Peter May in the Boston Globe today has written a story about, among other things, Ian O'Connor's book about last year's draft.
"Columnist Ian O'Connor of USA Today and The Journal News of New York has a book out called ''The Jump," which chronicles Sebastian Telfair's high school career in New York and the events that led to him being drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers. In one part of the book, Danny Ainge is chatting up Robert Swift before a high school game last season -- which, under NBA rules, is verboten. (A player who is not draft-eligible has to have his name released by the NBA as an early-entry candidate for NBA people to speak to him or about him; a league official said Ainge would not get into trouble, but should have known better.)
According to the book, Ainge and Swift chatted for about 15 minutes at Pauley Pavilion, which was hosting an All-Star tournament, and Swift later told O'Connor that Ainge had asked him what his intentions were. That's not how Ainge remembered it. ''He sat down next to me to put his sneakers on," Ainge said, ''and I'm not even sure if he knew who I was. We talked for maybe two minutes. I asked him who he thought the good high school players were. I don't believe I ever asked him what his intentions were. At that time, I had no idea he was even coming out."
In a humorous exchange in the book, which Ainge does remember, Ainge says of Swift, ''He needs to go to college. Somebody better tell that kid to get real."
Ainge, of course, was smitten with Swift and guaranteed the 7-footer from Bakersfield that the Celtics would use one of their three first-round picks on him. But before the Celtics got to their first No. 1, the Sonics had already taken Swift.
Don't be surprised if Ainge takes another run at Swift, who played only 72 minutes as a rookie -- the fewest of any lottery pick other than the injured Luke Jackson of Cleveland -- and was not on the Sonics' playoff roster."
The majority of the story is interesting, the book might be a good read, but Boston isn't about to get Robert Swift. They got nothin' to offer.