Gary Payton, along with Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey, are due to appear in a Canadian court on Monday to face assault charges stemming from an incident outside a Toronto strip club, according to court documents obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

The incident occurred in April 2003 after a Bucks/Raptors game with Payton being charged with one count of aggravated assault causing bodily harm and two counts of simple assault.

Cassell, who now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is charged with two counts of simple assault, while Caffey, a free agent, faces one count of simple assault.

Reports are surfacing across the country that Paul Pierce is the biggest superstar available via trade this summer.

Danny Ainge's youth movement is in full swing and Pierce still has a ton of value as one of the best pure basketball players in the game.

This is not a Tracy McGrady situation where a trade must be made, which should help Ainge negotiate a favorable deal that gives the Celtics both salary cap flexibility, as well as young talent.

On Sunday, the Celtics director of basketball operations flew to New York to watch  Spaniard Fran Vazquez work out.

In that Vazquez is widely projected to be a lottery pick, it would seem to indicate Ainge could quite possibly move up from the Celtics' No. 18 slot on Tuesday. But he said yesterday nothing is in the works.

``Nothing happens on the weekend anyway,'' he said.

Ainge will be back in Waltham at the club's facility on Monday to see others go through their paces. Among those set to audition (or on the Celtics wish list for another look) are Arizona State power forward Ike Diogu, Providence swingman Ryan Gomes, UConn forward Charlie Villanueva, Oklahoma State forward Joey Graham and South Kent Prep forward Andray Blatche.
   
In the absence of a trade to a higher position, the idea for Ainge is to get another read on as many of the top players as he can in the likely event a few of them slide the Celtics' way.
   
He added that he's seen more than 100 players, ``and some players I have watched as much as 20 games, which is two-thirds of an entire season on players I think are a real possibility for us.''

``What I have to do is rank the players, and if they go off the board, they're gone, and I have to take the next best guy,'' he said. ``I can't let all of the rumors and different theories get in the way and distract us from what we're doing.''

In a Boston Globe article (25-06-05) by Shira Springer, Danny Ainge is quoted as saying, ?Paul?s a terrific player and he?s 27 and he?s just reaching his prime. I think his next few years can be the best years of his career. So, if Paul were frustrated right now because we are a younger team, that would certainly be understandable to me.?

Sounds like trade talk to RealGM's Ryan Bennett.

If it is inevitable that Pierce gets traded, here are a few plausible offers that the Celtics could get according to Bennett and RealGM's Trade Checker.

As suggested by Bennett, Boston can get Jerry Stackhouse and Jason Terry from Dallas.  Nene, Voshon Lendard and the 22nd pick from Denver. Richard Hamilton and Carlos Arroyo from Detroit.  Ron Artest and Jonathan Bender from Indiana.  Corey Maggette and Chris Wilcox from the Clippers.  Sam Cassell, Michael Olowokandi and the 14th pick from Minnesota.  Steve Francis and the 44th pick from Orlando.  Nick Van Exel and the 3rd pick from Portland and finally Peja Stoakovic and Corliss Williamson from Sacramento.

Gary Payton listed the Suns among his three favorite options in this year?s free agent market, along with Sacramento and returning to Boston.

Payton, speaking on the "Best Damn Sports Show Period," said he wasn?t planning on taking Steve Nash?s place, but that, "I will play next to him. I will play with him. They run-and-gun like me, so I want to run and gun, give him a little break."

Though the Suns would seem to have greater needs up front to spend their money on, "Someone as good as he is, you have to think about it," D?Antoni said.

If you think the Celtics are trying to trade Paul Pierce, think again.

``I'm just going to say what I've already said about it - it's ludicrous,'' Danny Ainge, in Chicago, said of an ESPN.com report that he discussed trading Pierce to Portland for the No. 3 draft pick and guard Nick Van Exel. ``I don't know where this stuff comes from.''

Though Ainge declined to discuss the matter further, two league sources said yesterday that Pierce talk has been almost nonexistent across the league.