Celtics Looking For 3rd Team To Sign-and-Trade Terry

As has been reported all day (and speculated on for a while now) the Celtics were looking to sign-and-trade for Jason Terry to free up the MLE to use on another free agent. The twist is that the Mavs decided that they didn't want the flotsam that we had to offer and have moved on.

C's introduce Green, Terry, Bass, Wilcox - Boston Celtics Blog - ESPN Boston

Sources with knowledge of the discussions told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that the Mavericks and Celtics did discuss sign-and-trade scenarios to facilitate Terry's move to Boston early in free agency. But Dallas has since made other plans with its cap space, such as Friday's amnesty claim on Elton Brand, and are thus resistant to taking back Keyon Dooling or Sasha Pavlovic in a sign-and-trade, which would be necessary to make such a deal work. A source said the only way a sign-and-trade could occur is if Boston finds a third team to take on the salaries they prefer to move out. The Celtics have eyed unrestricted free agents like Courtney Lee (who met with coach Doc Rivers last week in Orlando) and O.J. Mayo (who reportedly was nearly traded to Boston in exchange for Allen at the trade deadline last season).

But wait, Danny Ainge won't go down without a fight (and by fight, I mean calling up several GMs and pestering them over and over again - hoping to wear the down with persistence).

#celtics are apparently trying to find a third team to facilitate a sign-and-trade with the #Mavericks for Jason Terry

— gary washburn (@GwashNBAGlobe) July 14, 2012

I give him a lot of credit for trying, but I'm also not going to hold my breath waiting for this to happen. We'll see though.