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Eastern Notes: Celtics, Nets, Hawks

November 8th, 2015 at 4:15pm CST by Will Joseph

The Nets are still feeling some negative effects from the team’s big acquisitions and moves in the past (Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, for example) and severely need help at the point guard position, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes. The Nets are one of only three teams in the league that remain without a win. While it is obviously still early in the season, Mazzeo does not see a turnaround for the Nets in the near future with the way the roster is currently composed.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • The Celtics assigned power forward Jordan Mickey and shooting guard/small forward James Young Sunday to their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. It is the second time the pair has been sent to Maine already this season. Young and Mickey were assigned to the D-League on Tuesday, but were sent back up to the Celtics later in the week. Mickey played three minutes in Friday’s NBA game while Young has yet to play this season.
  • Kent Bazemore, who is entering the final season of his current deal, has long been known as a defensive player, but the Hawks‘ new starting small forward is producing offensively as well so far this season, as Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution details.
  • Jason Smith, whom the Magic signed to a one-year, $4.3MM deal in July, has supplied Orlando with some energy and toughness, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Smith, as Robbins adds, has taken on a larger role since starting center Nikola Vucevic suffered an injury.
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Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Celtics, Sixers, Nets

November 8th, 2015 at 1:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The fate of the Knicks — and possibly team president Phil Jackson — is now linked to Kristaps Porzingis, writes Mike Breshnahan of The Los Angeles Times. The fifth overall pick in June’s draft, who was loudly booed at the time by the New York crowd, has been an early success, averaging 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds through the Knicks’ first six games. With Jackson hoping to start luring big-name free agents to New York, he needs Porzingis to be part of a solid foundation to sell them on the future. Porzingis is showing early signs that he can do that. “Porzingis is their best player on the court,” an unidentified scout told Breshnahan. “Hands down.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird told Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald that he understands the trials former teammate Danny Ainge, who holds the same title in Boston, is facing as he tries to rebuild the Celtics. “It’s definitely a four-year deal,” said Bird. “The problem in our league is that if you get stuck in the middle [of the draft] like with the 14 to 18th pick, you can get good players there, but they’re not game-changers.” Boston could take a giant step forward next summer when it will have the Nets‘ first-round draft pick, and possibly first-rounders from the Mavericks and Wolves.
  • T.J. McConnell has been a pleasant surprise for the Sixers, but Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer warns that his playing time could be affected when Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten return from ACL tears. Coach Brett Brown said Friday that he isn’t certain when the injured point guards will be back. Previous estimates had Marshall returning sometime this month and Wroten available in December. “I’m doing my part to come back,” Wroten said. “Obviously, they said December. But I want to come back earlier if it’s right. So I’m taking it one day at a time, and hopefully I’ll come back sooner.”
  • One bright spot for the winless Nets has been the play of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, writes Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. The rookie made his first start Friday, replacing Markel Brown, and Bontemps says the move could be permanent.
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Atlantic Notes: McConnell, Ellington, Young

November 6th, 2015 at 12:47pm CST by Chuck Myron
T.J. McConnell has delivered the most surprising performance of the season so far, as the undrafted Sixers rookie sits fifth in the league at 8.0 assists per game through four games so far, observes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Still, as Pompey notes, Sixers coach Brett Brown isn’t getting carried away and isn’t promising that the 23-year-old from the University of Arizona will keep his newfound starting spot when Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall return from injury.
“But right now, what you realize is we really tripped on a really good young player,” Brown said. “Now, it’s early days. But to say that we are not excited from what we’ve seen so far would be completely not true.”
See more from around the Atlantic Division:
  • The proximity of Brooklyn to his native Philadelphia “played a huge role” in Wayne Ellington‘s decision to sign with the Nets this summer, he told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News Group. The move was also thrust upon the shooting guard to a degree, since Lakers prioritized signing others instead of re-signing him, Medina points out. Ellington and his family suffered through the loss of his father, who was murdered in Philadelphia last year, as Medina recounts.
  • James Young isn’t discouraged about his latest trip to the D-League, an early-season assignment that’s already the 12th of his career, as the 20-year-old points to his status as the youngest player on the Celtics, notes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Young, the 17th overall draft pick in 2014, still hasn’t won a spot in the NBA rotation. “Ultimately to play on our team, you have to beat out the people in front of you,” coach Brad Stevens said. “And that’s the reality of the situation.”
  • The Knicks are just 2-3, but with the play of rookies Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant, plus the continued success Langston Galloway is having on his partially guaranteed contract, the Knicks have hope for the future, observes Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
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Atlantic Notes: Fredette, Saric, Prokhorov, Celtics

November 5th, 2015 at 1:30pm CST by Chuck Myron
Jimmer Fredette is working with Knicks D-League GM Allan Houston on shooting and the triangle offense, but he said he hasn’t heard from Knicks team president Phil Jackson or coach Derek Fisher, observes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Fredette downplays the notion that he’s gunning for the team’s open NBA roster spot, though he acknowledges that roster construction plays into his decision-making, as Zagoria relays. It wasn’t a certainty that Fredette would join the Westchester Knicks when he signed with the D-League, but when the Jazz affiliate took Jeff Ayres No. 2 in Saturday’s D-League draft, Westchester was free to pounce on Fredette with pick No. 2, a move that was apparently designed chiefly to draw fans. See more from around the Atlantic Division:
  • Draft-and-stash prospect Dario Saric wished he could have joined the Sixers this past offseason and confirmed to the Croatian outlet Vecernji list that he intends to sign with Philadelphia when his overseas contract allows him to this coming summer (translation via Matt Lombardo of NJ.com). Saric, the 12th pick of the 2014 draft, added that he’s in constant communication with Sixers officials.
  • The NBA blocked Mikhail Prokhorov’s plan to borrow money against his share of the Nets to purchase the minority portion that Bruce Ratner owns because it would give the team more than $250MM in debt, sources told Josh Kosman and Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. NBA teams can’t borrow more than that amount without a waiver. So, Prokhorov and Ratner are attempting to restructure the deal that would give Prokhorov 100% of the team, the Post scribes write, and it’s still on track to be complete by year’s end, a league source tells NetsDaily.
  • The Celtics recalled Jordan Mickey and James Young from the D-League, the team announced. They received some extra practice reps while with the farm team after the C’s assigned them Tuesday. Keep tabs on all this year’s D-League assignments and recalls with our tracker, which we’ll be updating throughout the season.
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Atlantic Notes: Robinson, McConnell, Sullinger

November 4th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Chuck Myron
Thomas Robinson had offers for longer deals this summer, but he chose to take a two-year deal for the minimum salary with the Nets that allows him to opt out at season’s end because he’s confident he’ll be a more sought-after commodity at that point, as he explains to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Robinson indicates his ideal outcome would involve him turning down his player option.
“It was tough to gamble on myself and turn down a longer contract, but the way I look it, I really have this year to prove myself,” Robinson said to Kennedy. “I have no doubt that once next summer comes, I’ll be back on my way and I’ll have made the right choice.”
See more from the Atlantic Division:
  • Sixers rookie T.J. McConnell‘s 12 assists Monday against the Cavs were more than he had in any college game, notes Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com, who chronicles the surprising impact of the point guard who made the team out of camp on a deal with only a $100K partial guarantee.
  • Sixers coach Brett Brown is high on McConnell in spite of his desire for another point guard, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays, which has reportedly led the team to strike a deal with Phil Pressey. “We’ve unearthed something in T.J., that’s just a real pusher point guard, a pass-first point guard,” Brown added. “So I feel like what this team needs to protect ourselves as much as anything is another point guard.”
  • Jared Sullinger made statements indicating that he felt counted out after the Celtics failed to sign him to an extension before Monday’s deadline, but the former 21st overall pick isn’t disappointed, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com clarifies. “It’s part of the business,” Sullinger said. “My main objective is to focus on this basketball team, and try to make us better. That’s just the main focus going into this year. It’s not about extensions.”
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Atlantic Notes: Green, D-League, Ross

November 3rd, 2015 at 6:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Spurs shooting guard Danny Green acknowledged that the Knicks had reached out to him over the summer, but said that he couldn’t gauge their sincerity and he instead agreed to re-sign with San Antonio when the free agent signing period began back in July, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “I was very much leaning towards [the Spurs] than anywhere else,’’ Green said. “New York reached out, but I don’t think they were as interested as I thought they’d be. My deal was done pretty quick.’’

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Celtics have assigned power forward Jordan Mickey and swingman James Young to the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced (via Twitter). This marks the first assignment of the 2015/16 season for each player. The Red Claws don’t officially open their season until November 12th, so this is likely a move designed to get the duo more practice time, though that is merely my speculation.
  • Terrence Ross, who signed a three-year contract extension with the Raptors on Monday, will earn $10MM in 2016/17, and $10.5MM per year for the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com tweets.
  • The Nets have officially added Randy Ayers and Bob Bender to their player personnel scouting staff, the team announced. Ayers was named to the position of college scout, while Bender was named pro scout, according to the press release.
  • Jared Sullinger, who failed to reach an agreement with the Celtics on an extension prior to Monday’s deadline, said that he’ll be playing the rest of the season with a chip on his shoulder, and added that even some of his own family members have doubted his abilities, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe relays (via Twitter).
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NBA Teams Designate Affiliate Players

November 3rd, 2015 at 4:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA teams cut as much as 25% of their rosters at the end of the preseason, but franchises that have D-League affiliates have a way to maintain ties to many of the players they release from the NBA roster. An NBA team can claim the D-League rights to up to four of the players it waives, as long as the players clear waivers, consent to join the D-League, and don’t already have their D-League rights owned by another team. These are known as affiliate players, as our Hoops Rumors Glossary entry details.

NBA teams allocated 46 affiliate players to the D-League at the beginning of the season last year, and this year, that number has risen to 56, according to the list the D-League announced today. These players are going directly to the D-League affiliate of the NBA team that cut them and weren’t eligible for the D-League draft that took place Saturday. Teams that designated fewer than the maximum four affiliate players retain the ability to snag the D-League rights of players they waive during the regular season, but for now, this is the complete list:

Boston Celtics (Maine Red Claws)

Cleveland Cavaliers (Canton Charge)

Dallas Mavericks (Texas Legends)

Detroit Pistons (Grand Rapids Drive)

Golden State Warriors (Santa Cruz Warriors)

Houston Rockets (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)

Indiana Pacers (Fort Wayne Mad Ants)

Los Angeles Lakers (Los Angeles D-Fenders)

Memphis Grizzlies (Iowa Energy)

Miami Heat (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

New York Knicks (Westchester Knicks)

Oklahoma City Thunder (Oklahoma City Blue)

Orlando Magic (Erie BayHawks)

Philadelphia 76ers (Delaware 87ers)

Phoenix Suns (Bakersfield Jam)

Sacramento Kings (Reno Bighorns)

San Antonio Spurs (Austin Spurs)

Toronto Raptors (Raptors 905)

Utah Jazz (Idaho Stampede)

Also, several players who were on NBA preseason rosters are on D-League rosters through means other than the affiliate player rule. Most of them played under D-League contracts at some point within the last two years, meaning their D-League teams have returning player rights to them. Others entered through last weekend’s D-League draft, while others saw their D-League rights conveyed via trade. Most of these players aren’t with the D-League affiliate of the NBA team they were with last month, with a few exceptions.

Roster information from Adam Johnson of D-League Digest, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor and freelancer and Hoops Rumors contributor Mark Porcaro was used in the creation of this post.

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Celtics, Zeller, Sullinger Opt Against Extensions

November 2nd, 2015 at 12:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics won’t be signing Tyler Zeller or Jared Sullinger to extensions before tonight’s 11pm Central deadline for them to do so, a league source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). That allows the big men to become restricted free agents in July. The news is no shock, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported late Sunday that extensions seemed unlikely for the pair, and the team only envisioned an extension for either if they were to give the team discounts, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.

Zeller, a Sam Goldfeder client, appeared over the summer to have the better chance of the two to end up with an extension, as A. Sherrod Blakely reported in August, and Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders pegged those chances at 50-50 soon thereafter. Speculation indicated that the Celtics would be on board with salaries anywhere beneath $12MM a year, a high number for the 25-year-old who averaged only 21.1 minutes per game last season that demonstrates the effect of the expected rises in the salary cap. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirmed in late August that preliminary talks had begun with both Zeller and Sullinger.

Ainge had “great interest” in a new deal with Sullinger as of this spring, but any such deal with the 23-year-old David Falk client was likely to have come with a weight clause, as Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com wrote at the time. The C’s reportedly discussed Sullinger in trade talks with the Knicks around the time of the draft, but the general feeling is that the team would be pleased to re-sign both Sullinger and Zeller in restricted free agency next summer, Bulpett wrote recently.

Both are part of a crowded Celtics frontcourt that also includes Amir Johnson, David Lee, Kelly Olynyk and second-round draft pick Jordan Mickey, though only Mickey and Olynyk have guaranteed salaries for next season. Boston has a wealth of flexibility, with less than $34MM committed for 2016/17 against a salary cap that some around the league reportedly think will surge as high as $95MM.

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Extension Rumors: Sunday

November 1st, 2015 at 11:13pm CST by Will Joseph

It seems unlikely that Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal and Warriors center Festus Ezeli will receive rookie-scale contract extensions and thus will be restricted free agents come July, barring an unexpected late turnaround in negotiations, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports.

The news regarding Beal does not come as a surprise because though the Wizards fully intend to sign him to a maximum-salary contract, they prefer to do so next summer. Stein adds that the Wizards have been consistent with their message that they see Beal as a future and long-term star for the franchise. Reports have conflicted about how much negotiating has occurred between Ezeli and the Warriors, but an extension never seemed imminent.

The window for former first-round picks to sign contract extensions during the fourth and final year of their rookie contracts is Monday.

Here is more news on extensions:

  • Players known to still be in negotiations entering the deadline include Raptors shooting guard/small forward Terrence Ross, Trail Blazers center Meyers Leonard and Thunder shooting guard Dion Waiters, according to Stein. Regarding Ross, it’s likely to go down to the wire and the Raptors would be open to giving him an extension, if the price is to their liking, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. reports. “I mean it would be an honor to get an extension,” Ross told Lewenberg. “If that doesn’t happen then we’ll take it from there.”
  • Extensions at this point are looking unlikely for Sixers shooting guard Tony Wroten and Celtics big men Tyler Zeller and Jared Sullinger, according to Stein.
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Atlantic Rumors: Raptors, Knicks, Celtics

November 1st, 2015 at 7:00pm CST by Will Joseph

Greivis Vasquez said getting traded to the Bucks from the Raptors was hard for him, but he anticipated such a move after the way Toronto’s season ended, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca relays (All Twitter links). “It was going to be either me or Lou, and it was both,” Vasquez added in reference to Lou Williams‘ departure from the team.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

  • The Knicks picked Jimmer Fredette in Saturday’s D-League draft mostly to bring in fans, considering Fredette is a product of Glens Falls, and not strictly as a developmental move, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports.
  • David Lee and Amir Johnson seem like good fits on the Celtics because they both bring experience, success and a blue-collar brand of basketball to the team CSNNE.com’s A. Sherrod Blakely writes. The Celtics have a young team and that youth will benefit from the experienced tandem of Lee and Johnson, Blakely adds.
  • Tyler Zeller is working to improve his perimeter shooting skills, Blakely writes in separate story. It was previously reported that the Celtics are interested in rookie scale extensions for Zeller only if he consents to a decidedly team-friendly deal. The extension window closes Monday.
  • Italian coach Andrea Mazzon is now an assistant for the Sixers‘ D-League affiliate, the team announced. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando originally reported that Mazzon joined the affiliate in an important role.
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