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2 days ago

Avery Bradley Likely Done For Season

On the back of a horrific game six performance, Gary Washburn of the Globe piled on with more bad news: Avery Bradley is almost certainly done for the season. Washburn: A source close to Bradley told the Globe that it’s in the “high 90s” percentile that Bradley will be shut down and will perhaps need [...]

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3 days ago

Game 6 Will Be Wednesday Night at 8pm on ESPN

After the Thunder finished up their series by routinely dismantling the Lakers last night to send them packing in five games, a time has been announced for the C’s-Sixers Game 6 on Wednesday night. It will tipoff shortly after 8pm on ESPN. Looking ahead in the postseason, if the C’s do win Game 6, and [...]

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4 days ago

Highlight: Rondo Leads The Break

I love this decision-making from Rajon Rondo. While leading the break, you can see him eyeballing Ray Allen, who runs the wing and spots up on the arc. The Sixers have a 1-2 disadvantage but are mostly concerned about Allen’s three balls, which allows Mickael Pietrus to make an unmolested baseline cut behind the defense. [...]

2
4 days ago

Celtics-Sixers Game 5 Tips off at 7pm

A note to all you local C’s fans out there that may be attending the game tonight at TD Garden. The game will start just after 7pm and will be broadcast nationally on TNT. However, unlike most TNT regular season games during the season, the tip will not come 15-20 minutes after the scheduled start [...]

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12 days ago

(Video) Rajon Rondo Continues To Dominate In Postgame Interview

Rajon Rondo is a tremendous player, but he tends to have a little bit of an issue scoring the ball late in games. I won’t go as far as saying he is scared, but he does pass up shots and defer to teammates in crunch-time….well a lot. Last night though may have been his coming [...]

3
12 days ago

Video: Full Kevin Garnett Reaction After Game 1

Garnett followed up his season-best effort against Atlanta in Game 6 with a new season-high in points and another sensational double-double, as well 60 percent shooting (12-of-20) from the field. Over his past two contests, Garnett is averaging 28.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, two steals and four blocks a game. After the game, KG was candid [...]

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Russian Team Interested in Nenad Krstic…How Much Should We Worry?

While we at CelticsHub were taking an extra long holiday weekend (our apologies) the vast majority of you probably heard rumblings around the net (Via Sports.ru: h/t: CelticsLife) about the reported interest of a Russian pro team in the C’s free agent center:

CSKA Moscow are reportedly interested in signing Boston Celtics’ Serbian centre Nenad Krstic (27 years old, 213 cm). According to Serbian website Sportske.net, the Russian club has offered the player a long-term contract.

Meanwhile, commenting on this information CSKA president Andrey Vatutin has refrained from giving a direct confirmation or denial.

As the off-season is coming with active negotiations and signings of new players, there will be a lot of rumors on alleged future contracts around each club. Some of this information will prove to be true, some will be a complete lie and just an element of the agents’ game aimed to increase the price of a particular player. CSKA not will neither deny, nor confirm any rumors before the actual conclusion of official contracts,» Vatutin stated according to Championat.ru.

Although Krstic’s brief Celtic stint was underwhelming, primarily due to a host of nagging knee injuries, it can not be understated just how crucial the former Thunder big man could be to the C’s future plans. Why? Just take a look around the roster, where big bodies and more specifically centers are nowhere to be found. Jermaine O’Neal, the one signed center on the roster, is far from certain to return, as I documented a few weeks ago, due to retirement. That possibility places even more importance on Nenad when it comes to next season. And while it will take a while to know what the C’s are working with as far as the CBA is concerned, Krstic is one of the few crucial players that Boston has bird rights on this offseason, giving them the option to spend money on Krstic, while staying away from their pool of MLE money.

Due to this, barring a sign-and-trade, I felt like Krstic was as close to a sure thing to returning next season, giving his age, size, offensive potential, and reasonable salary (5.5 million). While no mentions of dollar amounts have been made yet over the rumored Russian offer, it’s safe to say any potential lockout could entice the European center to jump back across the pond for a more reliable and timely payday. It’s a very real scenario Boston could face, and just another reason to root against any lengthy lockout come July 1st.

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