Adrian Wojnarowski reports:
Glen "Big Baby" Davis is close to signing a two-year contract to stay with the Boston Celtics, a league source told Yahoo! Sports on Friday night.
The deal is expected to be signed early next week.
Davis tried to get several teams to offer him the mid-level exception, but a depressed financial market made it hard for that to happen. A handful of teams – including Detroit, New Orleans and New Jersey – discussed sign-and-trade scenarios with the Celtics, but Boston general manager Danny Ainge never wanted to lose him.
Wojo also reports that the Celtics are no longer interested in Marbury.
The Celtics are still working to complete a sign-and-trade deal for Indiana guard Marquis Daniels. If not, Boston will sign Daniels to the $1.9 million biannual exception. Boston no longer has interest in re-signing guard Stephon Marbury.
Update: The Herald gives us more insight into the negotiations:
There appears to be good give and take in the contract. While Davis did not get the free agent money he was hoping for (the total for the two seasons won’t amount to much more than the mid-level exception for one year), the Celts apparently backed off their desire for a third year at their option.
By signing for two years, Davis can be an unrestricted free agent at the soonest possible time. (Players must be in the league four years before they can shed the restricted yoke.)