Rome wasn't built in one day, but thanks to free agency in the National Basketball Association, piecing together a championship team can be done in about one summer.
The luster that emanated from a once-proud Boston Celtics franchise had faded and a generation of fans had only heard stories of the exploits of Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish, Larry Bird, and whispers of players like Bill Russell.
With the Red Sox taking a pair of World Series titles in the past four years and the Patriots among the NFL's elite, it was time for GM Danny Ainge to once again make the Celtics relevant in Beantown.
This past off-season, Ainge was facing pressure from all sides. The team owned the second worst record in the entire league, and to add salt on the proverbial wound, they lost the draft lottery dropping to the fifth pick overall.
Not deterred, Ainge gutted his team acquiring Seattle's Ray Allen and Minnesota power forward Kevin Garnett.
Ainge was obviously pleased with the off-season deals, particularly the one involving Garnett, which took a bit longer to do.
"Kevin Garnett is a great player in our league, with a fierce and competitive spirit, who brings offensive scoring prowess and a defensive presence to our team," explained the Celtics' GM after trading a number of youngsters the other way to the Timberwolves.
But Ainge also demanded a lot from his off-season acquisitions and long-time Celtic Paul Pierce.
"These guys will never be the Big Three [McHale, Bird, and Parrish] until they win a championship," Ainge went on to say.
The Celtics have easily the best record in the league, winning an amazing 80 percent of their games. Although their 60-plus-win total is very impressive—especially considering the 24-win total from a year previous—2008 will be all but forgotten if the Celtics are bounced early from the playoffs.
The Celtics will kick off the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks.
In order for this Boston team to re-establish itself as a dynasty, it will have to win a number of titles, preferably in consecutive years.
People who reminisce about the Michael Jordan-era Bulls fail to remember that it took a number of years and adjustments to personnel before Chicago dominated the NBA. Drafted in 1984, it wasn't until 1991 that No. 23 and his Bulls would raise a championship banner.
The 1990–91 Chicago Bulls won 61 games and featured a Michael Jordan at the top of his game—averaging 31.5 points per game and taking an MVP award to boot.
The 2007–08 Celtics fall a little short in that department.
Although Garnett and Allen are the main catalysts for the big turnaround, it is veteran Celtic Pierce that leads the team in scoring with close to 20 points per game, and even then he sits 30th amongst the association's top scorers.
Danny Ainge has done an incredible job renovating a bottom-dwelling NBA team and replacing it with quality, character players. Boston is once again feeling Celtic Pride.
But as the 2007 New England Patriots will tell you, winning in the regular season will mean squat without a championship to cap it all off.
The NBA playoffs are upon us. Has Danny Ainge built his house on a solid rock foundation, or has he built it on sand?