WOJ CORRECTION: Now it’s Paul to Lakers, Gasol to Rockets, and Odom, Goran Dragic, Kevin Martin, and Scola to NO.

Mannix and Amick over at Sports Illustrated are twitting that LA’s working on a deal to get Chris Paul in a three-team trade with Houston, sending Pau Gasol to the Rockets, who would offer New Orleans a meaty bunch of players in return for Paul.

Houston also expressed interest in Paul at one point, and they have the combination of picks, vets, and young talent to put together a tempting package for the Hornets. But the Rockets management may be worried that Paul won’t sign a long-term deal in Houston, and they’ve been targeting size as well: now that Tyson Chandler and Nene are likely off the market, they might be okay with Gasol as a consolation prize underneath.

This hypothetical three-team deal would hypothetically go up against the Celtics’ three-team deal with the Pacers, where Darren Collison and probably some other assets would be sent to the Hornets.

UNINFORMED PREDICTION: Once this trade offer from LA and Houston is finalized, the Hornets will call up the Clippers and tell them they’re going to pull the trigger unless the Clippers are willing to part with Eric Gordon. The Clippers will bite.

The Lakers are also one of the last three suitors for Delonte West, along with the Celtics and Mavs, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of Twitter.

Meanwhile, some of the C’s rivals in the East are adding valuable pieces all over the place.

• Tyson Chandler appears to be heading to New York, according to Marc Stein at the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. That’s a huge move, as Chandler changed the defensive face of the Mavericks and could do the same for the Knicks. He’s also Chris Paul’s best friend forever and ever, but Chandler’s contract is going to make signing Paul next season almost impossible without trading Amare Stoudemire, which word is the Knicks are willing to do.
• Shane Battier will play for Miami next season to compete for a starting spot with LeBron James. Should he lose that position battle, he’ll deepen one of the league’s weakest benches last season.
• Other free-agents who’ve left the market: Shannon Brown (to the Suns), Mike Dunleavy Jr. (to the Bucks), Caron Butler (to the Clippers), and, less recently, Chuck Hayes (to the Kings, for more than the Celtics would have been willing to pay).

A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com has been on top of the Davis news from the beginning yesterday and reports on the importance of contacting Baby on the first day to help him feel appreciated/increase the odds of bringing him back:

“It’s very important,” John Hamilton, Davis’ agent, told CSNNE.com. “It shows Danny and the Celtics appreciate the contributions he has made to the club, and are open to seeing if they can continue to relationship that started four years ago.”

Ainge is not alone.

Two league sources on Monday said that a number of Davis’ teammates, including Paul Pierce, have reached out to Davis in an effort to convince him to return to Boston.

And the Pistons may be willing to offer Davis the full mid-level exception which is worth $5 million in the yet-to-be-ratified new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Celtics have Davis’ Bird Rights which would allow them to exceed the salary cap to re-sign him.

This should come as no surprise, as if the C’s fail to re-sign Davis, they will almost certainly have to use a veteran’s minimum to replace him, if they don’t deal him in a sign-and-trade. That latter scenario also appears unlikely, as most teams interested in Davis have ample cap room to sign him, or would be uninterested in a sign-and-trade with Boston. The C’s obviously want Baby back, but they want him at a reasonable number. If the Pistons are willing to force their hand and offer Davis five million, I see Boston having to match, strictly due to the fact that there are mostly inferior alternatives out there for the prices Boston can pay. We’ll keep a close eye on the latest on Baby as it develops, but it could be the first chip (and perhaps the most crucial one) to fall for Boston in free agency.

Moving on to other names, if you are hoping Ainge is interested in bringing back the whole gang together, you’ve got some good news waiting for you.

We’ll start with Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who spoke with Mr. Powe yesterday and tweeted the following:

Leon Powe said the Grizzlies and Celtics are the teams he’s looking at. As for the Lakers? “I’m just here watching basketball.”

The C’s had a chance to bring back Leon last year after he was bought out by Cleveland, but passed on him in favor of Troy Murphy (another Ainge whoops). Not only would signing Leon make sense from a team needs standpoint, (offensive rebounding and post scoring are two glaring weaknesses for this roster), but the fact it would likely only take a veteran’s minimum to do would seemingly make it a no brainer.

A. Sherrod Blakely also has the C’s contacting Daniels early in the free agent hunt, another guy who will likely be available for the veteran’s minimum.

Now let’s be clear here. Both of these guys are big injury risks, on a team chalk full of aging veterans that could breakdown at any moment. Not exactly what this roster needs from that perspective.

On the other hands, Powe and Daniels are easily two of the best names available in the bargain basement bin in NBA free agency right now.

Perhaps more importantly, they both bring extensive knowledge of the C’s system. We saw how challenging it can be last year to try to integrate guys into the team during a season with Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and all of the buyout additions. That’s almost essentially what will be happening this year with the extremely short training camp and heavy schedule that will put practice time at a premium for Doc Rivers. Bringing in bodies that Doc knows, trusts, and can play to their strengths is exactly what this team right now.

Make no mistake, there will be plenty of brand new bodies in here anyway. The rookies, another free agent veteran center, likely a guard or two as well. It would be nice though to have that continuity going forward with these guys, to keep the heavy learning about the C’s system to four or five guys, instead of half the entire roster.

So I plead to you Danny. Put on the full court press here with these guys. Offer them a two-year deal, with a player option if you think it helps to Leon and Marquis. Have your players recruit them. Make the best of a tough free agency situation and bring in the guys you know can play.

By now you’ve possibly heard that Sean Deveney said that sources said that the Celtics said they’re targeting Chuck Hayes as a free agent at center. Pros and cons!

Pros:

• He’s an actual center. He defends centers, he does his scoring at the rim, and he REBOUNDS. He rebounds very well. His defensive rebound rate was pretty much identical to Nene’s last year, and comparable to Perkins’ from 2007 to 2009.
• Very strong impressionist (0:48 in this video).
• Extremely good dude, fun to root for.
• Not injury prone: played at least 70 games each year he’s been in the league.
• Buds with Rondo: they played together in college, probably know each other’s tendencies on the court and in Halo 2 deathmatch.
• Will give Rondo confidence in his free throw shooting.

Neutral:

• His height. He’s listed at 6’6″, which is probably about the same as Glen Davis. It’s had virtually zero influence on his defense or rebounding, but makes scoring inside an ordeal (see next bullet).

Cons:

• Not going to take much of the scoring load because a) he can’t shoot and b) he gets blocked with great frequency. 15 percent of the shots he took last season had their trajectory redirected by the hands of his opponents. Of centers who played at least 70 games, only Omer Asik had more. But he doesn’t take a lot of shots, so his efficiency is still decent.
• He has apparently gotten a little chubbers in the offseason.
• Money. Hayes only made about $2 million last season, but the Celtics aren’t going to be the only ones interested in his services. Basically every team is going to look at Hayes as a potential value buy, which is going to naturally raise his price beyond the value buy range. If the Celtics ever want to make a play at a certain smiley center down the line, they’d need to give Hayes a reasonable contract that would leave them sufficient cap room or be easy to unload on another team in a trade. With all the other names looking at Hayes, that might not be easy.

Do you want Chuck Hayes? How much would you pay him for how long?

But the Celtics, of course, have made their draft bacon over the last few years by cherry-picking rotation players out of the lower tiers. Glen Davis, Semih Erden, and famously Rajon Rondo all fall into this category. Meanwhile, everyone has conveniently forgotten about Gabe Pruitt, avid food photographer J.R. Giddens, and the smiling gentledude above. That’s what’s so great about the 25th pick: it’s no fun drafting a player who’s definitely going to be good. So boring. Where’s the tension, right? Luckily, there are plenty of players who might be good to be had at the end of the first round this year.

Below are the draftees who A) are of potential value to the Celtics and B) have a reasonable chance at falling to 25. They’re casually organized by gettability, with the players least likely to be on the board at 25 going first.

Nikola Vucevic
7’0″, 260
This gangly Montenegrin was the tallest guy at the NBA combine, making him of instant interest to the Celtics. He’s not just tall, either: he comes with actual post moves and a pretty fantastic jump shot. Lower down on his resume is his extreme slowness, which makes him a suspect defender, especially within a team defense like Boston’s. But only a couple of mocks have him reaching the Celtics, anyway: Chad Ford has him going as high as 14, and Philly is apparently also interested two picks later.

Tobias Harris
6’8″, 225
Boring, but not the bad kind of boring. Harris lacks a distinct skill, but he does everything reasonably well, and could back up multiple positions. That’s right: he’s a dreaded “tweener,” like about nine other guys in the first round. He’s relevant to the Celtics because he’s a solid rebounder and one of the draft’s youngest players; he was born the week Honey, I Blew Up The Kid came out. That means he’s got plenty of time to develop as the C’s rebuild, or possibly just flame out and team up with Gob to start up Gobias Industries.

Those are the two guys who might, but are sort of unlikely to, fall into the Celtics’ sweaty clutches. Everyone after this should be up for grabby-grabs. Picture the jump as the ever-blurry dividing line between fantasy and reality.

Tyler Honeycutt
6’8″, 187
Honeycutt gets a bump here as the only player in this draft I have actually seen play in person. And from my first-hand experience, I can offer you the insider info that Tyler Honeycutt is a very skinny em-effer. He’s basically a praying mantis who takes spin classes and is fine just having soup for lunch. But despite this, he can do a lot of things very well: nice looking shot, smart with the ball, jumps really high, and he’s an excellent rebounder for a stick bug. But he is very, very skinny, and he doesn’t fill any of the serious need positions for the Celtics.

Reggie Jackson
6’3″, 200
There’s some chatter out there that Danny Ainge promised Reggie Jackson that he’d draft him if he fell to 25. That is total bullpucky. Ainge does like Jackson, but while he’s a terrific athlete and scorer at the rim, there’s actually quite a bit against his playing for the Celtics: he’s not really a great distributor, which they could use in the second unit, and they’d would probably have to unload Avery Bradley, who’s not at the peak of his value right now (maybe) (hopefully) (oh my god, is Bradley at the peak of his value?!?). The thing that encourages me most about Jackson is how crazily he elevated his play between his sophomore and junior years. His shooting has dramatically improved. If he finds room in his heart to get just a little bit better from outside, he’ll be a legitimate offensive threat and a defender to match. He also famously hit three home runs in one game.

Jeremy Tyler
6’11″, 260
Upside project raw undeveloped potential, etc. This guy is the devil you know. It could be a while, or very likely never, but Jeremy Tyler could be a star. He’s personally my top pick among these likely candidates. I think the Celtics should start getting ready to rebuild, and that means at the 25th pick you go for the player with the highest ceiling. It doesn’t hurt that he’s freaking huge and the Celtics could use help underneath.

The uncertainty with Tyler comes down to his personality. Read the absolute hell out of this. At best, he’s a head case, and at worst, he’s a sociopath. It’s possible that he’ll work hard and fit right in with this team as a harmless lunatic. It’s also possible that he’ll shut everyone out and be physically torn in half by Kevin Garnett during a charity visit to the Perkins School for the Blind. Roll them dice, Danny!

Nikola Mirotic, PF
6’10″, 225
While we discuss rebuilding, why not take a look at a guy who some people say is one of the draft’s top five players, but will not be playing in America for, like, two years! Mirotic is also from Montenegro (Nikola is a Montenegrin name, we learned together today), and like Vucevic he’s a big guy who plays mediocre defense but can shoot. Except he’s a much better shooter, and apparently a very developed basketball player already: he’s performed well on Real Madrid against probably the best international competition there is. Seems like a guy the Celtics might want to develop, but do they want to deprive the Spurs of the pleasure of stashing a boring player overseas?

Justin Harper and JaJuan Johnson, SF/PF
6’9″, 228 (Harper), 6’10″, 220 (Johnson)
I pair these two because they’re very similar in their deficiencies: they’re offensively-inclined PFs in college, but it’s not clear at what position either of them would play in Major League Basketball. They both would have trouble with both traditional power forwards and small forwards on defense. The tweener alarm has been pulled on these guys, and it’s not a drill. Their offensive games are what separate them: Harper is a very good shooter, while Johnson runs faster and jumps higher. Johnson’s also a little taller and probably a better rebounder, so maybe of more use to the Celtics for those reasons.

Davis Bertans, SF
6’10″, 211
Latvian. Might be the best shooter in the draft. Looks like Ron Weasley’s six-year-old brother. You want to guess whether or not he’s good at rebounding? He’s not. You were right. Still, shooting is always valuable, and at his height no NBA small forward is stopping his jumper from going up. He’s been called the poor man’s Dirk Nowitzki, but that’s not really fair: Dirk belongs to even the poorest among us now.

Trey Thompkins, PF
6’10″, 239
An efficient scorer and decent rebounder, so he’s on the watch list. Can actually create a little offense, which would be a refreshing change of pace from a bench player. He’s not of much use on defense, but apparently he’s getting better in this area. Highest body fat percentage in the combine, hilariously.

Jon Leuer, PF
6’11″, 225
Leuer’s a big dude who can dribble and shoot. He’s got post moves for days and is efficient with his attempts, which is among the best things you can be as a basketball player. But while he puts balls in the air effectively, he does not bring them back down very well: for his size, he’s pretty awful on the boards. But he has his supporters: Brendan, for example, is in love with him and wants to kiss him and marry him. Leuer’s also of particular interest today because he was one of the biggest sleepers on John Hollinger’s Draft Rater, landing at 14th overall. You guys all love John Hollinger, right?

Jimmy Butler, SF:
6’8″, 215
Good team player without any outstanding physical qualities. I mostly include him here because he’s Brendan’s favorite pick among the last ten, so he’ll most likely be around to explain himself at some point.

GUYS LIKELY TO BE AVAILABLE BUT WHOM PERSONALLY I FIND UNDESIRABLE:

Darius Morris: A pass-first point guard with no jump shot? Sure, we can always squeeze in one more! NO WE CAN’T.
Kyle Singler: Can’t discount the sense of revulsion I feel at the mention of his name.
Chandler Parsons: 6’10″ small forward whose most marketable asset is his “intangibles.” I’ll take tangibles, ah-thank you!
Iman Shumpert: See Darius Morris, except without the passing.
Travis Leslie: “Freak” athlete, we’ve been burned before.
Josh Selby: Can’t score, defend, or pass.
Nolan Smith: Also went to Duke.

Cast your vote below!