Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Thomas made his most recent contact with Al Horford, the Atlanta center whom Thomas first started recruiting during All-Star weekend in February in Toronto. Thomas can now assure Celtics Nation that the interest is especially mutual.
“He’s very serious,” the Celtics guard said yesterday of Horford following an appearance on Herald Radio as part of his Good Humor Ice Cream tour. “I actually texted him the other day. He said he’s open to the opportunity, he’s a fan of my game, he likes the way we play. In that situation it’s hard to talk to these type of guys about that because you don’t know how many people are hitting them up. You have to be sensitive bringing those things up, but with Al I have reached out to him and told him I’m interested in playing with him and I know the organization likes him.”
First, I want to take a moment and savor not only the fact that the Good Humor Ice Cream company is still in business, but that they have a “Tour”, and they have the diminutive and seemingly always genial (off the court) Isaiah Thomas as a pitchman. That makes me happy.
Anyway, the Celtics’ newfound ambassador has been networking and hopefully not tampering with a number of NBA players this summer.
But for all the buzz and hum in the early going, there might not be any fireworks this year either. As reported yesterday on this very blog, Durant is allegedly “90% sold” on returning to OKC and Dwight Howard wants a rocket powered car and a house on the moon. Other news that broke late last night has Al Horford staying with Atlanta if they offer him a max deal:
Atlanta Hawks star Al Horford — a free agent this offseason — will reportedly meet with the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets, but he would re-sign with the Hawks if Atlanta offered him a five-year $152 million max deal, according to Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski said on The Vertical NBA free agency show that Horford is a loyal player who would rather continue with the Hawks, but it was unclear whether or not Atlanta would offer an enormous max deal to the 30-year-old star.
So, we could be headed toward a situation where nothing develops and Danny Ainge sits in his Danny Ainge office doing very Danny Ainge things, such as not giving a crap what people want him to do–or at least, not letting fan impatience goad him into, say, Carlos Boozering Bismack Biyombo or Harrison Barnes. And frankly, there are worse things that could happen. Boston could sacrifice a lot of flexibility down the line to get a little bit better next year. This is what middle of the pack teams do that keeps them bouncing between the lottery and almost but not quite achieving respectability.
Page 2: More Johnson and Jerebko-style deals?
Both players were rewarded for taking the shorter contracts with larger average annual values in their salaries (compared to similar players on the open market). The Celtics also benefited from these terms by making the second-year of those contracts not guarantee fully until July 3, giving the team some leeway in the next few days on deciding whether to keep Johnson and Jerebko on the roster or waiving them to open up additional cap room.
Danny Ainge should double down on this tactic this summer if Durant does not sign with Boston this summer. Bringing in more veteran talent would allow the Celtics to build upon their 48-win season and also keep the team’s options fluid when it comes to the summer of 2017. Overpaying a player on a one-year deal or a two-year deal with an option will not harm Boston’s potential pursuit of Durant or other big name free agents next summer. It’s also possible the veteran signings could help Boston’s chances of landing top talent if they help Boston advance deeper into the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Brian Robb with some ideas for how Boston can improve this summer, even if they can’t land any big fish.
Finally: Antoine Walker pens a letter to Antoine Walker.
You’re meeting some friends from the league at a restaurant tonight, and it will be another good time. But before you go, I want to teach you a new word, a word that you don’t have in your vocabulary yet. The word is no. I know this won’t be easy for you, so I want you to practice.
Say it: “No.”
Now try: “No, sorry, I can’t.”
And now: “No, I’m going to pass.”
Good … now let me tell you why I’m teaching you this invaluable new word.
Tonight, one of your best friends is going to bring along a buddy. This friend of a friend is good company, a nice guy. He seems to know a lot of people in the league, and he likes to bring them business ideas. He wants to swap phone numbers and stay in touch.
Yep. There are some sleazy people out there. And being good at basketball does not give you an edge at sniffing them out when they come schmoozing around you and your ‘camp’ or ‘entourage’ or whatever.
The rest of the links:
CSNNE: Some ‘fallback’ options of the Celtics in free agency | Scalabrine: Do superstars want to play with Dwight Howard? | Scal’s Durant pitch: Horford, trading picks for Butler-type | Scalabrine gets call at 12:01 as free agency begins
Boston Globe (if you’re into articles written by guys who have more access and yet less insight into the Celtics than you, the loyal Red’s Army reader): Superman (Dwight Howard) could rescue Celtics (Jeez. When was the last time anyone called Howard “Superman”? –ed.) | Dear Kevin Durant: Here’s why you should come to Boston (this is one of those paint-by-numbers columns that reporters regularly churn out when they no longer have to report on things, but still have to write something in order to get paid –ed.)
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