamble), and Fox
responded with good numbers. He is still exasperating, at times making
bonehead plays and taking bonehead shots (why do I think he'd be a
good fit with the Knicks?), and his outside shooting is streaky, but
he is a great defensive player, quick hands and feet, lots of steals,
and is the hustling-est guy on the team.

SHOOTING GUARD: (Brown, Oliver, Fox) Dee Brown (RFA)was the starter,
and had an up and down year--at times the sky-clearing jumper we loved
from his rookie season, at other times "hello in there?" He seems
discontent, and is a good candidate for a "trading places" swap with
the likes of Rex Chapman.  Jim Oliver got most of his minutes here
too, but is a little too slow.  Boston could use some height here--a
duo 6-1 backcourt is just too small.

POINT GUARD: (Douglas, Brown) Sherm is the man. Set records for
assists/game, and assists season (I think). Fans love the funny
up-and-over shot he puts up over the PFs and Cs of the league. Plus,
his gigantic salary makes him virtually untradeable. C's can pick up a
backup in the 2nd round (Charlie Ward, Melvin Booker)

MY SELECTION: Lamond Murray, Cal, 6-7, 220 
A legitimate scorer for Boston!  Murray fills one of the C's biggest
holes, a go-to scorer. He can shoot from anywhere anytime; treys to
alley-oops, and can also rebound. In one game (Az?) he had 36 pts, 10
RB, 3 blocks and 5 steals. Replaced Webber on team USA. A great
athlete and leaper, with long arms that give a hard-to-defend
extension to his shot. Murray has been compared to Glen Rice -- not
bad at all! Defensively may need motivation (well, Ford can yell at
him ;)

OTHERS CONSIDERED: Sharone Wright - would be a decent choice for
shoring up the front court, but scoring is just as big a hole in the
C's lineup, and Murray is a bigger talent. Besides, Othella
Harrington, Bryant Reeves, and Rasheed/Rashard1 await in the collegiate
wings for next year's draft.

Eddie Jones -- Not expecting Murray to slip to #9, I had this kid
pegged as my #1 choice. Great defender and knows how to score.

WHO THEY'LL PROBABLY TAKE: If they feel the front court is more of an
immediate need, they may take Wright or even Montross. Another choice
for scoring, if Murray is gone, might be Chuck Person's kid brother,
Wesley.

OTHER MOVES: Talked about: Dee Brown straight up for Rex Chapman. Xman
will likely stay put. Parish likely will move on. Gamble and Pinckney
up in the air.  If we don't get a PF, we should keep Eddie. Gamble,
without a 3-pt-shot or superior defensive skills, is expendable.

=================================================================
Draft Summary:

1.  Milwaukee Bucks
    GM:   Bobby Davis 
    Pick: Glenn Robinson, PF, 6-8.  Purdue University.
2.  Dallas Mavericks
    GM:   Theo Wendt 
    Pick: Jason Kidd, PG, 6-4.  Cal.
3.  Detroit Pistons
    GM:   Eric Iverson 
    Pick: Grant Hill, SF, 6-8. Duke.
4.  Minnesota Timberwolves
    GM's: Kevin Hansen 
          Toni Morgan 
    Pick: Donyell Marshall, SF, 6-9. Connecticut
5.  Washington Bullets
    GM's: Jim Nagle 
          The Crossjammer 
    Pick: Juwan Howard, PF, 6-10. Michigan
6.  Philadelphia 76ers
    GM's: Brent Halliburton 
    Pick: Yinka Dare, C, 7-0. George Washington
7.  Los Angeles Clippers
    GM:   Paul Osmond 
    Pick: Carlos Rogers, PF, 6-11. Tennessee State
8.  Sacramento Kings
    GM's: Don Hearth 
          Daniel W. Huang 
    Pick: Clifford Rozier, PF, 6-9.  Louisville
9.  Boston Celtics
    GM:   Ellie Cutler 
    Pick: Lamond Murray, SF, 6-7.  Cal

Next up:
10. Los Angeles Lakers
    GM:   Kosh