Report: TA Close to Signing With Memphis

Posted by Brian Robb on Jul 11, 2010 912844 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F07%2F11%2Freport-ta-close-to-signing-with-memphis%2FReport%3A+TA+Close+to+Signing+With+Memphis2010-07-11+19%3A21%3A13Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D9128

Roland Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal has the scoop:

The Grizzlies are close to agreeing on a contract with Boston Celtics free agent swingman Tony Allen, The Commercial Appeal has learned.

Allen, 28, is an unrestricted free agent and the Griz are hoping to sign him to a multiyear deal starting at roughly $3 million.

Signing Allen would mean Memphis would completely severe ties with Ronnie Brewer, who it acquired from Utah for a protected 2011 first-round pick in February. Brewer wasn’t extended a $3.7 million qualifying offer and became an unrestricted free agent.

Brewer apparently wasn’t willing to commit to the Grizzlies’ latest offer because of pending negotiations with Chicago and Utah.

Before we freak out too much, let’s first pay attention to the wording of this report. Terms have not been agreed to yet, obviously, so it’s entirely possible that the Celtics could swoop in here and match the Grizzlies offer, which by the looks of it, is extremely reasonable at 3 million dollars/year. Tony has openly admitted he wants to stay in Beantown, so look for him to give the C’s every opportunity to match before signing the dotted line.

So why would Ainge not pony up the dough for this deal, especially when this team lacks any wing depth whatsoever? The answer is likely years. TA is 28 years old and he is also injury prone. Committing 3-4 million dollars for a role player for the next 4 years could be a detriment as Ainge tries to retool and reload once Ray and KG’s contracts expire.

That being said, a long term deal for TA would not be an albatross of a contract for that kind of money, so it would baffle me to a degree if the C’s wouldn’t match this kind of offer, given their lack of resources to replace Tony.

So what would TA’s absence mean for the C’s? If Ainge is willing to let him walk, you can bet he has a couple backup moves involving trade replacements on the radar, especially given the C’s need for depth on the wings. Rudy Fernandez comes to mind as a possibility as previously rumored. The C’s are still armed with some ammo to trade for help with Sheed’s contract, but TA’s absence would mean one more hole on a team’s bench that is already shorthanded as is. Not an ideal situation early on in the quest for the C’s to return to the NBA Finals.