Blount Re-signs With Celtics

The Celtics have a agreed to a six year deal with center Mark Blount for 6 years a $41 Million. There is also a 15 percent trade kicker.

According to Chad Ford "they had Blount's early bird rights which means that they still have their full mid-level exception at their disposal. They've been talking to more bigs obviously, most notably Antonio McDyess."

Also, yesterday's Herald stated "Should the Celtics re-sign Blount - a move that would simply absorb his salary cap space from last season - they would still have their regular mid-level exception to spend on another free agent."

This puts our roster at 17 players. You could get down to 15 by cutting Ernest Brown and putting Yogi on the DL, but look for a trade of some of Danny's "movable parts." Especially if we do indeed go after another free agent.

A quick look at our lineup: If we start Atkins, Pierce, Jiri, Raef, and Blount; subs will include Davis, Banks, Jefferson, Perkins, and Walter. That still leaves West, Allen, Jones, Reed, and Yogi on the bench, and we still have an offer out to Mihm (again, this assumes Brown gets cut). Can't see us going deeper than a 10 man rotation. Assuming Perkins and Jefferson are ready to contribute some backup minutes, something's gotta give.

Latest Update: Since Blount fell into the "early Bird" category (a member of the team for three seasons), the Celtics did not need to use their mid-level exception (approximately $5 million). Boston can still use its mid-level exception to go after other available free agents. The Celtics benefited because Blount was "their" free agent, which allowed Ainge to offer him annual raises of 12.5 percent. Memphis and Philadelphia were in the running. - Boston Globe