The Celtics are receiving inquiries about Marcus Thornton, but interested teams are concerned about Thornton’s salary, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Thornton, who will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, is making $8.575MM this year. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics were able to create a trade exception worth $625,280 as a result of the Jameer Nelson for Nate Robinson deal with the Nuggets, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
- With Jose Calderon reportedly on the trading block, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders looks at a number of theoretical deals that the Knicks could make to unload the veteran point guard.
- Point guard Deron Williams is out indefinitely for the Nets with a rib injury, and has no idea when he’ll be able to play again, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “I’m still pretty sore. I don’t have a timetable, just taking it one day at a time,” Williams said. “There’s nothing you can do, really. They’re doing some laser and heating it up; just rest. Other than that, there’s nothing really you can do.” Williams also expressed his displeasure with the conflicting medical reports that he has received from various doctors, Lewis adds.
- When Langston Galloway signed his 10-day deal to join the lowly Knicks, his college coach Phil Martelli gave him some sage advice, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “What I told him on the phone was none of that mattered [the Knicks’ losing ways],” Martelli said. “If his routine was to get there early, then get there early. If his routine was to be active on the bench, then be active on the bench. When you’re a young guy, you end up emulating those who are ahead of you. It’s not his nature to ‘be selfish,’ but in a lot of ways, he had to be who he was and not fall into what the media would say about the Knicks or anything like that. Their request to him was not to save them. Their request to him was to be a professional.”
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov failed in his “get a ring quick scheme,” and will leave the franchise far worse off than when he purchased it, Michael Lee of the Washington Post writes in his profile of Prokhorov. The Russian billionaire is reportedly trying to sell his interests in the team.