Already hovering close to the projected salary cap with their current payroll, the Celtics did not want the financial obligations of a first-round pick. That, among other considerations, led to general manager Chris Wallace's decision to pull the trigger on his February deal with Phoenix, in which the Celtics traded the pick with Joe Johnson, Milt Palacio and Randy Brown for Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk.

Without that deal, the Celtics would not have made it as far as the Eastern Conference finals. But it's questionable whether the trade's long-range effects will turn out as well. Rogers remains the Celtics' top priority among their five free agents, but if he decides to walk, the team immediately weakens itself.

Meanwhile, they traded a promising young player in Johnson, who spent much of the second half of the season starting for Phoenix. Also as a consequence of that deal (Delk has four years left on his contract), the Celtics will likely have to bid farewell to Erick Strickland, a major contributor throughout the breakout season. Strickland, like Delk a combo guard, was the better performer of the two despite seeing his minutes decrease late in the season and during the playoffs. But he has no contract. Delk does.

As for functional roster reinforcements via the draft, forget it. The Celtics have just a second-round pick (No. 50 overall), meaning they'll be lucky to select a player worthy of the final spot on the team. Turning back to last year's draftees, Johnson is gone and Joseph Forte appears to be a wasted pick unless he learns how to play the point. That leaves it up to Kedrick Brown, who should be given every opportunity by Celtics coach Jim O'Brien to start this season.

The opinion here is that Brown can play, but if he does fall short of expectations and Rogers defects, the Celtics essentially would have Delk as the only tangible element still standing in the fallout of last year's draft and the February deal. Meanwhile, Wallace would have to fill the final roster spots with players capable of contributing as much as those who don't return. That won't be easy.

Tale of two picks

While the Celtics and 76ers met in the opening round of the playoffs, you may recall Philadelphia coach Larry Brown discussing his team's decision to pass on Paul Pierce with eighth pick in the 1998 draft. Brown said the organization believed at the time Larry Hughes would be the better fit in a lineup that already included a scorer the caliber of Allen Iverson.

Of course, eight teams besides the 76ers passed on Pierce before he landed in the Celtics' waiting arms at No. 10, the wisdom of which we're not here to discuss. Pierce has clearly evolved into one of the game's elite players while Hughes has never gotten untracked - first in Philly and for the last two years with Golden State. It now appears he'll be available to any team looking for a reclamation project this summer.

As a player entering his fifth year, Hughes is eligible to receive a qualifying offer ($2.9 million) from his present team for the upcoming season, which would preserve Golden State's right to match any offer sheet he might receive. But reports out of San Francisco are the Warriors will not tender Hughes that offer before next Sunday's deadline, meaning he would become an unrestricted free agent the following day.

So, while Pierce comes off an All-Star season and prepares to embark on a maximum salary contract, the player picked two spots ahead of him is looking for work and would probably take it at a cheap price. Not necessarily cheap enough, however, for the salary cap-challenged Celtics, who otherwise would have an interest in a player with Hughes' obvious offensive skills.

Despite Kenny Anderson's solid performance this past season, finding a third scoring option to support Pierce and Walker is still a Celtics' need, particularly if Brown isn't ready to contribute in his second year. But unless Hughes wants to play for the veteran minimum, the Celtics would be out of the market for his services. Meanwhile, some other team will be getting their hands on a talented player who is just 22 years old - and at a budget price.

A Thorny situation

One year after engineering what turned into the biggest impact trade of 2001-02 (Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd), Nets general manager and NBA Executive of the Year Rod Thorn is hearing the many calls from media and fans to ship Keith Van Horn elsewhere. But Thorn has a problem in that few teams, unless he were to create a legitimate deal sweetener (Richard Jefferson?), want Van Horn's maximum-salary obligations over the next three years, which amount to roughly $55 million. That means Van Horn could be a keeper in New Jersey strictly by default.

But that hasn't stopped names from being tossed about in potential deals for Van Horn on virtually a daily basis since the Nets were swept out of the Finals. One name that has surfaced is Karl Malone, who's Hall of Fame career has been paved in the same neck of the woods in which Van Horn is still held in high regard. Van Horn had an All-America career at the University of Utah before his professional troubles began as the unacceptable consolation prize to Tim Duncan in the 1997 draft.

The hitch is the Jazz had an opportunity to bring in Van Horn a year ago and declined the offer, which, coupled with Malone's $19 million contract and the amount of roster-tweaking Thorn would have to do to make the salary-cap numbers work, makes a Van Horn-to-Utah scenario seem unlikely.

The rumored deal that appears to make the most sense involves Seattle, which has been trying to get out from underneath Vin Baker's contract for what seems like an eternity. Baker, an underachiever since his promising early years in the league with Milwaukee, has a decent low-post game that would fit rather nicely in New Jersey's offense. The former Hartford star has been dropping hints for years he'd like to play in Boston, and there has always been a mutual interest on the Celtics' part as far back as M.L. Carr's tenure as coach and GM. But at the very least, a move to New Jersey would get the 6-11 power forward back East, with a fresh start and on a very good team. Baker, who will be 31 in November, still has time to turn things around.

As for Thorn, whatever direction he decides to go in with Van Horn, among other potential roster moves, he knows this is a critical offseason for the Nets. Kidd is a free agent next summer, and the team's fate during the upcoming season will likely determine where the All-Star point guard is signing his paychecks in 2003-04.