By MARK MURPHY, BOSTON HERALD
D.J. White is still waiting for his release from Shanghai of the Chinese Basketball Association, and as a result the forward will spend another night in street clothes in the Celtics locker room — this time as his future teammates play Utah.
“They’re shut down on weekends — there’s just a lot of paperwork to do,” Danny Ainge said of China. It just takes a few days. I don’t know when he’ll be done with it — tomorrow is my guess. You strategically sign 10-day contracts. If he can’t play tonight, we’ll sign him on Wednesday or Thursday.”
But Ainge and his scouting staff are still looking for players. He wouldn’t say, for example, whether he plans to re-sign Terrence Williams to a second 10-day contract once the swingman’s current deal expires on Wednesday.
“We’re still looking. Things change week by week and we’re still looking,” said Ainge. “We don’t really have to decide until the day before the playoffs start. There’s a lot of guys who can contribute, but there’s not enough of a difference between them to be able to say, He’s the guy.” … Beyond a few garbage time minutes, Fab Melo’s primary work has come by himself with the coaching staff and fitness staff.
There’s a good chance that once the Celtics return home this week, Melo will be sent back to the Maine Red Claws for more game experience.
“If he hasn’t fit into the rotation, we’ll get him some minutes in Portland,” said Ainge. “He was playing great until his concussion, then he got a thigh bruise, and then he came on this trip. It’s been good for him to be on this trip. He’s putting in a lot of time. It’s just experience.
“He picked up basketball late, he played two years of zone (at Syracuse),” he said. “He was very good at it. Things just haven’t come naturally for him because he hasn’t done it. Things don’t happen overnight. You have to be patient with Fab. I wouldn’t say he’s a long way away. In my opinion Fab can play right now. But it’s consistency for Fab.” ——
