Nice to see former Celtic Lester Hudson making the best out of his opportunity in Washington. Even though Hudson had two turnovers in the game (to go along with 5 points and 1 rebound, in 8 minutes), a game-winning three-pointer’s not a bad way to start the season. Hudson was one of 11 Wizards to see action in the game, which could mean he has an inside track at making the regular season roster. One player who didn’t see action? Adam Morrison. As a wise man once said, some things don’t never change.

In other news out of Wizards camp, Gilbert Arenas wants out of Washington and seems kind of depressed by John Wall’s arrival in town. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Arenas said he had no emotions because “”I lost all feeling a long time ago.” Arenas also “spoke of a new role that, in his view, demands him to ‘hit open shots, teach John [Wall] the ins and outs of the game and then eventually go on and move on and I’m on my way.”

“Right now the city is John’s,” Arenas said. “I’m not here to fight anybody. I’m here to just play alongside him. He’s Batman and I’m Robin. When I came in, Larry [Hughes] moved aside for me to become a star and I’m moving aside so [Wall] can become a star. Let him fly and I’ll just fill in the gaps. When I came to Washington, that’s what Larry did for me and that’s what I’m doing for him.”

Sorry, I’d finish the rest of this story but I can’t stop laughing. Larry Hughes moving aside so somebody can become a star. Ha!

Every once in a while, I link to a few articles from other writers around the internet. You know, I throw some dimes.

Gotta love the Pistol Pete jacket.

1. The Washington Wizards just won themselves an NBA championship: they convinced Adam Morrison to accept a training camp invitation. Unfortunately (wink wink), that means he won’t be anywhere near Newport, Rhode Island when the Celtics begin camp.
2. Rajon Rondo and Jalen Rose, both wearing pajamas, play Connect Four. Interesting.
3. The Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi tears apart Shaquille O’Neal, telling Dwight Howard not to take any advice from Shaq, under any circumstances: “What is Shaq going to teach Dwight — how to bolt for L.A. when your contract is up, how to send the Magic franchise into a decade-long death spiral when you leave, how to not work hard during the offseason and how to fire coaches and feud with teammates?” What Bianchi meant to say was, “What is Shaq going to teach Dwight — how to use his strength wisely, how to learn more than one post move, and how to win championships?”
4. Former Celtic Tiny Archibald now has a whole lot of degrees. Tim Povtak calls him “one of the most educated, most academically driven ex-athletes in America today.”
5. A. Sherrod Blakely previews training camp. One of his predictions: “ If [Luke Harangody] gets an opportunity to play – and that’s a big if when you consider all the guys ahead of him in the pecking order – don’t be shocked if he performs well.”
6. Chris Forsberg examines what the Celtics should expect from Nate Robinson. One observation: “Maybe most importantly, Robinson needs to get back to the rim and convert those close looks. According to HoopData, Robinson averaged 4.1 shots at the rim in 2008-09 (converting 60 percent of those attempts). Last season with Boston? Robinson averaged just 1 shot at the rim per game and converted only 32 percent of those tries, leaving defenses challenging him on the perimeter and rather carefree if he got to the lane.” How much of that difference was Nate’s hesitancy, and how much was his newfound role on the Celtics?
7. A nice, thorough Red Auerbach tribute for his birthday yesterday. But watch out, FLCeltsFan: I will hunt you down and steal that t-shirt you describe.

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.

Lester Hudson, the former Celtic, has received a training camp invite from the Washington Wizards. (Washington Post)

The Wizards have 12 players under contract heading into training camp, and that likely will not change much over the next few weeks. They have extended training camp invites to Lester Hudson and Cartier Martin, but the team has not decided whether it will enter the year with 13, 14 or 15 players.

Hudson never made a profound impact on the court when he was in Boston, but he’s somebody to root for. He was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and has overcome setbacks at almost every level.

Read more »

The minimum? I doubt it.

Josh Howard is among the free agents the Celtics are interested in, according to Danny Ainge, but it seems almost impossible to acquire Howard. The Celtics come armed with only the vet’s minimum ($1.146 million) or some sort of creative trade likely involving Rasheed Wallace’s contract… but Howard can’t be traded until December. (NBA.com)

After using its mid-level exception on free agent Jermaine O’Neal, and not being able to use its biannual exception after using it on Marquis Daniels last season, the Celtics would only be able to offer Howard the veteran’s minimum of $1.146 million for next season.

Boston would like to use the contract of Rasheed Wallace, who has told the Celtics he will retire, to get a trade exception. If Boston sends Wallace’s contract to another team — which could remove the salary from its cap as long as Wallace stays retired — for a draft pick, the Celtics could get a trade exception for as much as the $6.3 million Wallace was due to receive.

The problem for Boston is that even if it could get that exception, the Wizards can’t execute a trade involving Howard until December under collective bargaining rules.

So how else could the C’s get Howard? Beg him to come for the min and pay him all-you-can-smoke under the table? I just don’t see a deal happening. I didn’t realize he couldn’t be traded for that long.

The only way John Wall doesn’t make dozens of All-Star games is if he suffers a career-threatening injury. And oh yeah by the way, this time last year Avery Bradley was rated ahead of Wall in recruiting rankings.

I’m desperately trying to talk myself into Bradley, I really am, but Bradley being rated ahead of Wall in high school doesn’t really help. Why not? Because right now Bradley is on an operating table somewhere while Wall is busy writing his 2029 Hall of Fame Induction speech. Well, either that or interviewing bodyguards to protect himself from Gilbert Arenas. Either way, I don’t expect any instant dividends from Bradley. As much as I try to sell myself on his potential and athleticism, there are reasons why Bradley’s production at Texas was flimsier than Shaun Livingston’s biceps.

D-Rose, Lebron and Dwyane Wade, all together? It's not out of the realm of possibility.

The Chicago Bulls have agreed to trade away Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick in tonight’s draft, according to ESPN.

The Chicago Bulls have a deal in place that would move Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick to the Washington Wizards, freeing up enough cap space to pursue two maximum-salary players on this summer’s free-agent market, sources with knowledge of the Bulls’ plans said Thursday.

It wasn’t immediately clear what Washington would send to Chicago in the trade.

The deal can’t be officially consummated until July 8, when the Wizards will have room under the salary cap to absorb Hinrich’s $9 million contract without having to send back anything of similar value.

Since it’s a good-faith deal for the time being, there remains a chance it could fall apart. But according to one source, the Sacramento Kings are prepared to make a similar deal with the Bulls in the Wizards’ stead if that were to happen.

Count me as officially afraid of the Bulls for next season. Take Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Free Agent X, Free Agent Y and whatever the Bulls get from Washington, sprinkle Tom Thibodeau’s defense on top of it and you’ve got yourselves a title contender. It’s that easy.

There are also rumors of Chicago sending Deng to Orlando for Pietrus and Gortat, which doesn’t seem to make sense for Chicago unless they’re pretty sure they can sign a certain free agent small forward. And, for what it’s worth, Jalen Rose reported via Twitter that Lebron ain’t going back to Cleveland. Just keep in mind, 24 watchers, I’d rather trust David Palmer’s wife Sherry than Jalen Rose’s word about a rumor.

UPDATE: This deal doesn’t quite clear space for two free agents. But the Bulls aren’t done dealing, according to John Hollinger. Look for them to have cap space for two max guys when all is said and done.