A few rumors still shaking out after the deadline from the Weekend Dime:
Sounds like the Celtics recruitment team is working on that Starbury guy:
My colleague Stephen A. Smith, meanwhile, reported on ESPNEWS earlier this week that a couple of members of the Celtics have privately challenged Marbury to abandon his hard-line stance and give up a few million bucks in negotiations with the Knicks to secure his freedom and prove to the basketball world that he can make an off-the-bench impact with the reigning champs.
This bears watching. Mikki isn't our first choice, but he'll be available first.
Word is that Mikki Moore, released Thursday by Sacramento, could have a new team picked by the end of the weekend so he can make a fast move after clearing waivers. But Oklahoma City's willingness to buy out Joe Smith -- Boston's presumed co-No. 1 target along with Marbury and one of Garnett's best friends -- has not been confirmed after numerous signals in recent weeks that the Thunder were intent on trying to keep Smith if they couldn't trade him.
Do we wait for Smith and risk losing both of them? Hard decision for Danny.
Also, the final word on the Nocioni talks:
Further investigating to find out who pulled out of the potential Andres Nocioni-to-Boston swap leads us to believe that, in the end, both teams didn't want to do it.
For the Celtics, who felt they couldn't afford to match New Orleans' summertime offer to James Posey, Nocioni was just too expensive.
I'm also told that the Kings didn't want to do the deal unless Leon Powe was included. And Boston wasn't giving up Powe.
True. True.