Cassell knows role but can't act right away

Sam Cassell can't wait to be a Celtic. Well, actually, he is a Celtic. But a death in his family will delay his debut with the team. However, he said in a telephone interview last night that he is ready, willing, and able to do what he can to bring another championship to Boston.

"I'm starved, man, I'm starved," he said, when asked how hungry he was to add a third NBA championship to his résumé, having won two with the Rockets in 1994 and 1995. "That is why I'm here. There are no egos involved. There are no hidden agendas involved. I'm here to try and help the Celtics win a championship, clean and simple."

Cassell officially passed his physical and signed with the team yesterday but was given permission to return to Baltimore for a family funeral. Before leaving Boston last night, the 38-year-old guard said he expects to be back in town tomorrow night or Friday. He should be at TD Banknorth Garden when the Celtics play the Bulls Friday, but it's not known whether he'll make his debut that night.

Once he does get in, he said, he'll be a quick study and be ready to play his role, which he fully understands will be to back up Rajon Rondo.

"There are no questions or concerns about my role," he said. "None at all. I'm going to be the backup point guard and I will do whatever I can to be successful. With personnel like that, I just have to fit in and do my job."

"He's probably going to come in and take all of my minutes," Rondo joked. "It shouldn't affect me or anything, how I play, as long as I work hard. I can only get better with Sam coming in."

The Celtics became Cassell's eighth NBA employer when he succeeded in extricating himself from his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers via the now increasingly familiar method of a buyout.

He thought the deal was done nine days ago. Instead, it took another 72 hours before he was able to free himself and get placed on waivers. He cleared waivers Monday night, freeing him to sign with Boston in what was pretty much a done deal all along.

He signed for the rest of the season at a prorated $1.2 million veteran's minimum.

"It went down to the wire," said Cassell. "But so much of it was out of my control. I just tried to stay in the background and let [agent] David [ Falk] handle things. I thought it was going to be all done 10 days ago. I don't know what the roadblock was, but there was one. I'm just glad we were able to get it done."

Cassell will be reuniting with former teammates Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, both of whom he has been talking to throughout the process.

"They've been anxious for me to come and I've been anxious to get there," he said. "They know who I am and what I'm all about. We all have the same goal in mind, so that's not going to be a problem."

"I'm really happy that he wants to be here," said coach Doc Rivers. "He wanted to be here. He's more frustrated he couldn't get here earlier."

Cassell is expected to wear No. 28, which has been worn by seven Celtics, including Quinn Buckner, Wayne Embry, and Tony Delk.

Brown may be a go

Rivers said forward/center P.J. Brown could make his Celtics debut tonight. The 6-foot-11-inch, 239-pounder was signed as a free agent a week ago but Rivers has been in no rush to play him. Brown, who has yet to play this season, says he's ready, but he respects Rivers's decision. "My progress is pretty good," Brown said. "What I've been saying the last five or six days is [Rivers] gets the final call. So, we'll see. We'll see." . . . With the signing of Cassell, the Celtics reassigned rookie point guard Gabe Pruitt to their Development League affiliate, the Utah Flash, for the maximum third time. The Flash have 15 regular-season games left. Pruitt was averaging 2.0 points in 5.7 minutes in 12 games for Boston. "He just needs playing time," Rivers said. "He's not playing here at all."