reflections
July 2nd, 2008 Minicamp Begins In Waltham

From Chris Forsberg:

The Celtics held the first day of a four-day minicamp in Waltham this morning. The camp, which features 16-20 players, mostly rookies and free agents, runs through Saturday.

Check out our photo gallery from today’s action.

Among the attendees: Second-year players Glen “Big Baby” Davis and Gabe Pruitt, along with first-round draft pick JR Giddens. Stroll through our gallery to see who else is in town for the event.

The Globe’s Marc J. Spears touched on the minicamp in his Sunday notes column:

The Celtics will hold a minicamp for 16-20 players at their Waltham training facility from Wednesday through Saturday. Celtics forward Glen Davis, guard Gabe Pruitt, and first-round draft pick J.R. Giddens are expected to participate, as are ex-NBA players center Jackie Butler, forward Lawrence Roberts, and guards David Noel, Omar Cook, and Mustapha Shakur. Forward Bill Walker, a second-round selection by Washington who was traded to Boston, will not participate. Ainge said Walker will likely undergo minor knee surgery this week.

Update: Contrary to the initial report, Scott Souza notes that J.R. Giddens has not participated in minicamp just yet:

But another draft pick who was expected to be in attendance - first-round pick J.R. Giddens - was also nowhere to be found when Boston brought in 15 players to Waltham yesterday for a double-session of scrimmages.

According to Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge, Giddens elected not to attend the camp - on the advice of his agents - because he had not yet signed a contract. While this makes some sense on the surface, it should be noted that there are rookies all across the league participating in workouts this week in advance of next week’s Las Vegas Summer League who have yet to sign deals. Last season, both Glen Davis and Gabe Pruitt played with the Celtics summer league team even though they did not sign deals until later in the summer.

Ainge said he did not know if Giddens would show up at the camp at some point before it ends on Saturday, but given that the contract - which is largely a fixed (and guaranteed) amount - may not get inked within the next day or two, that now appears unlikely.

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