Celtics inquire about Brendan Haywood

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By A. Sherrod Blakely
CSNNE.com

The first day of free agency was a busy one for many teams, including the Boston Celtics.

While re-signing free agents Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are indeed priorities, by no means were those the only players the C's reached out to on the first day of free agency.

It has been widely reported that the C's have targeted Chicago center Brad Miller as a possible replacement for Kendrick Perkins, whose right knee injury suffered in Game Six of the NBA Finals will sideline him until at least December.

But league sources told CSNNE.com Thursday night that the Celtics have also inquired about Dallas center Brendan Haywood.

Prior to being traded to the Mavericks last season, Haywood was having one of his best seasons in the NBA with the Washington Wizards, averaging a near double-double with 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds.

However, Haywood never seemed to develop a steady rhythm following the trade, evident by his numbers dipping to 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds.

Still, Haywood is a big body with experience who has proven himself a solid NBA big man who even with a healthy Kendrick Perkins, would battle for a starting job.

While Perkins is the better defender, Haywood has a better touch around the basket.

The Celtics have a couple different ways they can go about trying to acquire Haywood.

Because he's an unrestricted free agent, they can sign him straight-up.

The C's could look into a possible sign-and-trade by giving the Mavericks Rasheed Wallace, who is expected to retire, in exchange for Haywood.

For Dallas, they could buy Wallace out at a reduced amount from his $6.3 million contract this season, which would give them added financial flexibility.

Meanwhile, the C's would find a frontcourt replacement for Wallace without it really costing them any more than they were planning to pay this season.

Along with Haywood, the Celtics also reached out to a couple of wing players, 6-7 guard/forward Antoine Wright of Toronto as well as 6-7 guard/forward Rasual Butler who averaged a career-high 11.9 points per game last season with the Los Angeles Clippers.

A. Sherrod Blakely can be reached at sblakely@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Sherrod on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sherrodbcsn.