"I really like J.R.," said coach Doc Rivers. "He's athletic, skilled, a great in-between game. He has a chance to fight for minutes right away because of his defense."

The Celts drafted Semih Erden, a 6-11 Turkish center, with the final pick of the night, and it's likely he will stay overseas to complete the final year of his Turkish League contract. The team then added 6-6 forward Bill Walker, drafted at 47 by Washington, in a deal for cash.

Giddens is an intriguing talent, but he transferred from Kansas to New Mexico after a bar fight and has faced questions about his attitude.

"First, I'm confident that he's a good kid," said Danny Ainge, the Celtics' executive director of basketball operations. "Second, the team we have will make him better. He's not as mature as I would like to see, and he's not as disciplined as our guys are, but they will help him to achieve both things."

Giddens acknowledged the issues but quickly put them aside.

"I feel like I've overcome all those things," he said. "It helped to build the character that I have now. God does everything for a reason, and I believe He laid out this path for me now. I was a young guy, immature. I made a bad decision."

Rivers thinks the Celts made a good decision with Giddens.

"I like what he did (in a workout Wednesday)," Rivers said. "He was very competitive in that workout. His team lost a couple of games, and you could see from how he reacted that he didn't like it. Seeing him work out helped me more than Danny. Danny has seen these guys, but the workout sold me on liking him."

SEASON HIGHLIGHT: With 16.4 seconds left in Game 4 of the Finals, Ray Allen drove past Sasha Vujacic and scored. The hoop gave the Celts a 96-91 lead and clinched their comeback from a 24-point deficit (the largest such comeback in recorded Finals history). The bucket -- and the win -- meant that Boston had a 3-1 series lead, and with no one having ever won after trailing an NBA title series by that count, it put the Celts in a commanding position.

TURNING POINT: July 31, 2007. Celtics trade Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff and two draft picks to Minnesota for Kevin Garnett. After weeks of trying to pry Garnett away from the Timberwolves, the move goes down and instantly makes the Celtics into a championship contender. Season-ticket sales spike and Danny Ainge finds it easier to attract prime free agents to fill roles around Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, who came in a draft-night deal a month earlier.