3.24.2020

Giddens Heads Home; Perk & Walker have Surgery

July 3, 2008

J.R. Giddens might have been swayed by all of the trappings - the championship banners and retired numbers - when he met the media in the Celtics' Waltham practice facility Tuesday. But the impending rookie also has business sense. Unable to reach a quick agreement on his rookie contract with the Celtics, the guard declined to participate in the start of yesterday's rookie and free agent camp.



By late morning, he had flown back to his home in Oklahoma City. Bill Walker, the second-round choice the Celtics purchased for cash from Washington, had knee surgery at New England Baptist Hospital and also was unable to participate. Semih Erden, the 6-foot-11 center taken with the final (60th) pick of last Thursday's draft, is under contract to his Turkish team for one more season and was not in attendance.

The Celtics coaching staff, headed this week by assistant Armond Hill, was left with a list of 14 free agents, in addition to regulars Glen Davis and Gabe Pruitt. ``I'd prefer that he was here,'' director of basketballl operations Danny Ainge said of Giddens. ``But what can you do? We have to see how things work out.''

The issue, according to his agent, is complicated. ``There's a lot of unusual circumstances with the Celtics and their salary structure, considering that they're coming off the championship and things like that,'' Mark Bartlestein said. ``It's really complicated. So much is going on, and they're trying to figure out where they are with the luxury tax, things like that. So we'll see how it goes.''

In addition to Walker, Kendrick Perkins went under the knife yesterday at New England Baptist, having what was described as precautionary surgery on his sore left shoulder. It was the third shoulder surgery of the Celtics center's five-season career, the second on his left shoulder. He suffered the latest injury after Lakers center Pau Gasol grabbed his left arm in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Perkins declined to have an MRI taken of his shoulder at the time, and it wasn't decided until Tuesday afternoon to schedule surgery. ``We had been discussing it for a while,'' Ainge said. ``I wouldn't call it really necessary surgery as much as it was a precautionary surgery. ``He'll be in a sling for a few weeks, then he'll be ready for rehab.''

Ainge acknowledged what doctors have told Perkins about his chronic shoulder trouble: The more it happens, the more likely it will happen in the future. ``Yeah, the more it happens, the more tissues that are affected,'' said Ainge, who added Perkins will be ready for training camp. ``But Dale Davis played for 16 seasons in the NBA with shoulder problems. He used to pop it out and pop it back in all the time.''

Davis is learning quickly about success. ``It's been unbelievable,'' the well-rested forward said after the morning camp session. ``I went to the Bahamas, and the people there knew who I was.'' Davis' more senior teammates - Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, James Posey, Sam Cassell and Eddie House, to name a few - recently had a rollicking time in Las Vegas, but the just-graduated rookie knew better than to join them. ``I couldn't have made it,'' he said. ``I would have been too out of shape when I came back here. I would have looked bad.''

A number of campers have NBA experience, including Randolph Morris, the former Knicks center who played with Rajon Rondo at Kentucky. Eddie Basden, a former Bulls and Cavaliers guard who was a high school teammate of Delonte West, is attempting to break back into the league after a stint in Turkey. Basden, who pulled out of a letter of intent to attend UMass when the school fired Bruiser Flint, played for Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul - the same team that still holds the rights to Erden.

They won the Turkish League title together last season. ``I told (Erden) what he'll have to face,'' Basden said. ``But he's good. He's a skilled 7-footer. With a little bit of hard work, he's going to be good. ``We had a couple of guys on our team who helped get him ready physically - they could really bang. I think he's definitely ready for the physicality of the game.''

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