Celtics Notes: Irving, Horford, Baynes
The Celtics hold the second spot in ESPN’s Future Power Rankings, with a roster full of players with All-Star potential and as many as three extra first-round picks coming their way next June, as Kevin Pelton details. One of those picks will be Sacramento’s unless it lands at No. 1.
However, the franchise could take a long-term hit this offseason should Kyrie Irving depart in free agency. The Celtics will be capped out and won’t have the ability to sign a major replacement should Irving leave the New England area. If the point guard does stick around, the team will face luxury-tax concerns, though Pelton is confident in GM Danny Ainge’s ability to properly navigate through the potential woes.
Here’s more from Boston:
- We have yet another indicator that Irving should be healthy heading into the Celtics‘ training camp with the point guard playing fullcourt basketball over the weekend, as Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe passes along. Irving was on the court in Miami playing alongside Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kelly Olynyk among others.
- The Celtics will continue to give Al Horford some run at the four, pairing him with Aron Baynes on the court, and A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports believes the duo will provide elite defense in the paint. Baynes and Horford played 13.3 minutes per game together last season and they had the best defensive rating (95.0) among all of Boston’s pairings with at least 10 minutes per game together.
- The Horford-Baynes pairing also provides the team with top 3-point range, as Blakely notes in the same piece. The Celtics shot 44.4% from downtown when the two bigs were on the floor, the best among all the team’s two-man combinations.
Rockets In Position To Make Another Move
The Rockets set a franchise record for most wins in a season with 65 victories last year. The team didn’t take home a coveted NBA championship but GM Daryl Morey believes no matter what pinnacles a franchise reaches, there’s always room to improve.
“When you’re trying to win a title, there’s always fine-tuning, you can always get better,” Morey said (via Mark Berman of Fox 26 on Twitter).
Morey hinted that he wouldn’t hesitate to make a major move should a worthwhile opportunity present itself. “We have all of our draft picks going forward. If something presents itself that allows us to make a trade to improve the team we’re not going to hesitate to do that,” Morey explained.
Houston lost Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute in free agency, though they were able to add Carmelo Anthony and Michael Carter-Williams.
The team also traded away Ryan Anderson, bringing in a former top-10 pick in Marquese Chriss. Chriss, who plateaued during his sophomore campaign with the Suns, is far from a finished product. However, the Rockets should be able to provide him with a better situation to develop, as he’ll be playing alongside established All-Stars and veterans as opposed to a team full of young talent and past-their-prime players.
Should Chriss improve, Morey will have another top trade asset in his arsenal and Houston could be in a position to add a real piece on the trade market.
Chriss, who is owed $3.2MM this season and has a team option on his deal for the 2019/20 season, can be dealt by the team right away, just not in a deal that aggregates his salary with another player. Those restrictions are removed two months after a trade, meaning when the calendar turns to November, Morey can attach Chriss to other players in a trade that brings back a larger salary.
There haven’t been any reports of Chriss being a trade candidate this season, though as we’ve seen with Morey, the wheels are always turning. It’s hard not to see the path that improves Chriss’ trade value early in the season and puts the Rockets in a place where they can yet again be major players on the trade market.
Maverick Notes: Summer 2019, Nowitzki, Roster Spots
Heading into the summer, the Mavericks appeared to have one of the worst long-term situations in the league, with ESPN ranking them 22nd in their future rankings. The list is compiled by Bobby Marks and Kevin Pelton as they project how each team will perform over the next three season.
Dallas made one of the biggest leaps in their latest edition of the power rankings, rising to 17th, fueled by the arrival of Luka Doncic and the signing of DeAndre Jordan, a pair of moves that should make them competitive this season. Marks notes that the team is projected to have $55MM in cap space next summer, so the team could ostensibly move even further up the rankings with a big signing in free agency.
Here’s more from Dallas:
- Dirk Nowitzki plays well with Devin Harris and J.J. Barea, so a move to the second-unit makes sense for the Mavericks, Eddie Sefko of Sports Day opines. Sefko notes that Nowitzki is all but certain to start Game 2 and 81 of the season. Those are the Mavericks’ first and last home games of the season.
- In the same piece, Sefko notes that the Mavs could elect to keep a roster spot open heading into the season. Dallas could be a candidate for a player that gets unexpectedly waived by a rival team.
- The Mavericks‘ reserves are excited to get more playing time with Nowitzki this season, Sefko passes along in a separate piece. “I told him, ‘You’re coming buddy. You’re with us.’ I’ll take him,” Barea said of the future Hall-of-Famer. “He’s all about pick and pop and shoot it. He’s working his butt off, too. Hopefully he stays healthy and can come in and help a little bit. The guys know how to play with him.”
Western Notes: Deng, Hill, Mavs, Capela
The Lakers and Luol Deng agreed to a buyout earlier this week, which will allow Los Angeles the ability to offer a top free agent a max contract next offseason. Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the final figure on what Deng agreed to give up in the agreement came out to $7.3MM, slightly less than what was previously reported.
The Lakers are projected to have approximately $38MM in cap space next offseason, enough to be a major player in the market. While we wait to see if the team makes any other moves, let’s check out some notes from their rivals in the Western Conference:
- The Suns are not interested in George Hill, Ashish Mathur of Amico Hoops reports. Phoenix traded away Brandon Knight over the weekend and has made inquiries on a few veteran options.
- The Mavericks lost Doug McDermott in free agency, but Ryan Broekhoff, who signed a multiyear, minimum-salary deal with Dallas, may be a suitable replacement for the former first-round pick, Eddie Sefko of Sports Day writes. The Mavericks need all the shooters they can get, Sefko adds, so Broekhoff may find himself getting some playing time as the season goes along.
- The Rockets and Clint Capela took some time to arrive at their five-year, $80MM+ deal but many of the team’s prominent members never doubted that the big man would return, as they tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “Oh, we’re not worried about stuff like that,” head coach Mike D’Antoni said of Capela possible slipping away. When James Harden was asked if he was concerned about Capela leaving, he replied “Nah.”
Community Shootaround: Detroit Pistons’ Playoff Chances
The Pistons entered the 2017/18 campaign with dreams of making the postseason but finished with a 39-43 record and a date with the lottery for the second straight year. The disappointing season brought changes in the Motor City, and with LeBron James out of the Central Division picture, the team may have an opportunity to rise in the standings.
Rod Beard of The Detroit News believes the best case scenario for the Pistons involves new coach Dwane Casey getting the team’s core to jell, thus getting the most out of the talent on the roster. Blake Griffin is in the midst of his first offseason with the club and he feels he’s at full health for the first time in several years.
Reggie Jackson is set to enter the season healthy after missing 37 games last season. Beard notes that the Pistons went just 12-25 during that span. Jackson’s presence on the court allows Detroit to get the most out of its other pieces, so having him healthy will be key this upcoming season.
The Pistons brought in Jose Calderon to mitigate the risk of a Jackson injury. Calderon may not see many minutes unless Jackson is sidelined, but if he’s called to action, he should be more effective at running the first team than Ish Smith, whose ball-dominant game is more suited for the second unit.
Offshore sportsbook Bovada has the Pistons’ over/under at 38.5 wins, the ninth-highest mark in the Eastern Conference and the third-highest in the Central Division. If Detroit can surpass its over/under by just a few wins, a playoff birth could be in the cards for this squad.
Do you believe the Pistons will surpass their projected win total and make the postseason? Do they have a chance to steal the Central Division crown in a weakened group? Or will they yet again fall short of their preseason goals?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!
Timberwolves To Work Out Several Veterans
Minnesota appears to be looking to bring in a veteran on the wing, with Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 reporting (Twitter link) that the team will host several free agents for workouts this week. Nick Young, Arron Afflalo, and Corey Brewer are among the players expected to meet with the Timberwolves.
The franchise has only 12 players on guaranteed salaries in addition to James Nunnally‘s partially guaranteed pact, so the organization has the ability to open up as many as two or three roster spots with ease. The Wolves could be an option for Luol Deng now that the wing is a free agent and they reportedly would have interest in Joakim Noah should the center hit the open market. Both Deng and Noah previously played under coach Tom Thibodeau when he was coaching in Chicago.
Brewer was drafted by the Timberwolves with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2007 draft before being dealt to the Knicks in the Carmelo Anthony trade. He came back to the Wolves in the summer of 2013 and they traded him again, this time to the Rockets in another three-team deal. Both stints in Minnesota predated Thibodeau’s arrival.
Minnesota had interest in Young early in free agency, though no deal materialized. He’s coming off a one-year, $5.19MM contract with the Warriors, one that he’s unlikely to surpass in annual value this offseason. The shooting guard scored just 7.3 points per contest during his lone season in Golden State and he was recently arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly failing to cooperate during a routine traffic stop.
Afflalo has played for six NBA franchises during his 11-year career. He shot 38.6% from behind the arc last season in Orlando, a figure that exactly matches his career average.
Suns Notes: Bridges, Point Guards, Melton
Mikal Bridges has the ability to immediately contribute for the Suns but the decision to trade up to the No. 10 spot was all about the future, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer writes. Bridges’ combination of top 3-point shooting and elite length make him a perfect long-term fit next to Devin Booker.
In the best-case scenario for the Suns, Bridges can be a J.J. Redick/Kyle Korver-type of shooter on one side of the court without being a liability on the defensive end, Tjarks adds. The scribe, noting that Bridges defended all five positions at times while playing at Villanova, envisions the wing finding success at the next level.
Here’s more from Phoenix:
- Tjarks wonders (same piece) if the Suns will experiment with Booker this season by playing him at point guard. Phoenix doesn’t have an experienced point guard on the team, though it has the assets to make another trade should it look for more experience at the position.
- Dan Favale of NBA Math wonders if the Suns will make a deal for a point guard, as he discusses on the Hardwood Knocks podcast. Favale speculates that George Hill or Kemba Walker could be possibilities while mentioning that neither the Hornets nor Cavs appear to be in full rebuilding mode, so acquiring one of the two veterans could be tough to pull off at this point.
- De’Anthony Melton, who was sent to Phoenix in the Ryan Anderson trade, remains unsigned and Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors recently examined what kind of deal the Suns could offer the 2018 second-round pick. Phoenix can sign him to a contract that lasts more than two years, but it would require the team to make another move that opens up cap space.
Celtics Notes: Irving, Hayward, Stevens
The Celtics have the ability to offer Kyrie Irving the most money next summer when he hits free agency. They can also offer him a familiar situation and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski believes Irving will ultimately look at the situation in Boston and stay put.
“I still would take Boston against the rest of the field,” Wojnarowski said on The Woj Pod (h/t NBC Sports Boston). “I still think in the end there comes a moment of truth when you look around, and you have to make a decision about somewhere else. And when you really start inspecting the questions that are in almost any other circumstance he would go to, you would say: ‘Boy, it’s pretty good here.’ … I still think it is going to be really hard to walk away from this [Boston].”
The Knicks loom as a possible destination for Irving, so would any team with enough cap space to fit him and Jimmy Butler on a pair of max deals, as the duo has been rumored to have interest in teaming up.
Here’s more from Boston:
- Both Gordon Hayward and Irving will enter camp ready to play at full speed, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays. “I don’t want to hype it up too much, but I’m saying that if our training camp were starting today that they would be here today going full speed,” GM Danny Ainge said. “It’s not like they need an extra month. I think that they know they have an extra month, so they are sort of pacing themselves. They’re playing as if to build up to that opening day of training camp [Sept. 26].”
- Brad Stevens will face more pressure this season than any of his previous five in Boston, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports writes. The scribe believes the Celtics have the talent and depth to live up to the expectations.
- Hayward’s health will be a key storyline for the Celtics this season, Blakely writes in a separate piece. The team will need his versatility on the court if they are going to compete with top teams like the Rockets and Warriors.
Jazz Sign Trey Lewis
The Jazz have signed Trey Lewis, according to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News (via Twitter). The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.
Lewis played at Louisville with Jazz star Donovan Mitchell. Woodyard has previously written about the duo’s close relationship.
The 6’2″ guard played for Utah’s two Summer League teams this offseason. During his four games in Las Vegas, he averaged 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds. and 2.3 assists per contest.
Lewis went undrafted in 2017 and spent his 2017/18 season playing aboard. He split time between JL Bourg-en-Bresse of the LNB Pro A in France and Ratiopharm Ulm of the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany
Grizzlies Waive Kobi Simmons
The Grizzlies have waived Kobi Simmons, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). Simmons had been on a two-way contract with Memphis.
Simmons played in 32 games for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 6.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 20.1 minutes of action per contest. He also spent time in the G League, playing for the Memphis Hustle where he saw 30.9 minutes per game during his 26 appearances.
Simmons went undrafted during the 2017 draft after playing just one season at the University of Arizona. He inked a two-way deal with Memphis last summer.