Don Chaney’s Houston home escaped hurricane damage

Don Chaney as Knicks coach in 2004.ed betz/AP file

Former Celtics guard Don Chaney, whose 10-year tenure in Boston included NBA titles in 1969 and 1974, says that he generally stays cool in tense situations. So when Hurricane Harvey was charging toward his Houston home and his wife Jackie suggested they leave, he initially resisted.

Big storms had rushed through Houston before, he said, and the flooding in their neighborhood had never been severe. But soon after Harvey began to soak Houston, Chaney went to a low-lying area near his house and noticed the water was pooling there much more quickly than it ever had before.

“I saw all this water, and I said, ‘Let’s get out of here.’ ” Chaney said by phone from Houston Tuesday. “We didn’t have an opportunity to move anything, any furniture or anything like that. A lot of my neighbors, anything that was on the lower level was gone.”

The Chaneys spent more than a week with one of their daughters, whose home in a Houston suburb had been spared. When Chaney returned to check on his home last week, he had to paddle a kayak for about a half-mile to get there.

“I hadn’t been in one of those before and I got turned over,” he said, chuckling. “My phone got messed up and I got totally soaked. But I got back in and continued.

“It’s something that all your life you’ve been an athlete and then you do something like that and are like, ‘I’m not that coordinated.’ ”

Chaney’s home sits on a bit of a slope, and he was relieved to find that the water had stopped just inches short of his doorway. Most of his neighbors were not so fortunate.

“I just counted my blessings,” said Chaney, who coached the Clippers, Rockets, Pistons, and Knicks after his playing career. “Some of our neighbors lost everything. You see all this stuff that’s been put out on the street, piles and piles of things.”

Bogut may be clear

Free agent center Andrew Bogut was scheduled to undergo a final bone scan on his left leg Tuesday and expected to be cleared for a full return to play, according to a league source.

The source said that Bogut’s camp has had discussions with four teams — including the Celtics — about signing the 7-footer. Bogut is planning to return to the US from his home in Australia this weekend and hopes to finalize a deal next week.

After Bogut negotiated a buyout with the 76ers last March, the big man chose to sign with the Cavaliers rather than the Celtics. But he broke his leg in his Cleveland debut March 6 and was lost for the year.

Boston has one open roster spot, and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said last month that the team may keep it open during training camp for greater roster flexibility in case a player is injured. But Bogut, who has averaged 10 points and 8.9 rebounds over his 12-year career, would seem to fill a major need in the post for the Celtics, who did little this summer to address their rebounding issues.

Nets sign Zeller

Former Celtics center Tyler Zeller signed a two-year deal with the Nets. The 7-footer played in just 51 games for Boston last season, averaging 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds a game . . . Last season, the Celtics often said that their group had an unusual camaraderie that made it feel like they were a college team. Now that group has been disassembled, of course, with just four of 15 players returning. But Isaiah Thomas, who was traded to the Cavaliers in the deal that brought Kyrie Irving to Boston, said he will maintain a connection with Boston’s returning youngsters Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Terry Rozier. “Those are my guys forever,” Thomas said last week. “Whenever they need help, if they need anything, I’m always here for that. And I’m a text or phone call away, and they know that. Our relationship is bigger than basketball, and I’m always going to look out for those guys, because we’ve been through it together.” . . . Celtics rookie forward Daniel Theis had 15 points and four rebounds in Germany’s 84-72 loss to Spain in the Eurobasket quarterfinals Tuesday.