BOSTON -- You're Chris Wallace, general manager of the Boston Celtics.

The good news is that after years of annual lottery appearances, your team was just two games away from the NBA Finals last spring. You have two of the brightest stars in the NBA -- Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. You have a sold-out arena, a solid coach and a surprisingly effective supporting cast.

Your mission this summer is simple: Find that missing piece that will put the Celtics over the top and into the NBA Finals.

	The Celtics need Kedrick Brown to play like a lottery pick.

Now here comes the bad news. You have five players who will be free agents, including two -- Rodney Rogers and Erick Strickland -- who played major roles in your playoff run. You have no money to re-sign them. Nor do you have money to spend on free agents, because your team is capped out and your owner refuses to pay the dreaded luxury tax. That's why you're looking at Bruno Sundov and Damon Jones instead of Rasho Nesterovic and Travis Best. To make matters worse, your point guard will be 32 at the end of the season and is in the last year of his contract.

What do you do?

Welcome to the Shaw's Pro Summer League hosted by the Celtics. Here, first-round picks get their first taste of what the NBA is like and second-round picks, along with undrafted free agent hopefuls, cross their fingers that with some great play and a little luck they might get a guaranteed contract for the remainder of the season.

The Wizards, Nets, Knicks, Sixers, Hawks, Bucks, Spurs and Timberwolves are here, training their top rookies and auditioning their other 12 players for the role of 12th man. But no team here has as much to win or to lose as the Celtics.

Wallace's mission at Shaw's is a bit different than that of his colleagues. He's looking for an impact player. A revelation if you will. In the past, they've been few and far between. Summer league participants play on the cheap. The price is always right, but there rarely is a diamond in the rough. Wallace knows the odds are stacked against him.

"I honestly don't know if there's an impact player here," Wallace said as he watched the Celtics beat the Nets Monday night 81-69 in a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals. "We're searching, hoping. The summer league is about dreams. Unfortunately, my job is to be realistic."

When pressed a bit, Wallace acknowledges that the Celtics are counting on at least one player here. They're praying that last year's lottery pick, Kedrick Brown, has a breakthrough year. Praying is the right word. It would be a miracle if Brown, an athletic but extremely raw swingman, has learned enough in one season to make an impact on this veteran team.

Brown was the first junior college player ever taken in the NBA lottery. Last season, the Celtics knew he didn't have the experience to contribute in a meaningful way. This year the expectations are much different. He knows it.

"I know coach wants me to play this year. Hopefully I will," he said. "Last year, everyone was so much faster and stronger than I was used to. It was overwhelming. Now the game seems to be slowing down for me a bit."

He can thank Pierce for that. Brown snuck into a few games for the Celtics last season. He even started a handful before Wallace pulled the trigger on a trade that brought in Rogers and Tony Delk. After the trade, all Brown saw was the end of the bench -- and Pierce in practice every day. Guarding Pierce each day, Wallace reckons, should make the difference for Brown this year.

"We have to get more athletic and we have to do it internally," Wallace said. "Brown's our most athletic player and he's got to be our top perimeter defender this year. There aren't a lot of great free agent athletes playing here that can play right away. And how many of them have been guarding Pierce every day. That's the best experience he could get."

Brown showed flashes of his defensive prowess Monday, when he was matched against the Nets' Richard Jefferson most of the night. Both players had their moments, but Brown's defense stood out. He forced Jefferson into four turnovers and 5-of-14 shooting. Brown ended the game with 11 points, three steals and three blocked shots.

After Brown, the Celtics' next priority is finding a solid young point guard. "We also need help at point guard, long term," Wallace said. "Kenny Anderson will be 32 at the end of the year and then his contract is over. Erick Strickland was a big part of our success last year but it's very possible that we'll lose him to free agency. We've got to start thinking about addressing that position now."

Enter Joseph Forte, Omar Cook and J.R. Bremer, three summer league players looking to land the job as heir apparent to Anderson. Forte has the pedigree. He was the Celtics' other first-round pick last year, a star at North Carolina and a personal favorite of Red Auerbach's. However, last season, by all accounts, was a disaster. Forte spent the entire season on the injured list. He was tardy to practices and was fined for not following team rules. He often chose to watch games from the locker room instead of the bench, and wearing a Lakers' jersey into the Celtics' locker room was the ultimate sin.

Cook's pedigree is less steady. He bolted St. John's after his freshman year and slipped into the second round after teams questioned his attitude and shot. He's a classic New York point guard. He's got the flash and the attitude, but his jump shot makes Jason Kidd look like a marksman and he doesn't have a clue how to run the team. Bremer, an undrafted free agent, is playing from the toughest position. The St. Bonaventure scoring machine has just two days to convince the Celtics that he's worth the gamble.

Forte led all Celtics scorers with 14 points Monday night and Cook had some spectacular drives to the basket. But it was Bremer who stole the show. In 19 minutes, Bremer put up 12 points and led the Celtics to victory in the fourth quarter over a stacked Nets squad featuring Jefferson, Jason Collins, Brandon Armstrong and Brian Scalabrine.

"This league is so important for these kids," Wallace said. "So many of our young players lack quality game experience. This gives it to them and allows us to get a better understanding of how they can contribute to our team. Sometimes you see something you didn't see before. That's why we're watching."

For Brown, he was just happy to be back out on the court again.

"After watching these guys hurt us, I just wanted to get out there and play my heart out," he said. "Hopefully I'll be ready next year when we meet them again. Last year I had a lot to learn ... this year I'll be ready."

Are Brown and Bremer the pots of gold Wallace is searching for? Probably not. But given Wallace's options, that will do.

Of Note
The Hawks defeated the Spurs in the opening game. Dion Glover scored 21 points and handed out four assists and Udonis Haslem pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the Hawks. Veteran point guard Anthony Goldwire led the Spurs with 18 points and Stephen Jackson chipped in 16. First-round pick Dan Dickau struggled in his first game, going just 2-for-7 from the field with four turnovers. ... In the second game, the Bucks defeated the Wizards 81-69. Point guard Mike Wilks led the Bucks with 11 points. Marcus Goree added 13 and nine rebounds while Dan Gadzuric scored 11 with nine rebounds for the Bucks. Rookie guard Juan Dixon led the Wizards with 11 points. ... In the nightcap, the Knicks defeated the Sixers, 77-57. Jamel Thomas led the way for the Knicks with 27 points and six rebounds. The Sixers' Damone Brown scored 14 points in the losing effort.