Forward Shelden WIlliams has signed with hte Boston Celtics for one year.

To me, this is HUGE!!!!!  I was a big Shelden WIlliams fan when he came out in 2005.  I don't feel he has been managed right anywhere he has been.  This guy is clearly an all-star calibur player who just hasn't been used correctly.  He hustles, is tenacious on both ends and could be a huge contributor.   I hope we use him right in Boston.

Sorry my articles have not been htere for a few days.  I am writing this while on vacation.

Lamar Odom and the Los Angeles Lakers have come to terms and most of the championship team will be intact.  The major change will be Ron Artest replacing Trevor Ariza.

This is an imposing lineup, but I don't know how good it will be.  First, Artest isn't getting any younger and he is known to be an unusual fellow.  His defense as of late is suspect and his offense is good, but streaky.

You have to consider, was Odom playing in a contract year?  He had a solid year, but it was a year he was playing to get good money.

Kobe Bryant is back, but he is another year older.  How will he do?  Probably the best scorer in the game and Finals MVP, no question, can he do it again?

The most consistent player on the roster is Pau Gasol.  He brings solid offense and marshmellow defense every night.  He can block shots, but he seems late on rotations and is a pushover on man-to-man.

The big questionmark for the Lakers is Andrew Bynum.  He has played excellent defense and shoots a high percentage, but can he stay healthy?  That's the critical question.

This will be a good team, but the Spurs acquiring Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess to go alongside who I think is the current best coach in the NBA, Greg Popovich, is going to be too much for the Lakers.

Denver losing Dahntay Jones was critical and htey don't have the depth to compete in the stacked west.

My wild card is Dallas.  Shawn Marion is one of the best defenders in the game.  He is a big-time player who was a critical part of the Phoenix postseason.  I doubt it will be enough for the offensive-minded Mavericks but I could be wrong.

It looks like the Marquis Daniels deal will need a third team, as the Pacers don't want Tony Allen and/or Gabe Pruitt in compensation for giving up Marquis Daniels.  No teams are explicitly being mentioned in rumors but this is just ironing out the kinks in the deal.

The more intriguing rumor is that the Celtics and nets are discussing a sign-and-trade of Glen Davis to the New Jersey Nets for project big man Yi Jianlin, whos potential is limitless.  If Ainge can pull this one off I will be ecstatic.  We will have 4 quality players who are 6'10 and taller.  We'll be hard to beat.

Meanwhile, on a side note, numerous sources are reporting Lamar Odom is close to choosing a team.  He has stated he wants to go to Los Angeles, but the Lakers are not giving him as many years.  This could determine how far the Lakers can go.  They will need Odom if they are going to repeat.  Artest won't be enough to make up for no Ariza and Odom.

Lamar Odom has the potential to really deflate the defending champions by signing with the Miami Heat.  I don't think it will make the Heat serious contenders, but it does give them that veterand presense sorely missed with the young Heat.  Yahoo sports is reporting the vorward is leaning towards signing with the Heat.  No matter where he goes, you have to wonder if Odom was just playing for a contract and will level off this year.  He is seriously concerned about money.  But if he leaves the Lakers, I don't think they have enough to repeat.  Their starting lineup will be Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol and probably Andrew Bynum.  They don't have great depth.  Walton is a streaky role player, Vujacic had an off year, Shannon Brownis good, but compared to the upstart Nuggets, the revamped Mavericks (who recently signed Drew Gooden to go along with Shawn Marion) the Blazers and the now stacked Spurs, who signed veteran role player Theo Ratliff, the Lakers won't have the depth or overall talent to compete in my estimation.  Even with Odom, I think they will struggle to keep up with the Spurs, who now have a lot of talent and to me are the favorites in the west again.

Jamario Moon has recently been added to the Cavaliers roster.  I don't think that will help the Cavaliers roster.  If you look at the Cavaliers roster, the team consist of a number of quick jumpshooters that feed off of Lebron James.  Moon is a beter defender then the team's swingmen, but the roster lacks the overall talent to seriously compete with the Celtics.  And some people are screaming for Shaquille O'Neal, who had guaranteed a championship, but let's face facts:  O' Neal is old.  He is maybe half of his once dominant offensive form.  The team as presently consisted couldn't stop the Magic with the best record in the NBA.  They were better than the Magic last year and I believe could have beaten the Lakers, but they played around and they lost when they were clearly the favorites.

Meanwhile, the team that scares me the most is the San Antonio Spurs.  If healthy, they have what might be the best coach in the league right now, leading three all-star players who know how to play together.  They have added Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess to go alongside a solid bench led by Roger Mason.  They had a great draft as well. The Spurs are stacked and, to me, will present the biggest threat to the Celtics getting another title.

Rumors are speading over the internet that the Celtics are going to pickup T.J. Ford, Indiana's point guard.  If true, this gives us a very strong squad with a lot of depth.  He does have some playoff experience and is a good passer.  If Ford comes to us, we migth have the deepest roster in the NBA.

Meanwhile, Jamario Moon, a versatile defensive swingman, is now with the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Moon is a solid player, but he doesn't bring all that much to the Cavaliers they don't already have.  Cleveland's offense is Lebron James either scoring or passing it to a 3-point shooter.  Moon is not a high-scorer and they already have solid defensive players.  I don't feel like rolling out all of Cleveland's roster, but so far, I don't think the Shaq trade will work in their favor, he isn't what he used to be at all.  Meanwhile, the thought of Lebron leaving Cleveland kept Ron Artest from signing and possibly Trevor Ariza, but Moon might be better overall.

The last big NBA questionmark is Lamar Odom.  He is now talking to the Lakers again, but where will he sign? I believe he is going to Miami, but I don't think Odom knows at this point nor does he have a clue.

Rumors are not circulating all over the internet that Stephon Marbury will return to the Celtics given some time and being offered a deal.  Marbury wasn't getting many other offers and wants to compete for a championship at this stage in his career.

If Starbury returns, we will have met all our needs Doc Rivers stated we needed:  A big man, a backup for Pierce and a backup point guard.  We will have a pretty darn good team.

The biggest news is that Steve Nash has signed a contract that will keep him in Phoenix through 2011.  Nothing unexpected here, now the key is can the Suns make a playoff run?  Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson are his running partners there, will that be enough?  My bet is no.

San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich has said if his team doesn't win this year, he needs to be fired.  He said this even after the Celtics acquired Marquis Daniels, a man he is very familiar with, when he was with the Dallas Mavericks.

Meanwhile, the Spurs chief competition in the west as of now, the Los Angeles Lakers are standing to lose Lamar Odom, the versatile forward with whom they have cut off negotiations.  After losing Trevor Ariza, I don't think Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are enough to stop some of the top teams in the league.  But the Odom saga will continue....

When Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge traded for Antoine Walker, giving up next to nothing, a friend said the move was Auerbachian.

Since Ainge has taken over the Celtics, he has made intelligent moves to give us the championship long overdue.

When he took over the team, the Celtics were led by a legitimate superstar in Paul Pierce and a lacksadasical shooter in Antoine Walker.  Role players like Waltr McCarty and Tony Battie rounded up a second-rate contender in the Boston Celtics, who were swept in the second by Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets.

We were nowhere near ready to contend.  After Walker's horrific performance in the playoff, he was a liability.  We had a team of a superstar, an overrated scorer and aging role players, we needed a change.

It got a lot worse before it got better.

We got rid of players like Antoine Walker and Eric Williams and we got back decent but flawed players like Raef LaFrentz, Chucky Atkins and the wildly inconsistent Ricky Davis.  Meanwhile, we got young projects like Ryan Gomes, Tony Allen and the now all-star calibur player Al Jefferson.

In his first two years, we made the playoffs and were defeated in the first round.  The next two years, we were lottery bound.  Then, all of the baggage, in the form of players like Mark Blount, Ricky Davis, Sebastian Telfair and others were traded away for hall-of-famers Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.  the rest is history.

This last season, when we didn't win a championship, due to injuries, and this ensuing offseason has shown even more diligence and brilliance.  We let Posey go, knowing he would ask for a lot more and he wasn't getting any younger.  We didn't make too any panic moves and exxentially preserved what we had and we still may have won if not for Garnett and Leon Powe being injured.

This offseason, we needed to address some big concers:  lack of height up front and backup swingman.  Ainge heavily pursued Rasheed Wallace and got him.  Then we got Marquis Daniels, a career started and solid player, who is coming off the bench!!!!!

I am not saying that Ainge is the next Red Auerbach, he's got about 15 more to get before he can, but for now, I think it is safe to say his moves are Auerbachian.

Marquis Daniels, a reliable swingman for over five years now, has committed to signing with the Boston Celtics.  Terms are still being discussed, it will involve either a sign-and-trade with the Pacers, which involves the Celtics possibly trading Brian Scalabrine, or a straight signing.

I've watch Daniels for sometime.  he was a part od the ill-fated Dallas Mavericks team who lost to the Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals.  Offensively, he is excellent at creating for himself and can run, giving point guard Rajon Rondo another option to keep racking up the assists.  Last year, he averaged 13 points a game.

He's a gritty player.  Daniels has played the point, but I doubt he will play it all that much.  He is there as a backup to Pierce and Allen.

Daniels was a favorite of Don Nelson in Dallas' small ball game.  He was traded to the Pacers in exchange for Austin Croshere, for salary cap purposes.

For our purposes, he only has one downside:  He is not a dominant defender.  James Posey, as the team's backup swingman for our championship year, played hard defense against Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.  Daniels, I highly doubt, will be as good defensively.

But on offense, he will give us a proven scorer and give us a little more youth.

The Glen Davis situation looks like it's going to be resolved and he will remain a Celtic.  So aside from what might be the best starting five in the league, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Kendrick Perkins, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, we have three excellent bench players.  Rasheed Wallace is a world champion and excellent defender.  Marquis Daniels and Glen Davis are proven scorers and playoff performers.

Danny Ainge has made yet another brilliant move.

I have thought this for along time. What is his obsession with Tayshaun Prince?  Prince is a solid player, but would you take him over Carmelo Anthony?  That's the reason he drafted Darko Milicic instead of Anthony was due to his faith in Prince.  So Prince could have been Carmelo Anthony's BACKUP!!!!  Now, Dumars won't trace Prince for Carlos Boozer!!!!!  I mean seriously, Carmelo Anthong could be playing with Carlos Boozer right now but Dumars is well on his way to the dismantling of his team.

Onto Celtics news: