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.
The Celtics already have been quite active in their investigations as Thursday’s NBA trade deadline draws near, but, according to several league sources, the talk has yielded no serious leads.
It’s quite clear the club would like to make a major move, but in that such a transaction would require a major player being honestly available, the current outlook is dim.
And by “honestly,” we mean a team willing to talk realistically about a star player — not one looking to make a one-sided killing.
A Western source confirmed the Celtics were one of a number of teams calling the Clippers to see if Blake Griffin is, indeed, on the menu. But the result of those inquiries has thus far been that, while the Clips are listening, they have no real intention of moving the star forward.
And that’s the hottest take on the Celtics trade rumor mill. We’ve made a call (for a player who punched out his trainer).
Two days to go and I’m bracing myself for a flurry of nothing at the deadline. The Cavs and Clippers allegedly want a star player in return for Love and Griffin. Atlanta has yet to ease up on its ridiculous demands for Al Horford.
On the bright side, all the names we are hearing about now will also be available in June/July.
It’s possible we’ll have to enjoy this team, as is. And Chris Forsberg points out, that likely involves a home playoff series:
BPI projects Boston with a 61.6 percent chance at a top-three seed, including a 55 percent at No. 3. Staying there would mean that Boston’s path to the East finals would be: A home-court series versus a bottom-three seed in the East and a 2-3 matchup against the Toronto Raptors.
Indy currently sits in the 6th spot, but the bottom 4 seeds in the Eastern conference are packed tightly. And there’s news out of Miami that Chris Bosh might dealing with another blood clot scare.
In other player movement news, Woj reinforces the notion that David Lee will be gone even if he’s not traded:
Several players almost assuredly who’ll get bought out and become free agents if they are not traded this week, leagues sources said, include Boston’s David Lee, Denver’s JJ Hickson and Brooklyn’s Andrea Bargnani.
Related: CSNNE – Blakely, Mannix not giving up BKN pick for Horford
On Page 2, what if Paul Pierce was drafted by the Sixers?
As Pierce plays in what could be his final NBA season, it didn’t take him long to hypothesize what could have happened had the Sixers chosen him instead.
“Well, Philadelphia would probably be sitting on two championships,” he told CSNPhilly.com last week prior to the Clippers game against the Sixers. “Me and Allen Iverson would be in the history books. End of story.”
Pierce said he had been promised to be drafted higher by teams with top-five picks, but that never panned out. Not every other team, though, could have paired him with a player of Iverson’s caliber. Iverson recently was named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016.
Hard to argue with Paul on this point. He’s a slightly better player than Larry Hughes, Matt Harpring, Jumaine Jones and nearly all of the small forwards who played alongside Allen Iverson in the late 90s and 2000s.
But would Philly have been good enough to beat those Shaq/Kobe Lakers teams or Duncan/Robinson Spurs teams?
The rest of the links
Globe – State of the Celtics | Herald – Midseason report card
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