NBA Free Agency Rumors: Celtics Options Narrowing As Player Movement Continues

Now that Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass, and Chris Wilcox are officially signed, the Celtics can now turn to some other important free agency matters that the team still needs to address.

Jason Terry and Jeff Green have not been signed yet. For the past week or so it was rumored that the Celtics were looking to see if they could do a sign and trade with Dallas so that Boston wouldn’t have to use the mid-level exception on Terry. But according to a new report by Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, the Celtics will just sign Terry to the mid-level exception worth $5 million after not being able to strike a deal with the Mavericks.

There has been no word as to why Jeff Green hasn’t been officially signed yet, but there is some speculation that its just small, technical stuff like the fourth year of the contract, and whether it will be guaranteed or not, thats holding up the deal.

O.J Mayo Signs With the Mavericks

Well, we can cross Mayo’s name off our free agency wish list. Last night via Twitter, Mayo announced that he will be joining the Dallas Mavericks. I’m not exactly sure how Dallas pulled this off since they don’t have a lot of money to work with. In the end, it was best that the Celtics didn’t sign him, because Mayo has expressed a few times that he was not interested in going to Boston.

Greg Stiemsma Going To Minnesota?

According to ESPN Minnesota, the Timberwolves are expected to sign restricted free agent Greg Stiemsma. Reports say the T-Wolves will make an offer that Boston can’t match, so they feel extremely confident in their chances of acquiring him.

I’m not shocked by this, seeing that Stiemsma is from Wisconsin and he wanted to be closer to family.

Celtics Interested In Darko Milicic

Yes, you’ve read that right. According to Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports, the Boston Celtics are front runners to land the 7 foot center. The Timberwolves will amnesty Milicic and teams can then bid for him, but it is unlikely that he’ll be picked up by any team with cap space. Once Milicic becomes a free agent, expect the Celtics to make a run for him. Why? I have no idea. But I guess you can never have too many centers.

Hardwood Houdini’s own Brett Roberts sees things quite differently, however, citing that the amnestied Milicic could make a great addition at the right price.

Courtney Lee

On the Courtney Lee front, its been relatively quiet. The Celtics can’t make any type of offer for him without making a trade. It has been reported that the Celtics will need a 3rd team involved to make a deal work, but so far there have been no takers.

The Toronto Raptors have been rumored to be a possible 3rd team, but there hasn’t been anything concrete as to what role they’d play in the deal.

Overview

Within two weeks, the Celtics have constructed a decent lineup and still have a few roster spots open. If Boston can’t find a good player in free agency, there is a summer league team full of capable players in Las Vegas.

Last season, Greg Steimsma proved that a D-League player can make it in the NBA. Its worth the shot to see if a player like Dionte Christmas can follow the same path.