The Celtics are keeping center Kendrick Perkins out of scrimmages during training camp because of offseason surgery on his left shoulder.

Coach Doc Rivers said that Perkins is allowed to run the floor "as long as no one else is running up and down the floor with him."

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have re-signed guard Sam Cassell.

Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cassell, a 6?3?, 195 pound guard, is a veteran of 15 NBA seasons. Cassell won his third NBA title as a member of the Celtics last season after signing mid-season from the L.A. Clippers.  Cassell averaged 7.6 points and 2.1 assists in 17 regular season games with the Celtics last season and finished the season with combined averages of 11.2 points and 3.9 assists per game.  The 2003-04 All-Star scored 20 or more points 10 times last season including a season-high 35 points against the Indiana Pacers on November 7.  He scored a high of 22 points with the Celtics against the Knicks on April 14.

The Celtics are still hoping that free agent, and possibly retired, forward P.J. Brown will have a change of heart and re-join the team this season.

"Maybe he?ll rejoin us in January," Rivers said in reference to Brown's decision to come out of retirement last February and sign with the team.

Danny Ainge says that Brown knows the door is open for him to return.

"I tell him that I?ll see him later," Rivers added. "Hell, even if he couldn?t play I?d put him on our bench and in our locker room. That?s how important he was to our young guys. In that short time, he basically became an invaluable part of that locker room."

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins will miss the start of training camp after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder in July.

However, Perkins is expected to be ready for the regular season.

"He'll be trying to get through September," said GM Danny Ainge. "I'm confident he will be in the starting lineup opening night."

Celtics' forward Kevin Garnett doesn't care that his summer was cut short by an extended playoff run and recognizes that repeating as NBA champions will be a tough challenge, according to Boston Globe.

"It's going to be the biggest challenge," Garnett said of repeating. "But I'm telling you, man, I want to take time to enjoy these next four years. That's not to say I'm going to let up or anything like that. But I'm going to go at this [because] I like how this felt. I need a couple more short summers like this."

"Give me a couple more short summers where I feel like with this team, [we] set our mark. Every Celtics' team sort of had their run, and its multiples. It's only right that we set our mark in this league like Timmy [Duncan] has done it with the Spurs, Kobe [Bryant] and Shaq [O'Neal] have done it [with the Lakers]. This is my opportunity to do that. I'm trying to take advantage of it fully right now."

The Celtics played more postseason games than any team in NBA history last season.

Celtics' guard Ray Allen is excited about the arrival of Darius Miles in town this season, according to Boston Globe.

"I'm excited about Darius Miles," Allen said. "He hasn't played in a while, and he's excited to be here and help this team."

"When people see him play, he'll be a fan favorite. People say he hasn't played in a couple years, but at the same time he has a lot of basketball left in him. He's only 26 years old, and to be able to have him at this stage of his career is going to be great for us."

Miles has missed two years with a microfracture in his right knee and now faces a ten-game suspension for violating the terms of the NBA's anti-drug program.

President Bush hosted the NBA championship Celtics at the White House on Friday, praising them for bringing the title back to the Northeast, according to Boston Herald.

"I told them that when I went to school up there, the Celtics were the ones," Bush said of his days at Yale. "There?s been in a little bit of a drought, but they?re back."

Bush nailed all the facts about the team, having done his homework prior to their arrival.

"Despite an injury to this team?s captain Paul Pierce, he played with courage," the president said of Pierce?s comeback from a knee injury in Game 1 of the Finals. "That?s why this league calls him 'The Truth.' And this team calls him the captain."

Celtics' Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge remains adamant that forward P.J. Brown is retired for the time-being, according to Boston Herald.

"P.J. is retired," Ainge said. "Today was just an enjoyable day, and we should probably leave it at that. P.J. knows that we?d love to have him back, but right now he?s done."

Brown took part in the team's White House ceremony on Friday as part of Boston's championship team.

The NBA announced Friday that Darius Miles of the Boston Celtics has been suspended without pay for 10 games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program at the end of the 2007-08 NBA season.  

His violation of the program involved phentermine.

Miles? suspension will begin with the first game of the 2008-09 NBA regular season for which he is eligible and physically able to play.

Paul Pierce was sad to see James Posey leave the team through free agency but claims that other role players will step up, according NBA.com.

"James Posey was definitely a big piece of what we did last year to win the championship, a guy who has a lot of experience, a guy who was versatile and could play three positions," Pierce said. "But I think we have guys ready to step up, the Tony Allens, the Leon Powes, and Big Baby Davis."

Posey joined New Orleans this offseason.