Earlier this evening, Celtics fans were disappointed to learn that sharpshooter Ray Allen has opted to leave the C's for the Heat. The shooting guard turned down what was reportedly a two-year, $12MM offer to stay in Boston in favor of a three-year deal worth just over $9MM.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes that the loss of Allen is effectively a double-whammy for the C's as they cannot easily turn around and sign a similar player to offset the loss. This is because the Celtics only have the bi-annual exception available to lure a player in. Boston may also bring back swingman Mickael Pietrus, but for now it would seem that they'll have to bank on quality production and perimter shooting from Jason Terry to fill the gap. Here's more out of the Atlantic..
- After turning down double the money, a no-trade clause, and the familiarity of Boston to sign with Miami, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter) suspects that there is something more to the story. That something more could be Allen's reported discord with Rajon Rondo.
- Nets guard Deron Williams admitted to reporters that the team's acquisition of guard Joe Johnson was key in his decision to stay, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. If not for the trade, the point guard said that he likely would have wound up with the Mavericks.
- Elton Brand's agent David Falk said that he won't be pulling a power play to hijack the waiver wire system, but will be manuevering with interested teams to get the forward in the best situation possible, tweets Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated. Brand was recently cut loose by the 76ers.
- Knicks big man Tyson Chandler talked to Jason Kidd regularly this summer and admitted to being pleasantly surprised about his choice to come to New York, tweets Marc Berman of the New York Post.
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