Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Miller, Beal, Payton

March 14th, 2015 at 7:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former Wizard Andre Miller said he got the “bad end of the stick” in Washington, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The veteran point guard was shipped to Sacramento in a deadline-day trade that reunited him with longtime coach George Karl. Miller, 38, implies that the trade was the Wizards’ way of blaming him for their midseason downturn. He was backing up John Wall in Washington, averaging 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in just 12.4 minutes of playing time. Miller also expessed his frustration to Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (Twitter link): “For a guy to only play 10 minutes a game you figure why would I be the one to get moved,” Miller asked. “But I try not to individualize it.”

There’s more news from the Southeast Division:

The Wizards need more production from Bradley Beal to become a serious playoff contender, writes Michael Lee of The Washington Post. Beal, who recently returned to the lineup after missing nine games with a stress reaction in his right leg, agreed with that assessment. “My game definitely has to escalate,” he said. “And it has to escalate now. I know it starts with John [Wall] and [me]. I have to definitely step up my play. He’s been playing well all year and I’ve been on a roller coaster. I definitely have to be aggressive and be the star that people think I should be.”
Elfrid Payton‘s troubles at the free throw line won’t keep him out of the Magic lineup, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Interim Orlando coach James Borrego said he will keep playing the rookie regardless of how he shoots foul shots. “I’m not going to take him out if they keep hacking him,” Borrego said. Payton is shooting 53% from the line and had a particularly bad performance Friday against Boston, making just four of 15 as the Celtics purposely fouled him.

Eastern Notes: Celtics, Van Gundy, Eddie

March 14th, 2015 at 11:25am CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said there is no disconnect between him and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge as the team fights for a playoff berth, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes. Stevens has not been asked by Ainge to use younger players at the expense of winning, according to Bulpett, who points out that rookie James Young has lost his spot in the rotation. Ainge made several trades this season with an eye to the future, including deals that shipped out veterans Rajon Rondo and Tayshaun Prince. “To me, there doesn’t need to be any separation. This is the focus we have,” Stevens said to the team’s beat reporters. “Obviously [Ainge] has got to look at everything from a roster standpoint and the development standpoint and everything else, but I think our progress as a team and the way we’re progressing, all that stuff goes hand in hand.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy is unhappy about his team playing 22 back-to-backs this season, tying his team with the Hornets for the most in the league, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. Van Gundy believes the problem is due to the league’s contract with TNT which prevents teams from scheduling games on most Thursday nights, Langlois adds. “If you looked at the schedule and said, they’ve got 45 home games and they’ve only got 37, everybody would go crazy,” Van Gundy said to Langlois. “But on the back to backs, we don’t say anything. I think that is something to be addressed.”
Jarell Eddie will not receive a second 10-day contract from the Hawks, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals. Eddie, whose first 10-day contract expires on Saturday, did not appear in any games after he was signed away from the D-League’s Austin Spurs. He will likely return to Austin, Vivlamore continues.

Eastern Notes: Ferry, Brand, Kirilenko, Heat, C’s

March 13th, 2015 at 1:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Hawks executive and prospective owner Dominique Wilkins hasn’t exactly been enamored with Danny Ferry after he tried to block the building of a statue in honor of the Hawks legend, as Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes in a subscription-only piece. Schultz examines the uncertain future of the GM who’s been on indefinite leave of absence since September and the opposition he faces from Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr., who reportedly sought Ferry’s ouster and, according to Schultz, fears the GM’s return. There’s more on the Hawks amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:

Elton Brand says he’ll wait until season’s end to decide whether he’ll retire, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Brand also considered retirement after last season before he re-signed with the Hawks on a one-year, $2MM deal.
It appears that Andrei Kirilenko‘s departure from the Sixers constituted a buyout deal, as his salary was reduced from $3,326,235 to $2,328,365, according to Eric Pincus, who reports via Twitter and shows more detail on his Sixers salary page at Basketball Insiders. Presumably, that $997,870 difference is on top of the money Kirilenko lost during his unpaid suspension.
Having Hassan Whiteside blossom as he has is “almost like getting a lottery pick” to make up for the first-rounders the team dealt away when it signed-and-traded for LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010, Heat president Pat Riley tells Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick (Twitter link). Riley added that he feels as though Michael Beasley and perhaps Tyler Johnson also have the ability to offset the loss of those picks.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is much more pleased with his club now than he was two months ago, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com observes.

2015/16 Salary Commitments: Celtics

March 12th, 2015 at 6:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the NBA trade deadline now passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.

We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $68MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.

We’ll continue by taking a look at the Celtics’ cap outlook for 2015/16…

Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:

Avery Bradley — $7,730,337
Kelly Olynyk — $2,165,160
Marcus Smart — $3,431,040
Jared Sullinger — $2,269,260
Isaiah Thomas — $6,912,869
Evan Turner — $3,425,510
Gerald Wallace — $10,105,855
James Young — $1,749,840
Tyler Zeller — $2,616,975

Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:

Chris Babb — $947,276
Phil Pressey — $947,276

Players with options:

N/A

The Celtics’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:

Guaranteed Salary: $40,406,846
Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $1,894,552
Total: $42,301,398

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

And-Ones: Kobe, Draft, Hard Cap, Datome

March 11th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Kobe Bryant thought for a moment after he found out he’d torn his rotator cuff that he might be done with the game, but he insisted he’s never seriously considered not playing next season, as he told reporters Tuesday, including Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Bryant left open the possibility that he’ll play beyond 2015/16, the last year of his contract with the Lakers, and he added that he probably won’t decide whether to play in 2016/17 until next season is through, as Holmes notes. Here’s more from around the league:

Prominent agent Arn Tellem, in a piece for Grantland, argues that teams have begun to regard the back end of the draft’s second round as less about finding the best available player and more about acquiring the rights to prospects willing to play overseas. Among Tellem’s proposals is to move to a system of draft-eligibility similar to baseball’s in which all players would be automatically eligible at age 18. Tellem would also like to see a rule that would require teams to tender guaranteed minimum-salary offers to retain the rights to second-round picks, though that salary would be cut in half if the draftee instead spends the season playing in the D-League. His ideas likely have an influential audience, since Tellem’s Wasserman agency has close ties to Adam Silver and D-League president Malcolm Turner, notes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter links).
Silver, meanwhile, tells Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune that he continues to support a harder salary cap in the wake of the league’s proposal for one in the last round of collective bargaining in 2011, arguing that it would create more parity.
The Celtics appear lukewarm about soon-to-be free agent Gigi Datome, and while he told Italian media that he’d like to receive more offers from NBA teams than he does from overseas, clubs from Spain, Russia and Turkey are ready with proposals, sources tell Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.

Atlantic Notes: Williams, Knicks, Green

March 10th, 2015 at 5:29pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Raptors guard Louis Williams‘ strong play in the final year of his deal has put him in the running for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. When discussing his past, present, and future with Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com, Williams relayed that his free agent preference this summer is to remain in Toronto. “Absolutely. I already tried to get them to go do it — get an extension,” Williams said. “But at this point in my career, I want to play somewhere where the fans appreciate you, your team is serious about winning and create something special. We have an identity, and I love it. It’s perfect for my personality. I’ve always been the underdog, I’ve always been overlooked. I’ve always been the guy where it was like we’ll see what he does and then we’ll check on Lou. That’s been my career.”

It should be noted that Williams would have been unable to ink an extension with the Raptors since he is currently on a three-year deal. The collective bargaining agreement stipulates that a player can only ink a contract extension if he is signed to a deal of four years or greater in length.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

When asked by Mazzeo about the trade that sent him from the Hawks to the Raptors, Williams said, “I knew it was coming. I just knew my experience in Atlanta was coming to an end. It was either gonna be I was leaving after my contract was up or they were gonna trade me, and that’s just how things were going. We had a coaching change and I had missed the first [eight] games of that season, and the Hawks head coach Bud [Mike Budenholzer], he just was very honest and upfront with me and just said, ‘I’ve gotten more comfortable with this other guy and he’s probably gonna play the minutes.’ I had to respect that because the coach has a job to do.“
The Knicks may have difficulty luring free agents to New York because of the restrictions that the triangle offense imposes on players’ athleticism, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes.
Jeff Green, who holds a $9.2MM player option for next season, is still very close with his former Celtics teammates, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com relays (Twitter link). Green is especially close with Avery Bradley, Blakely adds. It’s unknown if this camaraderie could lead Green back to Boston, or if the team would have any interest in re-signing the forward if he opts out of his current deal.

Celtics, Sixers Made Most Trades In 2014/15

March 10th, 2015 at 3:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s tough to draw too many conclusions from a wild season of trades until more time has passed, but already there’s been at least a slight correlation between success on the court and willingness to trade. The sub-.500 Celtics and Sixers make the case that losing teams were more apt to trade this season, as each team has made a league-high 11 trades since the official start of the 2014/15 season in July. However, the surging Cavs are right behind them, having pulled off nine swaps. The Spurs and Warriors are two of only three teams not to have taken part in a trade this season, but the other is the Pacers, who’ve fallen on hard times without Paul George.

Still, it’s easier to see the link between winning and stability in the scope of last year’s on-court performance as well as this year’s. Only two of the top eight most active teams on the trade market made the playoffs last season, and none of the top four. All three teams that didn’t make a move are coming off playoff berths from last season, while only two of the nine teams that made fewer than two trades this year missed the playoffs in 2013/14.

Regardless, there was plenty of movement, with nearly half the teams in the league having been a part of at least four trades. Even teams that weren’t prolific traders had an impact, with the Heat acquiring Goran Dragic, who was probably the best player dealt at last month’s deadline, in their lone deal of 2014/15.

The number of trades in the 2014/15 season will no doubt swell at draft time, when teams usually execute a flurry of pick swaps, but from now until the end of the regular season, this is where it will stand. We’ve ranked every team by the number of trades they made. You can find details on all of the trades since the start of the regular season here, and details on trades during the 2014 offseason here. Note that the 2014 offseason trades include swaps that took place before July that are technically part of the 2013/14 season. Those deals aren’t reflected in the totals below.

Celtics: 11
Sixers: 11
Cavaliers: 9
Suns: 7
Pelicans: 6
Rockets: 6
Thunder: 5
Timberwolves: 5
Kings: 4
Knicks 4
Nets: 4
Nuggets: 4
Pistons: 4
Wizards: 4
Clippers: 3
Hornets: 3
Jazz: 3
Mavericks: 3
Bucks: 2
Bulls: 2
Hawks: 2
Grizzlies: 1
Heat: 1
Lakers: 1
Magic: 1
Raptors: 1
Trail Blazers: 1
Pacers: None
Spurs: None
Warriors: None

Atlantic Notes: Jason Smith, Shaw, Datome

March 10th, 2015 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Jason Smith said he inked only a one-year deal with the Knicks last summer because that’s all the team offered, and the center made it clear he wants to re-sign with the team in the offseason, as Marc Berman of the New York Post observes.

“I love New York,’’ Smith said. “I like the triangle offense. I wouldn’t have a problem coming back to New York. I think it’s a great market, great basketball organization. [Team president] Phil [Jackson]’s got the team moving in the right direction. It’s tough to say that now because he’s trying to change the culture.’’

The Knicks will have Smith’s Non-Bird rights in the offseason, so they can give him a deal with a salary of no more than $3,933,600 unless they use the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception or open cap room. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Derek Fisher said he’s spoken with Brian Shaw since the Nuggets fired Shaw last week, as Berman notes in the same piece. Shaw has ties to Jackson and speculation has linked the ex-Denver coach to an assistant’s job with New York.
Gigi Datome was buried on the bench in Detroit, but the Celtics are giving their deadline-day acquisition significant minutes while Avery Bradley heals from a minor injury, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com examines. The C’s can match offers for Datome, who hits free agency this summer, if they tender a nearly $2.188MM qualifying offer.
The Sixers will take a different approach with waiver claim Glenn Robinson III, who won’t see the floor much at first, coach Brett Brown said, according to Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News. That won’t give the team much of a chance to evaluate him before his contract is up at season’s end, but Brown indicated that the team had been keeping an eye on him for a while before acquiring him. Robinson’s qualifying offer will be slightly more than $1.045MM this summer.

Atlantic Notes: Richardson, Randolph, Johnson

March 9th, 2015 at 3:47pm CST by Chuck Myron

Division titles matter little for the playoffs, but there’s a distinct chance the Atlantic crown plays a significant role in the first-round matchups this year. The champion of each division is guaranteed a top four seed, though first-round home-court advantage is not a given, so division titlists are in essence guaranteed only a top five position. Usually, the leader of each division is within the top five teams in their respective conferences, but the Raptors, sitting atop the Atlantic, are only four and a half games clear of the Bucks for sixth place in the Eastern Conference, and Toronto has been slumping. Still, even if the Raptors do finish sixth or worse in the East, they’ll still be in the No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup in the playoffs as long as they win the division. Here’s more from the Atlantic:

The idea of re-signing Jason Richardson was off the table for the Sixers until he returned last month from a more than two-year injury-induced absence, but now Philly is at least considering it, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sixers coach Brett Brown doesn’t see a reason why the 34-year-old couldn’t play for another couple of seasons, Pompey notes. Richardson, who’s in the final season of his contract, would like to remain with Philadelphia rather than chase a ring elsewhere and said that if he were to go to a title-contender, he’d want more than a bit role, as Pompey relays.
The Celtics scheduled a meeting with reserve power forward Shavlik Randolph when they appeared close to signing JaVale McGee, but that meeting was scuttled when McGee and the C’s failed to agree to terms, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. That led Bulpett to speculate that Randolph was the likely roster casualty if McGee had signed.
Amir Johnson‘s declining numbers and expiring contract make it seem decreasingly likely that he’ll remain with the Raptors for next season, writes Eric Koreen of the National Post.

Western Rumors: Rondo, Knight, Neal

March 9th, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo considers it an “honor and a compliment” that Kobe Bryant is trying to recruit him to the Lakers, but the point guard said Sunday that his focus is on the present day with the Mavericks, notes Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Rondo on Sunday didn’t deny interest in playing for the Lakers, Holmes adds in a separate piece, but Bryant downplayed the significance of his conversations with Rondo on Sunday when the Lakers star chatted with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. There’s more on the Mavs’ most significant in-season acquisition amid the latest from around the West:

The Celtics had “serious doubts” about whether Rondo was worth the max before trading him in December, and that was one of the reasons Boston pulled off the swap, sources told Holmes for the second of his two pieces linked above. That echoes a recent dispatch from Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who heard that it’s unlikely the Mavs point guard receives a full max deal in free agency this summer.
Several GMs who spoke with Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops believe Brandon Knight is worth $12MM a year. The Suns traded for Knight, a restricted free agent at season’s end, at last month’s deadline.
Gary Neal was reportedly angling for a buyout from the Timberwolves last month, but he said this weekend that he’d love to stay with Minnesota, observes Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders hinted at interest in a long-term future with the guard whose deal expires this summer, as Hartman also relays. “A lot of people questioned whether we were going to keep him, but I said from the beginning he was a guy that we traded for that we liked,” Saunders said. “We wanted him to come in and we were hoping it could be a long-term-type situation, but we’ll wait and see.”