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By Shira Springer, Globe Staff, 6/27/2002
WALTHAM - For the Celtics, the 2002 NBA draft will go down as
The Year of the Long Wait. The selection process was 3 hours 8
minutes old before deputy commissioner Russ Granik stepped to
the podium at The Theatre in Madison Square Garden and announced
the Celtics' pick of Darius Songaila at No. 50.
Mercifully, Songaila had a name that was
relatively easy to pronounce compared with the other
foreign-born players selected, and his game is decidedly more
familiar stateside since he played for Wake Forest and prepped
at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire.
Boston wanted a power forward or center who
could develop overseas for a couple of years, then come back and
either make the roster or be part of a transaction. The Celtics,
however, don't have any commitment from Songaila that he will
play overseas. Last night Songaila planned to attend training
camp and try to make the team, despite the fact that relatively
few roster spots will be available.
If Songaila goes to training camp and gets
cut, the Celtics lose his rights, so they might try to dissuade
him from showing up in the fall.
''I expected to get drafted anywhere and I
did,'' said Songaila by phone. ''It was a nice surprise [going
to the Celtics]. They have a great tradition. It's a great team.
I'm looking forward to getting there and seeing what I can do in
the summer league. I hope to be in training camp and make the
team [this year]. I want to try to make the team right now
because that's my dream. I want to go there and give it my best
shot. I think I'm ready [for the NBA].''
Born in Lithuania and a member of the
Lithuanian national team, the 6-foot-9-inch, 245-pound Songaila
spent the last four years playing for the Demon Deacons, leading
them in scoring (17.9 points per game) and rebounding (8.1 per
game) his senior season. The 24-year-old power forward was also
named an honorable mention All-American as a senior and
represented Lithuania in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
''He was one of the better players in the
[Atlantic Coast Conference] this year and he visited a number of
teams from the late 20s in the first round to the early
second,'' said Celtics general manager Chris Wallace. ''As
happens with several other players, the draft just went against
him. He's a unique player because he has a high level of
American college experience and he's a four-year senior, but
he's a foreigner.
''He can step out and shoot from outside. He
was doing a really good job on his visits with his 3-point
shooting at the NBA 3-point line, and he's rugged and can
rebound. He's tough. He's just a good basketball player.''
Wallace made all the requisite complimentary
comments after the selection. He praised the experience and
skill of Songaila. But truth be told, little will be heard from
or about Songalia this summer as the draft fades into the
background, save for his participation in the summer league. The
Celtics' focus now shifts fully to free agency; the draft was
merely a prelude to the real business at hand. Wallace has said
he would like to re-sign a number of the Celtics' free agents,
but the looming luxury tax threshold and the market for Rodney
Rogers will be big factors in the decision-making process.
With nine players holding guaranteed contracts
for next season and a payroll of $51.7 million, Wallace has his
work cut out. The Celtics have five free agents (Rogers, Erick
Strickland, Walter McCarty, Mark Blount, and Roshown McLeod),
but the GM expects no more than 13 players on the roster next
season because of financial limitations. The luxury tax
threshold is expected to be around $53 million-$54 million.
In fact, money (or lack thereof) was the
reason Boston was not interested in a first-round selection and
traded the No. 22 pick to Phoenix in the deal that brought
Rogers and Tony Delk to town.
''In an ideal dream world, we'd bring back
three or four of our own guys, but after Monday, we'll see what
the other people have to offer,'' said Wallace. ''It looks like
a tight free agent market out there this summer, but it only
takes one team. We definitely would not be the same team
[without Rogers]. It would take some scrambling to minimize his
departure. I prefer not to consider the scrambling part right
now and do what we can to get him signed.
''He'd like to stay here. He had a very
positive experience here in Boston. He enjoyed himself on and
off the court. He sees where he can fit in with this team. He
got along well with everybody, from the coaching staff through
all the players. So there's no geographical, style-of-play issue
or playing time or any of that. He clearly understands what he
means to us and what type of role he could have in the future.''
Talk about free agency was one of several
signs that draft night 2002 was much different than draft night
2001. Since Boston had no pick in the top 28, the atmosphere at
the Celtics' training center was a complete change from that of
the 2001 draft, when they had three first-round selections,
including two in the lottery. Last year TNT broadcast live from
the Boston war room. Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce attended.
Red Auerbach left a trail of cigar smoke. Wallace and head coach
Jim O'Brien were ''ecstatic'' about Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown,
and Joseph Forte.
Last night Wallace was simply satisfied and
O'Brien did not attend the draft. The wait-and-see attitude the
Celtics used on draft night will be the same one they adopt as
Songaila develops.
''I know teams always tell you this, but we
really didn't think he'd be there at that point,'' said Wallace.
''We thought he'd go a little earlier, but these drafts just
drift off in meandering ways and sometimes they work against
players. There were just a lot of surprising things in this
draft.
''[Songaila] will be here for summer league.
But as far as on the roster, who knows? It's going to be a tight
roster, 12 at most 13 players. We took our little shot with
Darius [yesterday] and we'll see what happens.''
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