Rasheed Wallace and the Boston Celtics have reached a verbal agreement on a mid-level contract in which Wallace will receive just under $6 Million for the next two years, once singed on the 8th of July when free agents can begin to sign their contracts. While many people will criticize the Celtics for not adding long-term depth to the veteran heavy roster, I feel as though it was a great move. With what appears to be the end of Leon Powe in a Celtic uniform (much to my dismay), the Celtics needed to add depth in the frontcourt and add a veteran presence both on the court and in the locker room. While Sheed might not be the best person for the locker room, he is exactly what they needed to put on the floor. Sure, he is not the same Sheed who helped the Pistons win a championship back in 04, but there is no way you could argue against seeing him out there playing alongside KG or Perkins and not consider that a threat offensively. A 6’11” player who can step out and hit threes is simply insane, and with the hard-nosed defensive attitude of the Celtics, adding more bench scoring is exactly what they needed.

Rasheed has his downsides however. He commits a lot of technical fouls, but that is nothing new for the Celts. Perk and KG get T'd up like it’s in their contracts to do so, so the addition of Wallace will not improve that situation. He is also getting old. At 35 he is past his NBA prime and is no doubt on the downward half of his career. But, despite the negatives, he brings to the Celtics something that they could have used when KG was out: a swagger. When times got tough in Boston, they lost a lot of the swagger that they carried as the reigning champs and Sheed does not lack that for a minute. I don’t want to go so far as to use the word cocky, but he makes people want to win, stay competitive and compete for a championship, because its what he wants and he has no problem letting everyone know on a daily basis that is how he feels.

Many people are probably asking themselves, "Is he going to bring the team down in the locker room with his attitude?" and while I can see the concerns, I honestly do not believe so. For starters, KG and Rasheed are great friends, so much so that Garnett made multiple trips, including the big Celtic group trip that ended up sealing the deal, to talk to his buddy about coming to the C's. And don’t think for a second that KG did not let him know how things work on him and Paul’s teams. Wallace knows exactly the environment he is stepping into as well as the role he will be trying to fill: the sixth man in the frontcourt. He will listen to Garnett, he will play 20 minutes a game and put up 10+ points in those games, and he will be a great teacher for Perkins on how to become a more versatile big man offensively as they play side by side. Rasheed has been in the league too long now to think that he is still the potential cornerstone of an organization, and I truly believe that he will slip into the role as the third member of the front court, filling in both power forward and center positions beautifully for the Celtics.

The Celtics are still lacking some serious depth as a team I think. Adding Rasheed is great because it creates a steady three-man rotation to fill the two positions in the frontcourt, which is good, and if the Celts could bring in a young big guy in the coming year or so, it would be deadly for them. The backcourt leaves a lot of questions. The starters are great and that is not a question. The future of the team lies in the hands of Rajon Rondo, but the question is who is there to help? I would love to see Bill Walker get more playing time this year. I see him developing in to the same type of player that James Posey was, a solid small forward who can eat up valuable minutes with Pierce on the bench by holding down the defensive end an contributing some points to go along with it. I think his development is crucial. Also, the development of JR Giddens, Tony Allen, or the new fella, Lester Hudson is crucial. If the Celtics want to succeed, they need to find a player who can develop into an everyday off-guard. Ray Allen still has a couple years left, and Eddie House will probably be gone after next year, so one of those guys has to step up and get it done for the future of the organization. But my biggest question is the back up point guard situation, and I want to see Gabe Pruitt get a lot more playing time. Let him become more confident in his offensive ability because it is there. What he lacks in terms of quickness and Rondo's court vision, he can make up for as a scorer off the bench. I think he has a very similar playing style to Marbury in the fact that he can very well be a scoring point guard. And with Marbury not coming back, or so it would seem, Pruitt has to be able to contribute off the bench and show Doc early on that he is to guy to go to off the bench when Rondo comes out. He could be an incredibly valuable asset to the team, if not for minutes then as trade bate.

So the Celtics have some options and I feel will be able to compete in the constantly growing and improving Eastern conference. If they could go out and sign Grant Hill, adding a great veteran presence off the bench, they would be almost complete. Now am I saying that the Celtics are now poised to win the next championship? No, especially in light of how much the good teams in the east have bulked up, but I do think that they are doing a lot of the necessary things to ensure as much success now as possible. Do they need to start getting younger? Absolutely, but, if they added Grant Hill, could you imagine before the 2003 season if someone were to tell you that the Boston Celtics roster for the 2010 season would include: Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace and Grant Hill, you would have laughed at the idea of those five all stars sharing the same locker room for a whole season. Seven years later it is a distinct possibility, and while they may not be the same players they were back then, it will still be one heck of an interesting team to watch.