The Courtship of Rasheed Wallace

Gary Tanguay has all the details about the Celtics trip to Michigan and their meeting with Rasheed Wallace:

I spoke with Bill Stickland, the agent for Rasheed Wallace moments ago . He told me…

Danny Ainge wanted to show up on Rasheed’s doorstep Wed. Night at midnight…which is when the free agent signing period began. Wallace told Danny that was not necessary so team green flew out Thursday instead.

Danny, Coach Doc Rivers, managing partner Wyc Grousbeck along with KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were in the meeting with Strickland, Rasheed and his wife Fatima. Without question the Celtics increased their chances of obtaining Rasheed by making this trip. The effort put forth by the Celtics impressed Rasheed, Fatima and Strickland.

The fact that Rasheed has never played on a team with the likes of KG, Paul and Ray works in favor of the Celtics.

Fatima and Rasheed will make this decision together. She is very important in this process. Civil activities are very important to her. Ray Allen, because of his work with juvenile diabetes, was able to connect with her on this matter.

The way Doc handled the three egos of the big three has not gone unnoticed by Rasheed. Doc is well respected by players throughout the NBA.

Despite his reputation in Boston Rasheed is an unselfish teammate and would fit great with the big three.

Rasheed would be visiting other clubs today but wanted to spend time with his family. He will travel next week. Other teams in play are Orlando, San Antonio and Dallas. It is not just about the money. The team has to have a realistic chance at a championship. The Lakers were in the hunt until they signed Ron Artest. He did visit Dallas last week but it was not regarding a basketball matter.

He's coming to Boston. He has to....