Buy low, Cassell high!

(this would also be a great headline if Sam were ever busted for marijuana possession)

Well, it looks like it's finally happened ... Cassell has gotten his buyout from the Clippers (boston.com) and - once he clears waivers - is expected to join our beloved Celtics roster:

Cassell signed buyout papers with the Clippers and won't clear waivers until Monday at 6 p.m., assuming he clears. The 38-year-old is expected to sign with the Celtics over the Nuggets and Mavericks. An NBA source said that Cassell plans to be in Boston when he clears waivers.

Since the two-time NBA champion will be waived prior to tomorrow's deadline, he will be eligible to play in the postseason.

"I think it's a situation where the team [Clippers] gives me an opportunity to chase another dream of mine," Cassell told the Los Angeles Times. "I appreciate it. There was frustration from both parties with our team being hurt and it was just an opportunity to move on."

Cassell spoke as if he will be wearing the green and white once he clears waivers. He said he would wear either No. 91 or 28. "I talked to [the Celtics] today and they said they want me," Cassell said.

Cassell will receive about half of the $1.7 million remaining on his $6.1 million contract, according to the Los Angeles Times. Despite signing forward/center P.J. Brown Wednesday, the Celtics still have one roster spot remaining. Boston can offer a prorated $1.2 million veteran's minimum to Cassell. The Clippers are expected to sign free agent guard Ronald "Flip" Murray to replace Cassell.

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge and coach Doc Rivers cannot comment on Cassell until he clears waivers.

"We do have one spot available, but I am very happy with our team," Ainge said last night.

As long as he's willing to play the backup minutes to Rajon Rondo - as well as apology for you know what (youtube.com) - this should be a no-brainer for Danny Ainge and the C's ... Throw in the recent acquisition of PJ Brown (and you can click on this link [gac.culture.gov.uk] if you don't get what that picture's supposed to be), and Boston has potentially picked up some solid veteran pieces with playoff experience.

All in all, I'm ready for Cassell to phone home and relocate to Boston (HA! See, because he looks like E.T., gawd I am so clever I must be the first person to ever make that joke) ...

It's cold outside, put on your PJs

C's ink PJ Brown (bostonherald.com):

The Celtics [team stats], their needs still not addressed at backup point guard, made a strong move today to add defense and strength to their frontcourt with the signing of veteran power forward P.J. Brown.

The 38-year-old Brown played for the Chicago Bulls last season before going into semi-retirement. He was also pursued by the Celtics last summer, but expressed a preference to remain near his home in Louisiana. He also declined re-signing with two other possible suitors -- New Orleans and Dallas.

A product of Louisiana Tech, Brown averaged 9.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks over his 14-year playing career. He played for the Nets, Heat, Hornets and Bulls.

The 6-foot-11, 239-pound Brown is considered a rugged defender and rebounder, especially at the "4" spot, and should provide the Celtics with yet another accomplished role player.

I guess size does matter ... considering how the troops were getting decimated on the boards at the start of that little five-game West Coast road trip, this signing should bring some much-needed relief in that department (at least until Perkins and "Big Baby" get out of their current funk).

This might not be the free-agent signing that fans were salivating over, as Cassell is still waiting in the wings (boston.com), but adding a little veteran beef to the frontline can't hurt (unless your name is Scott Pollard, ZING).

Naughty naughty, Mister Posey ...

Image from sports.yahoo.com

Tsk tsk, shouldn't you be paying attention to the team huddle?

Air Coozies

I want a pair! I want a pair! (boston.com):

Even Celtics legend Bob Cousy can't believe his luck in having the PF Flyers brand resurrected by the Boston-based shoemaker New Balance. The Hall-of-Famer recently signed to endorse the canvas kicks - as he did back in his playing days.

"At my tender age, I've learned that things come around," Cousy, who will be 80 this year, told us. "Maybe I can do for PF Flyers what my dear, now gone, friend Joe DiMaggio did for Mr. Coffee," he added with a chuckle.

The special edition Conveyor Bob Cousy shoes, which will be available at Bodega and Louis Boston, were unveiled at a party at Fred Segal in LA on Friday and were immediately the buzz of the fashion bloggerati. Not that Cousy is swayed by such chatter.

"If you ask me, I don't think they were all that pretty, in fact, they were kind of ugly," said Cousy, who's glad the new shoes are also available in green.

"Green? Anything but the black canvas. They were ugly."

We can't let a chat with the legendary point guard, who now broadcasts 10 Celtics games a year with fellow C's great Tom Heinsohn, go by without talking about this year's squad.

"When I played, the Celtics were the big deal in town," Cousy said. "As nice as it is to have another team do well, I'm glad to see Paul Pierce get the kind of support he needs. Pierce is a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate in his own right, and now he's gotten some help."

Any predictions?

"Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have worked hard in their own careers and never had a chance, here they will have a chance," Cousy said. "I know they will be in it at the end of the season and they will make it exciting."

As thrilling as having you're own shoe?

"Well, that's fun. Hey, they brought back Chuck Taylor's," Cousy said. "And he couldn't even pass behind his back."

Image from hypebeast.com

Big Al: "Power Forward? Pretty Flowers? Purple Firetruck?"

In preparation for tonight's contest against Al Jefferson and the Minnesota Timberwolves, let me remind you of this embarrassing little story that Celtics sideline reporter Greg Dickerson shared with us in the closing moments of the first quarter during the previous Celtics-Wolves matchup (01/25):

DICKERSON: Kendrick Perkins wanted me to pass this along, I said to Perk yesterday, "What's the best Al Jefferson story you can give me?"

He said, "Aw, he'll kill me for telling you this, but you gotta tell this one on the air. It's a couple years ago, comes over to me after a game and says 'Hey, uh, what does PF mean on the stat sheet?'"

And Perk says "Seriously, you don't know what PF stands for?!" ... Keep it down, keep it down, Al Jefferson has since learned that PF of course stands for "Personal Fouls".

And when I brought that up to Al, he knew exactly what I was talking about and remembered the story very well ...

HEINSOHN: And he kept saying, "Why am I only in single digits in the PF column?"

GORMAN: That's right [laughs]

HEINSOHN: "I'm in double figures in every other column" ...

I think I'm gonna hurl ...

Image from sports.yahoo.com

Still no Garnett, and Pierce almost lost his lunch (that damned flu bug's been running rampant throughout the Celtics' locker room) ... but the team was still just two points shy of beating a very good Cavs team (now 15-4 since Christmas Day) in Cleveland.

In the overall scheme of things, that ain't so bad ...

Rondo-gate?

Via the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (telegram.com):

NBA point guards do their best to overhear opposing play calls and relay them to their own benches so their teams can log them and be better prepared to defend them.

"You have a chance of knowing what they're running before they run it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said yesterday after practice at HealthPoint. "That doesn't mean you're going to stop it, but at least you have an idea of what they're doing."

The fact that Rajon Rondo is able to both relay opposing plays and defend them is an indication of how far he's come in only his second year in the league.

"He's a smart player," Rivers said. "Rajon is ahead of his time as far as the mental part of the game goes and knowing the game and understanding. The only time he gets in trouble is when he thinks he knows it all."

Should've watched the Puppy Bowl instead ...

As a New England sports fan, it pains me having to watch a New York team succeed (nfl.com) ... However, I've never been big on football anyway, so it took me all of five minutes to work out my depression before focusing on Tuesday's game against the Cavs.

In terms of the fallout over last night's much-ballyhooed upset, the lone "bright spot" (if one can even call it that) is that I now have an intense desire to read Bill Simmons' next article ... He jinxed the whole thing, y'know, when he referenced the 2002 Super Bowl - and those "smug" Rams fans - in an article last week (which I've been trying like heck to track down but can't seem to find in his archive [sports.espn.go.com]; hmm, perhaps he had it pulled from the site out of a deep sense of shame); didn't he foresee the irony of the situation, where the Pats fans were now the ones puffing out their chests and acting like the outcome was a foregone conclusion? Bad karma, Bill, bad karma.

Of course, the really REALLY disappointing thing in all this, is that I was so hoping to see that old fool Mercury Morris (youtube.com) shut his damn mouth one and for all ... Alas, that will not be the case (rbk.com).

Anyway, seeing article (boston.com) after article (blogs.usatoday.com) written in the past couple of months where Boston was anointed as the new sports capitol of the universe, we now find oursevles in the following scenario:

• The Pats have lost the Super Bowl ... and perhaps more than that, if Congress has their way (ledger.southofboston.com).
• The Red Sox lost out on Johan Santana (newyork.mets.mlb.com).
• The Celtics are losing players to injury left (bostonherald.com) and right (metrowestdailynews.com).

Boy, the rest of the country must be getting their Schadenfreude (en.wikipedia.org) on right now!

All-Star "snubs"

With Kevin Garnett (assuming he's still not sitting out to rest that cursed abdominal strain) and Doc Rivers already securing a spot on this year's All-Star Team, last night was our chance to see who else from the Celtics might be joining them, with the announcement of the Eastern Conference reserves on TNT (boss.streamos.com) ... Well, Paul Pierce made it in, but Ray Allen didn't (nba.com):

The East reserves feature the Detroit Pistons' Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton, Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison of the Washington Wizards, Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce.

The 14 players selected -- seven each from the Eastern and Western Conferences -- were chosen by the 30 NBA head coaches, who were asked to vote for seven players in their respective conferences -- two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. They were not permitted to vote for players from their own team.

Previously selected as starters for the East through the 2008 NBA All-Star Balloting Program presented by T-Mobile were Boston's Kevin Garnett, Cleveland's LeBron James, Orlando's Dwight Howard, New Jersey's Jason Kidd and Miami's Dwyane Wade. Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, Houston's Yao Ming, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and San Antonio's Tim Duncan will start for the West.

Obviously, it was a no-brainer for Pierce to make the cut ... Some people, however, remained confident that Allen would earn a spot due to his past credentials as well as the fact that it would "send a good message that sacrificing individual stats for team success will be rewarded" (I'm paraphrasing how one media pundit put it).

Well, even if you draw the (obvious) conclusion that putting Ray in a situation where he's not the main offensive weapon will negatively affect his offensive output - shocking, I know - you still have to admit that Ray Allen has just not been having a "Ray Allen-esque" season thus far.

Sure, there have been game-winning shots and some pretty brilliant performances (last night against Dallas wasn't too shabby), but there have been some real clunkers thrown into the mix as well ... People like to point out the 2006 All-Star Game that featured four members of the Detroit Pistons (sports.espn.go.com), as an example of "rewarding" the best teams by showcasing their full complement of players, but I just don't buy it.

Bottom line, it would've been nice to see the "Not Big Three" on the floor during All-Star Weekend, but two outta three ain't bad ... Besides, no one seems to be harping on the real injustice: No "Big Baby" in the Rookie Game (nba.com)!

The participants in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam were selected by the NBA's assistant coaches, with each team submitting one ballot. The head coaches for the Rookie and Sophomore teams will be the lead assistants from the 2007 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs.

The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam will be televised live nationally on TNT and also will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio, while NBA.com will make live audio available to fans in multiple languages.

Forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge, Roy's teammate in Portland, joins him on the Sophomore team, which includes Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson, Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar, Memphis Grizzlies forward/guard Rudy Gay, Toronto Raptors forward and the first overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft Andrea Bargnani, and a pair of Utah Jazz teammates – guard/forward Ronnie Brewer and forward/center Paul Millsap.

The Rookie team features Durant's Seattle teammate Jeff Green at forward, as well as Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford, Houston Rockets forward/center Luis Scola, Memphis Grizzlies guards Mike Conley and Juan Carlos Navarro, Milwaukee Bucks forward Yi Jianlian, New Jersey Nets forward/center Sean Williams, and Toronto Raptors forward/guard and former D-Leaguer Jamario Moon, also a participant in the 2008 Sprite Slam Dunk competition.

This is truly a sad sad day in the world of sports, my friends ...