Rudy Fernandez’s agent said he thinks that his client would prefer to return to Europe rather than continuing to play in the NBA. (HoopsHype)

“The impression I’m getting more and more is that he’s lost interest in playing in the NBA, quite frankly,” Miller said. “It’s my impression that Rudy would prefer to be in Europe rather than the NBA at this point.”

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(Broken wings, get it? Get it??? By the way, I’ve been using a lot of Tupac lately.)

Paul Pierce is like the rest of us. He thinks the Celtics need one more piece and, specifically, a wing. (Boston Globe)

“I think we’re right there at top,” he said. “I think we’re one of the top four or five teams in all of basketball. I still like we need another piece. I think we could use another wingman off the bench after losing Tony Allen. I think he was real valuable what he brought in the playoffs so for the most part of I love our team. I think we’re better now that we were in June. But also I still think we need another piece if we’re going to win it all and not just get there.”

Sorry guys, but Pierce is absolutely right: Von Wafer as the only backup two just isn’t going to cut it. The Celtics still need someone else, even if it’s just as insurance in case Wafer decides to be a pain in Doc Rivers’s ass. Pause. If Wafer falters and/or Marquis Daniels either disappears like last season or gets injured (like he does every year), the C’s are absolutely going to need another reliable wing off the bench.

Just to let you know, Rudy Fernandez is still out there. I’m just saying.

I wrote earlier about Rudy Fernandez being, in his own words, “pretty fucked up psychologically” during last season. Not good. But there’s another side to Rudy Fernandez. The side that dunked on Dwight Howard, drilled more threes as a rookie than any other player in NBA history and oozes talent (even if that talent comes in a frame that would be blown away by a stiff wind).

Here’s Portland coach Nate McMillan, talking about Fernandez. (CSNNE)

“The thing about it, anybody in the league can use him,” McMillan said. “He’s a good player. He’s a rotational player. For some teams, he’s going to be able to start. For some teams, he’s going to have to come off the bench. If he goes to Boston, he’s probably coming off the bench behind one of those guys, Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. So it just depends on where he goes as far as his role and how he would play. But his talent, there are a lot of teams that can use him and take advantage of what he does. But we’ll see what happens.”

“Anybody in the league can use him.” In case you guys didn’t know, that includes the Celtics. He could help the team, for sure. But with all this “demanding a trade” stuff and his own admission that he was fucked up psychologically, is Rudy worth the risk? I still say yes, even if it costs the Celtics a first-rounder. After all, talent has a way of winning out and Doc Rivers has a way of keeping players from being too disgruntled. Even the head cases.

He still LOOKS happy.

So, um, I guess Delonte West isn’t the only guy with psychological issues who Celtics fans desperately want. Sick.

Rudy Fernandez was so effed up last season in Portland that there were night he didn’t even want to go in the game. Seriously. (Don’t bother with the link. Translation from HoopsHype.)

If I could return to Europe I’d be thrilled. But, at the same time, if I could decide my future and some NBA team could assure me some minutes and the team played a way that fits my game, then I’d like to continue playing in the States. Right now it’s 50-50.

“It’s more like we’re trying to talk with (the Blazers) and make them understand my position. And let’s make clear I understand theirs too. We have to come to an agreement and find a way out as soon as possible. I made a great effort going to the States, making less money that I would in Europe. This season, I decided with my agents that the best thing was to try to get traded so I could be on another team with more playing time.

“Not to the point of being depressed, but I’ve been pretty fucked up psychologically . I didn’t feel comfortable on the court and sometimes I preferred to stay on the bench. I didn’t feel capable of helping the team and that’s very tough to handle for any player.”

I don’t know about you guys, but the second I hear a prospective Celtic utter the words “Not to the point of being depressed, but I’ve been pretty fucked up psychologically” is when I start to think about other options. Right now, Larry Hughes is looking great.

… Just kidding, guys. I haven’t completely lost my mind. Larry Hughes is still looking like, well, like Larry Hughes. And call me crazy, but I’d take the “pretty fucked up psychological mess who prefers staying on the bench to going in the game” over Larry Hughes any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Still, Rudy wouldn’t be swimming in playing time in Boston and you have to wonder whether he’s mentally strong enough to play a bench role. I have this saying about bench players. It goes a little something like this: They have to be confident enough to think they should be playing more minutes but team-oriented enough not to care. It takes a seriously confident dude to thrive in a bench role, knowing his minutes aren’t guaranteed from game to game. It seems like Rudy isn’t that type of guy.

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I don't even care where Rudy ends up anymore. I just want to be able to stop writing about the damn guy. He's not even that good.

Just because the Chicago Bulls signed Keith Bogans doesn’t mean they’re done trying to bring Rudy Fernandez to the squad. It still remains to be seen whether the Knicks’ signing of Roger Mason takes them out of the running. (Quick interlude: Mason and Bogans both took the minimum. Am I wrong, or would either of them have helped in Boston?)

Remember, it has been reported that the Bulls and Trail Blazers are very close on a trade that would send Rudy to Chicago and James Johnson (and perhaps a draft pick) to Portland. Marc Stein refutes that rumor, but says the possibility still exists that Rudy will end up in Chi-Town. (ESPN)

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau hinted at that thinking Friday in a radio interview with ESPN 1000′s “Waddle & Silvy Show” in Chicago before TNT’s David Aldridge broke the Bogans news on NBA.com. When asked about McGrady, Thibodeau confirmed that the Bulls hadn’t ruled him out completely but made it clear that acquiring a proven shooter was their priority.

Hours later, Chicago clinched Bogans’ signature, which doesn’t conclusively fill that void … but also doesn’t affect the salary-cap space needed to acquire Fernandez and might just convey to the Blazers that the Bulls aren’t going to keep waiting around.

In one of its proposals to Portland, sources said, Chicago has offered to absorb Fernandez’s modest $1.25 million salary for next season with cap space in exchange for a future first-round pick.

Sources say Portland, however, has believed that it can do better in a Fernandez deal and is holding out for more, even though New York also balked at the Blazers’ demands this week and elected to sign Roger Mason to a bargain one-year deal at the veteran minimum of $1.4 million.

It’s widely assumed that the Blazers want Taj Gibson back from the Bulls, but sources say Chicago is not about to include Gibson in Fernandez talks. James Johnson is the best young player Chicago has made available.

Even though ESPN refutes the claim that Rudy-to-Chicago is pretty much a done deal… If Portland thinks it can do better than a future first-round pick, the Celtics are unlikely to get him. After all, the only other asset the Celtics would be likely to include would be the contracts of either Tony Gaffney or Oliver Lafayette, both of whom the Bulls would be likely to waive before their fans could say, “Who the hell are Tony Gaffney and Oliver Lafayette?”

For all those still hoping for a Sheed/Gaffney/Lafayette trade for Przybilla/Fernandez, methinks that boat sailed away when the C’s signed Shaq. Even if it was only a pipe dream when we discussed it.

P.S. – According to Steiny Mo, T-Mac has approximately zero suitors. I don’t think I’d mind if he signed with the Celtics fo’ free.But the sad thing is, I might.

Looks like there won't be any "five-foot nothing, a hundred nothing" jokes next year, after all. Damn it.

Well, looks like Rudy Fernandez will be off the market soon. And he won’t be joining The Green Mile in Boston. He’s probably headed to Chicago. (Tommy Dee)

Source says a deal with Rudy Fernandez and the Bulls could be done by monday. James Johnson to portland but blaz want a draft pick as well.

As Red’s Army points out, Fernandez wasn’t ideal for the Celtics anyway. Look for Danny to flip Sheed’s contract into a solid, defensive-minded small forward with size. Who? It beats me. I’ve been on the trade machine trying to find the perfect trade, but I keep migrating back to the whole “God, the thought of Shane Battier in Boston makes me hard” thing. Oh well. That’s what you guys are for. What other small forwards should the Celtics target with Sheed’s contract?