Sheed vicino al ritiro? Futuro incerto anche per Ray e Paul
Chris Forsberg: Ray Allen noncommital on future but says, "obviously, there's nowhere I'd rather be." Twitter.com
"I'll deal with that when the time comes, but it's obvious that I don't want to be anywhere else," said Allen, who labored through 3-of-14 shooting, while scoring 13 points in 45 minutes of action. Asked later if Boston could replicate its postseason success next year with the same aging core, Allen said, "I don't see why not." ESPN.com
Rasheed Wallace had 11 points and 8 rebounds starting in place of Kendrick Perkins in Game 7, fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Celtics coach Doc Rivers revealed that Wallace may be considering retirement after playing through assorted injuries this season. "I don't know if Rasheed will ever play again," said Rivers. "I think he is thinking about retiring, and I thought you could see that in his play. He was dying out there. When he got the cramps and the strains, he was just trying to figure out a way of staying on the floor. "We had to keep subbing him for one minute and two minutes, and I thought the reason we got up early was because of Rasheed Wallace. We got it low in the post, he started scoring, and I thought what happened was late in the game he got tired and had the injuries and we couldn't go down anymore, and I think that had a huge impact on how we were playing. We had to go away from the post almost because of fatigue. You know, it's the first time all year that you can actually say at the end of the day we were old at the end of the game because we didn't have a enough bodies. I thought it hurt us." Boston Globe
Rasheed Wallace may have played his last NBA game, Doc Rivers speculated following the Celtics Game 7 loss to the Lakers in the finals. “You know, I don’t know if Rasheed will ever play again,” Rivers said. “You know, he’s one of them. I think he took that out on the floor with him. I think he is thinking about retiring, and I thought you could see that in his play. He was dying out there. When he got the cramps and the strains, he was just trying to figure out a way of staying on the floor.” WEEI.com
Doc Rivers said he thought Wallace is thinking about retiring, and Sheed’s actions after the game support that. Wallace went by the officials’ dressing room and tried to get a work with ref Danny Crawford. Wallace, who fouled out, said he was trying to give Crawford a compliment. Boston Herald
A. Sherrod Blakely: NBA source tells me Sheed tried 2 speak w refs after the game 2 tell them he was "probably" going 2 retire. May have a Brett Favre situation. Twitter.com
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Wallace stuck his head into the locker room and appeared to say, "Danny, I just want to talk," possibly to referee Danny Crawford, but quickly got removed from the room. Wallace, wearing sunglasses and carrying his gear, waited about five minutes outside the official's locker room guarded by arena security before departing for the team bus without talking to the officials or media nearby. The veteran forward, who is the NBA all-time leader in technical fouls, did not appear confrontational. While waiting he muttered again about simply wanting to talk and that it was nothing bad. But security would have no part of it, likely fearing he was angry about the way Game 7 played out. ESPN.com
Wallace signed a three-year, $19 million contract last offseason. He stands to make $6.3 million if he returns next season and $6.8 million in 2011-12. Asked about Wallace's future, Kevin Garnett didn't sound optimistic about his return. "Not a good one ... I see a lot of myself in him and we have a lot of the same ties and a lot of the same characteristics. Both the class of '95 ... so for him to come in and give his thanks and his regards after a loss like this ... it was a difficult night." ESPN.com
There could be another member of the Big Three on the market, too. Pierce has a player option for $21.5 million next season. But with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire next summer and a new one expected to significantly reduce player salaries, several prominent players (including Dirk Nowitzki and Amar'e Stoudemire) are planning to opt out of lucrative contracts in order to sign new deals under the existing agreement. Pierce, 32, could leave the $21.5 million on the table with the expectation that he could score a $50-$60 million contract in the offseason. SI.com
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