Kris Joseph sports his No. 43 jersey after getting drafted by the Celtics last June. (AP)

Kris Joseph has a new start with a new team in the NBA.

According to the New York Post, the Maine Red Claws have traded the Celtics’ 2012 second-round pick (51st overall) small forward Kris Joseph to the Springfield Armor for forward James Mays.

Joseph cleared waivers and was released last month after appearing in six games for the Celtics. He was subsequently re-signed by the Red Claws. Joseph averaged 18.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game in 12 games with Boston’s D-League affiliate.

As for Mays, he was invited to Brooklyn Nets training camp and cut before being assigned to the Springfield Armor, the D-League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets. Mays was undrafted in 2008 before signing as an unrestricted free agent with the Nuggets. Mays is averaging 16.4 points and 10.6 rebounds in 26 games, earning him a spot on the D-League All-Star team.

For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics.

The Celtics announced Sunday that they have recalled center Fab Melo from their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws. The 7-foot center will be dressed and available for duty against the Nuggets in the 6 p.m. contest at TD Garden.

In his one game on assignment to the Red Claws, Melo scored six points, grabbed five rebounds and had one assist in just under 23 minutes against the Bakersfield Jam on February 8. He is averaging 11.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.45 blocks in 27.4 minutes per game in his 20 contests with Maine this season.

For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics.

Fab Melo

Celtics announced Friday that they have assigned center Fab Melo to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

Since returning from his last assignment to the Claws, Melo, a 7-foot center, appeared in two games with the Celtics. Melo played three minutes against the Magic before playing the final five minutes Thursday night against the Lakers.

Melo recorded his first two career points in the blowout win, to go along with a steal and a block.

In 19 games (17 starts) for the Red Claws, Melo is averaging 11.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.6 blocks a game while averaging 27.7 minutes.

Bath, Maine native Jason “White Shadow” Gibbons set the (world?) record for most consecutive no-look half court shots earlier this year as part of the Maine Red Claws’ “Shot 4 a Cause” charity program (h/t Record Setter). Gibbons claims he made 49 half court shots last season during breaks of Red Claws games (the Celtics’ NBA Development League squad). He currently travels the country as a member of the Harlem Superstars comedy basketball team and can be hired through White Shadow55 Outreach.

The obvious question is: Shouldn’t the Celtics sign this guy to an NBDL deal? I mean, this guy just drains shots from half court without looking, and that shot is pretty much impossible to stop. It’s like Kareem’s sky hook or Jordan’s fade away. Just straight butter. He can’t be any worse than Jason Kapono, right?

According to a report by Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Maine Red Claws have contacted former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl about their head coaching job. The Red Claws have been affiliated with the Celtics and Bobcats since their debut in the NBA’s D-League in 2009.

Austin Ainge, the son of the Celtics president, coached the Red Claws for the last two seasons and recently joined the Celtics front office as director of player personnel. The Red Claws are run by former Celtics assistant coach Jon Jennings and have enjoyed two sellout seasons in Portland.

Pearl was fired after six mostly successful seasons at Tennessee after lying to NCAA investigators during an inquiry into major violations at the school.

The Celtics assigned Marcus Landry to the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate. Landry has played just two minutes since arriving from the Knicks as part of the Nate Robinson trade.

With the signing of Michael Finley, the Celtics have 14 players on the roster and Landry was certainly going to be inactive as long as they have 12 healthy players. Finley is expected to make his debut Sunday against the Wizards.

Celtics forward Bill Walker was selected for the NBA D-League’s slam dunk competition on Feb. 12. The 22-year-old, who has shown an ability to produce highlight-reel dunks, has played in just seven NBA games this season while averaging 0.9 points per game. He has averaged 17.4 points per contest in nine D-League games for the Maine Red Claws.

To take part, he would have be assigned to the D-League team. It’s possible that the Celtics would leave that choice up to him. Walker has family in West Virginia and indicated Thursday he would prefer spending time with them over the break.

Joining Walker on the roster for the D-League’s skills competition is Red Claws teammate Trey Gilder, who is a member of the Memphis Grizzlies organization. Gilder will take part in the Shooting Stars competition.

Here is the press release detailing the skills competition:

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2010 – The NBA Development League Dream Factory Friday Night presented by Haier, an innovative skills competition modeled after the popular NBA All-Star Saturday Night, returns for the third consecutive year to Center Court at NBA Jam Session presented by adidas on Friday, Feb. 12, at 10:00 p.m. ET, and will stream live on NBA.com from 10-11p.m. ET. Read the rest of this entry »