We last saw Michael Finley as a guy who barely got off the Boston Celtics bench in the 2010 playoffs, and when he did he shot just 25 percent. After that, the former All-Star walked away from the game to become a part of the Dallas Mavericks front office staff.
But the long time Maverick and Spur looks around the league now and sees old running makes having an impact — Rasheed Wallace yelling at free throw shooters in New York and Jerry Stackhouse going from irrelevance to scoring points and not playing defense like the rest of the Nets.
That gave Finley the comeback bug and he thinks he can help a team as a veteran player off the bench, reports Marc Stein at ESPN.After (Mavs GM Donnie) Nelson publicly acknowledged for the first time in August that both Finley and former teammate Eduardo Najera were working as special assistants to the GM, sources say the Mavericks invited Finley to training camp as a player on a non-guaranteed contract before a minor calf injury scuttled that plan.
Finley has since shaken that injury and, through longtime agent Henry Thomas, is pitching himself to teams as a capable shooter off the bench and mentor to young players.
Stein adds Finley almost played in the D-League last season as a way to try and get on the NBA radar again but decided against it.
If a team has a couple injuries or just figures out they need a shooter, don’t be shocked to see Finley get a tryout. During the 21 regular season games he played for Boston in 2010 he was a decent player off the bench and shot 46 percent from three. If that Finley can come back there are teams that could use him.
