HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

The Celtics Achilles Heel: The Boston Celtics are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and barring some kind of catastrophic array of injuries they should be competing for another NBA Finals bid in May and June – that was the goal and the plan when the Celtics entered free agency this past July.

The Celtics will have their challenges in reaching that goal - one of them will be keeping such an old team healthy and with 10 games in the books. The Celtics have already lost both Shaquille O’Neal and Jermaine O’Neal to injury, injuries the Celtics knew would be part of the deal when they signed both players.

"Jermaine hasn’t felt right for a couple of weeks, but he kept playing because (Shaquille O’Neal) was hurt," explained Celtics president Danny Ainge to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. "We’ll go through a few (stretches) like this."

"It’s not anything we didn’t know about," said Ainge. "He’s had it drained, and the best thing now is to try and maintain it. He’s had two opinions on it, including (team physician) Brian (McKeon), and so we’ll go from there. I just think that realistically he has to take a couple of weeks off. We don’t want to risk anything."

"Going in, none of us expected him or Shaq to play 82 games," admitted Ainge. "We knew that both would be guys we had to watch carefully. We knew it would be a high-maintenance situation."

The Celtics are clearly one of the teams to beat in the East. The challenge for them is to stay healthy through 82 games. If they can do that they are looking more and more like the prohibitive favorites to be in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But given the age and mileage on their players, injuries could be a much bigger hurdle than in Orlando or Miami.

Dampier And The Lakers: With Laker center Andrew Bynum on the shelf until mid to late December, and reserve center Theo Ratliff out for at least six weeks to knee surgery, it’s no surprise to hear the L.A. Lakers are looking for a reserve big man and free agent center Erick Dampier is towards the top of the list.

Sources close to the situation said that while Dampier is a player of interest, the Lakers may go the cheaper, more disposable route. The belief is the Lakers are more likely to bring in a lesser level player they can ultimately cut down the road as their injured players get healthy and return to action.

The problem with landing Dampier is he wants to play and wants a defined opportunity to play all season. While Dampier and Ratliff in many respects could battle out the reserve center spot once Andrew Bynum returns, there is a real reluctance in L.A. to bringing in a player that needs minutes. The belief inside the Lakers is that down the road whatever player they bring in could have little to no role, especially in the playoffs.

The Lakers have also been extremely cost conscious about their 14th and 15th roster spots, offering very little in terms of guaranteed contracts and that’s something Dampier will require to gain his services.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Sources close to the situation said it was more likely that the Lakers sign a Band-Aid type player to get them through December and the Lakers have reached out to a number of players currently in the D-League and unsigned or recently cut free agents.

Erick Dampier is on the Lakers’ list, but it seems that while Damp is clearly the best named player out there the Lakers could be going in a totally different direction.

Some Concern In Philly: The 2-9 Philadelphia 76ers are not ready to panic, but sources close to the situation say there is a growing concern. So much so that the 76ers - who have been reluctant to engage trade talks - now seem more open to what’s out there and could be gearing up for a deal next month if things don’t improve.

Sixers’ guard Andre Iguodala is the easy player to jump the gun on, however Iguodala has been hampered this season by a banged up wrist and tendinitis in his right Achilles. Iguodala has missed three of his last six games and is putting up career-low numbers, including a 12.8 points per game scoring average.

Factor in the $13.67 million Iguodala is owed this season, and the remaining $61.8 million he’s still owed, and Iguodala becomes a tough player to move.

The Sixers continue to deny interest in moving Iguodala in trade, although several teams have reportedly inquired about his availability including the New Orleans Hornets who are aggressively looking to add another impact player to their roster.

Sixers’ big man Marreese Speights has fallen off the depth chart in Philadelphia, logging a Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision last night, after averaging just 13.1 minutes per game so far in November.

Sources close to the situation say Speights’ camp is growing frustrated with the situation, but is trying to be patient while 76ers coach Doug Collins finds his rotation, a rotation the Sixers have said Speights is a part of.

However, sources close to the 76ers thinking also say Speights could be available if it helped return the right package of assets. His lack of playing time surely signals he’s not a priority.

As things stand today the 76ers are said to be listening to offers a lot more intently than they were two weeks ago, and sources close to the situation said yesterday that there was almost no doubt that Philadelphia could make a deal after December 15th, the first date players signed to contracts this summer can be traded.

The question is can the 76ers turn things around over the course of the next 28 days, a span in which Philadelphia will see Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Boston and New Orleans?

The Sixers are 2-9 today, and have 14 games to play until December 15th. It’s a situation to watch for sure.

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