Chris Broussard has said he thinks the Boston Celtics are going to pick up Rasheed Wallace after the Spurs are not being as aggressive.  The Celts have offered the versatile forward the full MLE for two years.  Sheed can bring it hard sometimes, he is a champion and a hard defensive players.  Charles Barkley has said he was the most talented player he has played against.  Considering he played against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, that is a bold statement, but I certainly can believe he is talented.  The problem is he can't use it right.  He has never been one to demand the ball, has said he doesn't feel comfortable being the go-to guy.  Then there is his emotional intensity, which can be very good and very bad at the same time.

He was part of a remarkable run of 5 straight Eastern Conference Championships.  He has had many big playoff games, no question he is talented and can be a good part of the Celtics if he has the proper attitude and knows his role.  Knowing his role, which more than likely will be back-up big man for Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett, it is everything else, the reported drug use, arguing every call, but maybe in a limited capacity off the bench, he is just what we need, maybe.

I am a little upset that Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge is expending so much energy on him and not on other potentially valuable free agents, like swingman Trevor Ariza, who went to the Rockets, or Ron Artest, who ended up with the Lakers.  I can understand Ainge not going after the even more volatile Artest, but Ariza would have been a great running partner with Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo.  He is younger than Wallace, he feels a bigger need and he seems to be less of a basket case than Wallace.  The only worry I would have about Ariza is that he was playing in a contract year, will he keep up his excellent level of play?  I am inclined to say yes, but he could bottom out next year.

I am a big fan of Danny Ainge.  He has drafted excellently, he knows how to trade and he knows basketball.  We'll see if he can makes the moves to get us another championship this year.

Just received word that Eddie House is going to exercise his contract option and remain in Boston.  House is a streaky shooter that has provided excellent minutes for the Celtics in two seasons.  This will be a contact year and this could improve his play for us.

The Celtics organization has announced that the Celtics will match any offer made to Glen "Big Baby" Davis.  In hte post-season, Davis was critical to the Celtics success, averaging around 15 points a game and hitting a game winner to tie the series against Orlando.  He is an excellent defender, hustler but an average rebounder.  He can be a stellar offensive rebounder on occasion.

Stephon Marbury, the one-time all-star, now backup point guard has stated he wants to resign with Boston and money is not a driving factor for a contract.  If he can return to a form of his al-star days we will have an excellent second string backcourt and protect our depth, a serious problem for last year's squad.

Comcast Sports New England has reported Rasheed Wallace is going to be a Celtic.  I will not comment on this until it's official, but if it's true then this is going to be a very interesting move.

Also I'm hearing Ron Artest is not getting a lot of offers.  If the Celtics can get him for cheap and make him a 6th man backing up Paul Pierce and Ray Allen then that would fill a need for a backup swimgmen and give us one of the best in the business and one of the best defenders.

Interesting day for Celtics news, hopefully we can wrap up some of these contracts in the next few days and start getting an idea of what our team is going to look like next year.

My name is Scott. I will be writing for this blog. I am not from New England but growing up in North Carolina mostly before the days of the Hornets or any pro teams period for that matter. If you followed football you mostly were a Redskins fan, if you followed baseball you more or less followed the Braves. A number of people loved James Worthy, a UNC- Chapel Hill Alum, but I started liking the Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics, who contained two players from my home state, M.L. Carr and Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell. I was a fan through the good and bad times and now is a pretty decent time to be a Celtics fan.

As a writer I will not over-analyze every game. I will not scream for the head of Doc Rivers and/or Danny Ainge every chance I get. I won’t be emotional and I will be as un-biased as possible.

So let’s talk about the Celtics off-season.

So with that said onto the current state of the Celtics:

Prior to the draft, there were all kinds of rumors surrounding Ray Allen being traded for his contract and Rajon Rondo being traded for a pick and returning talent. After draft day, nothing happened and both Ray Allen and Rondo have remained with the team. Both Rondo and Allen have said they think the group as currently constructed can win.

I agree, but we need some minor tweaks. Losing Posey was critical for this team last year and we did not have that critical wing player off the bench, Pierce and Allen played way too many minutes. Also, even when we had Kevin Garnett, we were thing up front. Kendrick Perkins played excellently and Leon Powe and Glen Davis complimented the superior interior defense of Kendrick Perkins, but Powe and Davis did not have the height to compete on a consistent basis with the tall teams in the league.

Others are saying we need a backup point guard. I think Eddie House was sufficient, even though he is more of a shooting guard. I think a good swingman off the bench and a solid big man would complete us nicely. Leon Powe needs to either get healthy or we need to trade him. I have heard reports he will be back around the all-star break next year.

If I had a genie and I could make one wish, here it is:

Shawn Marion. He has said he could sign for the veterans minimum to compete for a title. As a 6^th man/starter, he can and has played the 2 through the 5. He has played lockdown defense on Kobe Bryant and had hit many big shots with the Suns. But that is unlikely.

No matter what happens, I will end this part by saying I have faith in Ainge. He always seems to know what’s best and has been one of the smartest GMs in the league. I have faith he will make the right decisions and do the best thing for this team in the short term and the long term.

P.S.- Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck has stated that the team will be below the cap and be able to sign a big free agent in 2010 in a class that will include Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Lebron James, Tracy McGrady and Amare Stoudemire. The team knows what it is doing and they know who they’re going after.

P.P.S.- My hat is off to the San Antonio Spurs. They received an all-star caliber player for peanuts and they might end up with one of those peanuts back. Richard Jefferson went to the Spurs for Kurt Thomas, Fabricio Oberto and Bruce Bowen. Aside from being a quality player, he fills a critical need for the Spurs. With Manu Ginobili aging slightly and injury prone as of late, Jefferson becomes the quality swingman who can hit big shots, defend and give Ginobili a break from the pressure. A projected starting lineup of Parker, Roger Mason, Jefferson, Tim Duncan and for now, Matt Bonner will be supported by Ginobili, Michael Finley, Drew Gooden, and George Hill. I would say they need height, seeing that they traded two big men but they thought otherwise. I am sure Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford knows what he’s doing. This trade could prove to be more lop-sided than the Lakers trade for Pau Gasol. To add to their good luck, Milaukee could waive Bowen and the team will get back the only player besides future hall-of-famer Tim Duncan who was with the Spurs for their first championship. This group could stop the Celts from winning another title.

The Boston Celtics appear willing to make major roster changes to balance a chance for a championship run and future financial flexibility.

The Celtics offered Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo to the Detroit Pistons for a package that included Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Boston general manager Danny Ainge and Detroit’s Joe Dumars never spoke, but rather the Celtics had a lower-level executive make the pitch to a Pistons official over the past weekend, league sources said. Detroit immediately rejected the idea, and it never advanced to the two top executives speaking about particulars.

Source: Yahoo Sports