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Atlantic Notes: Grant, Knicks, Celtics, Young

September 26th, 2015 at 10:37pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Part of the reason that the Knicks dealt Tim Hardaway was because they felt Jerian Grant fit the team’s style of play better than him, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork tweets. “We thought Timmy’s got a good chance to be an NBA pro, but [Grant’s] more in tune with how we want to play,” president of basketball operations Phil Jackson said.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Kristaps Porzingis has impressed so far in workouts with the team, Begley writes in a full length piece. “We’re very pleased with his attitude, the way he approaches work, [and] his appetite for it,” Jackson said. “He’s been very receptive to the work it takes to become an NBA player, strength training, trying to bulk up and do all those things.”
  • James Young was sent down to the Maine Red Claws, the D-League affiliate of the Celtics, 11 times last season and according to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, he drew rave reviews, Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports tweets. “I had numerous coaches tell me James Young was the best prospect they’™ve ever seen in the D-League.”
  • Young spent the majority of the summer working on his one-on-one defense, Josue Pavon of WEEI writes. Coach Brad Stevens believes his work paid off. “He’™s really improved his defensive abilities,” said Stevens. “His defensive awareness was great in summer league and he’s a guy that we know offensively has some skill and some talent. The other thing about James that I’™m excited about is he’™s bigger and stronger and he’s only 20 years old.”
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Blazers Sign Omari Johnson

September 25th, 2015 at 7:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Trail Blazers released their official training camp roster, and it indicates that Portland has signed forward Omari Johnson, whose name appears on the team’s official rundown of players. No details regarding his contract have been reported, though it is likely a minimum salary arrangement that includes little or no guaranteed salary, but that is merely my speculation.

Johnson, 25, went undrafted out of Oregon State back in 2011 after averaging 7.2 points and 6.2 rebounds as a senior. His career NCAA numbers were 6.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 0.7 assists to accompany a slash line of .418/.293/.600. The 6’9″ forward spent the 2014/15 campaign playing for the Celtics’ D-League affiliate in Maine where he made 49 appearances, and notched averages of 15.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.3 APG in 26.2 minutes per night.

The addition of Johnson increases Portland’s preseason roster count to 18 players, including 13 possessing fully guaranteed salaries.

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Atlantic Notes: Jackson, Kobe, Lopez, Jerebko

September 25th, 2015 at 10:24am CST by Chuck Myron

It sounds like Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher would like to have former Lakers colleague Kobe Bryant join the Knicks next season, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post observes based on Jackson’s comment today (Twitter link). Jackson said that he doesn’t think Bryant will retire at season’s end but added that it might be his final year with the Lakers, notes Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal (on Twitter). Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com wonders if Jackson was just making a subtle joke (Twitter link), as he is wont to do, and though Bryant’s contract with the Lakers expires this coming summer, Marc Stein of ESPN.com can’t see him playing for any NBA team other than the purple-and-gold (All Twitter links). If Bryant does suit up for a team aside from the Lakers, it would be an overseas team, Stein believes.

While we wait to see how the latest Kobe storyline develops, see more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Jackson said that he’ll be more involved with Fisher this year, at Fisher’s request, observes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). It’ll mean more frequent observations from the Zen Master and perhaps more time that Jackson and Fisher will spend watching film together, as Herring relays (via Twitter).
  • Robin Lopez will fit better with the Knicks than Greg Monroe would have because of his superior defense, Jackson once more insisted, in comments that Bontemps and Herring relay (Twitter links).
  • The Nets have little reason not to try to win as much as they can this season, since they owe their 2016 first-round pick to the Celtics without protection, and coach Lionel Hollins confirmed Thursday that the team will remain focused on wins and losses this year, as Roderick Boone of Newsday details. Hollins said veterans would get the first chance at minutes. “Nobody’s said, ‘Wait until next summer,'” Hollins said. “We’re going out and trying to win. Whether we can or not remains to be seen. But it’s not my mindset. And the players’ mindset is not going out there [thinking], ‘We don’t have to try to win this year because it’s a gap year, and the expectations have changed because we broke this group up versus that group up.'”
  • Danny Ainge doesn’t foresee a major shakeup before the start of the season, meaning competition for minutes figures to be fierce among the Celtics, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Jonas Jerebko, who re-signed with the team this summer, welcomes the challenge, Forsberg also notes. “Competition just makes everyone better,” Jerebko said. “You are supposed to have competition on the team. We have a lot of guys that can play multiple positions so that’s just a plus for us. We can mix it up and have a great coach to mix it up with, so I’m looking forward to it.”
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Celtics Officially Sign Four For Camp

September 25th, 2015 at 9:39am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics confirmed the signings of Coty Clarke, Malcolm Miller, Levi Randolph and Corey Walden in an announcement today. All four had already put pen to paper, according to reports, but Boston had yet to acknowledge the deals. Each player has a partial guarantee of $25K on a rookie minimum salary, except for Clarke, whose contract is non-guaranteed, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported. Walden, who signed a two-year deal, is the only one of the quartet with more than a one-year pact, according to Pincus.

Clarke, 23, went undrafted out of Arkansas in 2014 and spent this past season playing for Hapoel Kazrin in Israel. Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia first reported the 6’7″ combo forward would join Celtics camp.

Miller is familiar with Boston, having gone undrafted out of Holy Cross this year, and he played on the Celtics summer league team. Kevin O’Connor of SB Nation’s CelticsBlog broke the story that the 22-year-old small forward would sign with the Celtics.

Multiple overseas teams came calling for Randolph, but he instead spurned them for the Celtics, according to Carchia, with Matt Zenitz of AL.com reporting the Boston deal. Randolph, a shooting guard who went undrafted out of Alabama this year, will have his 23rd birthday next month.

Teams also passed on Walden in the draft this year after he came out of Eastern Kentucky. The 23-year-old is 6’2″ and undersized as a shooting guard, but the Celtics were nonetheless interested in bringing him to camp on a deal that A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reported.

Boston already has 16 others on fully guaranteed contracts, one more than the 15-man regular season roster limit, so Clarke, Miller, Randolph and Walden face especially long odds to stick for opening night. It’s more likely they’ll end up with the Celtics D-League affiliate. Boston can retain the D-League rights to as many as four players it cuts.

Which Celtics camp signee has the most potential? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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Eastern Notes: Wade, Celtics, Bulls

September 23rd, 2015 at 10:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Heat don’t plan on Dwyane Wade playing under a minutes restriction this season, and coach Erik Spoelstra wants to utilize the veteran shooting guard as much as possible in 2015/16, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post writes. “Dwyane has to be our leader,” Spoelstra said. “He’s grown in that role and with new veteran players, everybody naturally turns to Dwyane as the cornerstone of our franchise and they turn to [Chris Bosh] and they turn to [Udonis Haslem]. He’s fully accepted that responsibility. Dwyane is coming into this season ready for whatever challenges it brings, and I’m not coaching him with restrictions in mind. We’ll adapt and be aware of anything that may come up as the season goes on.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Center Tyler Zeller thinks that the Celtics‘ stocked frontcourt will be a boon to the team, despite him having extra competition for playing time, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes. “I think [the frontcourt will] be good,” said Zeller. “Hopefully we can learn from Amir [Johnson] and David [Lee]. I know David has had a lot of success all over the board in being an All-Star, winning a championship, those kind of things. Hopefully we can learn a lot from him and he can push us in the right direction and help us become a better team. I’m really looking forward to playing with them. I think they are going to be great assets to us and hopefully help us take that next step.“
  • The Bulls are expected to have much more freedom on the offensive end under new coach Fred Hoiberg than they previously did under former coach Tom Thibodeau, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. “Obviously it’s going to be different,” swingman Jimmy Butler said of his new coach. “I’ve studied some film with my trainer how [Iowa State] played in college. We go over some of the offensive schemes [Hoiberg’s] told me and my trainer about. So we work that into our workouts, but it’s definitely going to be different. I think it’s not going to be so much concentrated on defense like it was [with] Thibs. I think it’s actually going to be more offense [minded].“
  • The Wizards believe that a healthy Bradley Beal and John Wall, along with the team’s stout frontline, give the team potential for significant growth, which is one reason the team held off from making a splash in free agency this summer, the crew at Basketball Insiders write in their season preview of the team. Washington has the capability to make it to the second round of this year’s playoffs, but advancing to the Conference Finals is unlikely with the current roster, the panel concludes.
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Atlantic Notes: Bennett, Sixers, Celtics

September 23rd, 2015 at 7:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite his Canadian roots, it would be a bad move for both parties if the Raptors were to sign forward Anthony Bennett, provided that he clears waivers, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star opines. The young forward, who reached a buyout agreement with Minnesota this week, would not be a great fit with a Toronto squad that is expected to contend in the East, and would not have time to be patient with his development, Smith notes. As for the Raptors, Smith adds that Bennett would not be an upgrade over the team’s current rotation players, which would relegate Bennett to the bench and potentially make him a distraction.

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has indicated in the past that the team views it as a priority to add Canadian-born players to its roster, which is a major reason why the Raptors are expected to be in the mix to sign Tristan Thompson next summer if he were to hit free agency, and the franchise is being mentioned as a potential landing spot for Bennett.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Sixers coach Brett Brown indicated that point guards Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall will not be ready for the start of training camp, and that there is no exact timetable for their return to full basketball activities, Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News tweets. With its top two projected point guards on the shelf for the time being, Philly will enter the preseason with Isaiah Canaan, Pierre Jackson, Scottie Wilbekin, and T.J. McConnell competing at the one spot.
  • Philly experienced quite a roster turnover throughout the course of the 2014/15 campaign, but Brown says this season will be different, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays (via Twitter). “You are going to see more of our own,” said the Sixers coach. “You are going to see less turnover of our roster.”
  • The Celtics, despite not making a major offseason acquisition, are still expected to be an improved squad this coming season, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes. But one issue the coaching staff will have to navigate is what the team’s most effective rotation will be, Himmelsbach notes. “I think that’s going to be a challenge for our coaching staff,” Celtics executive Danny Ainge said. “You’ll probably see a lot of different combinations through training camp scrimmages and in exhibition games and see who plays best together. It’s not always the best players, but the players that play the best together. We have a lot of different options, especially in the frontcourt. I’m anxious to see how that all plays out.”
  • Himmelsbach recently participated in our interview series, “The Beat.” You can read his thoughts on a number of topics relating to the Celtics here.
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Atlantic Notes: Nets, Zeller, McCullough, Atkins

September 23rd, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Nets GM Billy King said Tuesday that he’s comfortable with Jarrett Jack as the starting point guard, though he admitted he’s unsure if the team is better off without Deron Williams, whom the team waived in a buyout deal. Andy Vasquez of The Record has that and other details from King’s session with reporters Tuesday.

“It’s going to depend on how quickly it jells,” King said. “But I think with the core of guys, proven scorers, proven guys that can win, we have a chance to make the playoffs. And the goal for us going into this is just to try to get better.”

King also made it clear that the team won’t try to improve its record simply to try to keep from forking over draft picks that are too high, as Vasquez also notes. Brooklyn, which owes the Celtics unprotected first-round picks in 2016 and 2018, will rebuild at its own pace, King said. See more on the Nets and Celtics and other Atlantic Division news:

  • Tyler Zeller confirmed he and the Celtics have engaged in extension talks, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com details, but while the center acknowledged that he’d like to reach a deal before the November 2nd deadline, he doesn’t sound like he’s especially anxious for one. “It would be nice to have an extension, just a little more security,” Zeller said. “But at the same time, you have to approach the year and you can’t be heartbroken if you don’t get it. You have to make sure you’re fully prepared. Either way, I have to do my job this year. I have one more year on my contract. So I have to go out and do as much as I can to help our team this year.” Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors examined Zeller’s extension candidacy earlier this month.
  • Nets first-round pick Chris McCullough seemed to make progress over the summer toward his target of a November return for full-contact practice, but he said Tuesday that he’s “nowhere near ready,” observes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. This year’s No. 29 overall pick is unlikely to make his debut until the second half of the season, according to Bontemps. “We’ll give a timetable on exactly where we think he’ll be after [the first] preseason game,” King said. “We’ll sit down with him and his agent and everybody and really just walk through it. I have an idea in my mind of what we want to do with him, but I want to sit down with him and with his agent and explain it.”
  • The deal between the Knicks and Darion Atkins is partially guaranteed for $75K, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. The team’s interest in the undrafted power forward from Virginia was late-developing, as the Knicks weren’t one of 16 teams to work him out prior to the draft and only turned to him when fellow undrafted rookie Maurice Ndour spurned them for the Mavs, Berman writes.
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Eastern Notes: Celtics, Parker, KD, Heat

September 21st, 2015 at 1:53pm CST by Zachary Links

The Celtics are hoping that their depth will be enough to power them to success since they are lacking in star power, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald writes.  Celtics GM Danny Ainge understands the importance of having elite players, but he also pointed to the Spurs’ 2013/14 championship team as a team that won it all while not necessarily having the most talent.

“History has shown us that you need stars — or at least some level of stars,” said Ainge. “But I do believe you can win with really good players. Teams in the past that have won haven’t had the best players.”

Of course, that was a roster anchored by Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker, so it’s not as though it was a team of no-names.  Here’s more from the Eastern Conference..

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Pacific Notes: Babb, Crawford, Morris, Cauley-Stein

September 20th, 2015 at 10:18am CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors intend to keep Chris Babb and evaluate him in training camp, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. The 6’5″ guard, who spent most of last season with the Celtics’ D-League affiliate in Maine, was acquired in the July 27th deal that sent David Lee to Boston. Babb signed a multi-year deal with the Celtics in April, and Washburn writes that the organization liked the effort he gave. Babb, who participated in the D-League All-Star Game, was recalled in April but didn’t appear in any games with the Celtics. He played 14 games with the team during the 2013/14 season, averaging 1.6 points.

There’s more news from the Pacific Division:

  • The Clippers‘ best move may be to trade Jamal Crawford for a big man to back up DeAndre Jordan, writes Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders. Crawford, who will make $5.675MM this season in the final year of his contract, has been the subject of trade rumors, although coach Doc Rivers said recently that he is unlikely to be dealt. Blancarte contends that Cole Aldrich doesn’t give the Clippers enough insurance off the bench and thinks the team should combine Crawford’s contract with C.J. Wilcox‘s and pursue another frontcourt player like the Heat’s Chris Andersen or Josh McRoberts, the Blazers’ Chris Kaman, the Bulls’ Taj Gibson or the Suns‘ Markieff Morris.
  • Despite repeated trade demands, Morris will likely remain in Phoenix until at least Christmas, according to Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. In his weekly mailbag column, Smith also says native Canadian Steve Nash is unlikely to ever join the Raptors organization. The columnist points out that Nash, who is rumored to be in line for a part-time player development consultant position with the Warriors, is pretty established in Southern California.
  • Despite his “raw” offensive skills, Willie Cauley-Stein is rated as the Kings‘ best offseason addition by Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. In the site’s season preview for Sacramento, Pincus says the rookie center out of Kentucky can became an important part of the Kings’ lineup if he reaches his defensive potential.
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Celtics Notes: Sullinger, Zeller, Lee, Smart

September 19th, 2015 at 10:43pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders is optimistic about Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller heading into the 2015/16 season. Both players are eligible for rookie scale extensions and they both have between now and November 2nd to come to terms with the Celtics. It may not be wise to extend Sullinger now due to health concerns, Will Joseph of Hoops Rumors opined in his extension candidate piece. Zeller, who I examined as an extension candidate last week, is more likely to reach an agreement with the team.

Here’s more from Boston:

  • David Lee is the team’s best new addition, Camerato opines in the same piece. Lee is entering the final season of his current deal, which will pay him slightly under $15.5MM, and Camerato believes the big man will elevate his game and emerge as a contributor for Boston.
  • A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com examines the Celtics‘ roster and wonders who could be the most improved. Blakely names Marcus Smart, Kelly Olynyk and James Young as likely candidates and believes the progress of Smart is the most important for the team as it will go far in determining how good Boston will be next season.
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