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NBA GMs High On Cavs’ Offseason Moves, Bucks’ Title Chances

October 4th, 2022 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers‘ acquisition of Donovan Mitchell made their offseason the most successful of any NBA team, according to the league’s general managers. In his annual survey of the NBA’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 41% of the GM respondents picked Cleveland as having made the best offseason moves, while 59% chose the addition of Mitchell as the move that will have the biggest impact.

The Timberwolves and Jazz were on opposite ends of one of the summer’s other blockbuster trades, but the two clubs tied for second (along with the Sixers) in the GM vote for which teams made the best overall offseason moves. Minnesota’s trade for Rudy Gobert was the second-leading vote-getter for the offseason’s most impactful single acquisition, earning 31% of the vote.

The team viewed by the majority of GMs as the title favorite for 2023 didn’t earn any votes for having the best offseason. According to Schuhmann, 43% of the poll respondents picked the Bucks to win next year’s Finals, with GMs apparently betting on continuity in Milwaukee. The Warriors (25%), Clippers (21%), and Celtics (11%) also received votes.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

NBA general managers expect the Clippers – who will have Kawhi Leonard back – to be the most improved team in 2022/23. L.A. received 41% of the vote, with the Cavaliers and Pelicans at 17% apiece.
The Celtics‘ trade for Malcolm Brogdon earned the most votes (28%) for the summer’s most underrated acquisition. The Sixers‘ signing of P.J. Tucker and the Clippers‘ addition of John Wall were the runners-up, with 14% each.
Asked which team has the most promising young core, NBA GMs overwhelmingly chose the Cavaliers (41%) and Grizzlies (38%). The Pistons (10%) were the only other club to get multiple votes.
NBA GMs view Magic forward Paolo Banchero as the best bet to win Rookie of the Year (79%) and also chose him as the 2022 draftee most likely to be the best player in five years (31%), narrowly edging Thunder big man Chet Holmgren (28%). As for the steal of the draft, GMs were split between Pistons big man Jalen Duren and Rockets forward Tari Eason (14% apiece), among many others.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic was picked as the favorite to win MVP, earning 48% of the vote from NBA GMs. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks came in second with 34%.

Celtics Notes: Griffin, Smart, Small Ball, Hauser

October 3rd, 2022 at 7:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Blake Griffin, who officially signed with the Celtics on Monday, was pleasantly surprised by how the team greeted him upon his arrival, Darren Hartwell of Yahoo Sports relays.

“I’ve talked to pretty much everybody,” Griffin said. “I was talking to some guys (Sunday). … I’m actually very — not surprised, but the amount of maturity and welcomingness (that the Celtics’ players showed) … it’s a different atmosphere than I was sort of used to, in a good way. They were very welcoming: everybody, one through 15. Practice today was focused, very encouraging, helpful. I think you kind of take that for granted because it’s not always the case everywhere you go.”

We have more on the Celtics:

Marcus Smart, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, hopes Boston is the only team he plays for, according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. “That’d be special, especially playing for a franchise that’s known for greatness,” Smart said. “So it’s something I’ve been thinking about and it’ll continue to be something I think about. It’s a great thing to think about. You see those banners when you walk into the Garden. You feel the history and the past. You feel the blood, sweat, and tears that the people in front of you left, and you want to be part of that.”
Though they looked a little sloppy at times, the Celtics had an eye-opening start to the preseason, routing the Hornets by 41 points. One of the interesting twists from interim coach Joe Mazzulla, as Jared Weiss of The Athletic notes, was a small-ball lineup he used in the second quarter with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at the power positions and guards Malcolm Brogdon, Smart and Derrick White rounding out the unit.
An informal poll conducted by Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston during Media Day revealed Sam Hauser as the player who could have the most surprising impact this season. Hauser, who re-signed with the club on a three-year deal, appeared in 26 games off the bench last season. “Sam, in open gym, didn’t seem like he ever misses,” White said. “He didn’t miss much last year. And so just getting that year under his belt, being more assertive, and more sure of himself.”

Celtics Sign Blake Griffin

October 3rd, 2022 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 3: The signing is official, the Celtics announced in a press release.

SEPTEMBER 30: The Celtics have agreed to a deal with free agent big man Blake Griffin, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski, Griffin will sign a fully guaranteed one-year contract with Boston.

The deal will be worth the veteran’s minimum, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe confirms (via Twitter). Griffin will earn $2,905,851, while the Celtics will take on a cap hit of $1,836,090.

Griffin, 33, spent last season in Brooklyn, averaging 6.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game for the Nets in 56 appearances (17.1 MPG). His shooting line was just .425/.262/.724.

The six-time All-Star’s role and production have declined significantly since his prime years with the Clippers and Pistons. Last season was the first time he came off the bench more often than he started, the first time he averaged fewer than 25 minutes per game, and the first time he averaged fewer than 11 points per game.

Still, the Celtics won’t be expecting Griffin to recapture his All-Star form. Boston simply needs more reliable depth in a frontcourt that has already been hit hard by injuries. Danilo Gallinari is expected to miss most or all of the 2022/23 season while recovering from a torn ACL, while Robert Williams will be out until at least November or December following knee surgery.

Multiple reports leading up to training camp indicated that the Celtics wanted to take a look at their in-house options before deciding whether to sign a veteran free agent. Several days into camp, it seems the team had seen enough to recognize that another veteran was necessary.

The Cetlics had no shortage of options in free agency — LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony, Hassan Whiteside, DeMarcus Cousins, Tristan Thompson, and Dwight Howard are among the unsigned veterans still on the market. But the team attended Griffin’s recent workouts in Los Angeles and liked what it saw there, per Himmelsbach.

Boston has a full 20-man training camp roster, so the club will need to waive a player in order to make room for Griffin. I’d expect one of the six players on a non-guaranteed contract – Noah Vonleh, Jake Layman, Justin Jackson, Brodric Thomas, Luka Samanic, or Denzel Valentine – to be cut to open up a spot.

Celtics Players Know Few Details About Ime Udoka’s Situation

October 3rd, 2022 at 10:05am CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics have been guarded about releasing information on the actions that led to the suspension of head coach Ime Udoka, and the players haven’t been told much either. After interim coach Joe Mazzulla handled his first preseason game Sunday, Marcus Smart told Steve Bullpet of Heavy that the team hasn’t been informed about what actually happened.

“That’s the thing, we don’t know anything,” Smart said. “So I don’t know what they can and can’t talk about or what the legal reasons are. That’s not my business, and I don’t want it to be. They made a decision. Whatever they feel, they have every right. That’s why you have your lawyers and things like that. So whatever they can say, they’ll say.

“But it’s just tough, because we don’t know what they can say because of that reason. So it’s tough on both sides. But we’re here to play basketball. We’ll let those guys figure it out, and we’ll go from there.”

Udoka will sit out the entire 2022/23 season as punishment for having an affair with a staff member. At a press conference last month, team owner Wyc Grousbeck said a law firm that investigated the matter discovered “a volume of violations” that Udoka allegedly committed. He also suggested that Udoka will face “a significant financial penalty,” but didn’t offer any specifics on the case.

A report last week from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated that the law firm found Udoka used “crude language” toward a female subordinate before their affair began. It cited “the power dynamic” as an important factor in the suspension, but provided little other information.

Former NBA player Matt Barnes seems to be among the most informed sources on the case, recently retracting his defense of Udoka and telling an interviewer that Udoka will be lucky to ever coach in the NBA again. Bulpett states that Smart shrugged and laughed when asked if it’s frustrating that a media member might know more about the details than he does.

“I mean, it’s just what it is,” Smart said. “It’s not weird to me, you know? Somebody that’s not close to the situation in terms of being on the team, I guess it’d probably be a little bit easier for him to get more information than us. So I’m not surprised. It’s how these things can go. So we just have to wait and let it run its course and let everyone do their job and wait until they can tell us what they can tell us.”

After Sunday’s debut, a 134-93 win over the Hornets, Mazzulla said he was “grateful” for the opportunity to coach the Celtics and thought the team responded well to its first preseason test, writes Steve Hewitt of The Boston Herald. Players were supportive of their new coach as they face the task of trying to win the East again without Udoka on the sidelines.

“I thought he was terrific. I thought he was great. I thought he was composed,” Malcolm Brogdon said of Mazzulla. “I thought he had some excellent out of timeout plays. I thought he did an excellent job. It’s going to continue to get tougher for him, continue to get tougher for us as we get to the regular season and teams start really scouting us we play high-level competition, but I think me and all my teammates have the utmost confidence in him to be ready for that and keep us motivated and continue to prepare us the right way.”

Horford, Tatum Must Take Bigger Leadership Roles

October 1st, 2022 at 8:15am CST by Dana Gauruder

Blake Griffin‘s versatility convinced the Celtics to take a flier on him, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. He was used more as a floor spacer and roller rather than the post-up scorer last season with the Nets, and he’s an adept ball handler. That makes him a more natural fit in Boston’s scheme. Griffin, who agreed to a one-year guaranteed deal, could see minutes at either power forward or center despite his defensive limitations.
With Ime Udoka out of the picture and young assistant Joe Mazzulla serving as the Celtics’ interim coach, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum need to take on bigger leadership roles, Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com opines. Horford can be more vocal and even demonstrative, while Tatum can set a better example by not complaining as much to the referees and by being quicker in terms of ball movement.

More Details Emerge In Ime Udoka Situation

September 30th, 2022 at 6:43pm CST by Rory Maher

New details have emerged regarding head coach Ime Udoka‘s suspension from the Celtics for the entire 2022/23 season. Sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the independent law firm that investigated Udoka listed “the power dynamic associated with a superior’s improper relationship with a staff member” to be the main policy violation.

In addition, the report from the investigation found that Udoka used “crude language” toward a female subordinate before beginning an improper workplace relationship with the same employee, which played a significant factor in the suspension’s severity, Wojnarowski writes. The language Udoka used “was deemed especially concerning coming from a workplace superior,” according to Wojnarowski, who adds that Udoka is likely facing a “difficult pathway” to reinstatement for the 2023/24 season.

Sources tell Wojnarowski that Boston would allow Udoka to pursue other coaching opportunities if he becomes a candidate in the future. Rival teams have been trying to gather information to get a better picture of what led to the suspension “in preparation for possibly evaluating him” for coaching jobs, Woj adds.

Owner Wyc Grousbeck previously stated the report uncovered “a volume of violations” and Udoka would face “a significant financial penalty” as part of the suspension.

“This felt right, but there’s no clear guidelines for any of this,” Grousbeck responded when asked whether Udoka should have been dismissed. “This is really a conscious, gut feel and being here 20 years.”

After a rocky start to the ’21/22 season, Udoka’s first as a head coach, he led a dramatic turnaround that saw Boston reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, ultimately falling to the Warriors in six games. Joe Mazzulla was named interim head coach in place of Udoka.

Celtics Waive Denzel Valentine

September 30th, 2022 at 6:00pm CST by Rory Maher

6:00pm: The move is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

4:09pm: The Celtics intend to waive veteran swingman Denzel Valentine, according to Jared Weiss and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

After the news broke that Boston was signing Blake Griffin, the team had to release a player to make room on its 20-man training camp roster. Since Valentine was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract, he’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate — assuming, of course, that he doesn’t land with another NBA team in the meantime.

The 14th overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Michigan State, Valentine spent the first five years of his NBA career in Chicago before signing last offseason with the Cavaliers. He played a minor role in 22 games for Cleveland, then was dealt in January to the Knicks, who waived him.

Following a 10-day contract with the Jazz, Valentine played in the G League for the rest of the 2021/22 season. In 12 games with the Maine Celtics last season, he averaged 14.6 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 7.0 APG and 1.1 APG on .440/.352/.786 shooting.

In 256 career NBA games (18.8 MPG), Valentine holds averages of 7.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 1.8 APG on .394/.360/.787 shooting.

Atlantic Notes: Kornet, Griffin, Reed, Brunson, Nets

September 30th, 2022 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

When word broke on Friday that the Celtics have agreed to sign Blake Griffin, we noted that injuries to Danilo Gallinari and Robert Williams helped necessitate the move. However, those aren’t the only Boston frontcourt players dealing with health problems.

According to Jared Weiss and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Celtics big man Luke Kornet sprained his ankle in practice this week and is expected to miss at least one or two weeks.

Kornet doesn’t have a fully guaranteed salary, but finished last season with the Celtics and has a partial guarantee on his new contract with the team, so he looks like a good bet to make the 15-man regular season roster, despite this setback.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Noting that the Celtics repeatedly targeted Blake Griffin on defense during their first-round victory over Brooklyn in the spring, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston weighs whether the former No. 1 overall pick still has enough left in the tank to be an asset to his new team.
While the Sixers still view Paul Reed primarily as a center, they’re taking a look at him as a power forward during training camp, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Reed, who played the four at DePaul, is enjoying the opportunity. “I am happy about being able to switch on and guard smaller defenders,” Reed said. “And playing on the wing, being able to attack from the outside, I like doing that.”
New Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson is downplaying the pressure that comes along with his big new contract and the expectation that he’ll become New York’s long-awaited answer at point guard. Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News has the story and the quotes.
Nick Friedell of ESPN takes a look at the five biggest questions facing the Nets this season. Beyond the obvious ones relating to Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons, Friedell examines how head coach Steve Nash might respond to a disappointing season and a tumultuous summer, and wonders if the team has enough depth at center.

Celtics Pessimistic About Chances Of Landing Vogel, Stotts

September 30th, 2022 at 11:32am CST by Luke Adams

Having failed to lure Clippers assistant Jay Larranaga back to Boston, the Celtics remain on the lookout for a veteran assistant who could help guide newly promoted Joe Mazzulla through his first season as an NBA head coach, as we relayed on Thursday.

According to Marc Stein at Substack, two veteran head coaches are among the potential candidates on the Celtics’ radar — the team has shown interest in Frank Vogel and Terry Stotts. However, Boston is pessimistic about its chances of being able to hire either Vogel or Stotts as an assistant to an unproven head coach, Stein writes.

Contract Details: Lakers, Galloway, DSJ, McCollum, More

September 30th, 2022 at 7:59am CST by Luke Adams

When the Lakers signed Matt Ryan and Dwayne Bacon to non-guaranteed training camp contracts earlier this month, both players received Exhibit 9 clauses in their new deals, but not Exhibit 10s, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Exhibit 9 contracts are non-guaranteed camp deals that don’t count against the cap during the preseason and offer teams some protection in the event of an injury. Exhibit 10s are similar, but also allow teams to convert the player to a two-way deal (if he’s eligible) or to give him a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate.

As a general rule, a player who signs a training camp contract without an Exhibit 10 clause is usually just competing for a spot on his team’s 15-man regular season roster and won’t end up playing for the club’s G League affiliate if he doesn’t make the cut.

Langston Galloway (Pacers), Dennis Smith Jr. (Hornets), LiAngelo Ball (Hornets), Cody Zeller (Jazz), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (Suns), and Wes Iwundu (Trail Blazers) are among the other recently signed free agents who signed Exhibit 9 – not Exhibit 10 – contracts.

Here are a few more contract details from around the NBA:

The exact cap hits on CJ McCollum‘s new extension with the Pelicans are $33,333,333 for 2024/25 and $30,666,666 for ’25/26, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. The deal is fully guaranteed, with no options or bonuses.
Veteran players who recently signed Exhibit 10 contracts include Justin Anderson (Pacers), Norvel Pelle (Pacers), Jalen Harris (Knicks), Kostas Antetokounmpo (Bulls), PJ Dozier (Timberwolves), Brodric Thomas (Celtics), Juwan Morgan (Clippers), Zylan Cheatham (Pelicans), Zavier Simpson (Magic), and Aleem Ford (Magic), Hoops Rumors has confirmed. Anderson and Pelle were subsequently waived by Indiana.
RaiQuan Gray (Nets), Justin Bean (Grizzlies), Jacob Gilyard (Grizzlies), Jules Bernard (Pistons), Stanley Umude (Pistons), John Butler (Pelicans), Garrison Brooks (Knicks), and Nuni Omot (Knicks) are among the rookies who recently signed Exhibit 10 contracts with their respective teams, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. Brooks and Omot have since been waived by New York.