Bass, whom the Celtics acquired to bolster their bench and who instead emerged as an important member of their starting lineup, will test free agency. He will leave money on the table in the form of a $4.25 million player option in hopes of landing a larger, multi-year deal — preferably with the Celtics.

The move is hardly a surprise, given that Bass played himself out of the option year tacked on to the end of the four-year, $16 million contract he signed via the mid-level exception with the Orlando Magic in 2009. But Bass' camp planned not to opt-in even before his breakout 2011-12 campaign.

"We've always thought of him as a starter," Tony Dutt, Bass' agent, said Thursday. "I represent Rashard Lewis, and when he went to Orlando, the plan there was that they would move Rashard back to the three and start Bass at the four, but for whatever reason, the coach and the GM weren't on the same page."

Bass started 39 games this season, the second-highest total of his seven-year career despite the lockout-shortened 66-game schedule. He posted career highs of 12.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game during the regular season, and in the playoffs he shot 92 percent from the foul line.

Although Bass becomes an unrestricted free agent, his first preference would be to sign with the Celtics, Dutt said. Celtics coach Doc Rivers routinely praised Bass' work ethic and his improvement on the defensive end. Bass' per-minute numbers throughout the first six years of his career suggested he could be a capable starter given the chance, and this season he showed signs of becoming a well-rounded power forward.

"Everybody who knows Brandon knows he's going to get better every year, because he works as hard as anybody I've ever seen," Dutt said. "He knows what it takes to be good. I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the gym today. He puts the work in.

"He loves the situation in Boston and we'll see how it plays itself out. But absolutely, hopefully, he'll be back."

Do you think Brandon Bass should be an offseason priority for Celtics? Vote here >>

Have a question for Ben Watanabe? Send it to him via Twitter at @BenjeeBallgame or send it here.

The move did not cause much concern at the time since Allen had played close to 10 minutes in the quarter when Keyon Dooling replaced him. But Allen did feel discomfort when he left the game and had to get his ankle treated after he left the floor, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

A day later, Rivers did not seem concerned about Allen's health. That was an encouraging sign for a player whose playing status has never been taken for granted in this postseason.

"He's fine," Rivers said Wednesday in a conference call. "He just said it locked up on him again. That's happened a couple of times. He needed our team doctor to maneuver it and be almost chiropractic with it, to unhinge it so he could run again."

Dooling filled Allen's role as a sharpshooter by closing the third quarter with a 3-pointer. Allen allayed any concern over his ankle by playing with relative effectiveness in the fourth quarter, when he played nine minutes and hit three free throws that contributed to Boston's win.

Have a question for Ben Watanabe? Send it to him via Twitter at @BenjeeBallgame or send it here.

The Red Sox got a "bullpen piece" in return for Kyle Weiland, ESPN.com and Baseball America writer Jerry Crasnick tweeted Wednesday morning. FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweeted the player from Houston was Mark Melancon, and that infielder Jed Lowrie is also involved in the deal.

Melancon, 26, made 71 appearances and saved 20 games for the Astros in 2011, allowing 65 hits in 74 1/3 innings. He posted 66 strikeouts while walking just 26 batters, and had a career-low 2.78 earned run average.

Weiland, 25, made five starts for the Red Sox. He went 0-3 with a 7.66 ERA.

Lowrie, 27, was a capable hitter when healthy, but has been limited by injuries for much of his four-year career. He batted .287 in 2010 with a .381 on-base percentage, but he was limited to 88 games in 2011 for a number of reasons including his wrist, shoulder and a bout with mononucleosis.

Hours after it was reported that the Nets were trying to compile the pieces to put together a four-team trade that would bring Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard to New Jersey, the deal reportedly fell apart on Wednesday when the Magic ended all trade talks for Howard.

The Nets, who have had an offer of Brook Lopez and draft picks for Howard and Hedo Turkoglu on the table for some time, were trying to find another significant player from one or two other locations to facilitate the deal, Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported.

Wojnarowski tweeted later that the Magic had decided to take Howard off the market.

The Magic were said to be listening to offers, but it was unclear how strongly they felt they had to trade Howard. Unlike Chris Paul, who is not expected to re-sign with New Orleans under any circumstances, the big man has flip-flopped many times in the past two years about whether he would re-sign with Orlando.

His latest confusing comment came at the Magic's media day, when he said, "I want to spend my career in Orlando because I love this city, but I want to be involved in what happens with this team."

The Nets are well-known to want a pairing of Howard and point guard Deron Williams to sell to fans in Brooklyn, where the team plans to move next season.

A third proposed trade involving Paul died Monday when the league's asking price became too high, Sports Illustrated reports. The latest deal, which would have sent the All-Star point guard to the Clippers, fell apart when Los Angeles pulled out of negotiations.

The rumored deal, which was first reported Sunday, would have sent guard Eric Bledsoe, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and a first-round pick to New Orleans in exchange for Paul. By Monday morning, promising young guard Eric Gordon was added the deal, SI's Sam Amick reports.

A few of the players involved were reportedly under the impression they had already been dealt when the trade fell apart Monday.

Paul is a free agent at the end of the season and is not expected to re-sign with the Hornets, who are owned by the NBA. Two previous deals, both involving the Lakers, also came apart amid reports that the league was asking for too much in return for the 26-year-old with a history of knee troubles.

But that was only the start of Miami's activity, according to one report.

The Marlins have offered free-agent slugger Albert Pujols a 10-year contract of undetermined monetary worth, ESPN's Buster Olney reports. The hang-up is the inclusion of a no-trade clause.

Pujols is said to want a no-trade clause, but the Marlins reportedly have a policy against granting them. The $106 million deal signed by Reyes on Sunday does not include a no-trade clause.

The Lakers are willing to part with anyone except Kobe Bryant to pull off two trades, one for Magic center Dwight Howard and one for Hornets point guard Chris Paul, ESPN's Chris Broussard reports. That includes Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, Broussard's sources say.

While this could be better for Orlando and New Orleans than letting both players walk away in free agency at the end of the year, it's questionable whether either team would consider such offers fair.
The 31-year-old Gasol's contract runs through 2014, and Odom, 32, is in the last year of his deal with a team option next season. Bynum is only 24, but has averaged only 55 games per season in his six-year NBA career.

The Knicks, Clippers and Nets are also rumored to be interested in signing Howard, Paul or both.

That doesn't mean the Pacers haven taken themselves out of the running to acquire an All-Star point guard.

The Pacers have had talks with the Celtics about a trade that would bring Rajon Rondo to Indiana, Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

The premise of the deal might be moot, however. The Celtics would only trade Rondo to acquire the pieces necessary to acquire Paul, according to the report, and Paul has reportedly already nixed a deal to Boston by saying he would not sign a long-term extension with the Celtics.

Paul is known to want to want to play for the Knicks, and teams are unlikely to give up much talent for Paul in a trade if he refuses to sign an extension.