David Lee: "Isiah, what do you think about yesterday's free agent spend-a-palooza?" Isiah: "Genius. Sheer genius."

So my brother’s birthday is on the worst possible day for an NBA blogger to celebrate his brother’s 21st: The first day of free agency. But it was his 21st, so I had to choose family over blogging (I know, I’ve got to get my priorities straight).

We went to the casino, where I was at once the designated driver for my brother and a couple of our friends and also prepared to lose every cent to my name. I came out on top, though, mostly because I’m the white Phil Ivey. (And partially because I flopped a flush against pocket kings with my 3-4 of hearts.)

But that’s a different story. The real story yesterday was that I kept getting tweets on my phone, telling me about the contracts being shelled out. Drew Gooden for $32 million. Joe Johnson for $119 million. Darko Milicic for $20 million. Rudy Gay for $81 million. Amir Johnson for $34 million.

I kept looking at my phone, cracking up, and then becoming furious that Scal hasn’t yet been offered $25 million over three years. (Don’t worry folks, Scal’s day is coming… On second thought, maybe not.) The players have clearly been drugging NBA GMs and forcing them to offer outrageous, potentially franchise-crippling contracts. How else could you explain second- and third-fiddles getting max contracts? How else could you explain the Bucks wasting $6 million per year for a solid seventh or eighth man? How else could you explain Darko still being in the league, never mind making $5 million a year? The NBA went buck wild yesterday, folks, and some very mediocre players celebrated its zaniness.

While many GMs around the league summonsed their inner Isiah Thomas, Danny Ainge and the Celtics stayed mostly quiet. They called Ray Allen at 12:01, worked on re-signing Paul Pierce, and spoke to a few free agents. They seem entirely content to bring the same crew back, add a few supporting players, and return next season with a revamped bench and revenge on their minds.

Since I missed out on blogging yesterday’s free agent bonanza, here are my thoughts on what went on with the Celtics:

Doc Rivers calls Ray at 12:01

Yes. Absolutely. Was there any other choice? It always seemed like a given that Pierce was going to come back, granted his history with the team and such. But Ray? He doesn’t have the same ties to Boston, and his shooting stroke makes him a perfect wing-man for any star in the league. Doc was smart to call him at 12:01, and — if he’s really intelligent — will hound Ray with phone calls until Ray gets to the point where he re-signs just so he doesn’t have to hear Doc’s voice so often.

Interest in David Lee?

So the Celtics, armed with only the mid-level exception, think they might be able to sign an All-Star? In a league where Drew Gooden fetches $32 million over five years, call me a non-believer. There are two ways the C’s sign Lee: 1) He decides not to get the first giant contract of his career, choosing to win for the first time instead. Or 2) The Knicks agree to a sign-and-trade for Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace’s retiring contract, in which case Lee might STILL be underpaid in a Celtics uniform. In the end, it’s more likely Darko Milicic will be paid $5 million per year through 2014 than it is David Lee will play for the Celtics next year. Wait, somebody’s actually paying Darko that much, for that long? In the NBA, never say never.

J.J. Redick a possibility

I love J.J.’s game. He’s a great shooter, wildly underrated defender, and  better playmaker than anyone would expect. He’d make perfect sense in a Celtics jersey. I just don’t see how the Celtics can afford him. He’s a restricted free agent, and the C’s only have the mid-level to offer. Don’t the Magic have to match a mid-level offer for Redick? Especially if he’d be going to the C’s otherwise? I just don’t see any scenario where the Magic let Redick leave for only the mid-level.

Miller Time

Between Lee, Redick and the Millers, the Celtics sure are targeting a lot of white guys. I like Brad Miller, but I’d prefer not to waste the entire mid-level on a 6’11,” over-the-hill ogre, no matter how good a shooter and passer he is. And Mike? Sources say he might be due for a huge payday, more than the mid-level. Isn’t money worth anything to these overspending fools who call themselves GMs?

Anthony Morrow an option

The Celtics are one of the teams interested in acquiring Morrow’s services. Yes, please. Let’s look at a list we’d want in a backup wing man: Great shooter? Check. Young? Check. Cheap? Check. Top-notch defense? Umm… he’s been playing for Don Nelson, so I can’t even tell if it’s Morrow’s fault that he’s swiss cheese. Weak defense aside, Morrow would be a deadeye shooter off the bench for a team that needs just that. Would I rather have Redick or Morrow? Probably Redick. But Morrow’s younger and less expensive. Not a bad choice, not at all.

Is there anything that happened yesterday that I forgot to mention? Probably. But I was too busy stealing from fishes and check-raising unsuspecting tourists to pay perfect attention to everything that happened in the Celtics world.

Don’t worry, I’m back today, in full force. But I got to experience the life of a blogger yesterday – I made more money in a day off than I do in a full day’s work. I’m not worried about it, though: One of these days, David Kahn is going to come banging on my door with a $15 million deal in hand. No doubt about it.

Lebron: "He's gotta come with me, right?" Ray: "Ew. The enemy." Ref: "Shut up Ray, I know you're considering it."

As expected, Ray Allen is turning into a hot commodity. What team with the possibility of signing Lebron doesn’t want the world’s best shooter to flank the world’s best player?

The Cavs are one of the teams that will reach out to Allen, according to Brian Windhorst, and Lebron James has reportedly already made his own pitch.

#Cavs also expected to contact shooting guards Ray Allen, John Salmons and Mike Miller at some point on July 1.

It seems re-signing Paul Pierce might be quick and painless, but I’ve got the feeling Ray is going to get all kinds of offers before it’s all said and done.

On another note, Mike Miller’s stock is inexplicably rising to unforeseen levels. Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Miller has become a wanted man, and that his initial offers are expected to be worth more than the mid-level exception. To which I say, huh? What team in its right mind values Miller at more than the mid-level exception? Is this a joke? Don’t get me wrong, Miller’s a valuable piece. But why handcuff so much cap space on Mike Miller? If you have enough cap space to spend more than the mid-level exception, aren’t there bigger fish to fry? Aren’t there? If Miller gets more than the mid-level exception, my theory that Isiah Thomas is ghost-GMing for a few teams will be confirmed.

In honor of Mike Miller being one of the C’s probable targets in free agency, here’s a clip of him shooting buckets.

Something tells me it isn’t like that when Tony Allen shoots around.

Miller ain't worth more than the mid-level exception, but I wouldn't mind him in Green.

The Boston Herald tossed Mike Miller and Matt Barnes’ names out there as potential free agents the Celtics might target. Red’s Army also mentioned Barnes as a possible option.

But the Celts could conceivably strike free agent gold here if Mike Miller, a Rivers favorite dating back to their time together in Orlando, has his value knocked down to mid-level range. Miller, the Washington swingman, told a local paper this week that he wants his next team to be a winner. [...]

Once free agency begins, noted irritant and reality TV star Matt Barnes can exercise the option on a $1.6 million contract. The Magic small forward is the kind of player Celtics fans could learn to love.

First of all, does Mike Miller really have to have “his value knocked down to mid-level range???” I mean, what’s the going rate nowadays for a player who missed 28 games last season because of injury, is pretty much one-dimensional, and doesn’t play a lick of defense? I know Miller is a hell of a shooter and you could argue he’s an underrated playmaker, but any team that gives Mike Miller more than the mid-level exception is a team destined for mediocrity.

Either way, I would love Miller or Barnes on the Celtics. One thing the Celtics have lacked since James Posey left is a backup wing who can shoot from deep. Posey always did a great job of spreading the floor, something Tony Allen does about as well as my left butt cheek. We thought Michael Finley could finally be the perimeter threat the Celtics needed, until he remembered later in the season that he was nothing more than a walking corpse. I’d love to see someone with deep range coming off the bench (and who isn’t completely and totally washed up — I’m looking at you, Fin) to spell Ray and Paul. (Keep ‘em both, Danny!)

P.S. – Funny story about Mike Miller. He wore the Lebron shoes to practice one day in Washington and Deshawn Stevenson told him, “We don’t wear these around here.” Then Lebron came to Miller’s back, saying the two were great friends and that Miller actually named his son after Lebron’s best friend, Maverick Carter. Lebron’s final words of support were this: “For an unathletic white guy, these are the best shoes to wear.”

Moral of the story: Any time you’re labeled “an unathletic white guy,” teams should stay away from offering you more than the mid-level exception.

P.P.S. – Another funny story about Mike Miller. He once played for team USA. No punch line necessary.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The rest of the way, Blatche, who was killing the Celtics with 23 points, fell into the trap of talking trash to Garnett rather than playing. Wizards coach Flip Saunders said that was costly. ‘We choked … We got young guys, they don’t know what it’s like to be in a situation. We start talking to Garnett, start talking trash and everything else. Got Garnett and those guys juiced up and we just pissed down our leg the last six minutes. You have a veteran team that knows how to close out games, against a young team that hasn’t been there and instead of just letting a sleeping dog lie we juiced up their energies. We had plays coming off timeouts and we had guys going to the wrong side of the floor, we were so discombobulated.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “But while openly admitting that there are no excuses for their play over the first 42 minutes of Sunday’s game, the Celtics viewed the glass as decidedly half-full after rallying from a 13-point deficit for an 86-83 triumph at TD Garden. ‘You could probably say, in a small way, we did [get away with one], but we fought for it,” said Ray Allen, who scored 18 of his game-high 25 points after the intermission, including a pair of pivotal 3-pointers in the final two minutes. ‘We never gave up or thought it was over. I compare my feeling now opposed to if we lost that game. It definitely makes my food later taste a lot better. We just keep building, keep building. I have been reflecting on the championship year — losing to Washington three times, Charlotte beat us a couple times, and we were just so dejected because of it. But sometimes it’s just matchups, guys get hot. I think [Andray] Blatche and [Al] Thornton got hot tonight. We just have to move forward and continue working on our defense.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics can strike fear in an opponent at the most important moments, a quality Paul Pierce hadn’t seen in a while. ‘A lot of these games, this year, we’ve let go,’ said Pierce, who scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. ‘Tonight, we saw something that I like to see at this point in the season. Especially coming down the stretch. We saw the Celtics that I’m used to seeing.’”

Jimmy Toscano, CelticsBlog – “‘I don’t even know man, that was a bar fight,’ Garnett said with Pierce laughing in agreement. ‘Chairs were thrown, bottles were breaking. You had to get your back to something and just swing. So that’s what that was, all grit.’ Throughout his career, Allen has been one of the best in utilizing screens and picks to get open. This was no different tonight, as Doc drew up the play in the timeout that worked exactly as planned. Ray Allen did a nice job in summing up how it all went down. ‘Sam (Cassell) was over there heckling on the sideline when I walked down and he was trying to talk to me, and you know how Sam is. He looked at me and was like, ‘You’re getting the ball, you’re getting the ball, I know you’re getting the ball!’ So, you know I tried to shrug it off, so when I went to fake to Rondo I just cut out and Mike Miller is riding me and he’s kind of riding me making sure I don’t get the ball and he’s pushing me (the opposite) way so I just kind of lazily cut through to the basket and Perk and Kevin were coming up. And the minute he thought I was going that way I just cut hard and they got him. I was sitting there wide open.’”

Celtics Insider, Boston Herald – “But a great screen is nothing without a great shot. Allen took a pass from Rondo and rose for one of his picture-perfect jumpers. Though he was leaning slightly to the left, his form was solid and the shot was pure, ripping through the net to put the C’s in control. From start-to-finish, it was precisely what Rivers envisioned. ‘It was exactly the play,’ Allen said. ‘The bigs, Kevin and Perk, set a great screen and I came off. I think I even had more time, but that’s the one thing about shooting the ball – I don’t like to sit there and wait on the 3-point line. Once I come off, if the ball comes, I’m up in the air with it.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Finley said he would try to ease his way in. His role with the Spurs diminishing, he asked to be waived, leading Boston to swoop in and sign him. But Finley said he knew he’d have to simply fit in on a team full of veterans and clearly defined roles. ‘Coach was pretty honest with me, which I can respect, that he doesn’t know how he’s going to use me,’ Finley said. ‘I have to respect that. I’m coming to a team that’s already established. They’ve put in X amount of games here, so for me to come in and try to establish a role right away would be crazy for me to even think that. But Coach has put me at ease. Just when my situation comes, go out there and play hard.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘You know, it was good to win a game like this as far as I was concerned,” director Doc Rivers said. “We’ve lost so many of these where we’ve played poorly and lost. It’s nice every once in a while to play poorly and win.’ The Celts were looking at 37,248 thumbs down (based on the sellout crowd of 18,624) when Washington opened the last quarter with a 13-4 run. But after a timeout at 6:10, during which Rivers told his team it pretty much had to pitch a shutout on defense, the C’s arose.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “It certainly was in the fourth quarter, which is when Allen scored six of Boston’s last seven points to extend its winning streak to four in a row – the team’s longest since December. And Allen’s big game came on a night when most of the Celtics struggled. Garnett had eight points, but he was 0-for-7 from the field. His backup, Rasheed Wallace, was marginally better. He (only) missed six of his seven shot attempts. And maybe the most telling statistic about Boston’s troubles, in the first half at least, could be seen in Rajon Rondo having just one assist. But down the stretch, Boston made all the big shots from the field and the line. And defensively, the Celtics limited the Wizards to 38.9 percent shooting in the fourth in addition to getting 10 points off of Washington turnovers.”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Pierce hasn’t been healthy enough to carry the Celtics for long stretches, while Garnett is focusing on defense and rebounding. [Ray] Allen’s resurgence has been the biggest difference with the Celtics since the All-Star break, after which they are 8-3 and nearing Orlando in the Eastern Conference standings. ‘You guys don’t know, but [Allen] deals with a lot of different things with injuries. We all deal with different types of physical stuff,’ Garnett said. ‘He is no different than that. At the same time, he had talks of business, about where he was going to be in his future and stuff. I can just tell that he is a lot healthier. Everything that he is doing is a lot more fluid. He is not thinking a lot, he is just reacting and it’s beautiful basketball.’ Beautiful enough for two more years? The answer is no longer a resounding no. It’s now more like a maybe.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘He never had any balance offensively,’ said coach Doc Rivers. ‘But there was something I liked and Armond (Hill, assistant coach) said it in the game. I said, ‘Boy, Kevin’s struggling a little bit out there.’ And he said, ‘But not on defense. He looks active. He looks great defensively. He’s just out of whack right now offensively. Let’s not worry about that. The fact that he has it on the other end, if we’ve got to take one or the other, we would take that.’ ‘ Wizards coach Flip Saunders also credited Garnett for getting Andray Blatche into a loud discussion that had both buzzing even after the game. ‘Dray had terrible decisions,’ Saunders said. ‘Dray is woofing the whole time to Kevin Garnett. You can’t do those things. It’s a learning process. You don’t take a guy who’s been defensive player of the year three times, probably the best power forward, and all of a sudden get that guy juiced up to play against you. You got no chance.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.