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Celtics re-sign Sam Cassell

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have re-signed guard Sam Cassell. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. InsideHoops.com assumes it’s just a one-year deal. Cassell has made several statements in the past suggesting he’ll retire after the season and get into coaching.

Last season it didn’t look like Cassell had much left in the tank. He’ll probably be at the end of the Celtics bench in 2008-09.

Cassell, a 6’3”, 195 pound guard, is a veteran of 15 NBA seasons. Cassell won his third NBA title as a member of the Celtics last season after signing mid-season from the L.A. Clippers. Cassell averaged 7.6 points and 2.1 assists in 17 regular season games with the Celtics last season and finished the season with combined averages of 11.2 points and 3.9 assists per game. The 2003-04 All-Star scored 20 or more points 10 times last season including a season-high 35 points against the Indiana Pacers on November 7. He scored a high of 22 points with the Celtics against the Knicks on April 14.

Quick East thoughts

The season is approaching, folks. Training camps open in around one week (I’m in Prague right now, haven’t looked at a calendar in a while. Tuesday I’m off to hang out in Berlin for a week, then about 8 days in Amsterdam. I’ll be back in New York City right around the start of preseason.)

In the east, the Celtics remain the best of the conference, though I wonder if Ray Allen will drop off a bit this season. They also need to improve their bench.

The Pistons bring back last year’s team, with Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups a year older.

The Magic still need to improve their backcourt.

The Cavaliers add scoring punch with the addition of point guard Mo Williams, but it’s still the LeBron James show with a supporting cast that will have to work very hard to carry their weight.

The Wizards must once again play without Gilbert Arenas for a while, though even with him they’re a lower-level playoff team.

The Raptors have to hope Jermaine O’Neal regains former All-Star form; it’ll be tough.

The 76ers added a star by signing power forward Elton Brand, and that should definitely raise them in conference standings.

The Hawks aren’t locks to return to the playoffs, but it’s good they kept Josh Smith.

The Bucks improved on paper, adding a pass-first point guard in Luke Ridnour, but more importantly, a legit good forward in SF Richard Jefferson.

The Knicks have the same talented yet flawed roster, but a new coach. Can Mike D’Antoni work miracles?

The Nets are rebuilding and aside from Vince Carter and young Devin Harris, everyone on the team who matters is young and in development.

The Bulls have the same team as the last few seasons, though Ben Gordon remains unsigned. Will they play like the good Bulls from two years ago, or the disappointing ones from last season? Flip a coin, because they’re capable of going either way.

The Bobcats have nice swingmen in Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace, plus Emeka Okafor, but everyone else is young and in development.

The Heat could make a leap in the standings now that Dwyane Wade is healthy, plus Shawn Marion needs a new contract, and Michael Beasley doesn’t like losing. The supporting cast is still extremely weak, though.

The Pacers always do a bit better than expected. The bad news is, almost nothing is ever expected. Danny Granger, Mike Dunleavey and TJ Ford are very nice players, though. They may surprise a little, but not a lot.

I’ll share quick West thoughts tomorrow. Right now I’m off to hike up to the Prague castle. I’ll be right here in about an hour.

–Jeff

Celtics to visit White House Friday

On Friday, September 19, the Boston Celtics will travel to Washington D.C. to meet with President George W. Bush and receive recognition for winning the 2008 NBA World Championship. Celtics players will be accompanied by coaches, ownership, and members of the front office for the event. Head Coach Doc Rivers, Executive Director of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ainge, as well as Team Co-Owners Irving Grousbeck, Wycliffe Grousbeck, Steve Pagliuca and Bob Epstein are expected to be in attendance.

At approximately 3:00 p.m., President Bush will address members of the team and guests in the White House’s East Room. While on stage with the President, the team will present him with a personalized team jersey and autographed team ball.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Just keep Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis away from the president’s buffet table and everything will be alright.

Cassell to be Celtics assistant next year

The Baltimore Sun (Annie Linskey) reports: Baltimore native and three-time NBA champion Sam Cassell said today he plans to become an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics after playing one more season. Cassell, a 38-year-old guard who was part of the Celtics’ title run this year, told a reporter about his plans shortly before speaking at a City Hall news conference. “This is my last year playing with the Celtics,” he said. “Next week, I’ll sign the contract.” After finishing the 2008-09 season, he plans to exercise an option to join the coaching staff. “I am playing this year,” he said. “After that, I have the option to do coaching for them.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: Cassell has let it be known for years that he planned on becoming a coach after his playing days end, and apparently he’s already got a nice job lined up. I wonder if the team has made him an official offer, or if there’s just a general understanding that the offer will come sometime in the next year. I assume the latter. Anyway, I see Cassell as a successful assistant in terms of helping players develop and being hands-on in making sure they know how to move and what to do on a basketball court. There are lots of players I wouldn’t want as an assistant, but I’d want Cassell. Cool news for the Celtics, assuming this actually materializes.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers signs contract extension

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have extended the contract of Head Coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to be able to extend Doc’s contract. Doc molded a championship team last season through his leadership and we are confident that he is the man to lead this franchise on the court now and in the future.” said Danny Ainge, Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations/General Manager.

Rivers led the Celtics to their NBA-record 17th NBA Championship while leading the Celtics to an NBA-record 42 game turnaround. The Marquette grad became the first Celtics coach in NBA history to have been honored as the NBA’s Coach of the Month three times in the same season during the 2007-08 campaign. Rivers led the Celtics to their third highest record in franchise history during the 2007-08 season when the team was an NBA-best 66-16.

In the four seasons that Rivers has coached the Celtics he has amassed a career record of 168-160 (.512). In the 2007-08 campaign Rivers became the sixth Celtics coach in franchise history to have been named a coach for the NBA All-Star game joining Arnold “Red” Auerbach, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Bill Fitch and Chris Ford. Rivers also joins Auerbach, Heinsohn, Jones, Fitch and Bill Russell as Celtics coaches to have led their team to an NBA Championship.

InsideHoops.com says: When your team wins the championship, you often get a contract extension. No surprise. Doc’s doing well in Boston.

Fan Poll Results: 8 East playoff teams

InsideHoops.com ran a poll for the last week asking fans to pick the eight Eastern conference teams they feel will make the playoffs in 2008-09.

The voting for the first four teams was pretty close, with the Celtics (592 votes), Cavaliers (588), Pistons (582) and Magic (578) taking the home-court seeds.

The Raptors (504) came in 5th, though from our experience Toronto fans, being very enthusiastic, tend to bump their team up slightly higher than tends to be expected. Though, if new Raptor Jermaine O’Neal can stay healthy and play anything like his old former All-Star self, this is a very reasonable prediction.

One vote later, coming in 6th, was the 76ers (503), who played better than expected last season and now add star power forward Elton Brand, who is returning from injury, to their mix.

The Wizards (459) came in 7th. They welcome a healthy Gilbert Arenas back.

And now, a dropoff.

Fans feel that last year’s #8 seed, the Hawks, won’t do as well in 2008-09. Rather than pick them to return to the playoffs, fans went with the Heat (294 votes). This is reasonable. Miami welcomes a healthy Dwayne Wade back, alongside Shawn Marion, who needs a contract, and superkid rookie Michael Beasley. The supporting cast is still weak, but slightly improved from last year.

The Bulls (195) finished 9th, just outside the playoff seedings. The Hawks (180) were 10th.

Here are the complete final results:

1) Celtics 592 votes
2) Cavs 588 votes
3) Pistons 582 votes
4) Magic 578 votes
5) Raptors 504 votes
6) Sixers 503 votes
7) Wizards 459 votes
8) Heat 294 votes
—
9) Bulls 195 votes
10) Hawks 180 votes
11) Bucks 83 votes
12) Nets 68 votes
13) Knicks 53 votes
14) Pacers 53 votes
15) Bobcats 43 votes

Celtics sign Bill Walker

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have signed 2008 second round draft pick Bill Walker. Per team policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Bill’s hard work and skill development this summer has given us the belief that he can be in our short-term plans as well as our long-term plans.” said Danny Ainge, Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations/General Manager.

Walker, a 6’6, 220 pound forward from Kansas State University was taken with the 47th pick by the Washington Wizards and was acquired by the Celtics for cash considerations. Walker earned Third Team All-Big 12 honors from The Associated Press and the league coaches as a redshirt freshman this past season. The former Wildcat ranked second on the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game which also was good for fifth in the Big 12. Walker scored 20 or more points nine times and topped the 30-point mark twice. Walker posted career averages of 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in 37 games over two seasons for the Wildcats.

Walker was acquired in a draft night trade from the Washington Wizards on June 26, 2008 in exchange for cash considerations. Walker will wear #12.

Celtics sign Darius Miles

Jeff says: Miles has always been a question mark. Early on he was just an athletic dunker who didn’t really know how to play basketball. But as his career progressed, he kept showing stretches of occasional brilliance. He was still raw and not yet developed, yet for 10 or 15 minutes here and there Miles seemed like a future star, if he could just learn how to play. Only that never really happened, because he got hurt, badly, over and over. And fell out of shape. And even when he was playing well, there was never a sense that he ever really loved basketball. But now he’s apparently back, in shape, and ready to contribute. I think the Celtics are making the right move, taking a low-risk chance on him with potential decent reward. And, here’s the news release:

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have signed free agent forward Darius Miles. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Miles, a 6’9”, 235lbs forward out of East St. Louis High School has posted career averages of 10.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.15 blocks in 412 career games. Miles was originally drafted with the third overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. Miles last played for the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2005-06 season when he averaged a career high 14.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 40 games. Miles missed all of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons due to microfracture surgery on his right knee.

“Darius has been in twice for workouts with us and has impressed us with his progress, health, and attitude;” said Danny Ainge, Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations/General Manager. “Darius will have the next couple of months to prove to myself and Coach Rivers that he can help us win.”

The Bellville, Illinois native became the first player in NBA history to receive All-Rookie honors straight out of high school when he averaged 9.4 points and 1.54 blocks for the Clippers in the 2000-01 season. Miles scored in double-figures in 31 of the 40 games that he appeared in during his last NBA season in 2005-06. As a starter in 23 of those 40 games he averaged 16.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.

“I’ve watched the Boston Celtics play a lot last year and loved what I saw in their teamwork and chemistry on the court and it’s the team that I want to try to resume my career with.” said Miles. “I am excited about having an opportunity to play on a team that I feel my personality fits with and a team that can have great success on the court.”

Web viewing of NBA games may soon exist

The Oklahoman (Mel Bracht) reports: Say you’re working late and can’t make it to the Ford Center to watch Oklahoma City’s new NBA team play its game that night. Instead, you log on to your computer and watch streaming video of the team’s game broadcast. Sound far-fetched? Not if the NBA has its way. The league is aggresively promoting three new Internet elements — video streaming in home markets, interactive TV and video-on-demand — for the upcoming season. Ed Desser, a media consultant for Oklahoma City’s team, said many details have yet to be worked out, and didn’t expect the team to offer the Internet elements anytime soon.

Ray Allen gets married

The Boston Globe reports: Ray Allen and longtime girlfriend Shannon Walker Williams finally made it official, tying the knot in an intimate ceremony on Martha’s Vineyard over the weekend. Guests at the wedding, which was held under sunny skies at a private home in Oak Bluffs, included the couple’s three children Tierra, Ray III, and Walker, fellow UConn alums Scott Burrell and 76er Kevin Ollie, Celts CEO Wyc Grousbeck and wife Corinne, and, of course, the NBA Championship trophy.

Here’s a photo. And another.