Yardbarker: Sam Cassell

When free agency dust settles will Suns be left holding the bag?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:50:24 -0500

In recent seasons the Suns have tried to sign John Salmons, Joe Johnson, Chris Duhon, Anthony Johnson and Tyronn Lue. A grand total of zero of them have wound up on their roster. Instead they choose to head to basketball meccas such as Sacramento, Atlanta, New York, Orlando, and Milwaukee. I never thought I'd see a day when [...]

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Celtics Spurned Edition

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:43:40 -0500

The big story is that James Posey, who was one of the most coveted free agents is now off the market. The Hornets were willing to give Posey what he asked for, and that is a 4 year, $25 million contract. The Celtics weren't willing to go that 4th year. Now that Posey is off the market, there may be more signings as the teams who were holding out and hoping to land Posey will now go to plan B and look to make a deal. This does seem to make both Chris Andersen and Janero Pargo a bit more available with their MLE wrapped up in Posey, the most they can offer is the league minimum. At least Posey didn't go to the Lakers. I don't think I could have stomached seeing him hugging Kobe before every game. With Posey off the table, the Celtics may attempt to re-sign one of their own free agents, Tony Allen. Allen's agent, Mike Higgins, said yesterday he expects the Celtics to make his client an offer. The Celtics also have swingmen J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker, both of whom are unsigned and although there were rumors that the Celtics might try to stash Walker overseas for a year, the loss of Posey may give him an opportunity to contribute right away. Ainge said that one player wouldn't replace Posey but rather that he would be replaced by committee and that he didn't have a free agent in mind. "We go to the next options," said Ainge, who might consider adding another big man. "We're not going to sign one player that is going to replace James Posey. We're going to do it in a different way and different fashion. We are going to reallocate our dollars in different ways." That big man may be Chris Andersen, who the Celtics showed interest in earlier. Andersen has been mentioned in rumors that Denver may be interested as well. I would love to have the Birdman in Boston. Bill Ingram of Hoopsworld reported that the Boston Celtics offered James Posey in a sign-and-trade deal to try to land land Billy Ron Artest. I don't know how much I believe that because this same Bill Ingram reported on Monday that Posey would be announcing his signing in 24 hours and was expected to re-sign with the Celtics. On the other hand, Danny made a run at Posey when the Pacers were trying to trade him and may try to get in on the bidding for him now that the Kings seem ready to move him again. The Mavs and Lakers are both making a pitch for him but to get him, it would seem that any team would have to take Kenny Thomas and his contract as well and I don't think the Celtics would want to do that. After weeks of saying that he was deciding between Boston and Phoenix and then skipping out on a physical in Miami on Monday, and going back to saying that it was between Boston and Phoenix, Tyronn Lue signed a one year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks worth between 2 and 2.5 million. The Celtics and Suns were both offering one year minimum contracts and the Bucks obviously were willing to offer more. So, the Celtics lost 2 free agents at the top of their list on the same day. This could get depressing. With their top free agent target off the market, the Suns are looking elsewhere for point guard help. Reports are that they are interested in Sam Cassell, Shaun Livingston and Jason Williams. Williams is good friends with Suns center Shaquille O'Neal and Cassell is a former Sun. The Suns can only offer the league minimum and so are hoping that they will find a player willing to sign for the minimum. Not only have the Celtics not been able to land their free agent targets, they haven't been able to reach an agreement with their first round draft pick, JR Giddens. As a few more of the remaining first-round picks signed their three-year guaranteed deals yesterday, which for the most part are based on their draft position, J.R. Giddens remained unsigned with no resolution of the situation in sight. Danny Ainge said that they haven't had any conversations and that the Celtics are concentrating on other things right now like letting James Posey get away. Giddens has the same agent as Posey and House. He was also Mark Blount's agent. I really am getting to dislike this guy. On the day that they lost James Posey to New Orleans, the Celtics made the signing of Patrick O'Bryant official. O'Bryant, a 7'0", 249lbs center, has appeared in 40 career games for the Golden State Warriors posting averages of 1.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. O'Bryant is scheduled to meet the Boston media in Waltham on Thursday morning at The Sports Authority Training Center at HealthPoint at 11:30 a.m. One team that was hoping to land Posey made a move on Wednesday as the Cavs signed Daniel Gibson to a 5 year deal. With Gibson safely in the fold, the Cavs will turn their attention to trying to re-sign Delonte West and they hope to come to an agreement with him soon as well. Delonte is a restricted free agent so the Cavs could match any offer he might get from another team. The Raptors made another move as they announced Wednesday they have signed guard Roko Ukic to a three-year contract. Ukic was a second-round selection (41st overall) by the Raptors in the 2005 NBA Draft. Ukic, 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, played in Italy last season with Lottomatica Virtus Roma. He averaged career highs of 11.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals in 19 Euroleague contests. The Star Tribune reports that the Timberwolves have agreed to terms with restricted free agent Craig Smith. The Wolves have not yet signed restricted free agents Ryan Gomes and several teams have been pursuing Gomes. Teams such as Cleveland could intensify their pursuit now that Boston free agent James Posey has signed with New Orleans. Gomes' agent likely is eyeing the full mid-level exception of $5.6 million for next season. If Gomes signs with another team, the Wolves have seven days to match the offer or let Gomes go. Many Celtics fans have hopes of seeing Gomes in Celtics green again but it is doubtful that Danny will offer the full MLE to get him. The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that Marcus Camby was blindsided, distraught, disrespected and insulted by the trade that sent him from the Nuggets to the Clippers for a second round draft pick. The Nuggets are considering Chris Anderson as a replacement for Camby. Bull's restricted free agent Luol Deng's options are limited after the Clippers' trade for Marcus Camby. The Clippers with their cap space were considered a possibility for Deng, but Camby's salary will use up a large portion of that space. Only the Grizzlies have conserable cap space but are in cost cutting mode and are unlikely to look to sign a free agent for big bucks. This leaves three options for Deng: hit on a long-term extension with the Bulls, sign a one-year tender offer and become an unrestricted free agent in 2009, or convince the Bulls to execute a sign-and-trade. It was reported at the time that the hold up on a Kobe or a KG trade was the fact that the Bulls did not want to include Deng. If they can't come to an agreement, they may have passed up two big opportunities for nothing. According to a source close to Dallas, the Mavericks offered 14th year swingman Jerry Stackhouse and fourth-year forward Brandon Bass for Kings small forward Ron Artest. The Kings are not expected to entertain the offer if it doesn't include Dallas small forward Josh Howard, but the inquiry certainly reveals the level of the Mavs' interest. According to the source, Howard does not appear to be available.

A Visit To The ESPN ESPY Style Suites

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:24:15 -0500

ESPN and a bunch of athletes and celebrities were in Los Angeles this week for the taping of the ESPY awards. I got a chance to spend a couple of days at the ESPY Style Suites to take in the scene and speak to some players. There was all kinds of loot for the ESPY participants [...]

Celtics In The News

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:44:51 -0500

Our dear old friend, Sam Cassell, has found himself something to keep busy this offseason while he anxiously searches out a new fan base to torment: Judging the POLESTAR 1st Annual Pole Dancing Competition, of course! ....

World Champion Celtics In The News

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:41:57 -0500

The Red Sox are finally back in first place, where they belong. At 57-40, they're up half a game on the pesky Rays, and 6 games up on the A-Rodonnas. It wasn't that long ago that I said I was switching gears and focusing on the Red Sox now that the C's dream season had come to an end. Well, I lied. It's a combination of me not coming down from my Championship high yet, and Scott, the CEO, sending me a couple great links.Now, I'm not entirely sure what Scott was Googling when he came across this first bit of news, but I think we can all agree that society, as a whole, is much better off that he found it. Our dear old friend, Sam Cassell, has found himself something to keep busy this offseason while he anxiously searches out a new fan base to torment: Judging the POLESTAR 1st Annual Pole Dancing Competition, of course! POLESTAR Invitational is presented by X-polesitions and film/TV casting director Leah Daniels-Butler. Confirmed Celebrity judges: NBA Star Sam Cassell, Cassie Walton, XXX Star Amber Rayne, comedian Chris Spencer. Other celebrity guests / VIP expected. If any POLESTAR hopefuls are reading this blog (and I don't know why they wouldn't be), here's my advice if you truly want to impress Sam: Any time a dancer is on the pole and is having a great routine, immediately jump onto the stage and punch her in the face. Any time a dancer has some great momentum, and seems to be in rhythm with the music, hop up and make the show about YOU -- don't worry about the outcome, or what the crowd may be thinking -- just do whatever pops into your head at that exact moment, but make sure it revolves around you. Sam will completely understand.The Sam Cassel era, ladies and gentlemen. Can't believe it ended with a trophy. The other link he shared with me was a tale of a boy, a shirt, a shooting guard and shattered dreams.A boy and his mother were on the Sankaty Ferry in Martha's Vineyard and spotted Ray Allen a few cars ahead. Armed with a #5 Celtics shirt (which just happens to read 'God' above the number), the boy approached Mr. Allen hoping for a signature. What he got instead was a black eye and a broken clavicle.Wait, I misread that (Damn you, Hooked On Phonics, you've failed me again!). What he actually got was nothing... Ray, world renowned as one of the true "good guys" in the league, refused to sign the boy's shirt. I don't know if we can read anything into this (and I seriously doubt that we can), but if you like to play conspiracy theory, have at it!Lastly, if you haven't checked out Rajon Rondo's official website yet, here's the link: http://www.rajonrondo9.com.It's a well-done site, and as long as he puts the same effort into that as he does his Yardbarker blog, it'd definitely be worth creating a bookmark for.

World Champion Celtics In The News

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:41:57 -0500

So, Who Wants Our MLE?

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:32:15 -0500

So, our wish list is slowly accumulating more lines through the middle than a Memorial Day weekend at Cedar Point. No, we really never had a shot at offering any sort of money at the big-named guys; a sign and trade was our only path to the promised land. But what do we have to offer? Aside from some expiring deals and a crazy-haired master of the running 360, all Danny Ferry has to work with at this juncture is that mid-level offer of approximately $6 million - a nominal amount that is simply burning a hole in the pocket of our collective pants. The next trick: finding someone who will take said amount. Corey Maggette wouldn't do it. You can bet that Monta Ellis won't be signing up either. Let's face it fans - we're not getting a superstar for "mid-level" money. But who would take it? While there is still a chance that we end up extending the offer to Delonte West or Daniel Gibson, Chad Ford has a list of what he's calling "other notables." Other notables: Matt Barnes, Warriors; Alonzo Mourning, Heat; Patrick O'Bryant, Warriors; Jason Williams, Heat; Juwan Howard, Mavs; Jarvis Hayes, Pistons; Robert Horry, Spurs; James Jones, Blazers; Michael Finley, Spurs; Jannero Pargo, Hornets; Damon Stoudamire, Spurs; Sam Cassell, Celtics; Jamaal Magloire, Nets; Kareem Rush, Pacers; Gordan Giricek, Suns; Michael Doleac, Timberwolves; Francisco Elson, Oklahoma City; Keyon Dooling, Magic; Quinton Ross, Clippers; Antoine Wright, Mavericks; Fred Jones, Knicks; Juan Dixon, Pistons; Maurice Evans, Magic; Primoz Brezec, Raptors; Anthony Johnson, Kings; Tyronn Lue, Kings; Theo Ratliff, Pistons; Adonal Foyle, Magic; Sebastian Telfair, Timberwolves; Kirk Snyder, Timberwolves. Pretty, ain't she? You have the "should retire" group of Alonzo Mourning, Theo Ratliff and even Damon Stoudamire. You can sure bet that they would love an MLE deal at this point in their careers. You have the "flashes of brilliance" guys that are good for a few double-digit outings per season; just enough to garner some attention. Those would be the James Jones', Fred Jones' and even the Antione Wrights among others. The other glaring portion of this is the amount of point guards on the list: Sam Cassell, Jason Williams, Keyon Dooling, Anthony Johnson, Sabastian Telfair and Tyronn Lue. Most of these guys will get offers before the end of the summer, so I expect this list to slowly dwindle down. But as we aren't exactly in the mix for the Rony Turiafs of the world, we could be looking at some of these guys. Another guy that I've been eying up for the past few days (whom you may or may not like) is Brent Barry (San Antonio). Though he's old and a bit of a tweener, he's seasoned enough to play at the level we need this season, is efficient from all parts of the floor, and is a winner. The answer to all of our prayers? Not in the least. But a viable option? I think so.

Calm Before The Storm - Prediction Time

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:10:20 -0500

There's not a lot more that can be said with any certainty until the ball drops on Wednesday. I'm sure there's plenty of maneuvering going on behind the scenes, but there are no significant news stories to report. So we'll just take this moment to make wild assumptions and nutty predictions. I predict that the Celtics will bring back exactly zero of their free agents. Posey will follow the money, House may look for more consistant playing time, Tony Allen just got drafted out of a job, PJ Brown is retiring, and Sam Cassell is just not in the team's plans. I hate losing Posey and there's still a chance that he'll accept less money to say in Beantown (or that the Celtics will up the ante and give him market value) but I'm not banking on it. So moving on, here's some additions that could find their way to Boston. I'll go ahead and predict that the Birdman will be signed. Then we''ll bring in someone to battle Gabe Pruitt for the backup PG spot - lets pencil in Tyronn Lue, though I'm not crazy about that pick. (If House can be convinced to come back, I'd...

Calm Before The Storm - Prediction Time

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:23:05 -0500

A Plan For the Celtics

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:54:14 -0500

he Celtics have 9 players under contract right now with a total payroll of 71,369,509. That alone is more than likely going to be over the salary cap and very close to luxury tax level. They also have 6 free agents: Tony Allen, James Posey, Sam Cassell, PJ Brown, Scot Pollard, and Eddie House. They have the MLE (5.8 million), the LLE(1.8 million) and veteran minimum salaries to work with in signing free agents. The first and more important priority has to be to do whatever it takes to sign James Posey. Posey is key to this team if they want to repeat. He is a player who will do whatever it takes to win. He is a lock down defender, capable of shutting down the opposing team's player. He rebounds, dives for loose balls, takes charges, hits the big shot in crunch time, and gives hugs to the starters before the game. Most importantly, he brings leadership and a championship mindset to the team. You just can't replace a guy like that. The Celtics biggest rivals: the Lakers, Pistons, and Cavaliers are all interested in luring Posey away from the Celtics. There is a very good reason for this. One of the problems that each team had with the Celtics was that none of them had anyone who could stop Paul Pierce. If they get James Posey, they have that player who is capable of stopping Pierce, along with every other star player in the league whether they are guards or forwards. They also had problems with players fading in crunch time. With Posey on their team, they have a player who consistently came up big in crunch time. Danny needs to do whatever it takes to keep James Posey in green. PJ Brown is planning to retire and Scot Pollard shouldn't be offered a contract. He isn't what this team needs. The Celtics need a center to back up Perk. Chris Andersen is in Boston talking to Danny and he would be a great back up center. He brings energy off the bench, is strong and a good defender. He wants to be a Celtic and Danny needs to sign him. I think he would take the veteran's minimum to play here since it would be a great situation for him. Sam Cassell should retire and join the Celtics coaching staff. He didn't work out as hoped last season and so if he wants to play another season, hopefully it will be elsewhere. The starting point guard spot is solidly filled with Rajon Rondo, but Danny needs to address the back up. Gabe Pruitt is looking strong in the Celtics' mini camp and I think he will be able to fill the back up point guard spot. For insurance, the Celtics also should re-sign Eddie House. House can back up both guard spots and if not needed at the point, he is a great shooter and could fill in for Ray at the 2. Also, he also is fully indoctrinated into ubuntu. He never complained when his minutes were severely cut in the playoffs and when he was called on, he came up big. Finally, with the 3 spots left, they can bring back Tony Allen for a veteran's minimum make good contract and keep Giddens and Walker with the team and give them a shot to prove themselves in practice and if they aren't getting enough playing time, they can go to the D-League to get some experience there. To me, keeping the same team together as much as possible would be key to winning again.

New International Precedents

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:51:42 -0500

With the recent news of Chris Kaman aligning himself with the German National Team, The BearDown started thinking...What? In case you don't feel like following the link I'll sum it up. The 7 foot Clipper Center who's Great Grandparents were German has received German citizenship and will be playing with the German team this summer in Beijing. This leads me to wonder, what type of precedent does this set. Will we see other NBA-ers....

L.A. BOOM!

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:16:30 -0500

By now you've heard the great news - Baron Davis verbally agreed to a 5 year deal with the Clippers worth an estimated $65 million. This coming less than 24 hours after he shocked Warriors fans when he opted out of a contract that would have brought him a little more than $17 million next year.

Sorry, Warrior fans. But honestly, this probably worked out for the best. The Dubs still need to extend guys like Monta, and Baron's contract made it extremely difficult for management to make any roster improvements. If the Warriors ended up extending Baron's contract, they'd only find themselves deeper in the hole. Now with Baron out of the Bay Area, they've got some breathing room, and they still keep a young core of Monta Ellis - Marco Bellinelli - Al Harrington, not to mention second-year forward Brandan Wright and rookie Anthony Randolph. Who knows? It might seem like a longshot, but maybe they'll find themselves in position to make a play for someone like LeBron James or Dwyane Wade when they hit free agency.

Now that the Warriors fans have been consoled - or just hate my guts - how about those Clips?!? The reason I love this move is because it was the ONLY rational move the Clippers could make. It's not often the Clippers make rational moves. Look, I know, fans shouldn't be overjoyed when their team does little more than make a "rational" decision. Let me see if I can explain this...

When your franchise has competent management - the A's who have GM Billy Beane, for example - any time a "rational" decision is made, that's just another Tuesday. But when you're a Clipper fan? "Rational" decisions are like Christmas if Christmas only came on leap years. Remember when everyone got so excited about that autistic kid who hit a few 3's in a high school game? Do you think everyone would have been excited if he wasn't autistic, but rather a 6'5 physical specimen? Of course not. But signing Baron Davis makes the Clippers look like that autistic kid, only if he was also blind, an amputee, and narcoleptic. In fact, I think Disney is picking up the phone right now to buy the movie rights to this contract.

Will Baron lead the Clippers to a championship? Probably not. But they should get into the Playoffs, as long as everyone stays relatively healthy - as Clipper fan, I'll accept Playoffs...baby steps. As much as the Clippers have become the butt of every joke in the NBA, this is a talented roster. I mean, they made the Playoffs just a couple years ago with Sam Cassell running the point. I don't care who you are or what planet you're from, but Baron Davis >>>>>>>>>>>>> Sam Cassell. Assuming Elton Brand re-ups following the Boom signing, this is what the starting lineup should look like:

PG - Baron Davis (2007/2008: 21.8 ppg, 7.6 apg, 4.7 rebounds)
SG - Cuttino Mobley (2007/2008: 12.8 ppg, 2.6 apg, 3.5 rebounds)
OR SG: Eric Gordon (2007/2008: 20.9 ppg, 2.4 apg, 3.3 rebounds)
SF - Al Thornton (2007/2008: 12.7 ppg, 1.2 apg, 4.5 rebounds)
PF - Elton Brand (2006/2007: 20.5 ppg, 2.9 apg, 9.4 rebounds)
C - Chris Kaman (2007/2008: 15.7 ppg, 1.9 apg, 12.7 rebounds

There's not much to NOT like there.

Your guide to the free agent market that the Nuggets won't participate in...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:57:33 -0500

Here are some reasonably priced free agents that the Nuggets will miss out on since they've overspent on the rest of their roster.

Is Tony Allen Done Here?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:40:53 -0500

The Celtics did not offer Tony Allen a qualifying offer (http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/01/posey_is_celtics_top_target/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Boston+Celtics+news), so he's an unrestricted free agent. That means we will not have the right to match any offer he gets. I'm sure the team wouldn't mind having him back at a reasonable price, but only after all the other free agency matters are settled, in particular James Posey. In other news, it sounds like PJ Brown is leaning towards retirement (but won't rule out a return) and it sounds like Sam Cassell is looking at other options.

NBA Champs Celebrate with Boxing Champ Pacquiao

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:39:44 -0500

The story has been circulating about lightweight boxing challenger Manny Pacquiao who cheered for the Celtics and picked them to win the title when most everyone outside of Boston didn't give them a chance. The Celtics got ringside seats to cheer their biggest fan on in his title fight against David Diaz in Las Vegas. He didn't disappoint and dominated the fight from start to finish and afterwards, several of the Celtics including Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Sam Cassell celebrated with Manny in his dressing room. Great stuff