bskball bits of tid

07/25-THE TALE OF EL AMIN- Khalid El Amin came into the summer with many question marks. Most of those have been answered with inspired play on both the offensive and defensive end. The Celtics who proclaimed early Khalid would not make the team countered after his 1st two games, saying they wanted to retain, and have back peddled again, saying they were unsure what they would do with him. Why? Well, the C's hoped to land Khalid to a 2 year deal (1 year guaranteed, 2nd year team option). It seems Khalid has gotten some love from a number of teams including the GS Warriors who might have offered Khalid much more to come west. Sources close to the situation say Khalid would like to stay on the East coast and has received several offers similar to the Celtics offer, and a few that are a bit better than the C's deal. Khalid is interested in talking to Boston, because he sees promise in their team, but he is also looking for a place to jump start his career too. The Celtics say that they like the idea of having an open roster spot, and if Khalid ends up the best guy for that spot, they would sign him. He just may not be there when they get around to him.
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07/25-WHILE THEY WAIT, GRIFFIN MAY GET SIGNED- The Miami Heat say they have not received anything they'd call a significant trade offer for either of their key unsigned free agents (Anthony Mason and Tim Hardaway). Pat Riley told media he had received offers, but it was other teams castoffs, and he was not entertaining those kinds of talks. Anthony Mason's agent says the Heat have offer his client a $2.5 million deal, but that is far below what Mason was expecting. Mason has been mentioned by several teams, but is uniformly considered a lesser option, and the money he's demanding may make a deal almost impossible for him. The Heat have started exploring cheaper solutions and may sign Celtics free agent Adrian Griffin who recently played for the Pacers summer program. The Heat are looking at a number of point guard options, and if they do not make a trade, they may go to the pond and see what kind of fish are left. I used fish deliberately, because you know who they land is gonna stink.