A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com yesterday advanced the notion of Jamal Crawford joining the Celtics. Fellow CSNNE.com scribe Rich Levine endorses the idea, but believes Crawford is seeking a multi-year deal worth more per year than the $5MM he made this past season with the Blazers, and wonders whether the Celtics are willing to spend that much on him. Crawford is expected to decline his $5.225MM Blazers option for next year. There's plenty more on potential Celtics comings and goings this morning, with just a few weeks to go until free agents officially hit the market.
Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times tweeted last night about the workout the Bucks have scheduled today for wing players Will Barton and Evan Fournier, as we noted in our roundup of Friday's draft rumors. Woelfel has a full report today on those two and fringe draft pick Ramone Moore, who's also working out for the Bucks today. He also shares news from around the league on a possible extension for Brandon Jennings, teams willing to trade draft picks, and rising and falling draft stocks.
The Lakers made history on this day 11 years ago when they beat the Sixers 108-96 to claim the NBA championship with the highest playoff winning percentage of all time at 93.8%, according to Hoopedia. Led by Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles went 15-1 in the playoffs by sweeping the Trail Blazers, Kings and Spurs before losing just once to Philadelphia. Let's take a look around the league to catch up on the latest news and stories making headlines…
We're rounding up most of today's draft-related updates in a single post right here, but Andy Katz's latest piece for ESPN.com is packed with so many rumors that it's worth a separate look. Here's what Katz is hearing about a few teams' draft plans:
A handful of tonight's coaching search updates came in the form of tweets. TNT's David Aldridge reported that Brian Shaw had an interview in Charlotte today, but was not offered the job. Yahoo's Marc Spears also confirmed that no offer was made, adding that Portland and Orlando are still on Shaw's radar. Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated, who broke the news about Sloan's withdrawal from Charlotte's head coaching race, thinks the Trail Blazers have a better chance of landing Shaw than the Magic do.
We've got more on Orlando's GM search and highlights from HoopsWorld chats with Mark Nugent and Tommy Beer…
The countdown until the 2012 draft is down to two weeks, and this week has been heavy on workouts and trade speculation. We'll track the latest news and rumors on both fronts, along with a handful of other draft-related items, right here. New updates will be added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- According to their official website, the Pacers will work out Evan Fournier, Ashton Gibbs, Travis Hyman, John Jenkins, Josh Owens, and Tony Wroten Jr. on Friday.
According to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter), Sonny Weems plans to return to the NBA next season. The 6'6'' shooting guard will be a restricted free agent, and has drawn interest from the Celtics, Pistons, Cavaliers, and Clippers. He last played for the Raptors during the 2010-11 season before signing a one-year deal with Zalgiris Kaunas of the Euroleague during the NBA lockout.
Two decisions on relatively major player options have been reported in the last two days, and both of them come from the Atlantic Division. Yesterday, we heard that Gerald Wallace will decline his $9.5MM option with the Nets, and today we heard Brandon Bass will turn down his $4.25MM option with the Celtics. Let's round up the latest on Wallace, Bass, and a few other items out of the Atlantic….
Brandon Bass will decline his player option 2012/13 and become an unrestricted free agent, agent Tony Dutt tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. However, Bass made the decision in hopes of signing a long-term deal to remain with the Celtics, according to Dutt.
With 15 days remaining until draft night, we'll round up today's notes on draft workouts, stock watches, and potential selections right here, with the latest up top:
- Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald believes the Celtics are targeting size with either or both of the team's back-t0-back first-round picks, at Nos. 21 and 22.
- Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has more on Royce White and his anxiety disorder.
Earlier updates: