Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:
tried to entice the Grizzlies twice. The Celtics offered Brian Scalabrine, Tony Allen and a choice of J.R. Giddens or Bill Walker for the Grizzlies' 36th pick and cash considerations. Boston The Celtics' best offer for the Grizzlies' No. 2 pick only included center Kendrick Perkins.
We've heard the Perkins rumor before (I still don't like it and I'm trying to not believe it), but the bench clearing one seems new. Scal and Tony (and perhaps Giddens as well) are expiring contracts but since Memphis is under the cap they wouldn't have to match salaries. So other than getting a few live bodies for cheap, I'm not sure what the appeal for Memphis would have been.
Interesting that Ainge would be looking to clear salary for this year. It wouldn't be enough to get us under the cap to make offers to big name free agents. But it might have given management a little more room under the luxury tax to sign someone to the full MLE.
In theory Ainge could have picked up DeJuan Blair or another decent prospect with that high 2nd round pick. Paul Flannery of WEEI confirms that the Celtics had discussions to move up:
There were a number of intriguing players who fell into the second round and Ainge said he had discussions about moving up, but elected to stay put. Among those mentioned were former Big East stalwarts Sam Young and DeJuan Blair from Pitt and DaJuan Summers from Georgetown, who went in consecutive picks from 35-37.
Another name that apparently intrigued Ainge was St. Mary’s point guard Patrick Mills, who went three spots ahead of Boston to Portland.
Regardless, Memphis didn't bite and our night was still quiet. Interesting rumors if true. I still think at the trade deadline we'll have the option of moving Scal, Tony, and Giddens to a team looking to shed salary. We'll see though.