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Ime Udoka is on the Celts radar
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July 20, 2010, 4:29 pm
By A. Sherrod BlakelyCSNNE.com
It's no secret that the Boston Celtics have a gaping hole in their roster for a defensive-minded perimeter defender. And in all likelihood, it'll have to be a player willing to accept a salary for the veteran's minimum.
Sacramento's Ime Udoka may in fact be that player.
Udoka, who will be 33 years old next month, is a player that the C's have had preliminary discussions about acquiring.
However, his agent Mark Bartelstein, made it clear that no deal is imminent.
"There have been some talks, but nothing close to being done," Bartelstein told CSNNE.com.
Udoka, a five-year veteran, appeared in 69 games with two starts last season for the Kings.
Udoka's emergence as an NBA player was the stuff you find conjured up out of some Hollywood studio.
Born in Nigeria, Udoka spent his formative years growing up in Portland, Ore. He attended Portland State University, but went undrafted when he graduated in 2002.
He spent the next four years bouncing between brief NBA stints (12 games with the Los Angeles Lakers and New York), D-League teams and Europe before finally getting a chance to play for his hometown team, the Portland Trail Blazers.
Udoka was the last player invited to Portland's camp in 2006, and the only reason he got that invite was because another player, Aaron Miles, failed a physical.
At 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, Udoka wowed the Blazers with his play defensively and eventually landed a coveted roster spot that he then translated into a starting job.
After starting 75 games for the Blazers, Udoka spent the next two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs.
He re-signed with the Blazers prior to the 2009-2010 season, but was waived before the season started.
About a month later, he signed with Sacramento.
While Udoka would address the team's need to add a defender on the perimeter, the Celtics have a few more players still available that they have rated ahead of Udoka.
Matt Barnes, Larry Hughes, Antoine Wright and Rasual Butler are all players that Boston has had interest in for most of the free agency period, although Barnes is expected to sign with either Toronto or Cleveland while the others are probably in line to make more than what the C's are in position to offer.
With the addition of Jermaine O'Neal, Boston now has five big men under contract - Kevin Garnett, Glen Davis, Kendrick Perkins, O'Neal and rookie Simih Erden.
They may look to add one more big body to the mix.
While they still remain a longshot, Kwame Brown's agent said the C's aren't totally off the radar just yet.
"With Danny and Doc, there's obviously some interest there with Kwame," Bartelstein said. "We hope to get something done soon with Kwame, but we're talking with a lot of different teams right now. We could get something done today, it could take several weeks. You just never really know with free agency. But no, I wouldn't say the Celtics are totally out of the picture."
A. Sherrod Blakely can be reached at sblakely@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Sherrod on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sherrodbcsn
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