Stephen A. Smith says Rasheed Wallace will return to Celtics

UPDATE #2, 5:08 pm: Rasheed Wallace’s agent is now the latest to say his return does not appear likely, although like a good agent should Bill Strickland left the door open a crack when talking to FanHouse:

“I don’t think that’s the case -- for now anyway,” Strickland told FanHouse. “He has a period of time to where he may be thinking about it, but he has not given me any indication of his intent to return. ... He’s still saying that for now he’s good, that he’s OK where he is.”

UPDATE 3:53 pm: Doc Rivers threw cold water on this bit of reporting/speculation when speaking to the media on Wednesday, saying “there have been no discussions” along these lines, as tweeted by Comcast New England‘s A. Sherrod Blakely. Which is probably the truth but not nearly as much fun as making up scenarios where ‘Sheed returns to Boston (although the only logical one is an ugly rash of injuries, so we’re trying to come up with better ones). Just leave us to daydreaming, thank you.

1: 09 pm: Honestly, we’d laugh this off if it weren’t for the fact months before LeBron James announced where he was taking is talents, Stephen A. Smith was calling Miami. We all laughed it off then, turns out he was right.

So with that, we bring you what Smith said on the Dan Patrick show Wednesday:

Smith said that the Celtics counter the Heat’s athleticism with “brute size” and Rasheed Wallace will come out of retirement to come back to the Celtics.

Smith said Wallace told him that’s the plan, because he wants another shot at the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

The idea of a retired Sheed returning halfway through the season was a hot rumor last season during the finals. He still lives in the Boston area and has shown up at some Celtics practices. Wallace walked away from $12 million on his contract because he didn’t like playing through injuries, he didn’t have another full season and that grind in him. But he showed in Game 7 — forced to start due to the injury to Kendrick Perkins — that he still has some game, scoring 11 points of 5-11 shooting and grabbing 8 rebounds. In a game where everyone seemed tight, Wallace and Ron Artest of the Lakers were the two seemingly unaffected by the moment.

One little problem with this grand return (and not just that the Lakers and Celtics may not make the finals) — the Celtics already have 15 guys under contract. To bring in Wallace means to buy out someone else, like Von Wafer. And that’s just not likely to happen. But we’re not ruling anything out.