What Boston Should do this offseason

The Boston Celtics, like the Memphis Grizzlies, were the big losers of the NBA Draft Lottery. Of course, under the non-lottery system, the Celtics and Grizzlies would have had a coin flip to see who pick number one and who gets to pick number two. Unfortunately for both, that was not the case. Instead, the Celtics draft fifth this year. A decade ago, the Celtics had a 36% chance of getting the #1 pick and Tim Duncan and they lost that year too.
In this year's draft, I expect the Celtics to trade the pick to a team that is willing to give them a couple of good, experienced veterans to teach the young Celtics how to win. Maybe a deal with Portland for Zach Randolph and Jarrett Jack will help out them. After all, Sebastian Telfair is most likely out and Jack would step right in as starting point guard.
The Celtics will also probably need to have some major changes, beginning with getting rid of Telfair. The Celtics will probably release him if they cannot find a team who wants to trade for the troubled point guard. Also, don't be shocked if Paul Pierce gets traded. I know that this hasn't been publicised, but Pierce is probably frusturated in Boston and he is deserving to be on a championship team. Miami could potentially be interested, as would the Knicks if Pierce makes himself available. I also could see a major trade happen involving some of the Celtics younger players to get Pierce some help right now. If this were to happen, Delonte West, Rajon Rondo, or Ryan Gomes could be gone. Either way, I expect a busy offseason for the Celtics.
A lot of their problems are from blunders by general manager Danny Ainge. During last year's draft and earlier this year, he had the chance to get Allen Iverson in a trade. To get him, the Celtics just had to package a couple of their younger players and the #7 pick of last year's draft for the current Nuggets star. Instead, Ainge traded the pick for Telfair. That #7 overall pick could have given them Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy. Instead, it just gave the Celtics another bust and trade bait for this offseason.

What Portland could do in the draft and offseason

The Portland Trail Blazers lucked out last night by earning the number one overall pick in next month's draft. Had they gotten anything other than a top two pick, I thought that they should have traded it for a veteran presence. Instead, they will pick Greg Oden with that pick. He will lead the Trail Blazers to multiple NBA Titles someday with a young nucleus including Jarrett Jack, Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Zach Randolph. However, I expect Randolph to be traded, possibly in exchange for a high draft pick, which the Trail Blazers could use to select Mike Conley, Jr., Oden's long time teammate. Oden has said that he would love to play in the NBA with Conley, so that trade could end up making Oden happier.

This offseason, I do expect Randolph to go because the Trail Blazers would already have two good big men in Oden and Aldridge. Randolph is currently the highest paid player on the team and a trade could free up some salary cap space. With that added space, they could either save it to sign their younger players once their contracts expire or bring in a good veteran for a couple of seasons. Like the Chicago Bulls, the Trail Blazers are a very young team. Last year, the Bulls brought in Ben Wallace and PJ Brown and it paid big dividends for the Bulls, those two led them to their first playoff series victory since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen left the team.

Especially now, the Trail Blazers future couldn't look brighter.