Jason Collins Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics To Acquire Jordan Crawford

February 21st, 2013 at 2:16pm CST by Luke Adams

2:16pm: The Wizards will also acquire Jason Collins from the Celtics in the trade, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).

12:46pm: The Wizards have agreed to a deal that will send Jordan Crawford to the Celtics, reports TNT's David Aldridge (via Twitter). Boston will send Leandro Barbosa to the Wizards, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The teams are still working on the details of the trade, but Fab Melo will not be headed to Washington, Aldridge hears (Twitter link). Crawford "desperately" wanted the Wizards to trade him, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, and that's in line with previous reports indicating the swingman was unpleased with his reduced role of late.

The Mavs reportedly jumped into discussions for Crawford as well, but the Celtics seemed to have the inside track as the deadline approached. An Eastern Conference executive told Michael Lee of the Washington Post last night there was likely "very little" the Wizards could get for Crawford, and indeed that appears to be the case, as Washington is getting a player who's out for the year with a torn ACL in his left knee. In taking back Barbosa's expiring deal for the minimum salary, the Wizards essentially clear Crawford's salary, worth $1.2MM this year and $2.6MM next season, off their books. The Wizards had an open roster spot going into the trade, but they could waive Barbosa at any point this season to free up more room if they wish, though they'll have to keep paying Barbosa's salary either way.

Adding Crawford for Barbosa adds a little salary to Boston's books, but still allows them to stay below their $74.307MM hard cap for the season. Following his injury, the C's sought to use Barbosa to increase their flexibility, as they considered waiving him to create room on the roster, or, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe suggested, using him as trade ballast as they're doing with the Wizards. Nonetheless, a one-for-one deal involving Barbosa was unexpected, Washburn tweets.

Crawford is averaging 13.4 points and 3.7 assists this year, similar to the third-year player's career numbers. He's seen his minutes drastically reduced, to 12.4 per game this month from 35.8 in December, with the return of John Wall from injury and the emergence of rookie Bradley Beal. He was used on the ball as the Wizards struggled to find a solution in Wall's absence at point guard this year, so perhaps he could help Boston's current shorthanded situation at the position.

Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Blatche, Sullinger, Collins, Raps

February 4th, 2013 at 4:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Rajon Rondo's season-ending ACL injury was expected to leave an opening for the ninth-seeded 76ers to make a move in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers have held up their end of the bargain so far, winning three of their last four games, but the Celtics have been playing well without their All-Star point guard, winning four in a row. With Boston off tonight, the Sixers will look to gain a half-game in the standings by handing the Magic their 10th straight loss. Here are a few other updates out of the Atlantic:

A pair of sources tell NetsDaily (Twitter link) that there's no truth to an earlier report about the Nets making Andray Blatche available.
Agent David Falk says the Celtics recognized that his client, Jared Sullinger, would eventually require surgery on his back, but that the team and player were hoping it could be delayed until the summer. Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe has the details.
ESPN.com's 5-on-5 panelists, including Sean Highkin of Hoops Rumors, put forth a number of hypothetical deals for trade candidates. Among their proposals are suggestions for how the Celtics could maximize their return on Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
The efforts of Jason Collins, who signed with the Celtics last summer on a one-year, minimum-salary deal, aren't going unnoticed, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star believes it makes sense for the Raptors to explore trading Alan Anderson for a backup point guard.

Celtics Sign Jason Collins

July 31st, 2012 at 2:59pm CST by Daniel Seco

JULY 31ST: The Celtics have officially signed Collins, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 21ST: The Celtics have agreed to terms with center Jason Collins on a one-year, veteran minimum deal, reports Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (via Twitter). Collins, 33, appeared in 30 games for the Hawks during the 2012/13 season where he averaged 1.3 PPG and 1.6 RPG in just over 10 minutes per contest.

By signing Collins, Boston has added a legitimate seven-footer to provide depth off the bench in place of Greg Stiemsma, who is headed to Minnesota after reaching a deal earlier on Saturday. Collins' best season came in 2004/05 with the Nets as he started in 80 games and averaged 6.4 PPG along with 6.1 RPG. Beyond the stat sheet, Collins remains a strong defender and brings 95 games of playoff experience to Boston.