Following 10-day stints with the Lakers and Mavericks, Isaiah Thomas is once again a free agent. Meanwhile, the Celtics have an open spot on their 15-man roster after waiving Jabari Parker. Appearing on the Toucher & Rich radio show in Boston, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was asked whether a reunion with Thomas was possible, and while he didn’t rule it out, Stevens also didn’t suggest it’s something Boston is pursuing.
“I’m a huge Isaiah fan, always have been,” Stevens said, per Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link). “… Our roster situation right now is complicated enough that we’ve got to get through next month to see where it lands and what it looks like. We’ll make other decisions, whether we have spots or adds or whatever the case may be. Isaiah is everything everyone has made him out to be.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- The Celtics have ruled out Marcus Smart for Friday’s game in Philadelphia due to the health and safety protocols (Twitter link via Marc Stein). Smart had originally been listed as questionable, suggesting perhaps he registered an inconclusive or false positive COVID-19 test, but based on the latest update, it appears he had no luck testing out of the protocols.
- The NBA announced today that the league has hit Nets star Kevin Durant with a $15K fine for using profane language during a media interview and failing to comply with an NBA Security interview as part of the review process.
- In his latest rumor roundup, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report identified a pair of under-the-radar Atlantic trade candidates, writing that Raptors big man Chris Boucher is considered available and that the Nets are believed to be exploring the idea of trading guard Jevon Carter.
- Although Knicks point guard Kemba Walker appears to be nearing a return from his knee soreness, there’s no guarantee that he’ll return to the starting lineup right away, and he may not play both parts of back-to-back sets again this season, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post.
Brad Stevens friendzoned IT. Said “He’s a great guy but not what we’re looking for”.
Not sure if Durant’s fine is justified or not, but NBA fines should really be based on a % of player salary. $15k for Durant is .0003% of his salary. To compare, for someone who makes $50k a year, that’s $18… There is probably zero motivation for Durant to care about breaking NBA rules because of that.
IT’s NBA career is over. Time to go overseas before his value drops even more.
Never gonna happen. Stevens doesn’t want to be handcuffed to IT if he signs him, and then is pressured to keep him.
maybe Kevin McHale can suit up too if Celtics are just building a roster of fan favorites. this is why we have GMs and why moron fans can play fantasy and 2k…makes me sick
I wanna see Jevon Carter in Celtoc Green!