Celtics Notes: One-And-Dones, Hayward, Morris
The Celtics may represent the best example of one-and-done collegiate players thriving at the NBA level, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston writes, citing the recent success of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as the reasons why.
“I’ve been real impressed with our last two guys who came from college, played one year,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “They were obviously ready for a lot of the demands of the NBA.”
Of course not every player that comes out of college early can step up for their team out of the gates, Blakely mentions former first overall pick and current Celtics G League affiliate player Anthony Bennett as one particularly notorious example.
There’s more Celtics news this afternoon:
- Although an image circulated today of Gordon Hayward not wearing an ankle brace, the timeline for his recovery hasn’t changed, Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston says. Per president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, the organization is still of the mindset that Hayward will play next year.
- Since his return from a knee injury last month, the Celtics have been cautious with Marcus Morris. Now, NBC Sports Boston’s A. Sherrod Blakely writes, his minute restriction has been lifted.
- While he could have made more money by continuing to play in Europe, Celtics rookie Daniel Theis didn’t want to miss his opportunity to play in the NBA. Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald spoke with the forward about his decision to come over.
Northwest Notes: Faried, Muhammad, Mirotic
While his days with the team have appeared numbered for a while now, Kenneth Faried‘s role with the Nuggets seems particularly tenuous now that he has failed to see action in 10 of the club’s past 12 games. A discussion piece at the Denver Post covers the Manimal’s future in Denver.
There are plenty of things that Faried does well when he’s active with the Nuggets. His energy level is contagious and he fares well in certain efficiency metrics given his ability to fill the stat sheet in limited minutes. Alas, defensive shortcomings, paired with the fact that Denver has plenty of other suitable forwards, have led to a lack of opportunity for the 28-year-old veteran.
A trade for Faried could be forthcoming, although such a revelation doesn’t exactly qualify as groundbreaking. Unfortunately for the Nuggets, Faried’s stock could be lower now than when he was first floated as a possible trade piece.
There’s more from the Northwest Division today:
- Timberwolves forward Shabazz Muhammad has signed with agents Happy Walters and George Langberg of Catalyst Sports, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- While Nikola Mirotic‘s name has been linked to the Jazz, team beat writer Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that he’d be surprised if Utah gave up a first-round pick for him.
- The Timberwolves are actively looking at the buyout market, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News reports, but there hasn’t been much trade talk in the organization.
Pacific Notes: Teodosic, Davis, Fox
There’s no exact timetable for Milos Teodosic‘s return, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. The seasoned Clippers rookie is making progress after missing Saturday’s contest but remains sidelined with the same injury that plagued him earlier this season.
Teodosic missed 22 games with the plantar fascia injury from October to mid-December but managed to work his way back into a significant role in the Clippers rotation.
On the season, Teodosic has averaged 8.4 points and 5.2 assists in 24.4 minutes per game for the Clippers.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division tonight:
- The Warriors always tend to have an eye on their major long-term goals, kicking around possible acquisition targets that they could pursue when the time is right. Tim Kawakami of The Athletic writes that one of those targets could be Anthony Davis.
- Rookie guard De’Aaron Fox has made a conscious effort to be more aggressive to take advantage of his speed, specifically in half-court sets. As Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes, the decision paid off in a recent Kings‘ win. “I was just able to create and if it wasn’t my assist it was a hockey assist – so it was a pass and another pass. Just trying to be able to start the offense and get the defense moving.“
- The Suns won’t be welcoming big man Alan Williams back to the lineup before February but the 24-year-old is still heavily involved with his team. Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic writes that Williams has become a very noticeably enthusiastic supporter of his teammates.
Bucks Convert Kilpatrick’s Deal, Waive Bolomboy
9:18pm: Both moves are official, the team announced in a press release.
4:32pm: The Bucks will convert guard Sean Kilpatrick‘s two-way contract into a regular season deal, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets. The shooting guard signed on with the club on December 18 and has seen action in five games since.
To free up a regular roster slot, the club will waive Joel Bolomboy whose own two-way deal had been converted into a regular season contract earlier today.
With Bolomboy out of the picture, Kilpatrick will slide into the vacancy that was initially created earlier this morning when the team waived DeAndre Liggins ahead of the deadline for his deal to become guaranteed.
All in all, both Liggins and Bolomboy are out of the picture, Kilpatrick will be Milwaukee’s 15th regular season contract, Munford was added on a two-way deal and the other two-way slot remains vacant.
Southwest Notes: Leonard, Weber, Green
While it seems Kawhi Leonard may have partially torn his shoulder, the Spurs don’t seem particularly concerned about the injury. Immediately after mentioning the tear to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News, head coach Gregg Popovich said that the forward could potentially return before the end of the team’s three-game road trip.
According to ESPN’s Michael Wright, Leonard has not even been formally ruled out for Thursday’s game.
Sidelined until mid-December with a quad injury, Leonard will now miss time just as he began to see an increased work load. Since the Spurs’ Boxing Day contest, Leonard had played four of five games, averaging 28.2 minutes and 21.3 points per game.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Mavs are one team that could potentially benefit from “competitively tanking” but doing so may be easier said than done, Matt Mosley of the Dallas Morning News implies. The scribe says that Rick Carlisle isn’t a great coach for tanking and adds that Dennis Smith Jr. may have other plans following a losing year at N.C. State.
- The Rockets may have a looming decision to make with regard to Briante Weber, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. Because of the 45-day limit on his two-way contract Houston may need to convert his deal into a standard one if they plan to keep featuring him while James Harden recovers from an injury.
- Houston native and recent Rockets addition Gerald Green has made an impact in his brief time with the franchise, averaging 19.8 points per game off the bench in his last five games. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes there wasn’t much of a market for his services prior to his signing. “No team wanted me, man. No team wanted me. No team wanted me,” Green said. “No overseas team. Not even a D-League team. So this is the only team that took a chance on me. For me, I’m just so overwhelmed and excited about the opportunity.“
Central Notes: Cavs, Payne, Bolomboy
The Cavaliers recently lost five of seven games and it’s not even the first time that the team has hit that milestone this season. Consider it a bump in the road that the team can live with, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes.
“We know who we are now, what we want to do. Sometimes even when you know you still take some bumps along that road. That’s OK,” LeBron James said, adding that the team embroiled in a rough patch now is in a better place than the earlier version of the Cavaliers that stumbled at the beginning of the season.
Before Saturday, the Cavaliers had lost five straight on the road, a concerning slide considering that they have three more games left on their current road trip.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Injured Bulls point guard Cameron Payne has been cleared for increased activity, K.C. Jonson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. He adds that a final decision on Zach LaVine‘s return date will be made tomorrow.
- While they haven’t said so specifically, the Bucks may have strategically converted and waived Joel Bolomboy earlier today to dissuade teams from scooping him up off of waivers, Matt Velasquez of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes. As things stand, a team will need to sign him for the remainder of the season if they claim him.
- The Cavaliers have no intention of using the $4.8MM trade exception created in the Kyle Korver deal last season, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. With no roster vacancies and a monstrous luxury tax bill as it is, such a revelation isn’t particularly surprising.
Clippers Sign Tyrone Wallace, Waive Jamil Wilson
JANUARY 6, 4:15pm: Wallace’s signing is official, according to Real GM’s transactions report.
JANUARY 5, 4:58pm: The Clippers will sign Tyrone Wallace and waive Jamil Wilson, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Wallace’s deal with the club will be a two-way pact, as was Wilson’s.
Wojnarowski adds that despite his release, Wilson had looked like a serviceable NBA player during his stint with the Clippers; the organization simply needed backcourt help at this point in the season.
With both Austin Rivers and Patrick Beverley on the sidelines, the Clippers have lacked guard depth behind sixth man Lou Williams. Wallace, the final pick of the 2016 NBA draft, will look to bring some of the skills he’s flashed with Los Angeles’ G League affiliate now that he’s been called up to the big league club.
In 23 contests with the Agua Caliente Clippers, a team he’ll continue to play for intermittently due to the two-way deal, Wallace has averaged 22.8 points and 5.4 assists per game. His ability to score the ball will be much appreciated by the team currently getting just 13.7 points per game out of the starting backcourt of Milos Teodosic and C.J. Williams.
As Wojnarowski mentioned in his tweet, Wilson had played well for the Clips, averaging 7.0 points per game in 18.3 minutes. He started 10 of his 15 games with the big league franchise and played five more in the G League.
Rockets To Guarantee Green’s Deal, Waive Brown
JANUARY 6, 12:37pm: Per Shams Charania of The Vertical, the Rockets would like to re-sign Brown later in the season for the rest of the year and the playoffs.
JANUARY 5, 12:35pm: The Rockets have officially waived Brown, the team announced today (via Twitter).
JANUARY 4, 9:42pm: The Rockets are expected to guarantee Gerald Green‘s contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The deadline for the veteran’s currently non-guaranteed deal is this Sunday but the franchise has every intention of keeping him.
To free up roster space after committing to the 31-year-old offensive sparkplug, the Rockets will waive point guard Bobby Brown. With Green aboard and Brown released, Houston will have one free regular contract slot open for flexibility.
Brown, a 33-year-old veteran of multiple leagues, has seen action in 20 contests for Houston but has ceded playing time to Briante Weber of late. He could, Wojnarowski writes, end up back with the club on a 10-day deal.
Brown, like Green, had a non-guaranteed contract for 2017/18 and will need to be waived by the Rockets before January 7.
[RELATED: Complete list of players on non-guaranteed contracts]
Green has played five games for the Rockets since signing with the club in late December, averaging 21 points per game over his most recent four. He’s dropped 27 and 29 points in his last two contests.
Atlantic Notes: Dinwiddie, Porizingis, Powell
It’s been a long road for Spencer Dinwiddie. Now the journeyman guard finds him a critical piece of the Nets after bouncing around the NBA and G League. Brian Lewis of the New York Post wrote about the 24-year-old’s rise to prominence.
“His attention to detail, his approach to the game has really got him where he is, and it’s helped his confidence a lot,” Nets teammate Quincy Acy, no stranger to the journeyman lifestyle said. “He’s playing well. He deserves everything he’s getting right now. He worked for it. I love to see guys like that succeed, guys that really worked for it off the court. It’s really showing.”
Dinwiddie is averaging 12.8 points and 6.8 assists per game for the Nets and has established himself as a reliable option in the clutch.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Is it time to start believing in the Celtics? That’s the question that Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports asks, suggesting that the team has made a case for itself as a legitimate contender for the East crown as soon as this season.
- While there are plenty of NBA personalities who believe in Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis‘s potential to be a franchise player, a pair of European scouts aren’t so sure. Marc Berman of the New York Post features the somewhat bearish outlook on the 22-year-old unicorn in his latest.
- Raptors swingman Norman Powell has seen his role decrease of late thanks to the solid play of other young players in the lineup. “He’s always been up and down, in and out of the lineup,” teammate Kyle Lowry told Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. “I think he consistently stays ready as a professional athlete and does his job. It’s just a tough spot for him to be in right now.“
Poll: Should The Hornets Trade Kemba Walker?
All is not well in Charlotte. The team is handcuffed to a core that isn’t yielding much success, they can’t stay healthy to achieve any semblance of consistency and the cost to finance the underwhelming production is about to get a lot more expensive thanks to the luxury tax.
All told, Tim Bontemps of Washington Post thinks it’s time to flip Kemba Walker.
Like many other NBA teams, the Hornets are on pace to fall above the luxury tax line. That’s a palatable burden if a team is in contention for postseason success but not so much when they’re 14-23 and well out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
If nothing changes in Charlotte, the Hornets could pay the luxury tax not only this year but next season as well. In fact, for 2018/19 they already have 10 players on guaranteed deals slated to make $116.4MM.
While the Hornets could theoretically make a push if all of a sudden they were blessed with good fortune in the health department but not even that would change the fact that many of their key rotational pieces are in or passed their prime.
Trading Walker, the team’s lone, true, ascendant star may seem counterintuitive but, as Bontemps writes, it would alleviate part of the team’s financial problems while also giving them a jump-start at a rebuild.
A hypothetical swap with the Knicks could potentially yield something along the lines of Frank Ntilikina, Joakim Noah and New York’s 2018 first-round pick. That’s a plausible package that could simultaneously bring two building blocks and save the team money.
In another scenario, Bontemps offers up the notion of packaging Walker with a costly veteran like Marvin Williams to help clear the books while still netting a building block or two.
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