Paul Pierce proved you can get stabbed early in life, then come back and win an NBA title, as long as you're commited to playing good defense. Maybe that crossed Danny Ainge's mind as he used the 30th pick in the NBA draft to pick J.R. Giddens of New Mexico.

"He has a chance to fight for minutes right away because of his defense," says Doc Rivers. "When he had structure and organization in his life, I thought he played terrific," said Ainge. The lengthy profile of Giddens at DraftExpress.com seems to back that up. He went to Kansas originally, but flamed out there, alienating Jayhawk fans and bottoming out with a knife-strewn barroom brawl. From all accounts, though, the desert air has cleared his head, and a few minutes with Pierce and KG in practice should take care of any lingering malingering. We're not feeling great about our future with the C's if we're Tony Allen today, though.

The C's got two guys in the second round, buying Washington's pick ("explosive" Bill Walker from Kansas State) and using their own #60 pick to take Semih Erden of Turkey, and if we ever mention that name again in this space, we'll give you $40. (Checks will not be honored.)

At the top of the draft, where the Celtics were happy not to be, the Bulls took Derrick Rose #1 and Miami took Michael Beasley #2. (Bill Simmons' draft diary has much to say about that pick.) Minnesota took troubled youth O.J. Mayo third, then traded him to Memphis in a multi-player deal which included Antoine Walker, who gets a free small soda for being involved in his 50th NBA trade.

Ainge, for his part, can know today he's arrived. Dan Shaughnessy (no link; not worth the effort) does his traditional overplaying of his hand by saying, "We think of Danny the same way we think of Theo Epstein, Bill Belichick, and Scott Pioli. We trust him to do the right thing. We assume he's smarter than everyone else." Awesome, Dan! Now it's on the record, so if Danny screws up somewhere down the road, you can use the betrayed trust of the Boston sports fan against him! Way to hedge your bets. Jerk.

The Sox start their final Interleague series tonight, as Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound in Houston against Runelvys Hernandez, who hasn't pitched in two years. The Astros are dealing with controversy - they just released Shawn Chacon after he beat up the general manager. The Red Sox are coping with loss - tonight is Hazel Mae's last night doing the postgame. And even though the Sox are on the road for a while, it's worth reading Eric Wilbur's critique of the New Fenway. He puts his finger on some things that have vaguely troubled us for a while.

Photo from the UNM Athletics site.