Boston Press: Ainge Plan Flawed, But Not Done Dealing

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Boston Press Box

TODAY'S BIG STORY:
FIVE EASY PIECES 
By Christopher Price
Note to self: A pinstriped tie doesn't go with a pinstriped shirt. And Andre 3000 was wrong  you shouldn't shake it like a Polaroid picture. Those two points aside, here's a quick look at a few other things I've learned this week

It's the temperature, stupid.
We all know the story: the Celtics weren't good enough to get past the Nets, they have to get worse before they get better, Antoine Walker was the anti-Christ, blah, blah, blah. The Celtics were going to struggle when it came to beating the Nets, and they had next to no chance when it came to matching up against any Western Conference foe in the NBA Finals. Ainge wanted to clear salary, so he tossed a handful of vets overboard, forced the head coach out the door, and started clearing cap space in hopes of attracting a marquee free agent.
But Ainge's plan is way off. About 1,500 miles too far north, by my reckoning. Like most other NBA team that has gone through a rebuilding effort, he has failed to realize that in the history of the NBA, there has never been an impact free agent who has wanted to be part of a rebuilding process in a cold weather environment. (Don't believe me? Ask Jerry Krause and the Chicago Bulls of the late 1990s. Or maybe there are flocks of NBA free agents beating a path for places like Minnesota, Milwaukee and Portland, and I'm just missing it.)
And when you toss in the fact that Boston's best selling point is it's rich history  something most of today's players could care less about  it likely means a long wait before Boston wins another playoff series. (Unless that global warming thing wasn't a myth...)
Is The Dealin' Done?
That's a good question. When it comes to the Celtics, it says here that the only two faces that have a real chance to be in new places before Thursday's trade deadline are Chris Mills and Ricky Davis. Mills was acquired specifically because he has a good contract and could serve some use on a team that needs a veteran presence. (By the way, Mills is alive. And if he is traded this week, he would be the only player in Celtics history who the team traded for twice but still didn't play a single minute for them.) And Davis because he appears to be the only real bargaining chip they have, other than maybe Walter McCarty.
That being said, no one would be surprised if Ainge was able to pull off another multiplayer deal. To paraphrase Joaquin Andujar, his style can be best summed up in one word: Youneverknow.