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Moon signs Cavs offer sheet

The Cavs continue to make some interesting moves.  The latest is signing Jamario Moon to an offer sheet.

Although the full details of the offer sheet are unlikely to be known until Monday, when the contract is submitted to the league office, sources told ESPN.com that the deal Moon signed Friday spans at least two years.

The Miami Heat will have seven days to match the offer once it's formally processed, but Cleveland would appear to have a good chance of landing Moon given Miami's well-chronicled desire to avoid new contracts longer than one year to protect its 2010 salary-cap space.

They traded for Shaq.  Brought in Anthony Parker.  And now, potentially, they've added Moon.  Nice complementary pieces for LeBron... and guys that Cleveland hopes won't choke when it comes time to make some big shots in the playoffs.

Jamario Moon wants in

At least he does if you believe the New Jersey Star Ledger (emphasis mine).

In fact, among the desirable frontcourt free agents remaining -- Lamar Odom, Marvin Williams, David Lee, Jamario Moon, Marquis Daniels, Linas Kleiza -- they're not in play for any of them, we're told, because they don't want to add payroll, and they don't see anyone who is cost-effective.

We already know what's going to happen with a few of these guys. Marvin's a likely one-year qualifier. Lee has an inflated sense of his value and will also go one year and turn unrestricted. Moon, we hear, wants to be in Boston. Odom is going to have to settle for Shawn Marion/Paul Millsap money. Daniels is probably a better guy and a better player than the Nets think, but he's not someone in which they'd invest starter's money. Kleiza also thinks the market is softer than it really is, but he's probably the best candidate out of this group.

Gotta give credit where credit is due... WEEI's Jess Camerato brought Moon up first when she joined us on The Two Man Game earlier this month.  I think as far as minimum-wage options at the wing go, Moon is a good choice. 

(Via CelticsBlog)

Report: Celtics Eyeing Jamario Moon

Buried inside Mark Murphy's article on Grant Hill was this tidbit about Jamario Moon:

There still are free agents who interest them - notably restricted free agent Jamario Moon, a younger player in the Hill mold. But the Celtics can’t afford Moon unless his price significantly drops.

Their best shot at anyone with a straight-up offer is the biannual exception.

A league source said yesterday the Celtics have investigated sign-and-trade possibilities with other teams - a scenario that could theoretically work in a move for Moon, who finished last season with Miami. The Celts also have expiring contracts of varying sizes to offer.

Make it happen Danny. We'd love to see Moon flying off the Celtics bench.

For those unfamiliar with this game, here's a scouting report:

An outstanding leaper who was invited to the dunk contest, Moon is dangerous in transition and on alley-oop plays in the half court. He's also a decent midrange shooter (41.1 percent on long 2s last year) and foul shooter, so opponents have to play him for that.

They can close out hard, though, because Moon is a weak ball handler who rarely drives off the dribble. This did help keep his turnover rate quite low, however. Also, Moon fell in love with the J at times and would launch ill-advised tries early in the shot clock.

Defensively, Moon is still figuring out what he's doing but is a strong one-on-one defender. Because of his length he's great at stealing entry passes thrown by his own man, and he can play power forward in smallball arrangements (though, at 205 pounds, not in traditional lineups).

Jamario Moon?

WEEI's Jessica Camerato brought up an interesting name in last night's call in show when we asked her about potential free agent signings: Jamario Moon.

Here's why it makes sense:  He's cheap (he made $700k last year), he fills a need (at 6' 8" he can back up Paul Pierce) and he's versatile (could play the 2 or 3 if the C's wanted to go big). 

No, he's not going to set the world on fire, but he can play well in stretches.  And on the right team with the focus on other people, he can probably improve on his 7.8 ppg/5.4 rpg averages over his 2 year NBA career. 

Bottom line, the Celtics could double his salary comfortably and still have a huge chunk of their mid-level to play with. 

I'd like to thank everyone who called in to the show last night.  We had a great time talking to all of you and we think it was a great show.  Thanks especially to Jess Camerato who was awesome.  We know the stream cut off right at the 1-hour mark, but we still kept recording and the rest of it is available on our show page.  You can download the whole show, or just play the end right on the page.  Next time, we'll give you a little warning that the live stream will end.  It seemed a bit abrupt.

Our next show is coming up in 2 weeks, Wednesday July 8th.  Jeff Clark of CelticsBlog.com will be joining us at 9pm.  I'm looking forward to it.

Also out there:  BlueWorkHorse.com:  Thursday Throwback:  Len Bias Draft Tragedy  |  LOSCY:  I never played little league  |  Pro Basketball News:  A huge list of draft day rumors (surprisingly, none C's)

Raps Get Marion, Dump O'Neal

ESPN reports

The Toronto Raptors have agreed to send Jermaine O'Neal and Jamario Moon to the Miami Heat in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, league sources told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher.

The deal is pending league approval, according to sources, and if approved, would be announced later Friday afternoon.

"Hey Shawn, thanks for winning the game for us last night.  Hope you enjoy oblivion."

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMiFmjWP5jQ]

Disappointing Raps About To Be More Disappointed

It's way too early to write a team off... unless you're Oklahoma City.  But no one can help but expect the NBA to come out and match their... well... expectations.  We wanted to see Philly and Toronto fighting it out at 9-3 or 8-4 right now so we could point to the standings and say "see... we knew this would be a tough division."

But they didn't oblige, so their punishment is getting branded with the early "disappointment" label.  There's no doubt Toronto fans are disappointed with their team's early performance... and they'll be even more disappointed when the Celtics thrash them today.  The Raps won't have Jermaine O'Neal, who was on 5 game double double streak (and they weren't cheap, either) before getting hurt against the Nets.  He's probably going to be replaced by Andrea Bargnani.  That's going to be a mismatch in the Celtics favor, since Bargnani will either be muscled by Perk or mentally destroyed by KG.

The real reason, however, that the Raptors will continue to be disappointing will be their bench.  Jason Kapono is still hitting 3's, but Jamario Moon is coming back down to earth.  No one else is stepping up.  That's going to be a problem against the Celtics.  Get ready for another bench-led blowout.  Does anyone think Sam Mitchell will last until the All Star break if this keeps up?  Me neither... especially now that the head coach firings have begun.

The links today are all about Rondo... with Scott Souza, the Herald and the Globe all checking in with similar pieces on Rajon Rondo's scoring and his recent struggles.  We here at Red's Army would like to welcome everyone to that storyline.

After the jump, the rest of the links, Sam Cassell's "unfurnished basement", Charles Barkley's new T-Mobile ad, and why huge Celtics fan Donnie Wahlberg is dead to me.

Herald:  No need for Celtics to cease control |  Globe:  Brand fairly bland so far |  T&G:  Allen keeps making his points from the line

Here's the new Barkley-DWade T-Mobile ad... featuring Yao Ming (via Awful Announcing)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdPdKKUbD9M]

Sam Cassell is one free-wheelin' dude:

Kevin McHale came over and he was sitting with us and Cassell comes in and he (Cassell) always practiced in sweatpants. And McHale looks at Danny and I and he says, "Watch this." He says, "Sam, you wearing underwear?"

And Sam Cassell says, "Nope."

(insert terrified shudder here)

The Sacramento Kings have added Kevin Martin's agent to the front office.

And finally... Donnie Wahlberg is a Boston guy... and Boston guy's don't pull crap like this.  I don't care that your concert was in New York.  I wholly encourage boos or chants of "traitor" (set to the cadence of "Tray-ter"... kinda like "Darryl.... Darryl") the next time he shows up at a C's game.

Why would I turn on such a huge Celtics fan?  Because of this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN_YxPm4TxA]