Cavs' visit should light a spark

— -- WALTHAM, Mass. -- For the Boston Celtics, Friday's visit from the Cleveland Cavaliers will serve not only as a reminder of what could have been, but of what they hope will someday be.

While it's LeBron James' return in a Cleveland jersey that will draw much of the fuss, it's also the first trip back to Boston for Kevin Love, last seen gallivanting here while rubbing elbows with Boston's other sports stars -- including Celtics captain Rajon Rondo -- in early June when he sent the city into a frenzy with his curious offseason presence.

We know how that all worked out. Minnesota sniffed at the future-minded assets that Boston had to offer and instead shipped the disgruntled Love to Cleveland as part of a three-team deal that brought back the past two No. 1 overall picks in the draft.

That meant no real offseason fireworks for a Boston team that had matches in hand. Instead, the Celtics trudged on diligently with their rebuilding process. To some, Love represented an accelerator pedal on a process that hasn't been easy for anyone to digest.

But even just five months' time and a handful of games allows us to re-examine the potential swap in another light. Now that they've had the chance to watch the likes of rookies Marcus Smart and James Young, and seen the progress of young bigs like Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk, it's fair to wonder if Celtics fans would be quite as eager to mortgage so many assets to land Love.

Yes, Boston clearly needs another star talent to pair alongside Rajon Rondo. And if Love helps James secure another title ring, particularly this season, Celtics fans will always wonder what could have been had they pried another All-Star big man out of Minnesota.

But what's left here could still be the foundation for Boston's next contender.

Sullinger, who has seen his range shaped to a Love-like level over the past 14 months, is playing some excellent early-season basketball, while averaging 14.4 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds over 31.1 minutes per game. Sullinger's on/off-court numbers are particularly noteworthy. The Celtics' net rating -- the difference between offensive and defensive rating -- with him off the court is a team-worst minus-18.2 points per 100 possessions (next closest is rookie Smart at minus-8.2). Sullinger is a team-best plus-38 in plus/minus this season for a team that's minus-13 overall.

Asked if those familiar comparisons to Love are fair, Sullinger offered Thursday, "He's shooting the 3-ball way better than me right now. But rebound, score off the dribble, score in the post, outside/inside -- yeah, there's some similarities. At the same time, he's an All-Star. He's an All-Star for a reason. I haven't done that yet. It just means that he's looking down on me."

Might Sullinger get there one day? And what about the ceiling of second-year center Olynyk, who won Boston's starting job this season and has added another stretch presence to the floor? The 7-footer is averaging 13.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 50 percent beyond the 3-point arc and 60.7 percent overall.

There's a lot to like about the futures of Sullinger and Olynyk. There might be even more to like about Smart, who will sit out Friday's game while rehabbing from a severe ankle sprain and bone bruising suffered in last Friday's win over the Indiana Pacers. Smart, the No. 6 pick in June's draft, has already established himself as an impactful NBA defender, and some of Boston's best play has come with him as part of three-guard lineups alongside Rondo and Avery Bradley.

Alas, for all the future potential, Boston's 3-4 record and its struggles to sustain 48 minutes of consistent play underscore the fact that the team is still a work in progress. So, too, are the Cavaliers, but it's fair to say that one team will most certainly be playing beyond mid-April, while the other isn't such a lock.

Such are the pitfalls of a rebuild.

Seeing James ought to bring out the best in Rondo, who has been exceptional early in the season despite working his way back from a left-hand fracture that required him to have screws removed this past weekend.

Rondo has seemingly flirted with triple-doubles every time out this season and always seems to get a jolt when James is on the opposite side. Seeing James in a Cleveland jersey will only remind Rondo of a time when Boston was the kingpin in the Eastern Conference and how the Celtics' Big Three played their part in James dashing for Miami to form his own superteam.

Rondo yearns so desperately to get Boston back to contender status, but the team's need for another star talent is obvious, even as he maximizes the talent of the young core around him. Rondo has admitted Boston isn't in position at the moment to contend for a title, but that won't stop him from daydreaming about another set of Cleveland-Boston showdowns in late May or early June.

While Rondo's future here is uncertain, both he and the team have maintained a desire for a long-term relationship, one that culminates with Rondo re-establishing himself among the league's elite point guards as Boston returns to contender status.

How long will that take? There are few certainties with rebuilding. But there is motivation. And the Cavaliers remind the Celtics where they want to get back to.

That ought to ensure Boston's A-game on Friday night, which could give the Garden an old-school playoff feel, even as the rebuilding process continues.