Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Sign John Holland

April 11th, 2016 at 3:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:54pm: The signing has formally taken place, the team announced (Twitter link). Holland will see $9,266 this season, not including his playoff share, and a non-guaranteed $874,636 next season, provided he signed for the minimum, as is standard for midseason signees.

1:37pm: The deal would cover the rest of 2015/16 plus next season, and next season’s salary would be non-guaranteed, league sources tell Charania (Twitter link).

1:00pm: The Celtics plan to sign former Boston University swingman John Holland into their open roster spot, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The deal is contingent upon him passing a physical, notes Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (on Twitter). The 27-year-old was with the Spurs in the 2014 preseason and has been playing with the D-League affiliate of the Cavaliers this season.

The contract would cover the playoffs, and the Celtics had a desire to carry a full 15-man roster in the postseason in case of injury, Himmelsbach tweets. Coach Brad Stevens said recently the team would prefer a versatile forward, seemingly a hint that former 10-day signee Coty Clarke might return, but instead the team is going with Holland, who is 6’5″ and can play two-guard and small forward but would be significantly undersized at power forward.

Holland averaged 16.0 points in 30.2 minutes per game with 36.9% shooting in 37 regular season appearances with the D-League Canton Charge this season, and he turned it up in two playoff games last week, making 10 of 17 total 3-point attempts and averaging 28.5 points.

It’s unclear whether the deal would carry into next season. Either way, he’d likely receive a prorated rookie minimum salary this season plus a share of the team’s playoff earnings.

Sixers Notes: Turner, Hinkie, Embiid, Colangelo

April 10th, 2016 at 9:50am CST by Arthur Hill

Ex-Sixer Evan Turner is defending former Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie, who resigned Wednesday, writes Jay King of MassLive. Turner, now with the Celtics, spent nearly four years in Philadelphia before being traded to Indiana in 2014. He didn’t read Hinkie’s 13-page resignation letter but says he understood what the former executive was trying to accomplish. “One thing I didn’t know was [how well they’re set up for the draft],” Turner said. “That’s somewhat ingenious. That could set them up great for the future. It’s just in the NBA, I don’t know what he had with [76ers owner] Josh Harris, but typically jobs, unless you’re a legend, jobs don’t last seven or eight years for a plan. I think if it does work out then he did set them up great, you know?” Philadelphia, which has clinched the top spot in Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings, will have its own first-round pick in June, along with the Heat’s, the Thunder’s and the Lakers’ if it falls out of the top three.

There’s more this morning out of Philadelphia:

Turner still believes great things are ahead for Sixers center Joel Embiid, King writes in the same piece. Philadelphia took Embiid third overall in the 2014 draft, but a string of injuries has prevented him from playing. Calling him possibly the “next [Hakeem] Olajuwon,” Turner recalls watching Embiid in an early workout. “The kid went in-between-the-legs dunk at 7-feet,” Turner said. “Bigs are hard to find. That coordination, and I’ve seen him hit 15 straight threes from the top [of the arc]. Hopefully it works out for him because I’ve got so much respect for [76ers head coach] Brett [Brown], I’ve got so much respect for the staff that works there, and when Philly gets going like in the [Allen] Iverson days it can be a special city.”
The risks that Hinkie took were worthwhile, argues Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine. While acknowledging the potential downside of Hinkie’s moves, Bodner contends Embiid could be the Sixers’ best center since Moses Malone and Nerlens Noel is the team’s best interior defender since Dikembe Mutombo. In addition, Philadelphia has a 50-50 shot at landing a top two draft pick and selecting Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram.
Despite charges of nepotism, likely new GM Bryan Colangelo has a solid record, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pompey notes that Colangelo is a two-time Executive of the Year who has a history of making aggressive moves.

Celtics Recall Mickey, Young From D-League

April 8th, 2016 at 8:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics have recalled power forward Jordan Mickey and swingman James Young from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. There will be no more treks to Maine on the season for the pair since the Red Claws have been eliminated from the D-League playoffs, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter).

Celtics Assign James Young, Jordan Mickey To D-League

April 7th, 2016 at 6:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics have assigned swingman James Young and power forward Jordan Mickey to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Young’s 13th trip to Maine and Mickey’s 14th.

Highlights From Sam Hinkie’s Resignation Letter

April 6th, 2016 at 11:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

The 13-page resignation letter than GM Sam Hinkie sent to Sixers owners, which Marc Stein of ESPN obtained, lays bare the philosophy of an executive whose tenure was marked by public silence as much as it was by lost games. It was nonetheless a common example of the sort of communication he privately had with the owners, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). In his latest dispatch, Hinkie cites everyone from Abraham Lincoln to Warren Buffett to Bill Belichick, among less notorious figures, as Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com notes (Twitter link). The ex-GM defends the moves he made, along with the general ideas of taking the long view and going against the grain.

“To develop truly contrarian views will require a never-ending thirst for better, more diverse inputs,” Hinkie writes. “What player do you think is most undervalued? Get him for your team. What basketball axiom is most likely to be untrue? Take it on and do the opposite. What is the biggest, least valuable time sink for the organization? Stop doing it. Otherwise, it’s a big game of pitty pat, and you’re stuck just hoping for good things to happen, rather than developing a strategy for how to make them happen.”

We’ll hit the highlights of the more than 7,000-word opus here:

Robert Covington is with the Sixers now, but he was originally with the Rockets, a sore point for Hinkie, who says he wanted him immediately after he went undrafted in 2013 but instead returned from his postdraft press conference to discover Covington was off the market. Hinkie writes that he stewed over that for more than a year until signing him in November 2014, a few weeks after Houston waived him.
Hinkie claims that the Sixers set an all-time NBA record in acquiring the rights or swap rights to more than 26 draft picks in his first 26 months as GM.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge received Hinkie’s Executive of the Year vote in 2014 after the Celtics acquired a first-round pick and a second-round pick along with Joel Anthony in a January trade that year. Hinkie had worked to acquire the same package, he writes.
Hinkie points to a recent quote from Peter Holt, the former primary owner of the Spurs, who said the free agent signing of LaMarcus Aldridge was years in the making. Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News originally had the story. “Give R.C. Buford credit,” Holt said. “[Gregg Popovich] is a great coach, but R.C. came to us with this plan three years ago, four years ago — seriously. And we’ve worked at it ever since. He, by far, was the general. We wouldn’t be where we are, in this position, if it hadn’t have been for R.C. Buford.”

Celtics Recall Mickey, Young From D-League

April 6th, 2016 at 5:46pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics have recalled power forward Jordan Mickey and swingman James Young from their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This was Mickey’s 13th trip to Maine on the season and Young’s 12th.

Celtics Assign Jordan Mickey To D-League

April 5th, 2016 at 7:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics have assigned power forward Jordan Mickey to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Mickey’s 13th trip to Maine on the campaign, and he is averaging 17.4 points and 10.3 rebounds in 23 games for the Red Claws.

Nets' Decision Could Improve Celtics' Pick

April 3rd, 2016 at 1:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics could benefit from Brooklyn’s decision to shut down Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for the rest of the season, according to NetsDaily. Boston owns the Nets‘ unprotected first rounder, and Brooklyn is currently fourth in Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings, one game behind Phoenix. If the Nets move past the Suns, Boston’s chance at the No. 1 pick improves from 11.9% to 15.6%.

Lakers Notes: World Peace, Bryant, Scott, Draft

April 3rd, 2016 at 10:47am CST by Arthur Hill

He has only appeared in 31 games this season, but 36-year-old Metta World Peace believes his NBA career is far from over, according to Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. World Peace, who earned a roster spot with the Lakers last fall after a year out of the league, hopes to play another two to four more seasons. Although he spent parts of last season in China and Italy, he doesn’t want to take his talents overseas again. “I think I can still play in the league,” World Peace said. “I feel good. I feel like I was able to guard and able to post. I feel like I answered a lot of questions.” He is making nearly $1.5MM this season and is averaging 4.5 points and 16.6 minutes per game.

There’s more Lakers news this morning:

After two decades as part of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, Kobe Bryant will face Boston for the final time today, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Bryant says the loss to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals changed the way he approaches the game. “In 2008 what I learned was that my leadership, I felt, was what failed us as a team,” Bryant recalled. “I had built our team to be a very strong, cohesive unit, but I hadn’t built our team to beat the toughness of the Celtics.”
The Lakers would like to revive that rivalry, but they understand they have a lot of work to do first, relays Jovan Buha of ESPN.com. L.A. is still early in its rebuilding process, stumbling to a 16-59 record while developing young players. The Celtics are much farther along, ranking among the East’s best teams at 44-32. “We have a lot of work, as far as that’s concerned,” said Lakers coach Byron Scott. “But I think a lot of these young guys, they don’t understand the rivalry. And the only way you can get that rivalry back is you have to have both teams be very competitive.”
The Lakers need a top two draft pick to be assured of getting an elite talent, contends Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times. Pincus tabs LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram as the only sure things in this year’s draft. L.A is second in Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings, meaning its odds are 19.9% for the first pick, 18.8% for the second and 17.1% for the third. If the Lakers’ pick falls any farther in the May 17th lottery, it will be sent to Philadelphia.

Former College Coach Says Celtics On Durant's List

April 1st, 2016 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Providence College head coach Tim Welsh said in an appearance on “Toucher & Rich” on WBZ-FM that his conversations with NBA types of late indicate that the Celtics will be on the list of teams Kevin Durant‘s will at least look at in free agency this summer, in large measure because of the allure of coach Brad Stevens (video link via Comcast Sports Net Northeast).