Twitter followers of Phoenix forward Amar’e Stoudemire, Charlotte center Tyson Chandler and Boston forward Rasheed Wallace can look forward to less tweets from these star NBA players.

The National Basketball Association has fined the players for comments made on Twitter.

Stoudemire and Chandler were both fined $7,500 for tweeting during a game. Wallace was hit with a $30,000 fine for criticizing officials in tweets posted after his team, the Boston Celtics, beat the Toronto Raptors last week.

These fines come after the NBA instituted guidelines on proper use of Twitter and other social networking sites in September.

VIA ESPN:

The Boston Celtics are bringing back Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who agreed to a two-year deal that could pay $6 million.

A source told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan that the Celtics made Davis an offer of a third season that would have kept him in green through the 2011-12 season, but Davis chose instead to do a deal that allows him to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2011 — at the completion of his fourth NBA season.

Davis will receive $5 million in base salary and can earn an additional 500,000 per season for meeting certain weight clauses, a source told ESPN.com’s Chad Ford.

Some expected Davis’ value to be higher after he performed admirably in the playoffs filling in for the injured Kevin Garnett, but his restricted free-agent status and the tight NBA financial climate limited his options. By turning down a guaranteed third year, Davis will become unrestricted one year earlier than he would have had he been drafted in the first round and been subject to the NBA’s rookie salary scale.

The Celtics also signed free agent Shelden Williams on Monday, adding a second young forward to a frontcourt that broke down last season in the playoffs. Davis, who’s 23, and Williams, who will be 26 by opening night, give Boston some youth at a position that has shown its age.

“We’ve got a lot of veterans and we also have a lot of young guys,” general manager Danny Ainge said. “I don’t think we needed to add a bunch of older, aging guys.”

Garnett missed the entire playoffs last spring, Leon Powe went down early in the postseason with a knee injury and Brian Scalabrine was coming off multiple concussions as the Celtics bowed out in the conference semifinals. Davis was pressed into the starting lineup and went from 21 minutes per game to 36 while bumping his scoring average from 7.0 points to 15.8 a game.

“Glen really came into his own last season in the second half when he got a chance to play,” Ainge said. “He wants to play. Just like all young players, he wants a more significant role.”

This offseason, Ainge made forward Rasheed Wallace his top target, signing him to a three-year deal. And now the frontcourt is complete, with Davis and Williams ready to come off the bench.

“We have some guys who are getting up there in age. I think it’s important to surround our Big Three and Rasheed with young guys,” Ainge said. “We feel like we’ve got one of the best front lines in all of basketball. We have six really good basketball players on our front line right now. It’s a long season; we’re going to need all the bodies we can get.”

Ainge said he believed all along that Davis would be back, but it took the two-year pro out of Louisiana State a while to realize that restricted free agency wasn’t going to be the lucrative payday he expected. Other teams may have stayed away because they assumed the Celtics would match any offer.

“You could have called me,” Ainge told Davis’ girlfriend. “I would have told you he’ll be back. … We came through. We like Glen more than anybody else out there.”

Davis said the offseason has been an education about the business side of basketball — especially how it affects young players with limited options.

“I feel like I’ve grown up so much this whole summer in terms of being a professional and being an adult,” Davis said. “The Celtics organization is a great thing to be a part of.”

Williams knows what he means.

The fifth overall draft pick out of Duke in 2006, he played in plenty of big college games — including a third-round loss in the 2006 NCAA tournament to Davis’ Louisiana State team. But in three seasons with Atlanta, Sacramento and Minnesota, Williams has never appeared in an NBA playoff game.

Now he’s back in a place with high expectations.

“I assume it will be similar to what it was in college,” he said. “For me to come in here and fill out my role — whatever that might be — it’s an exciting time.“

VIA ESPN:

Rasheed Wallace is joining the Boston Celtics, giving the Celtics one of the most important free agents on the marketplace as they attempt to return to the championship.

Bill Strickland, Wallace’s agent, told the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe on Sunday night that the 34-year-old forward told him to call off meetings the agent was in the process of scheduling with the Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks.

The Boston Globe reported Wallace will sign for two years at the mid-level exception.

Wallace won a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 after arriving in a mid-season trade, although his career has been noted just as much for his volatile interactions with officials and contentious relationships with coaches. However, the strong presence of veterans such as Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in the Celtics’ locker room should keep Wallace in line and bring the focus to his positive attributes: the 6-foot-11 Wallace is a scoring threat from the low block to the 3-point arc and a long-armed, savvy defender.

“As much as Rasheed’s a headache, teammakes like him and he’s a winner,” an NBA executive said.

After trade rumors involving Allen and Rajon Rondo surfaced last month it appeared the Celtics might be trying to shift on the fly, at the risk of breaking up the core that won the 2008 NBA championship. Now they have landed a piece that makes them a prime contender to win again next season, with an emphasis on the short term. Wallace will be 35 in September and made joining a championship-caliber team a priority this offseason.

But Boston was always the leading contender, a positioned strengthened by a dinner meeting with Wallace involving Garnett, Pierce, Allen, coach Doc Rivers and owner Wyc Grousbeck last week.

Wallace restores frontcourt depth to the Celtics, who did not extend a qualifying offer to Leon Powe and could lose restricted free agent Glen Davis if another team signs him to a contract the Celtics decide not to match.

Both Boston papers are also reporting that the Celtics may be interested in signing Grant Hill, who averaged 12 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Phoenix Suns last season.

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VIA SI:

The Boston Celtics made their pitch to Rasheed Wallace on Thursday. And Wallace was receptive.

A contingent from the Celtics organization — including owner Wyc Grousbeck, President Danny Ainge, head coach Doc Rivers and All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen — descended on Wallace’s suburban Michigan home on Thursday for a three-hour meeting with the free-agent forward.

“Solid, thorough, cogent and very impressive,” Wallace’s agent, Bill Strickland, told SI.com about Boston’s recruiting trip. “[They] definitely gave Rasheed and his wife something to think about.”

During the course of the meeting the Celtics offered Wallace a contract using their entire mid-level exception. It is unclear how many years Boston offered Wallace, who will be 35 at the start of next season.

Multiple league executives believe Wallace is deciding between Boston and San Antonio. Both the Celtics and Spurs can offer Wallace the full mid-level exception ($5.6 million). With Ron Artest agreeing to terms with the Lakers and Trevor Ariza agreeing to a deal with Houston on Thursday, league sources expect Cleveland to make a late push for Wallace’s services. Orlando, should they choose not to re-sign restricted free agent Marcin Gortat, is also a possibility.

However, Boston and San Antonio stand as the strongest candidates. The Celtics can offer Wallace a chance to stay in the Eastern Conference as well as the opportunity to play with Garnett, who is a close friend. San Antonio, which traded forwards Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas last month in the deal for Richard Jefferson, can offer Wallace a starters role. Boston’s interest in Wallace is believed to be as a backup.

Wallace has given no indication as to when he will make a decision.

VIA ESPN:

The Detroit Pistons made the biggest early splash in free agency on Wednesday, agreeing to terms with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.

Former Bulls guard Gordon will receive a five-year deal for between $55 million and $60 million, while former Bucks forward Villanueva gets a five-year deal for $40 million, sources told ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard.

Gordon rejected deals from Chicago in excess of $50 million each of the past two seasons. Milwaukee elected to let the 24-year-old Villanueva become an unrestricted free agent earlier this week, after the Bucks determined that matching any restricted free-agent offers would move the team closer to the luxury tax threshold and limit changing the roster.

The Associated Press first reported the Villanueva signing.

“I don’t have any regrets, and I don’t have any bitter feelings for the Bulls,” Gordon, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Business is business. I’m going to a situation now where winning is the No. 1 priority. I’m happy with my decision.”

Free agents can’t officially sign with new teams until July 8.

Gordon, who was taken third in the 2004 draft by Chicago, led the Bulls in scoring each of the past four seasons. He averaged 20.7 points per game on 45.5 percent shooting last year. For his career, he has a 21.3 points per game average.

Bulls officials had said re-signing Gordon was a top priority after previously failing to keep the former Connecticut star with a long-term contract.

“The Bulls and Pistons always have had a great rivalry,” Gordon said, according to the Tribune. “It will be exciting going against [the Bulls], especially [in Chicago] because this is one of the best sports towns anywhere. I’m definitely going to miss the fans. But being on the other side will be fun too.”

Villanueva, the seventh overall pick by Toronto in 2006 who has played the past three seasons with the Bucks, averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season.

Detroit desperately needed to make a splash this offseason, entering it with nearly $20 million in salary-cap space and coming off its worst season in several years.

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