Celtics introduce veteran Allen, two rookies

WALTHAM, Mass. – It didn’t take long for Ray Allen to show his new coach what adding a veteran can do for the Boston Celtics.

Holding up his No. 20 uniform on Monday for the traditional news conference photo shoot, Allen displayed it front-facing, so the jersey read “Celtics.” Minutes earlier, when newly minted draft choices Glen “Big Baby” Davis and Gabe Pruitt posed for a similar picture, they held it so their names were shown.

“OK, now turn it around,” Boston coach Doc Rivers chided them. “That’s the only name that matters.”

The Celtics acquired Allen on draft night last week for the fifth overall pick, which turned out to be Georgetown forward Jeff Green, along with Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak. The move signaled Boston’s intention to build a playoff contender around Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson, rather than adding more young pieces to an already young team.

“When you’re playing with veterans, they know what to do. It’s going to make it a lot better,” Rivers said at the team’s practice facility. “They’re professional. It helps everyone. It helps Ray having Paul. It helps Paul having Ray. It helps Al.”

Rivers said another draft choice might have helped out the starting lineup. But by adding Allen, a seven-time all-star, instead of another highly touted youngster, he also gets a veteran presence that can carry the team when Pierce needs a rest.

“When Paul comes out, you have Ray on the floor,” Rivers said. “Hopefully, we won’t have the times any more when Paul sits for 30 seconds and we’ve got to bring him back into the game.”

The Celtics picked Pruitt, from Southern Cal, with the 32nd overall pick, and then grabbed Davis with the 35th selection that they got back from Seattle with Allen. They’re both expected to leave on Tuesday for the Las Vegas Summer League.

“It’s an honor for me to play with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, two guys who are really supreme at their positions,” Pruitt said.

Davis was a star of LSU’s Final Four run in 2006 and nearly declared for the draft after last season.