Today's Celtics News and Rumors

With Orlando Summer League over with and the early rush of free agent signings over with, we are entering the dog days of NBA summer. Things will slow down, but there will still be rumors and the Celtics are still due to make some moves. For one thing, as BBallLee pointed out in yesterday's comment, the Celtics have no cap space and more players than they need. So, something has to give.

Won't be signing a free agent without additional moves--no room on roster, no money under cap. At the very least Danny needs to cut $1.9M off total, and two players. That's some $200K more than the combined salaries of Babb and Johnson. Feel free to point out that 3-for-1 upgrade trade with $2M more salary going out than returning--I haven't been able to find it.

The Celtics are over the projected luxury tax limit of $77 million as of right now. They can cut Keith Bogans $5 million plus since it is not guaranteed and he doesn't figure to fit into the team to get under the limit. Although, it's more likely that he'll be used in a trade as filler rather than just being released. Whatever they choose to do with Bogans, it's a definite he won't be on the team after being told to stay home last season because he was being disruptive in the locker room.

Chris Babb and Chris Johnson both are on non-guaranteed contracts. Releasing one or both would slightly reduce the payroll and would also get them to 14 players (not counting Bogans). I do like Chris Johnson as a player and would rather see them keep him than just release him for cap space.

Phil Pressey also is on a non-guaranteed contract for $816,482. But, today is decision day for him and if he is not waived by midnight tonight, his contract becomes guaranteed for the year. Pressey played very well in Orlando, averaging 10.6 points and 5.4 assists and in my opinion, he showed that he belongs on the team. With Rondo and Smart ahead of him on the point guard depth chart, he may struggle for playing time, but with injuries and Smart possibly playing the off guard, the Celtics should keep Pressey around.

The Celtics and Avery Bradley agreed to a contract not long after the July 1 date when they could begin talking. He has yet to sign his contract. But according to his agent, Avery will be in Boston today to take a physical and sign his contract. The delay in the signing came due to both sides trying to iron out the language and the terms of the contract.

While taking on Marcus Thornton's $8.6 million expiring contract was considered the cost of gaining a young 7' center and a first round pick, Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens are pretty high on his potential to help the Celtics.

"Marcus can bring us some scoring, probably a bench scorer, and can really get hot in stretches -- he had a 42-point game [against Indiana] last year," noted Ainge. "He's a guy that can shoot the ball from the 3-point line and adds shooting and depth to our team."

The two holes that the Celtics needed to fill at the end of last season were a center and rim protector and a scorer who could fill up the scoring droughts that the Celtics seemed to have almost every game. For his career, Thornton has averaged 13.4 points and 26.1 minutes per game. He also has shot 43.1% from the field and 36.1% beyond the arc. He could be the scorer that the Celtics need.

Yesterday the internet was blooming with rumors of talks between the Celtics and the Rockets for Rajon Rondo. But, as I suspected, the Rockets don't have the assets to make this rumor go anywhere. According to the Herald:

In the wake of more reports that Houston again targeted Rajon Rondo, multiple sources confirmed that there has been no such communication between the Rockets and Celtics.

The word is strong that the Celtics will look at all possible Rondo deals, and if nothing is to their liking, they would rather risk seeing him walk away as a free agent and take the salary cap benefit.

But the Houston rumor does not fall into the category of a possible Rondo deal

That's it for now, but stay tuned for more. There's another shoe to drop somewhere out there. Remember that it wasn't until July 31 that the Celtics made the trade for Kevin Garnett back in 2007.

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