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Lots and lots and lots of them.

In theory, a major rebuilding project for the Boston Celtics makes sense. They were going nowhere last season piggybacking on their two future Hall of Famers -- with or without Rajon Rondo.

Rondo played in only 38 games before he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, but the front office knew even if he had remained healthy, a legitimate shot at the NBA championship was a mirage. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Rondo's plus/minus for his shortened season was minus-57. The team's plus/minus without him: plus-39.

Not exactly MVP numbers that calm the nerves.

Boston pulled the plug on the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett era with a blockbuster trade to Brooklyn that will become official on July 10. It was a gut-wrenching farewell to two valiant veterans who raised Banner 17 for the Celtics in 2008 and cemented their legacies as all-time greats.

You think saying goodbye to your stars was painful, wait until you say hello to the team that remains.

The Celtics must endure the trials and tribulations of downgrading their talent pool so they can position themselves for a loaded 2014 draft headlined by the Next Big Thing, Kansas-bound guard Andrew Wiggins.

Angling for pingpong balls is a tricky business. It requires the delicate balance of putting a basketball team on the court that plays hard but has little chance of winning. It also puts you at the mercy of Lady Luck.

The last time the Celtics did that was in 1996-97. M.L. Carr was the coach and general manager, coaxed into the dual role one year earlier by owner Paul Gaston, who paid him $1 million to replace Chris Ford on the bench and, as Carr described, "take one for the team."

According to Carr, Gaston made his objective for the 1996-97 season clear: Land Tim Duncan in the draft.

"It's so difficult," M.L. Carr said of guiding a 15-67 season in 1996-97, "because it goes completely against your basketball DNA." AP Photo/Jim Rogash

Thus, Carr's charge, with a roster that included Antoine Walker, David Wesley, Dana Barros, Dino Radja and Rick Fox, was to play hard -- and lose.

"It's so difficult," Carr said, "because it goes completely against your basketball DNA.

"Danny (Ainge) is absolutely doing the right thing for the Celtics franchise. But he's going to have a real tough road while they rebuild."

As GM, Carr made sure he didn't sign any expensive or overly talented free agents. Because he was his own coach, there was no backlash from the bench regarding his personnel decisions.

"I was bringing in guys like Nate Driggers and Brett Szabo," Carr said. "It was a joke. But the idea was not to make a move that would help us too much."

The hardest part, said Carr, was straddling the fine line between encouraging his team to play the game the right way but make sure they didn't win too much.

"I remember one game in particular, when David Wesley was hitting jump shots and 3-pointers all over the floor," Carr said. "I had to get him out of the game.

"He came over to me and said, 'Coach, what are you doing? I just hit four shots in a row.' I said, 'I know, David, but I'm experimenting.'

"I'll tell you, it was brutal. Those players were smart. They knew what we were doing.

"I told them, 'I won't be here a year from now. This is for your future. In the final analysis, you'll benefit from this.' But after a while, they didn't want to hear it."

Rick Fox, who captained that 1996-97 team, said slogging through that "incredibly painful" season was the most challenging time of his career.

"I knew right from the start it was going to be a different season," Fox said. "Our practices were like track meets. We just ran and ran and ran. After 6 years in the league I knew, 'We can't keep this up. We're going to get hurt.' I think we had 9 guys who had surgery that year."