Celtics Trade Kemba Walker To Thunder
11:20am: The trade is now official, according to press releases from the Thunder and Celtics.
The second-round pick the Thunder will receive in 2025 will be the most favorable of the Celtics’ and Grizzlies’ picks, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman tweets.
The second-rounder that Boston will get in 2023 will be the least favorable of the following three picks that OKC controls:
- The Thunder’s own second-rounder.
- The Wizards’ second-rounder.
- The most favorable of the Mavericks’ and Heat’s second-rounders.
Boston agreed to give Brown a $500K guarantee for next season as part of the deal, according to Marks (Twitter link). The Celtics also generated a $6.88MM trade exception.
8:20am: The Celtics will send point guard Kemba Walker and a pair of draft picks to the Thunder in exchange for Al Horford, Moses Brown, and a future pick, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Boston has been looking for a taker for the veteran guard, who has been injured for much of the two years he spent with the team. A recent report said former president of basketball operations Danny Ainge started shopping Walker after the Celtics were knocked out of the playoffs last summer.
The main incentive for Boston was to get rid of Walker’s contract, which pays him close to $74MM over the next two seasons. He was considered an important addition when he signed a free agent deal with the Celtics two years ago, but a lingering knee injury limited his effectiveness. The 31-year-old missed 29 games this season and averaged 19.3 PPG, his worst scoring numbers in six years, while shooting just 42% from the field.
Walker’s contract includes a 15% trade bonus that will be voided, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). He would have received an additional $3.2MM if the trade had occurred after the league’s new calendar year starts on August 6.
The Thunder will receive the Celtics’ first-round pick this year, which is slotted at No. 16, along with a second-rounder in 2025. Boston will get OKC’s second-round selection in 2023. The Thunder now have three first-round picks in this year’s draft and five of the top 36 choices.
Horford returns to the Celtics two years after leaving for the Sixers in free agency. He spent one year in Philadelphia before being traded to Oklahoma City last December in a cost-cutting move. Horford never found a role on the rebuilding Thunder and played just 28 games before being shut down in late March after the trade deadline passed.
The 35-year-old big man was still effective when he played, averaging 14.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per night, and should be a welcome addition to the Celtics’ frontcourt. He will make $27MM next season and $26.5MM in 2022/23, but only $14.5MM of that year’s salary is guaranteed. Boston will save about $20MM for next season with the trade, Marks adds, and that figure could rise to $32MM for 2022/23 if Horford is waived before the season starts (Twitter link).
Brown, a 21-year-old center, showed a lot of promise in his second NBA season, starting 32 of the 43 games he played and averaging 8.6 PPG and 8.9 RPG per night. He is under contract through 2023/24, but no money is guaranteed beyond this season.
Today’s trade marks the first major deal for former coach Brad Stevens since he became the Celtics’ president of basketball operations two weeks ago. Wojnarowski notes that it involves Thunder general manager Sam Presti, who has been a friend of Stevens dating back to when he coached at Butler (Twitter link). Woj adds that it’s unusual for trades to take place before the pre-draft combine, but both sides were happy with what they got.
Coaching Rumors: Magic, Carlisle, Mavericks, Celtics
The Magic have requested permission to interview three assistants with no previous NBA head coaching experience, sources tell Josh Robbins of The Athletic. The requests involve Suns assistant Willie Green, Bucks assistant Charles Lee and Nets assistant Ime Udoka.
Orlando may be seeking a younger coach to oversee its rebuilding process after moving many of its veteran players at this year’s trade deadline. Former head coach Steve Clifford reportedly decided to part ways with the team because he didn’t want to commit to a rebuilding situation.
Green, 39, came to Phoenix in 2019 when Monty Williams was hired as head coach. He also served as an assistant coach with the Warriors and finished out his 12-year NBA career with the Magic in 2014/15.
Lee, 36, has been an assistant for seven seasons, working under Mike Budenholzer with the Hawks and Bucks. He has also been mentioned as a candidate for head coaching vacancies in New Orleans, Boston and possibly Milwaukee if the organization decides not to bring back Budenholzer.
Udoka, 43, has been a candidate for several openings in recent years. He is in his first season with Brooklyn after previously serving as an assistant with the Sixers and Spurs. Robbins notes that the Magic interviewed Udoka after Frank Vogel was fired in 2018, but Clifford was chosen for the job.
Orlando has already sought permission to interview Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, Lakers assistant Jason Kidd and Nuggets associate head coach Wes Unseld Jr.
Robbins speculates that Rick Carlisle, who resigned as Mavericks coach on Thursday, could be another name to watch because he and general manager John Hammond spent two years together in Detroit. However, Carlisle is expected to receive offers from teams that are ready to be competitive right away.
There’s more on the NBA’s coaching search:
- Carlisle could be the Bucks‘ top candidate if they fall short in the playoffs and decide to replace Budenholzer, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Real GM). MacMahon also cites rumors about Carlisle returning to the Pacers, where he coached from 2003-07, and speculates that he never would have left Dallas unless he was sure that another opportunity was awaiting.
- On the same podcast, MacMahon named Jamahl Mosley, Terry Stotts and Kidd as three likely candidates to replace Carlisle with the Mavericks. Mosley, who is also a candidate for other openings, has been an assistant in Dallas since 2014. Stotts served as an assistant to Carlisle with the Mavs before the Trail Blazers hired him as head coach.
- Zach Harper of The Athletic considers the Celtics‘ job the best one available in his coaching vacancy power rankings. He names Carlisle as the best choice for Boston.
Pacers Aren’t Looking To Replace Kevin Pritchard
The Pacers are among several teams making a coaching change this summer, but president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard is still safe in his job, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his latest podcast (hat tip to Real GM).
Pritchard has been assured that he will return for the 2021/22 season, according to Windhorst. He adds that team owner Herb Simon is very close to Pritchard and has no intention of replacing him any time soon.
There had been some speculation about Pritchard’s future after Indiana’s disappointing season and the decision to fire first-year coach Nate Bjorkgren. Pritchard recently accepted the blame for Bjorkgren’s failures, explaining that he decided to “take a risk” with an unconventional hiring.
Windhorst adds that the Pacers will seek a more experienced head coach this time. He also speculates that Pritchard may eventually leave on his own, saying, “I don’t know how much longer Kevin Pritchard wants to be in that job.”
A former NBA player and coach, Pritchard has been with the organization for a decade. He was hired in 2011 as director of player personnel and was later promoted to general manager before being put in charge of the front office in 2017.
Olympic Notes: Butler, Olynyk, Birch, Bjorkgren, Jokic, Australia
Jimmy Butler will not play for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. Butler had an invite but he battled through a variety of ailments this season and had a short turnaround between seasons after Miami surprisingly reached the NBA Finals last summer.
We have more info on this year’s Olympics:
- The Rockets’ Kelly Olynyk and Raptors’ Khem Birch are among the prominent players not listed among the 24 players Team Canada submitted to FIBA in advance of its Olympic qualifier, Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet tweets. They’re both unrestricted free agents. The Grizzlies’ Brandon Clarke is also not on the preliminary list, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets. The 24-man roster can be found here.
- Nate Bjorkgren, who was let go by the Pacers after one season as head coach, will join Nick Nurse’s Team Canada staff, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Bjorkgren was one of Nurse’s top assistants before his stint with Indiana.
- MVP Nikola Jokic won’t play for the Serbian team at the Olympic qualifier due to an exhausting NBA campaign, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Jokic told Serbian news agency Tanjug, “Simply, the condition of my body requires a longer absence from the court for recovery.” The Denver Post story asserts Jokic won’t play in the Olympics even if his national team qualifies, while an ESPN story says it’s unclear if Jokic would participate in Tokyo.
- The Australian national team will play exhibitions against Team USA, Nigeria and Argentina in Las Vegas before departing for Tokyo, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets. The 19-man preliminary roster, which will be trimmed to 12, is expected to be loaded with NBA players, including Ben Simmons and Joe Ingles.
Mavericks Notes: Carlisle, Doncic, Nelson, Forde, Finley, Green
There are quite a few head coaching jobs Rick Carlisle could pursue after parting ways with the Mavericks on Thursday. He may even wind up with a team that still has a head coach. There have been rumblings that if the Bucks fire Mike Budenholzer, Carlisle could be his replacement, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. The rumors about Carlisle taking over an Eastern Conference playoff contender and becoming Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s coach have been circulating for weeks, Stein adds.
We have more info on the Mavs:
- Prior to the news of Carlisle’s departure, Luka Doncic addressed the organization’s decision this week to remove Donnie Nelson as president of basketball operations and expressed his disappointment, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News relays. “It was kind of tough to me,” Doncic said during a press conference in Slovenia. “I really like Donnie. [I’ve known] him since I was a kid and he was the one that drafted me. It was tough to me, seeing that, but I’m not the one making decisions there.” Doncic is practicing with his national team for the Olympic qualifying tournament later this month.
- Despite Nelson’s dismissal, Doncic still intends to sign a super-max extension before next season, Tim Cato and Sam Amick of The Athletic hear. Doncic strongly hinted after the season he would sign his rookie scale extension, which would be worth a projected $201.5MM over five years after making the All-NBA team two straight years.
- The Mavericks have hired Mike Forde’s Sportsology, a consulting firm frequently used by NBA teams, to assist in the search for a new head of basketball operations., Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Nine NBA teams have either hired or promoted from within a new chief basketball executive in the past two seasons and three of those searches— Pelicans, Wizards, and Kings —were led by Forde, Yaron Weitzman of The Ringer noted earlier this year.
- Former Mavericks All-Star Michael Finley, currently the team’s VP of basketball operations, has emerged as a candidate to replace Nelson, Stein tweets.
- The team’s decision to take Josh Green over Saddiq Bey in last year’s draft frustrated a number of key executives and scouts., Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman tweets. Green was selected at No. 18 and the Pistons snapped up Bey, who was named to the All-Rookie First Team, with the next pick. The Mavs’ analytics team wanted Green and won the debate.
Ball, Edwards, Haliburton Head All-Rookie Team
LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Jae’Sean Tate and Saddiq Bey comprised this year’s All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced on Thursday in a press release.
Ball, who was named Rookie of the Year on Thursday, led first-year NBA players in assists (6.1 APG) and steals (1.59 SPG) and ranked second in scoring (15.7 PPG) and rebounding (5.9 RPG) for the Hornets. Edwards, the No. 1 pick in the draft by the Timberwolves, averaged a rookie-high 19.3 PPG.
The Kings’ Haliburton ranked third among rookies in scoring (13.0 PPG) and second in assists (5.3 APG). Bey, the 19th overall pick, made a rookie-high 175 three-pointers for the Pistons. Tate, who went undrafted in 2018 and played in Australia last season, averaged 11.3 PPG and 5.3 PPG for the Rockets.
Ball and Edwards were the only unanimous First Team selections, receiving 99 of 99 potential First Team votes. Haliburton got 98, while Bey had 63 and Tate received 57.
Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley narrowly missed out on the top five, having earned 51 votes for the First Team.
Here are both All-Rookie teams in full, with their voting point totals notes in parentheses. Players received two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote.
2020/21 All-Rookie First Team:
- LaMelo Ball, Hornets (198)
- Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves (198)
- Tyrese Haliburton, Kings (197)
- Saddiq Bey, Pistons (162)
- Jae’Sean Tate, Rockets (154)
2020/21 All-Rookie Second Team:
- Immanuel Quickley, Knicks (148)
- Desmond Bane, Grizzlies (88)
- Isaiah Stewart, Pistons (71)
- Isaac Okoro, Cavaliers (53)
- Patrick Williams, Bulls (50)
Nuggets guard Facundo Campazzo (42), Magic guard Cole Anthony (40), and Warriors center James Wiseman (24) were among the players who just missed the cut. Nine other players received votes — you can view the full voting results right here.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Playoff Edition
Throughout the season, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this offseason. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. With the playoffs in full swing, we take a look at players on teams still alive in the postseason:
Lou Williams, Hawks, 34, PG/SG (Up) – Signed to a three-year, $24MM deal in 2018
When the Clippers and Hawks swapped veteran point guards at the trade deadline, the general consensus was that Los Angeles pulled off a coup landing Rajon Rondo. It doesn’t look that way right now. Rondo has only played nine minutes in the last four games against Utah, while Williams had 15 points, three assists and two steals in 23 minutes during Atlanta’s dramatic Game 5 comeback at Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Williams may not possess Rondo’s leadership qualities, but he’s been instant offense for many seasons wherever he’s played. The 34-year-old has been in the league since 2005 but he can stick around a few more seasons due to his offensive prowess.
Jeff Green, Nets, 34, PF (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $2.56MM deal in 2020
It’s amazing to think that the Jazz had no use for Green midway through last season and put him on waivers. The Rockets scooped him up and he was highly productive. He’s doing the same thing for the Nets. After a solid regular season, Green battled a foot injury that sidelined him for six postseason games. Back in action, Green delivered a monster performance in Game 5 against Milwaukee, firing in 27 points while draining 7-of-8 3-point attempts. Green won’t have any trouble finding work as an unrestricted free agent this summer, whether he re-signs with Brooklyn or joins another contender.
Reggie Jackson, Clippers, 31, PG (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $2.33MM deal in 2020
A TNT broadcaster called Jackson “Mr. June” as he made several clutch baskets in Game 5 at Utah on Wednesday. He’s not on the level of baseball’s “Mr. October” but this Reggie Jackson is proving to be a consistent playoff performer for the Clippers. He averaged 15.4 PPG against Dallas in the opening round, including a 25-point outing in Game 6. He scored 29 points in Game 2 and 22 in Game 5 against the Jazz. Jackson has also kept his turnovers down to a minimum. After having to settle for the veteran’s minimum in free agency last year, he’s due for a substantial raise when he enters the market again this summer.
Mike Conley, Jazz, 33, PG (Down) – Signed to a five-year, $152.6MM deal in 2016
Conley finally got his first taste of the All-Star Game this season. He got off to an impressive start in these playoffs, scoring 20 or more points in the first three games against Memphis. The injury bug soon bit him as Utah closed out the series and he’s been sidelined with a hamstring strain throughout the second round. That’s the main concern with Conley as he enters unrestricted free agency – he’s had numerous leg injuries in recent seasons. That could limit the amount of years teams will be willing to offer him.
Atlantic Notes: Portis, Durant, Embiid, Lowry
Bobby Portis played for the Knicks during the 2019/20 season and it’s not out of the question he’ll return for a second stint, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Portis is widely expected to decline his $3.8MM player option, which would make him an unrestricted free agent this summer. It wouldn’t be a shock if the Knicks were interested in the Bucks’ power forward, who averaged 11.4 PPG and 7.1 RPG this season. They declined a $15MM option on Portis last offseason but were open to him returning at a reduced price, Berman adds.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks desperately tried to convince Kevin Durant to join them in free agency and keep him away from the Nets, claims Matt Sullivan’s new book, “Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, and Progress with the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstars of Tomorrow” (hat tip to NetsDaily.com). The Knicks even went so far as to urge Durant’s father Wayne Pratt — a Knicks fan — to intervene and convince his son to play with them. That approach backfired on them, as Sullivan detailed.
- Joel Embiid’s injury history — the latest being his current knee ailment — could affect extension talks with the Sixers, Derek Bodner of The Athletic notes. Embiid has two years left on his current contract and could sign a four-year super-max extension this summer. If he waits until next summer, he could get an extra year on that extension, but would have to re-qualify for the super-max by making an All-NBA team again next season, winning Defensive Player of the Year, or earning MVP honors. With the injuries piling up, Embiid might want to lock into an extension sooner rather than later.
- The Knicks, Sixers, Heat and Mavericks would seem to be logical destinations for the Raptors’ longtime point guard Kyle Lowry if he leaves Toronto. Eric Koreen of The Athletic takes a closer look at how Lowry would fit onto each of those teams.
Rafael Stone Talks Upcoming Draft, Scouting, John Wall, More
Rockets general manager Rafael Stone sat down for an extended conversation with Kelly Iko of The Athletic as the team heads into a major offseason, looking to continue a massive roster overhaul.
After being compelled into trading All-Star guard James Harden to Brooklyn, an injury-plagued Houston team finished with a 17-55 record during its inaugural season under new head coach Stephen Silas.
In the interview, Stone discusses a variety of topics, including how he and his front office team are prepping for what could be a loaded 2021 draft, the way he and his staff evaluate talent in an effort to land under-the-radar depth, and what he projects as the futures of two of the team’s priciest veteran players.
The full story is well worth a read, as Stone also touches on his relationship with team owner Tilman Fertitta, how the team dealt with COVID-19-related challenges during the 2020/21 season, his chemistry with Silas, and more.
Here are some highlights:
On taking an open-minded approach to talent in the upcoming 2021 draft:
“I’m definitely not geared towards any one type of player; we’re just going to try and find the player or players that we think have the potential to be the best. We’re not a team in our iteration that should be focused on this position versus that position, A. But B, I don’t know that any team is generally doing that in the draft. I think the draft is where you’re trying to find just good talented basketball players, I think, where you start thinking about real positionality and holes is more free agency.”
On Houston’s scouting process:
“It’s definitely a collective effort. It’s not just me, I’d say I do my best to use as many different sources of information as I can… I watch a ton. I try to watch them in different situations, I try to envision how they’ll look in our system, both offensively and defensively… My way of thinking about it is you try to funnel. If you can get people who think about basketball differently excited about the same guy, then maybe that’s an interesting guy. When you get to undrafted free agents, or the end of the second round in some respects, you can take a little bit more risk.”
On pricey point guard John Wall‘s long-term fit with Houston:
“John was great… Highly competitive guy who’s nice, super high basketball IQ. We were talking to our young guys the other day, and they were laughing about how John looks like he’s half-listening, and then they’ve got questions and he’s walking them through A, B, C through quadruple Z. He’s been around long enough now. He understands his position, he understands his teammates’ positions, he understands what the defense is doing. Having guys around like that, that’s just about what a pro is supposed to do; you’re supposed to get the whole thing… It’s great for young guys to see that because that’s the level of knowledge that you should attain. You’re not going to have that as a rookie.”
On talented swingman Kevin Porter Jr.:
“His ballhandling is exceptional. That’s not a secret. His passing is really good, too. It did seem like he was miscast playing off the ball. So maybe we were a little more excited about him because we thought that we could maybe unlock a higher upside by moving him onto the ball. We might have been more excited about him than other teams. I’m not in their room, I don’t know what other teams were doing, so I have no idea. But we really liked him.”
Rick Carlisle Steps Down As Mavericks Head Coach
3:50pm: The Mavericks have confirmed Carlisle’s departure in a press release (Twitter link).
3:10pm: Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is stepping down from his post after 13 years in Dallas, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. He had two years left on his current deal with the club.
Carlisle’s crowning achievement in Dallas was leading the club to its only NBA title in 2011 with superstar power forward Dirk Nowitzki.
It appeared that, with the recent ascent of young First Team All-NBA guard Luka Doncic, Carlisle would be well-positioned to lead the club to many future deep playoff runs. During the last two seasons, Carlisle and Doncic led the Mavericks back to the playoffs, where they lost two consecutive hard-fought first-round battles against the Clippers.
In head coaching tenures with the Pistons, Pacers, and Mavericks, Carlisle, 61, has accrued a regular season head coaching win/loss record of 836-689. He was voted the 2001/02 Coach of the Year while with Detroit. His teams have made the playoffs in 14 of his 19 seasons as a head coach.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link), Carlisle had been the third-longest-tenured current NBA head coach, behind only five-time champion Gregg Popovich with the Spurs and three-time champion (twice as the head coach, once as an assistant) Erik Spoelstra with the Heat.
For an organization with the level of relative infrastructural stability the Mavericks had demonstrated for over a decade, this has been an unprecedented few days.
Earlier this week, a report by The Athletic detailed major front office conflict surrounding sports gambler-turned-director of quantitative research and development Haralabos Voulgaris. Yesterday, news became public that the team had parted company with GM Donnie Nelson, who had worked in the Dallas front office for 24 seasons and had held the GM position for 16 years. The decision had actually been reached on Sunday, a day before The Athletic’s scathing story was published.
The Mavericks are now the seventh team to lose a head coach following the 2020/21 season. The Wizards, Trail Blazers, Celtics (the team that drafted Carlisle in 1984), Pacers (the team for which Carlisle served as a head coach from 2003-2007), Pelicans, and Magic also have head coaching vacancies. Should Carlisle want to continue coaching, there are several playoff-caliber rosters among these, sporting six 2021 All-Stars, available as of this writing.
Carlisle released a statement addressing his departure to ESPN (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski):
“After a number of in-person conversations with Mark Cuban over the last week, today I informed him that I will not be returning as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. This was solely my decision. My family and I have had an amazing 13-year experience working with great people in a great city. It has been an honor to work along [with] Mark, [Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall], Donnie, [vice president of basketball operations Michael Finley], [assistant GM Keith Grant], Dirk, [former Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd] and every player and assistant coach I’ve had here. Dallas will always be home, but I am excited about the next chapter of my coaching career.”
Cuban has also weighed in on the news.
“I truly love Rick Carlisle,” he said in a statement to ESPN (Twitter link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN). “He was not only a good coach but also a friend and confidant. Our relationship was so much more than basketball. And I know that won’t ever change.”
As for Dallas’ fresh vacancy, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets that star Doncic is a big fan of assistant coach Jamahl Mosley. “He’s got the things needed for a head coach,” Doncic noted after Mosley subbed in for Carlisle during a 99-86 win over the Knicks this spring.
Mosley has been a Mavericks assistant since 2014. John Hollinger of The Athletic concurred (Twitter link) that Mosley would get significant consideration.
Doncic had still been expected to ink a super-max contract extension once he became eligible later this summer after the news broke of Nelson’s departure, despite a strained relationship with Voulgaris. MacMahon tweets that the relationship between Carlisle and Doncic had also been tense, and that Carlisle may have been coaching for his job during the 2021/22 season.
Cuban informs Marc Stein of the New York Times (via Twitter) that he will look to replace Nelson as the new head of basketball operations before finding a replacement for Carlisle.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.