A Yahoo! report from yesterday indicated that the Boston Celtics are on Josh Smith’s short list of preferred trade destinations. But the Celtics and Hawks have reportedly not discussed any potential deal, nor do the two teams plan to in the near future. (CSNNE)

A league source told CSNNE.com on Monday night that the Celtics have had “no discussions whatsoever” with the Atlanta Hawks about acquiring Smith. The same source added there were no plans to open up such dialogue any time in the near future.

“You can never say never,” the source said, “but there’s nothing going on there.”

Though the trade seems unlikely at best, A. Sherrod Blakely mentions Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen as potential trade bait. The Yahoo! report mentioned that the Hawks would look for veteran players near the end of their contracts and that Hawks GM Rick Sund covets both Garnett and Allen. Even so, trading either player would constitute a very bold move from Danny Ainge (who, of course, does not fear making bold moves).

Smith has not requested a trade yet, but the Hawks could look to cut payroll. Smith would presumably attract more suitors than Joe Johnson (and Joe Johnson’s outrageous contract) on the trading block.

(Editor’s note: Please excuse my absence this weekend. I visited Washington, D.C. to soak in the U.S. Open. This post was inspired by the golf, but it relates to basketball and, really, all sports.)

One day, we might recall Rory McIlroy’s 16-under performance at the U.S. Open like Michael Jordan’s 63 points, the day when a superstar began to sprout wings, the day when God disguised himself as a 22-year old Irishman with a flawless golf swing.

I was there at Congressional Country Club, watching my first golf tournament in person, but I only saw McIlroy make seven shots. I missed his near hole-in-one on the tenth hole. I missed his birdie putt on number one. I missed almost all of his wedges that scraped the clouds and almost all of his drives that would not, could not, find the rough. When I finally watched McIlroy play an entire hole, the first one I saw him play all day, he made his worst putt of the weekend and three-putted the 17th green. Read more »

If Glen Davis returns to the Boston Celtics next season, I will:

• pledge my support to the New York Yankees now and forever
• go for a 20-mile run on gravel, barefoot
• eat green beans and only green beans from this day forward, and…
• call the police to turn myself in for a crime I did not commit.

Davis’s ignorant comments yesterday (combined with his dismal final three months of the season) bought The Ticket Stub a one-way ticket out of Boston. To recap Davis’s remarks, he said (in different words) that A) the Celtics hindered his play last season, B) he doesn’t really stay in touch with Doc Rivers or Danny Ainge, C) Doc talks a lot, but Davis tries not to pay attention, and D) Glen wants to be Glen, and Glen wants to go somewhere Glen Davis can be Glen Davis. He used the third person approximately one zillion times, made himself look like an ass repeatedly, and did not once act as if he wanted to stay in Boston. Read more »

The Atlanta Hawks have begun testing what they could acquire for Josh Smith on the trade market, and the pogo-stick forward reportedly would not mind a change of scenery. One of the teams on his short list of preferred trade destinations? The Boston Celtics. (Yahoo! Sports)

The Atlanta Hawks have started to gauge trade interest on forward Josh Smith, and Smith isn’t averse to ending his seven-year stay with his hometown team, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Monday.

Smith hasn’t requested a trade, but has privately told league friends that the Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic are his preferred destinations should the Hawks decide to move him.

“The relationship has run its course,” said a league source with knowledge of the dynamic. …

The Hawks have looked to identify veteran players near the end of their contracts, sources said, but have had no serious discussions on trading Smith.

“They’re looking for a change,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “They would die to be rid of Joe Johnson’s contract or move Smith, but they won’t give [Smith] away. They want something in return.” Read more »

I jumped onto the Bruins bandwagon at some point during the Lightning series, partially because it felt harmless to root for a team while having no real emotional investment, but mostly because, well, what the hell else was I going to do?

The NBA playoffs still held my interest, and I watched those ritually, but I couldn’t root for any other basketball team once the Celtics went down. The Bruins represented my last chance to cheer for a winner this summer, and I figured joining the bandwagon was entirely benign—either the Bruins would win the Stanley Cup and I would enjoy the spectacle with the other semi-fans and diehards, or they would lose and I would feel slight disappointment then completely move on with my life 15 minutes later. A win-win situation, or so I thought. I did not figure hockey would lash at me with its talons and leave my scar tissue torn apart and dripping with blood.

The run the Bruins completed so magnificently last night was the run the Celtics came so close to completing so magnificently last season. The comparisons probably didn’t slap many people in the face last night, but the two playoff runs were eerily similar:

• Team enters playoffs far from the favorite.
• Team grits its way through early hardship (Bruins went down 0-2 to Montreal, Celtics lost Game 3 to Cleveland—in Boston—by 29 points).
• Young, tough, unorthodox players shine (Rondo, Marchand), but veterans provide the backbone (Big Three for the Celtics, Chara, Thomas, Recchi for the Bruins).
• Team enters the championship series as an underdog, and in the championship series meets a team known more for style than for physicality (Celtics-Lakers, Bruins-Canucks).
• The series drags on to a 7th game, with the easiest narrative becoming the Boston team’s passion and heart vs. the opponent’s overwhelming talent.

If I wanted to, I could even note the voo-doo tricks used by the respective Boston teams. During Boston’s final regular season game against the Lakers, Doc Rivers asked for $100 from each of his players, assistant coaches and team managers, hiding their money in the Staples Center; the players would receive the money only if they returned to the Finals (and only if the Lakers joined them there). Last night, Nathan Horton took a water bottle filled with Boston water and spread it on Vancouver’s ice; he felt the Bruins could use some of their home ice at the away rink.

Do you see yet? The Celtics were supposed to win Game 7 last year. They led by 13 points and could have, should have, held on. The Celtics were supposed to receive the Larry O’Brien trophy at the Staples Center. Kevin Garnett was supposed to hold it over his head while the Lakers fans, or at least those who stayed, booed him with the most beautiful boos in the world. Bill Russell was supposed to present the NBA Finals MVP trophy to a Celtic, not to Kobe Bryant. Kendrick Perkins was supposed to emerge from the bench after the game like Horton did, unable to play in the clincher but a champion nonetheless. The city of Los Angeles was supposed to set itself ablaze with angry riots, and the city of Boston was supposed to rejoice with the sweet crunch of victory.

Instead, the lead fell apart. The Lakers overcame the deficit and tears, rather than champagne, dominated Boston’s post-game locker room. Los Angeles partied happily (and rioted happily), while Boston breathed sharply, mourned immediately, and wondered what the hell just happened to its Celtics. The Celtics were supposed to drink from the Larry O’Brien Trophy as the Bruins can now drink from the Stanley Cup.

When I nonchalantly joined the Bruins bandwagon, I never thought watching hockey–and especially watching winning hockey—would hurt so bad. Yet last night took me for a ride down memory lane, to places in my past I never want to visit again.

Congratulations, Bruins. But damn you.

If I had to pick one website to erase from existence forever, I would choose TMZ. Its primary goal is to make money by preying on celebrities, leeching on the public’s desire for gossip and rumors. TMZ serves no real purpose other than to ruin celebrities’ privacy and occasionally pimp Charlie Sheen. But yesterday it hit a new low.

Under the headline, “Shaq In Middle of Kidnapping, Robbery, Sex Tape Case,” TMZ shared a crime in which Shaq apparently has minimal (if any) involvement. He was interviewed by police, who did not list him as a suspect and apparently determined he had no involvement in the crime. The most damning piece of evidence against Shaq was  the testimony of some sex tape-making, gangster-sounding dude who claimed to have a business relationship with Shaq and an affair with Shaq’s ex-wife. In other words, the police found that Shaq had no involvement in the crime.

Until the police find otherwise, TMZ should change its headline and story lead. Because everything about that scheisty story on that scheisty website is misleading.