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09/02/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat may have dominated the offseason headlines, but the Boston Celtics are still the top dogs in the East.
After taking the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the NBA Finals last season, the veteran-laden Celtics could have gone in two different directions. Coach Doc Rivers' contract was up, while veteran sharpshooter Ray Allen was a free agent and All-Star forward Paul Pierce could have opted out of his deal.
Basketball chief Danny Ainge could have pulled the plug and got started on the inevitable rebuilding process, or convinced the band to get back together to take one more stab at capturing the franchise's 18th NBA championship.
Ainge made his decision, booked the Hard Rock and convinced Rivers to return, while re-signing Allen and securing a still formidable but declining Pierce for another four seasons.
With his core four of Allen, Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo back in the fold, Rivers certainly knows he has a contender but his club has already forfeited the make-believe mantle of favorite in the much-improved East. That now belongs to Pat Riley and the Heat, who brought in LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside Dwyane Wade.
To fend off the Heat and solve the Lakers puzzle, the C's needed to sure up a shaky bench. Ainge has brought in veteran big men Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal to hold down the fort in the middle while Kendrick Perkins recovers from tearing the medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee during Game 6 of The Finals.
Meanwhile, his latest move was bringing back troubled veteran guard Delonte West, the 24th overall by the Celtics back in 2004.
The 27-year-old West, who signed a non-guaranteed deal, spent the last two- plus years in Cleveland with James but was limited to 35 games in 2009-10 and 64 games a year earlier while dealing with an array of personal problems that included depression, along with legal issues stemming from an arrest on weapons charges in September of 2009.
After being stopped for a traffic violation while riding a 3-wheeled motorcycle, police found a Beretta pistol, .357 Magnum and a Remington 870 rifle in a guitar case West was carrying.
An underrated swing guard, West originally blamed the indiscretion on his failure to take his prescribed medication for bipolar disorder. He eventually pleaded guilty this past July to traffic and weapons charges, and was sentenced to electronic monitoring, unsupervised probation, and 40 hours of community service as well as psychological counseling.
The NBA piled on, suspending the St. Joseph's product for 10 games.
"I think we're getting Delonte at a good time in his life," Rivers wrote on Twitter. "He knows who he is now."
Rivers also understands bringing West in could go boom or bust. A healthy, well-adjusted West could provide solid minutes behind both Rondo and Allen, giving Boston one of the most impressive three-guard rotations in the league. On the other hand, a brooding, distant West could upset the balance of a delicate locker room.
"Chemistry is a delicate thing. I understand that, and I'm as cautious as anyone with it. I guarantee you, I'll be keeping my eye on it,"' Rivers told AOL FanHouse on Wednesday. "I don't know yet if we can make it work. It is going to be interesting, that's for sure."
<< Penguins F Staal to miss start of training camp
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jordan Staal
will miss the beginning of training camp with a foot injury.
Despite the ailment, Staal is expected to be ready for the regular season.
Staal suffered a lacer
<< CFL Eastern Division: Rivalries are back after break
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Labour Day approaches in Canada and, in the
CFL, that means rivalries take over for the most-anticipated weekend of the
regular season. The Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are set to
complete the
<< QB Gilbert had clear path to take over at Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -Garrett Gilbert has hardly played since high school and in his only meaningful college game, he threw four interceptions as Texas lost the national championship to Alabama.When Gilbert takes the field Saturday to lead No. 5 Texas
<< UTEP gets good news about RB Buckram injury
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -Texas-El Paso running back Donald Buckram has a bruised knee and may be able to play against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Saturday's season-opener for both teams.Buckram was carted off the field during practice Wednesday, a scary sigh
Cane Pace kicks off Triple Crown series >>
Freehold, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pacing's Triple Crown gets started on Labor
Day with the running of the $300,000 Cane Pace at Freehold Raceway. Eight
three-year-old pacers have been entered for the one-mile stakes.
The Triple Crown
Deutsche Bank extends sponsorship through 2012 >>
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deutsche Bank has exercised a two-year option to
remain as the title sponsor of the PGA Tour playoffs event at the TPC Boston
through 2012.
The Deutsche Back Championship debuted in 2003, marking the return o
Beckham targets Sept. 11 clash vs. Crew for return to MLS >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham, who has
been out all season after he tore his left Achilles tendon on March 14 while
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"The doctors' o
Oak Tree to race at Hollywood Park in 2010 >>
Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2010 Oak Tree racing meet will be
conducted at Hollywood Park. The announcement became official on Thursday.
"It's an honor to run the Oak Tree stakes races at Hollywood Park," said
Martin
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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