Celtics interested in undrafted forward Gilbert Brown

It seems Danny is being active and may have already got his first free agent of the offseason:

Gilbert Brown was on the phone several times throughout the day Thursday with the Boston Celtics and was optimistic about his chances of getting drafted in the second round. When Thursday turned into Friday and the 51/2-hour draft had come to an end, Brown didn't have much time to dwell on the disappointment of not hearing his name called.

Shortly after the draft ended, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge called Brown and expressed his interest in signing him to a free-agent deal. Brown said Ainge told him the Celtics had to make a decision between Brown and Purdue guard E'Twaun Moore with their second-round selection, the 55th overall in the draft. They chose Moore, but he wanted Brown to know that he was still interested.

"I'm definitely encouraged that the Celtics were interested," Brown said Friday afternoon. "I was talking to them all day. They said it was the flip of a coin when it came time to make the pick." 


Other teams are interested in him, but Gilbert seems to have decided to join the Celtics as soon as we are able to do so:
Boston is not the only team interested in bringing Brown to training camp. Phoenix and a few others have reached out, but Brown is leaning toward the Celtics because of the 30-minute conversation he had with Ainge early Friday morning.

"He really encouraged me," Brown said. "He told me I could be the Wesley Matthews of this draft. Of all the teams I worked out for, Danny was the most excited to have me in. He really feels like I can make their team and contribute the first year. He was really confident in my ability. He felt like I stood out in my workout."
So here it goes. Another name to talk about in what it seems it will be a long summer without many news. Expect Danny to keep being busy during this week as we head right into the lockout by Friday.

As for Brown, it seems he is another intriguing project. He would add more youth and athleticism to the wing, something that we really need. We will see if he makes the team for the 2011/12 season.



Update:

Brown has recently signed for s. Oliver Wurzburg in the German basketball league. I guess he has a clause to be able to sign for the Celtics when the lockout ends as was reported by ESPN:

Ainge said after Thursday's draft that the team would likely try to bring in some undrafted players, but also noted the team cannot immediately sign a player. That means players like Brown, regardless of interest level, might have to wait out the impending lockout and that might not be possible. The Post-Gazette article adds that Brown will, "resume workouts in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. If the lockout is not settled by August, Brown will sign a contract to play overseas for a team in Germany."

I guess we will have a chance to take a look at Brown before he eventually joins the Celtics.