Every morning, we compile the links of
the day and dump them here…
highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as
satisfying as a good morning dump.
Editor's Note: The Morning Dump will be a LeBron Free Zone. Screw him, ESPN and the rumors.
Free-agent center Jermaine
O’Neal
is leaning toward signing a contract with the Boston
Celtics, but still hasn’t reached a final decision, league sources
told Yahoo! Sports.O’Neal, 31, has narrowed his choices to the Celtics and Denver
Nuggets, sources said. The Dallas
Mavericks have been a strong consideration, too.The Celtics and Nuggets are believed to have offered O’Neal near the
midlevel exception of $5.8 million over two seasons, sources said.
Near the mid-level exception? Does $3 million qualify as near? I realize the Celtics are desperate for a big man, but I was really, really, really hoping they'd be able to split the MLE among two quality guys willing to sacrifice cash for a shot at a title.
Those inept GMs who gave $5 million to stiffs like Darko Milicic and Amir Johnson are ruining my summer.
As for other big men, there's very little talk of Brad Miller and Shaquille O'Neal is leaning towards San Antonio or the Hawks. The Celtics remain interested in Kwame Brown (consider him a replacement for Shelden Williams and nothing more).
On Page 2, insight into the Ray Allen negotiations.
The Celtics and Allen had been talking steadily, but concern had
grown in the team’s camp as the process lingered. Allen’s people had put
out a big request to teams at the start, and, while the number and
years had come down, it appeared they would wait to see if there were
any takers.One NBA team said yesterday Allen was looking for $12 million per
year, and a Western Conference executive said he was led to believe that
was too high for the Celtics – even if it was just for two years.
“I’m happy to be returning as a Celtic,” he told WEEI.com via text
message. “There’s no other place I wanted to be.”
This is a perfect deal for the Celtics. The Celtics rebuilding will come in two years, when KG and Ray's deals expire. Anyone know the marquee free agents available in 2012?
The rest of the links:
Globe – Allen decides to remain with Celtics | Philly legend believes Wallace will return | Rivers eyeing beasts of the east | Herald – Bird OK with Celtics moves | ESPN Boston – Allen's deal with Celtics a win-win | WEEI – Lakers, Celtics still teams to beat | CSNNE – Quis unlikely to return | Matt Janning buys himself more time (Summer League) |
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