Highly coveted free agent Troy Murphy is signing with the Boston Celtics. Yup, you heard read that right.
Murphy let ESPN.com in on the deal via e-mail. Stating he will join the Celtics after spending much of the past 2 days at the drawing board outlining pros and cons with his agent, family, and close friends. Murphy reached terms of a buyout with the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
You wanna know why it reads "highly coveted" up there? Well, Murphy also received recruiting pitches this week from Portland, New York and Orlando, multiple NBA sources report, but the 6-foot-10 forward was always determined to sign with a top contender in anticipation of making the first deep playoff run of his career. Murphy has played in more games (639) than any other active player without appearing in the playoffs.
Boston has added a key piece with the hope that Murphy's perimeter touch and proven ability to rebound can compliment its front court rotation like P.J. Brown did when he joined the Celtics midway through the 2007-08 season, a season that panned out to be a pretty good one for the club.
Missing out on Murphy will come as a blow to the Heat, who thought they could trump Boston's offer -- since both teams are restricted to paying a pro-rated share of the NBA's veteran minimum -- with the minutes they could offer Murphy while Udonis Haslem continues to recover from a long-term foot injury.
NOTE: Miami's wish was to emerge this week with Murphy and vet guard Mike Bibby, who forfeited his entire 2011-12 salary of $6.2 million to convince the Washington Wizards to let him go so he could join a contender for the rest of the season. Sorry Miami, you can't win them all.The Eastern Conference is looking better and more competitive by the day. Don't you just love how MIA & BOS are so focused on beefing up the roster to play in June. Fellas, let's get through the rest of the season.
#BigUps ESPN.com
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