Chris Forsberg of ESPN reports:
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The Celtics are in need of some big-man help with 32-year-old Jermaine O’Neal and his balky knee currently the only true center inked for the 2011-12 campaign. What’s more, Boston doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on a position that typically commands big money and, unless you have money, there’s not a lot of options on the open market.
So what’s feasible? The Celtics can cross their fingers that the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions live on in the next CBA and that those might offer limited flexibility in targeting serviceable big men. But even if the mid-level stays around $5.8 million like last season, that’s certainly not enough to lure prizes like Nene ($11.4 million last season) or Tyson Chandler ($12.6 million). Heck, it might not be enough to entice Samuel Dalembert ($13.4 million), who is in line for a hefty salary decrease, but is going to have plenty of interest from the mid-level crew (including the rival Heat who remain in similar pursuit of big-man help).
What’s left? Go completely AARP with 39-year-old Kurt Thomas? Maybe another flirtation with Kwame Brown? Want to roll the dice with Joel Przybilla’s knees? Prefer to just go bargain basement and see what happens (Go ahead and Google Alexis Ajinca, we’ll give you a minute)?
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