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Celtics coach Rivers meets with Courtney Lee

Celtics coach Doc Rivers meets with Courtney Lee

The Celtics, with need for another shooting guard now that Ray Allen has left for Miami, didn’t need long to identify their next target.

A Celtics source just confirmed an ESPN report that coach Doc Rivers met with Courtney Lee Saturday night. Lee, the former Magic and Nets guard who played the last two seasons with Houston, lives in Orlando, and knows Rivers’ family well.

Lee, 26, averaged 11.4 points for the Rockets last season. Shooting efficiency isn’t his strong suit.

— Reported by the Boston Herald (Blog)

Celtics guard Avery Bradley may be out until December

The Celtics’ search for a shooting guard may intensify even further after the club revealed that Avery Bradley could miss some of the regular season because of another shoulder surgery scheduled for Tuesday at New England Baptist Hospital.

Bradley had surgery to repair repeated separations in his left shoulder in June and needed to wait for that to heal properly before undergoing a more minor surgery on the right shoulder. It will take weeks for both shoulders to completely heal, and that would take Bradley into the regular season.

Bradley missed the entire series vs. the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals because of the troublesome shoulders and without Ray Allen, the Celtics may be with a brand new shooting guard on opening night.

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Ray Allen will sign with Miami Heat

Ray Allen will take less money for a chance at another NBA championship.

Allen told the Miami Heat on Friday night that he intends to accept their contract offer and leave Boston after five seasons, even though the Celtics could pay him about twice as much as the reigning NBA champions will be able to next season. Miami could only offer Allen the mini mid-level, worth about $3 million a year.

Heat owner Micky Arison tweeted the news just after 9:30 p.m. — or about 2:30 a.m. Saturday in Europe, where Arison has been for several days.

“I was just woken up with great news,” Arison wrote. “Welcome to the family.”

Arison ended the tweet by making mention of Allen’s jersey No. 20, and did not mention the NBA’s leading 3-point shooter by name.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Allen, tired of being offered as trade bait by Danny Ainge in each of the last two years, was also being offered trade security by the Celtics, either in the form of a trade kicker or a no trade clause.

But according to a league source, Allen’s request from the Celtics went beyond the pale – reportedly a demand for a three-year, $27 million contract. The Celtics, according to the source, were in the process of attempting to talk Allen down from $9 million to $6 million per year.

So Allen may have had several issues issues, perhaps starting with the Celtics’ signing of Jason Terry earlier this week – a former sixth man of the year winner (2009) with Dallas who could duplicate many of Allen’s functions. And then there are growing reports that Allen no longer desired to play with Rajon Rondo – the Celtics point guard with whom he has been known to occasionally bicker.

The Heat certainly pulled out the stops in their attempt to get him. LeBron James, a major figure in that recruitment drive, even photo-shopped a picture of Allen in a Heat uniform and sent it out over the twitter-sphere.

— Reported by the Boston Herald (Blog)

In choosing the Heat’s offer, Allen walked away from a two-year deal with the C’s worth as much as $12 million.

With Allen off to Miami, a league source said the Celtics would still pursue adding another perimeter shooter.

One possibility would be to re-sign Mickael Pietrus.

His agent Bill McCandless told CSNNE.com that he didn’t foresee a scenario that would have allowed his client to return to Boston if the Celtics re-signed Allen.

— Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE

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Brandon Bass agrees to stay with Celtics

Brandon Bass is happy that he doesn’t have to fill out another change of NBA address card, and he’s even more ecstatic Boston will remain his basketball home.

He and the Celtics agreed on a three-year deal yesterday, with Bass pegging the overall figure at $20 million. As for how that will be broken down, the power forward said, “It’s three years for $20 million. That’s all I know.”

Bass opted out of the $4.25 million final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, and he sifted through the advances from NBA suitors.

“We had interest from some other teams, but Boston is where I wanted to be at the end of the day, so that’s where I’m at,” he said.

— Reported by Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald

Celtics likely keeping Brandon Bass

The Boston Celtics reached an agreement with Brandon Bass Thursday afternoon on a three-year deal, according to a league source.

Bass opted out of the final year of his previous contract in order to secure a longer-term deal, but expressed a strong desire to return to Boston throughout the latter part of the season.

Bass appeared in 59 games last year — including 39 starts as he moved to the starting power forward role in the second half of the season — and averaged career-highs of 12.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

The Celtics acquired Bass from the Orlando Magic last season in a sign-and-trade deal in exchange for Glen Davis.

— Reported by Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston

LeBron, CP3 both recruiting Ray Allen

LeBron James and Chris Paul are the closest of friends, but they will be at cross purposes over the next few days. They are recruiting against each other for the services of Ray Allen.

Allen hasn’t ruled out re-signing with the Boston Celtics, who have made him a strong monetary offer, but signs are pointing to Allen choosing between James’ Miami Heat and Paul’s Los Angeles Clippers.

On Thursday, the Heat will host Allen for a visit as they try to persuade him to accept less money and perhaps a lesser role to join their bid to repeat as champions. Friday, Allen is scheduled to visit the Clippers, who have more money to offer and a clear role as the starting shooting guard.

James and Paul, sources said, have been actively recruiting Allen to join their respective teams. Earlier this week, James tweeted a photo of Allen wearing a Heat uniform. Wednesday, Dwyane Wade sent out a tweet describing Thursday as a big day for the franchise.

— Reported by Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com

Celtics close to adding Jason Terry

If Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge left any question about his desire to compete for a title next season, he eliminated such uncertainty Tuesday when the team agreed to terms on a three-year contract with veteran sharpshooter Jason Terry, according to an NBA source.

Terry, 34, played the past eight seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, establishing himself as one of the game’s top sixth men. He averaged 15.1 points this season in 31.7 minutes per game, shooting 37.8 percent from 3-point range.

When asked if he will sign with the Celtics, Terry responded “strong possibility” via text message.

Terry, who officially can sign a contract July 11, will sign for the full mid-level exception that begins at $5 million per season. The Mavericks, according to the source, offered Terry more money per season to return but only a two-year deal.

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Ray Allen to meet with Heat on Thursday

Boston shooting guard Ray Allen, the Heat’s top target in free agency, will meet with Heat officials in Miami on Thursday as he continues to consider offers from the Heat, Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers.

Allen will visit the Clippers on Friday. As of Tuesday afternoon, he had not booked visits with his other suitors, including Memphis and Minnesota.

The Celtics reportedly have offered Allen $12 million over two years. The Heat can offer no more than $3.1 million per season over three years because teams that are above the luxury tax threshold have only a mini-mid level exception. The Clippers, who have a full mid-level exception, can offer $5 million annually over three years.

— Reported by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald

Celtics sign their 2012 rookies

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have signed their 2012 draft picks, forwards Jared Sullinger and Kris Joseph along with center Fab Melo.

Players drafted in the first round are guaranteed to receive a contract, but the team gets to decide whether to sign players they drafted in the second round.

Sullinger, a 6’9” forward, was taken with the 21st pick in the first round. The native of Columbus, OH was a consensus First Team All-American, Wooden Award finalist and First Team All-Big 10 Selection in each of his two seasons at Ohio State. He also was named the 2011 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Sullinger posted the third-most points (1,282) over his first two seasons at Ohio State behind Jerry Lucas (1,381) and Michael Redd (1,361). Sullinger also earned National Freshman of the Year honors from the Sporting News and the Wayman Tisdale Award from the USBWA. He averaged 17.5 points and 9.2 rebounds this past season in helping the Buckeyes get to the Final Four.

Melo, a 7’0” center, was taken with the 22nd pick in the first round. The native of Juiz de Forz, Brazil was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. He is the Syracuse record holder for most blocks in a single game with 10 against Seton Hall this past season. He also was named Preseason Big East Rookie of the Year as a freshman. This past season he ranked first for Syracuse in rebounds (5.8 rpg) and blocks (2.9 bpg).

Joseph, a 6’7” forward, was taken with the 51st pick in the second round. The native of Montreal, Quebec, earned First Team All-Big East during his senior season and is one of 55 players in Syracuse University history to record 1,000 points in his career. During his senior season he ranked first on the Orange in points (13.4 ppg) and third in rebounds (4.7 rpg). During his junior season, he also was ranked first on the Orange in points (14.3 ppg) and second in rebounds (5.2 rpg).

Jeremy Lin and Greg Stiemsma withdraw from USA Men’s Select Team

New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin and Boston Celtics center Greg Stiemsma have withdrawn from the 2012 USA Men’s Select Team that will train July 6-11 against the 2012 USA Basketball Men’s National Team during training camp in Las Vegas, Nev.

Lin informed USA Basketball this afternoon that because of his current contract status (a restricted free agent) he was withdrawing. Stiemsma was forced to withdraw after undergoing a non-surgical process for Plantar Fasciitis.

“Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to participate in the 2012 USA Men’s Select Team this summer,” said Lin. “It was such an incredible honor to be selected, but I have withdrawn my name from the team because of my status as a free agent. I hope to have the opportunity to participate with USA Basketball at some point in the future.”