Kevin Garnett Going to Boston

Kevin Garnett is leaving Minnesota after the Boston Celtics agreed to acquire the All-Star forward in a multiplayer trade with the Timberwolves, a Celtics official told The Associated Press on Monday.Among the players who could be headed to Minnesota are forward Al Jefferson, guard Sebastian Telfair, swingman Gerald Green and center Theo Ratliff, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been completed. The official also said the Timberwolves would get at least one draft choice.

Gannett News Service said two persons with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal, which needs league approval, is in place, with details to be ironed out.

Source: ESPN

The Cavaliers and Flash Seats Filed Suit Against Ticketmaster

Flash Seats and the Cleveland Cavaliers have filed suit against Ticketmaster, the dominant ticketing
company in professional sports. The complaint was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

In the complaint, Flash Seats and the Cavaliers seek “to stop Ticketmaster’s ongoing campaign to utilize its substantial market power in ticketing service to exclude actual and potential competition,” in violation of federal and state antitrust laws.

The complaint also alleges that Ticketmaster is “coercively seeking to enforce its primary-ticketing contracts (relating to the direct sale of tickets to the public) with the Cavaliers and other customers” by requiring them to use only Ticketmaster’s own secondary-ticketing program (relating to the resale of tickets) or none at all.

From the press release:

Sam Gerace, chief executive officer of Flash Seats, said, “Fans deserve to enjoy and benefit from a free and open marketplace. We believe fans suffer from less competition and less innovation due to the Ticketmaster business practices we address in our lawsuit. We further believe
Ticketmaster is trying to prevent the Cavaliers and numerous other professional sports teams from offering their fans the ability to buy and sell tickets on any secondary- marketing exchange Ticketmaster does not own, as well as preventing fans from enjoying innovative new technology
products that are not Ticketmaster’s. We feel it is time to put a stop to these practices.”
“We have been focused on this issue for some time,” said Len Komoroski, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena president. “Our fans have used and enjoyed the Flash Seats service this past season, and after many months of discussion with Ticketmaster were unproductive, we felt compelled to take this action. How can Ticketmaster be allowed to prevent a team from
offering a service to its fans that Ticketmaster itself does not offer? Should pro sports teams simply be limited to offering only services that Ticketmaster decides to offer? We think the answer to that is very clear. No.”

Scot Pollard on Donaghy and his Future

Scot Pollard can’t say that he particularly liked referee Tim Donaghy, but then again there are a lot of referees that Pollard doesn’t like.  “I could say I don’t like him that much, but there’s a long list of refs I don’t like very much,” said Pollard who played last season with the Cavaliers.  “I can’t single him out for any specific trait except he’s one of the guys you can’t joke with, can’t talk to.”

Pollard who along with his wife, two daughters and a third on the way doesn’t expect to return to Cleveland next season.  “I haven’t heard from them,” he said of the Cavaliers.  There have been a few leads from other teams.  Pollard thinks he might be a better fit for a Western Conference team.  “Cleveland was a great experience going to the Finals, but also the style ended up a halfcourt style.  Mostly, I just want to be warm.”

Source: KUsports

Golden State Warriors Interested in Gooden?

Trade talks between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers regarding Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao have been rumored in the past few days.

League sources indicated on Thursday that Gooden may be moved to the Warriors for the Traded Player Exception the Warriors acquired in the Jason Richardson trade on Draft Night. Such a move would provide the Cavaliers with needed financial flexibility to re-sign Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic, both restricted free agents.
Possible trade talks between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers regarding Drew Gooden have not moved along very swiftly, an informed source close to the situation told Basketball News on Saturday.

“There’s nothing really substantial there,” the source said, but did admit that Gooden’s name has been mentioned in various trade rumors.

Drew Gooden name has been mentioned in every trade rumor since last year so we can confirm any of this.

At the same time Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has reportedly given GM Danny Ferry permission to go into luxury tax territory to find the right players, but it is yet to be seen whether Ferry actually does this.

 Source: HoopsWorld.com

Donaghy probe Widens

Tim Donaghy has impacted the NBA more than most people can imagine.  Stephen A Smith remarks, “It says to the fans, the game itself that you’re watching, the competitive fervor it involves and everything that comes along with it, just throw it out the window because somebody is trying to dictate the outcome.”

The federal investigation currently underway is reviewing as many as 15 games where Donaghy made calls that could have affected the margin of victory.  Sources close to the investigation say Donaghy had a gambling problem and was working with bookies with organized crime connections to pay off his debts.

Source:  Voanews

LeBron vs. Dwyane Wade On Christmas Day

The Cavaliers will play the Miami Heat at The Q in a Christmas Day NBA game to be shown on ABC, the Miami Herald reported today.

The Herald reported that the Cavs-Heat game is part of a schedule that is not finalized, but that two games are slated for ABC that day.

From the Miami Herald:

Though the schedule circulating is tentative, Heat-Cavs is expected to be one of two ABC games that day, a league source said.