The Boston Celtics' courting of Rasheed Wallace culminated with a contract offer, according to the Boston Globe, believed to be for two years at the mid-level exception, approximately $5.8 million.
Wallace, formerly of the Detroit Pistons, has his share of suitors and is in no hurry to make a decision. Orlando and San Antonio have expressed interest in Wallace, who re-signed a five-year, $57 million deal with Detroit in July 2004. The Pistons decided to allow Wallace to walk and agreed to deals with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Free agents aren't allowed to officially sign until July 8.
There is a reason nothing stays the same in the NBA. It's never good enough -- even at the top.
What the Los Angeles Lakers learned from the previous four NBA champs – Detroit, Miami, San Antonio and Boston -- was that the status quo will just get you beat the next season.
It's why there have been no repeats lately.
By landing Ron Artest to replace Trevor Ariza -- a huge upgrade -- the Lakers did what others before them didn't do. They got better after they won.
The Dallas Mavericks are about to call the bluff of Magic general manager Otis Smith.
A day after Smith said that he planned to match any offer for restricted free agent Marcin Gortat, the Mavs brought the Magic's backup center to town, hoping he agrees to their contract offer that he can sign next week.
According to at least one NBA source, the Mavs offer will start with the mid-level exception of $5.6 million, extending it out at least three years.
Not everyone is waiting for 2010 – the mother of all free agent summers – to try to improve their team by throwing big money at the seasoned veterans.
Even in hard economic times, the top players like Carlos Boozer, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Kidd will leave teams and get their financial reward in other places. The squeeze will be on the lower-level free agents who must settle for minimum or various exceptions.
What hurts this class is that only seven teams really have major room under the salary cap to make something happen, and they usually aren't the NBA's biggest spenders. Unless the free agents stay with their current teams, only Memphis, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Atlanta, Portland, Toronto and Detroit have major room.
Although there has been plenty of dancing and unofficial talks the last few days, the real dealings can't start until 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
Here is a breakdown by position of the five most intriguing – and unrestricted – free agents.
Now that they have landed All-Star Vince Carter and all but said goodbye to Hedo Turkoglu, the Orlando Magic will try to rebuild their supporting cast by targeting a pair of vastly different free-agent frontcourt players.
After losing to the Lakers and their big front line in the NBA Finals, the Magic are expected to make offers next week in free agency to both veteran Rasheed Wallace of Detroit and young Brandon Bass of Dallas, according to two NBA sources.
Wallace, 34, is expected to be pursued by both the Magic and the Boston Celtics, who are competing with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Wallace has played 14 seasons in the NBA, earning a reputation as an often enigmatic, but unselfish player with championship experience.
(Quick aside: Is it just me or is the NBA offseason easily the most fun of any sport?) Anyway, it appears, based on Woj's sources, that this rumor is likely to gain very little steam, primarily because Danny Ainge is dealing with "Bring in Rasheed Wallace to win a championship" Joe Dumars, as opposed to "Draft Darko, Trade Chauncey for Iverson" Joe Dumars.
All rumors involving the Spurs are interesting, and not just because of the team's status as one of the league's best year after year (after year after year). San Antonio does things differently, and ape as other franchises might try, no one can quite replicate the funky method to the Buford/Popovich madness. Even if a rumor susses out false, the anatomy and evolution of said rumor deserves attention. Every bit of understanding helps.
As such, the burgeoning rumor placing Olympiakos center Yiannis Bouroussis in a Spurs uniform for three years, $10-12 million, as reported by 48 Minutes of Hell and backed up by Greek sources ... that makes you pay attention. S.A. is always always looking for an appropriate running mate for Tim Duncan, and anyone who follows European basketball knows Bouroussis' reputation as a bad-ass bruiser. It seems like a match made in Heaven.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
After being discovered in a pickup game by NBA superstar Chauncey Billups, Alex Acker was drafted by the Detroit Pistons, where his first encounter with Rasheed Wallace was truly one for the history books. Acker also spent two seasons with the best teams in Europe -- Olympiacos (Greece) and FC Barcelona (Spain's powerhouse) -- where he faced pepper spray and flare guns during games. In this FanHouse exclusive we hang out with Acker at his L.A. home and get a true inside look at the life of an NBA player.
For the first time in seven years, the Pistons will not make an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals -- and it's only fitting that Ben Wallace was present to witness the dismantling. He was the foundation of Detroit's first four appearances, the face of the franchise up until the moment he left as a free agent three summers ago before ultimately landing with the Cavaliers at the 2007 trade deadline.
Even though a lot of Detroit fans haven't forgiven him for leaving, he clearly enjoys coming back. After seeing him roam the hallways behind the scenes this weekend, I can understand why: he's still greeted warmly by former teammates, locker room attendants, Pistons front office staff and even members of Detroit's media. It may be easy for jilted fans to switch allegiances on a dime, but as explained this weekend, the bonds he formed during six long years in Detroit will always be there.
The Blazers and the Rockets are both playoff teams that have their share of obvious flaws. In fact, neither one of them have any business getting out of the first round this season. But thanks to the way the seedings shook out, one of them will advance by default.
Unfortunately for Portland fans, that team is going to be the Rockets, and the reason is rather simple: This Blazers team is just not built for the playoffs.
The Boston Celtics' courting of Rasheed Wallace culminated with a contract offer, according to the Boston Globe, believed to be for two years at the mid-level exception, approximately $5.8 million.
There is a reason nothing stays the same in the NBA. It's never good enough -- even at the top.
The Dallas Mavericks are about to call the bluff of Magic general manager 
Not everyone is waiting for 2010 – the mother of all free agent summers – to try to improve their team by throwing big money at the seasoned veterans.
Now that they have landed All-Star 
There's a little NBA trading spice coming out of 
All rumors involving the Spurs are interesting, and not just because of the team's status as one of the league's best year after year (after year after year). San Antonio does things differently, and ape as other franchises might try, no one can quite replicate the funky method to the Buford/Popovich madness. Even if a rumor susses out false, the anatomy and evolution of said rumor deserves attention. Every bit of understanding helps.
After being discovered in a pickup game by NBA superstar 
For the first time in seven years, the Pistons will not make an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals -- and it's only fitting that 
