Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

And so the 2006-07 season comes to an end with the Celtics finishing 24-58 (12-29 at home, 12-29 on the road). That was good enough for fifth place in the Atlantic Division, last in the Eastern Conference and second-worst in the NBA.

A two-year total of 57 wins is less than sparkling.

To put that in perspective, The Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs each won more than 57 games this season alone.

The 1987-88 Celtics won 57 games in that season alone. Back in the 1985-86 season, The Green won 40 home games. That's just home games mind you.

As far as bouncing back from a lackluster season like this one...

The example of the Chicago Bulls shows us that it’s not necessarily a one-year makeover from cellar to playoff contender.

The Bulls finished the 2001-02 season with a record of 21-61, worst in the Eastern Conference and tied with Golden State for the worst in the NBA.

They jumped up to 30 wins in 2002-03, but were back down to 23 wins in 2003-04 (second worst in the NBA).

In 2004-05 they improved to 47-35 despite losing their first nine game and finished with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. Ben Gordon was sixth man of the year. Luol Deng and Gordon were on the All-Rookie team.

The only carryovers from 2003-04 to 2004-05 were Jannero Pargo, Antonio Davis, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, and Kirk Hinrich.

Among the players who did not return was Jamal Crawford, a former eighth overall draft pick who had provided 17 points per game for Chicago and duplicated that output the following season in New York.

The Celtics can control the contracts of 14 players heading into the 2007-08 season. Vin Baker’s contract ($5.33 million in 2006-07) finally comes off the books and Michael Olowokandi played this season on a one-year deal.

The largest contracts, other than Paul Pierce’s, that could possibly be used in trade scenarios are Theo Ratliff’s ($11.66 million) and Wally Szczerbiak’s ($12 million).