Details of the Boston Celtics sign-and-trade for Courtney Lee have emerged, and, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald, the Celtics will part with E’Twaun Moore and Sean Williams, in addition to JaJuan Johnson.

Celtics will send E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson, Sean Williams and 2nd rd pick in Courtney Lee trade. Those 3 won't play today.

July 19, 2012 5:24 pm via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite

@SteveBHoop

Steve Bulpett

According to ShamSports, Johnson’s contract (just over $1 million) combined with the non-guaranteed deals of Moore ($762,195) and Williams ($915,852) will free up roughly $2.75 million in cap space for the first year of Lee’s deal. The details of Lee’s contract have not been made public yet, but John Hollinger of ESPN has an estimate of what the deal may look like:

Lee's deal would pay a max of $4.25M in first year and $18.15M overall if its for four years.

July 19, 2012 5:44 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@johnhollinger

John Hollinger

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe:

“Up and down, he’s getting beat up,’’ Rivers said when asked about Johnson’s progress in practice. “He’s excited when he actually gets the [scrimmage] refs to come on the floor, I’ll tell you that. But he did a couple of good things today. He’s starting to learn who he is. He knows he’s a jump shooter and he’s starting to become comfortable enough to take that shot.’’

“Today was the first day when he picked-and-popped, he caught it and shot it,’’ Rivers said. “The other two days he tried to make another play and got bumped off the spot, so I think he’s starting to simplify his game.’’

When asked if he expected Johnson to generate an interior game, Rivers said, “Nah. I mean, he’ll dunk because he’s athletic as heck, so we’re going to run stuff to get him rolling to the basket and throw it up in the air and he’ll go get it. But as far as post presence? Not really, but that’s fine. We don’t need that. We’ll try to get that somewhere else.’’ Read more »

Any time an interview includes the question, “Hypothetically, it doesn’t matter if you’re married, single, babies, none, it’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals, your wife goes into early labor with her first-born, where do you go — the game or the hospital?”, the opportunity for greatness exists.

When that interview also includes the Celtics’ first-round pick saying all the right things about his offseason habits, that interview is gold, pure gold.

JaJuan Johnson answered some odd questions in a recent interview with Zuri Hall of BallersBlock.net, but his head’s in the right place regarding preparation for the upcoming (I think hope) season.

ZH: Now, have you entertained the idea of going overseas? What are your thoughts on guys who are thinking about that?
JJ: I think it’s just on that person. Me, personally, I really want to work out on my body and just get bigger and stronger. So, my focus is just in the weight room and on my game, but I can see why obviously people want to play overseas — for financial reasons or whatever it can be — but that’s just my focus.

Keep in mind, Jermaine O’Neal is currently Boston’s only center. Also keep in mind, O’Neal misses more games than a Chinese phone book. Wrong joke, I know, but you get the idea. Barring the acquisition of at least one solid free agent big man (and preferably more), the Celtics will need Johnson to develop into a rotation player.

The formula for that to happen follows:

Adoption of Glen Davis’ eating habits + hitting the weight room quite frequently + reminding Doc Rivers of Semih Erden = decent minutes during rookie season

With all these mathematics, I’m a little bit like Good Will Hunting. Forgive me for ending this post, but I’m going to see about a girl.

If you’re looking for the full interview transcript, including Johnson’s answer to the greatest question in the history of western civilization, travel to WEEI.

This video would make me more excited for JaJuan Johnson’s pro prospects, if I didn’t know two things:

1) exhibition league basketball turns every defender into Gerald Green

and

2) Jeff Green never reminded anyone of Bruce Bowen, even during his finest moments

But still, a couple positives (which we already knew) can be taken from this video. Firstly, JaJuan Johnson is 6 feet, 11 inches tall and shoots from way above his head. He also has a soft touch from outside. That means his shot is both difficult to block and also (fairly) accurate. Plus, Johnson can move. He isn’t some stiff who will come off the bench, waddle down the court, shoot outside jumpers and otherwise look like a statue. He has a 38-inch vertical, people. That’s the same as Hakim Warrick, in case you need a point of reference.

All of which means I’m reasonably excited for the JaJuan Johnson era. Even if seeing him abuse Jeff Green in a summer league exhibition did nothing but rekindle old feelings of disgust toward Green.

(h/t Red’s Army)

(This column was fueled by a piece Adrian Wojnarowski wrote yesterday about Kevin Garnett’s unselfishness during this lockout. It’s a great read, so go read it.)

Let Kevin Garnett be unselfish. Let him rally his colleagues and urge them not to cave into the league’s demands, even though Garnett personally would benefit if the players caved. Let him rally the union in solidarity and lead his peers into a better deal, even if that means missing games. Let him care more about the NBA’s future than his own self-interest. Let him risk $21.2 million so Avery Bradley, JaJuan Johnson and Jimmer Fredette can receive fair contracts a few years from now. Let Garnett do all that, and respect him for it.

But I’m not joining him. I want the lockout to end and I wanted it to end three months ago. Not just for me, for NBA fans everywhere, for the success of my website, for Tuesday nights when I’d rather not watch baseball, for mornings I would prefer not to view a top ten plays filled with hockey saves and only hockey saves, or for the hoards of NBA employees whose jobs have been slashed because millionaires and billionaires won’t settle on a labor deal. I certainly want the lockout to end for all the previous reasons. But I also want the lockout to end for the Boston Celtics.

One last chance. That’s been a repeating chorus for years now, but this year, that chorus makes more sense than ever. The Celtics looked older than ever while losing to the Miami Heat. Garnett and Ray Allen have one year left on their contracts. The Celtics have only three players signed beyond the upcoming season. Danny Ainge will have many more reasons to blow up the Big Three nucleus after this year than he will have to keep the nucleus together for 2012 and beyond.

All of which means we might have just one more year to watch Ray Allen spot up on the perimeter, his legs bent, ready to spring from the floor, his eyes set on the rim, his body squared perfectly toward his target, the flawless cock of his wrist and the follow through covered in gold and the resulting swish. We might have just one more year to watch Rajon Rondo run the pick-and-roll with Garnett, to see Garnett knowingly slip the pick, bee-line for the rim and rise to catch Rondo’s pass, floating down from the rafters so Garnett can secure it and slam it into the hoop. Or to watch Garnett pound his chest and mutter a stream of obscenities directed to nobody and everybody all at once, to watch his eyes that could stare a hole straight through the Great Wall of China, to see his focus and determination and know he wants to win more than many people want anything at all. Or to watch Garnett and Paul Pierce’s joint press conferences, the way they play off each other like they were best friends since childhood. Or to watch Allen interviewed at his locker, always impeccably dressed, always willing to answer questions longer than anyone else, as classy as a top-notch country club. Or to see the C’s in the playoffs, bloody and battered, fighting desperately to outlast a younger, fresher team, and knowing, win or lose, this is a Celtics team to have pride in.

A year from now, the Celtics organization could be almost anywhere. Rebuilding around Rajon Rondo with young players and draft picks. Hoping Jeff Green pans out. Following Dwight Howard to the NBA Finals. Trying to relive the glory days after resigning Garnett and Allen to smaller contracts. The Celtics’ future is cloudier and less predictable than a lightning storm.

Yet Wyc Grousbeck is reportedly one of the hard-line owners willing to risk this entire season. Garnett is clamoring for players to hold out until they get the right deal. Pierce is joining Garnett at the meetings and likely echoing his sentiments. I get why they’re doing it — Grousbeck wants more money, Garnett and Pierce want to ensure the fair treatment of NBA players for years to come.

But if Garnett isn’t going to be selfish, I will. I want this lockout to end. For the Boston Celtics, and yes, of course, for me.

Rajon Rondo and JaJuan Johnson are reportedly among several players working out at the University of Kentucky, where the Oklahoma City Thunder are holding a a Nazr Mohammed-organized training camp of sorts.