Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Rumors: Felton, Lin, DeRozan, Lee

November 17th, 2012 at 4:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks lost their status as the league's only unbeaten last night, and they could be another loss away from falling out of first place, as the Nets are a game behind and the Celtics, winners in a matinee against the Raptors this afternoon, lurk a game and a half behind. The standings can change quickly in the first month of the season, and while we wait to see whether the early returns on New York were accurate, here's more on the Knicks and their Atlantic Division rivals.

Raymond Felton has earned the respect of all his Knicks teammates, something predecessor Jeremy Lin failed to do, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. A return to New York, where the point guard has played his best, was Felton's first choice in free agency this summer, agent Tony Dutt tells Berman. "Raymond was born to be a Knick," Dutt said.
DeMar DeRozan's lucrative extension drew criticism, but Celtics coach Doc Rivers sees plenty of value in the fourth-year swingman, notes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
Courtney Lee, a career 38.6% three-point shooter, is just 3-for-16 in his first 10 games with the Celtics. Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe discusses Lee's struggles adjusting to his new team.
Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside wonders if the Celtics' use of their D-League affiliate could lead more teams to think of the D-League as a tool for long-term development rather than simply a way to bring along fill-ins.

Western Notes: Grizzlies, Wolves, Jefferson, Brand

November 16th, 2012 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

In his latest Insider piece for ESPN.com, John Hollinger explores the concept of the "second draft," an idea that involves acquiring players who had the talent to be high draft picks but who fell out of favor with their previous teams, for whatever reason. Hollinger points to the Grizzlies as one team taking full advantage of the "second draft" concept this season, with Jerryd Bayless, Quincy Pondexter, Wayne Ellington, and Marreese Speights making the club's bench one of the best in the NBA so far.

Here are a few more notes from around the Western Conference:

Before the Timberwolves signed Josh Howard, they "politely turned down" interest from Kenyon Martin's camp, and made the same minimum-salary offer to Mickael Pietrus, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Howard accept the team's proposal first, as Pietrus' camp is still holding out for the mini mid-level.
Al Jefferson was upset after the Jazz' game against the Celtics that Boston media had interpreted his comments about his C's history to mean he wanted to return to Boston, according to James Patrick of the Deseret News.
While Mike D'Antoni won over the media when he was introduced in Los Angeles yesterday, it will be more important long-term for the Lakers' new coach to win over Dwight Howard, says Ken Berger of CBS Sports.
After he didn't land the Lakers' coaching job, Phil Jackson is unlikely to be considered a serious candidate for the next Team USA coach, according to Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game, who says (via Sulia) that newly re-elected chairman Jerry Colangelo and Jackson aren't exactly close.
Elton Brand appeared on ESPN Radio Dallas to discuss the eventual return of Dirk Nowitzki and the adjustments that fellow offseason acquisition O.J. Mayo has had to make with the Mavericks (link via Sports Radio Interviews).

Eastern Notes: Lopez, J.R. Smith, Wall, Harkless

November 14th, 2012 at 10:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

It was a successful night for a pair of teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, as the Pistons blew out the Sixers en route to their first win after an 0-8 start, while the Bobcats dropped the Wolves for their third win in a row, moving to 4-3. The Wizards failed to join that group, and are the NBA's lone remaining winless team after losing to the Mavericks tonight. There's more on Washington and other news from the East right here.

After committing to Brook Lopez this summer, the Nets have raised their expectations of the fifth-year center, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, who says the team signed Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche so they could help Lopez improve.
J.R. Smith said in training camp he wanted to start at shooting guard, but now he says he's "loving" his role as sixth man for the unbeaten Knicks, for whom he's off to a hot start, observes Nate Taylor of The New York Times.
As the 0-7 Wizards search in vain for their first win, the frustration is mounting for John Wall, who's without a timetable for a return from a stress fracture in his right knee, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. Wall will be eligible for an extension to his rookie-scale contract next summer.
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says rookie Maurice Harkless, who missed preseason while recovering from sports hernia surgery, is already starting to show his worth a week after his debut for the Magic.
Hedo Turkoglu had hoped to be back from his broken left hand about two weeks from now, but after doctors had to put the hand back in a cast today, he could be out for another month, reports John Denton of Magic.com.
Richard Hamilton, whose $5MM deal for next season is only guaranteed for $1MM, could be a free agent next summer, but he's okay with Tom Thibodeau's plans to limit his minutes to keep him healthy, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune notes.
The Celtics are considering a D-League rehab stint for Avery Bradley once he's healthy, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.

Al Jefferson Hints At Return To Celtics

November 14th, 2012 at 10:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

10:00pm: Jefferson responded to the reports that he would consider signing with the Celtics, reiterating that the Jazz are his first choice, saying, "The only way I won't be there is they don't want me there," reports Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter links).

6:58pm: Al Jefferson is a free agent next summer and said he'd love to stay with the Jazz, but expressed a willingness to return to the Celtics, for whom he played the first three seasons of his career, writes Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com.

"This is my first home," he said of Boston, where the Jazz are playing tonight. "This will always be my home away from home. (Celtics president) Danny Ainge gave me a chance when nobody else did. If that situation were to happen, I’d love to do that again. But right now, like I said, it’s all about taking care of business and finishing out the season right."

Jefferson spoke highly of the Jazz organization as well, and said it reminds him of the Celtics. The 6'10" 27-year-old figures to be one of the most highly sought-after big men on the market in the offseason. It would be difficult to envision Boston, which has about $70MM in commitments next season, including Paul Pierce's $15.3MM player option, having anywhere near enough room to sign him outright. Ainge could engineer some kind of sign-and-trade or another swap that frees up cap space, but it's likely Jefferson won't be back in green anytime soon, barring a Celtics collapse this season that prods Ainge into significant changes.

Still, it seems the affection is mutual, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston notes Celtics coach Doc Rivers had dinner with Jefferson when the Jazz and Celtics played last season.

"He just keeps getting better and better," Rivers said. "The thing I thought I’d never say about Al, he’s becoming a better passer. And I’ve very happy about that for him. He just keeps working on his game. He hit that one little stretch where, he had lost a lot, you could see he’s fought through that now. Making that playoff run, and he was a big part of it last year, has kind of re-stoked him and that’s good. He’s a heck of a guy."

Celtics Assign Fab Melo, Kris Joseph To D-League

November 14th, 2012 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have assigned a pair of players to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today. Rookies Fab Melo and Kris Joseph are headed to the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics confirmed in a press release.

Seven games into the Celtics' season, Joseph has only earned three total minutes of playing time, in the team's November 2nd contest against the Bucks. Melo, meanwhile, has yet to make his regular-season NBA debut. With the Red Claws, both players will earn much-needed playing time and a chance to develop.

To keep tabs on all of this season's D-League assignments and recalls, check out our tracker.

Upcoming Guarantee Dates

November 13th, 2012 at 9:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most players on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts have January 15th circled on their calendars. As long as they don't clear waivers before that day, their contracts become fully guaranteed. A handful of others without full guarantees are working on a different schedule, as negotiated with their teams. The contracts for the players below become fully guaranteed if they're not waived on or before the dates listed.

Suns: P.J. Tucker¹ ($762,195, partially guaranteed for $400K) — December 1st
Bobcats: Cory Higgins ($762,195, fully non-guaranteed) — December 10th
Wizards: Jannero Pargo²($1,229,295, partially guaranteed for $300K) — December 15th
Bulls: Nate Robinson² ($1,146,337, partially guaranteed for $400K) — January 1st

¹— Tucker has already moved past one hurdle, as the size of his partial guarantee increased from $150K when he made the opening-night roster.

²— The Wizards and Bulls would only be obligated to pay $854,389, the amount equal to a third-year veteran's minimum, if they keep Pargo and Robinson, respectively, past their guarantee dates. The league would pay the rest since both are on one-year minimum-salary deals.

ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.

Odds & Ends: Odom, Duncan, Johnson, Blazers

November 11th, 2012 at 10:20pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Sunday evening:

Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Clippers still aren't sure what contributions they can expect from Lamar Odom this season.
Tim Duncan is playing like an MVP candidate this season, says Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News.
David D'Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledges examines Nets guard Joe Johnson's slow start to the season.
The Trail Blazers have the least productive bench in the league so far, but Chris Haynes of CSNNW.comthinks the team should give their young reserves more playing time so they can develop and improve.
Marc Berman of the New York Post writes that the Knicks' J.R. Smith is an early candidate for Sixth Man of the Year.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com has a new mailbag covering various Celtics topics.
Barry Tramel of the Oklahoman is impressed with new Thunder guard Kevin Martin.

HoopsWorld On Best NBA Contracts

November 11th, 2012 at 4:50pm CST by Sean Highkin

The staff of HoopsWorld.com has posted a new roundtable in which several of their staff writers weighed in on which players have the best contracts in the NBA.

Joel Brigham writes that as the best three-point shooter in NBA history, Ray Allen is a steal for the Heat at $3MM per year.
Bill Ingram believes the Spurs got an excellent value in Tony Parker. Parker is making $12.5MM this season, considerably less than other elite point guards such as Chris Paul and Deron Williams.
Robert Wing calls Kyle Lowry's contract a "complete steal," saying the Raptors got a major upgrade at starting point guard over Jose Calderon for cheap.
Eric Pincus thinks the Knicks were able to take advantage of Raymond Felton's low stock after his poor performance in Portland last season to land the point guard for $14.9MM over four years.
Alex Kennedy points out that Rajon Rondo would be worth much more on the open market than the five-year, $55MM extension he signed with the Celtics in 2009.

Odds & Ends: West, Allen, Garnett, Stiemsma

November 11th, 2012 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Reaction has been largely negative to FIBA's announcement of changes to the basketball World Cup. John Hollinger of ESPN.com characterizes the moves as a "money grab" that degrades the tournament (Twitter link). With qualifiers taking place in the middle of the season instead of during summer, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com believes Team USA may only have non-NBA pros at its disposal for those games (Twitter link). Tom Ziller of SB Nation tweets that Team USA could simply circumvent the qualifiers by winning the World Cup and Olympic gold every time, though that might prove a difficult standard to maintain. While we await more fallout on the international basketball scene, here's what's going on around NBA. circles.

David West wants to remain with the Pacers after this year, but he acknowledges the team's other financial commitments could make that difficult, reports HoopsWorld's Lang Greene.
Ray Allen was open to signing an extension with the Celtics during last season, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Washburn also notes the $12MM final season of the three-year contract Kevin Garnett signed this summer is only guaranteed for $6MM, per ShamSports.
Greg Stiemsma credits his work with Al Jefferson and Garnett for helping him establish his NBA career, notes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside runs down a list of seven-footers in D-League camps, while fellow Ridiculous Upside scribe Keith Schlosser observes that the Warriors affiliate is well-stocked with talent.
Omer Asik is the primary reason for the strong defensive play of the Rockets so far this season, concludes Jason Friedman of Rockets.com.
A source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that the "odds aren't great" that top 2013 draft prospect Shabazz Muhammad will play for UCLA anytime soon. The NCAA has declared Muhammad ineligible for an unspecified number of games.

Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Celtics, Bynum, Sixers

November 11th, 2012 at 10:07am CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers coaching search is dominating headlines, but the second most talked about story in the NBA right now might be the fast start of the Knicks, especially given New York's media clout. Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News goes over the many reasons the Knicks are enjoying success, and Marc Berman of the New York Post points to the team's defense, allowing a league-low 87.5 points per game. There's plenty more on the Knicks and their Atlantic Division this morning, as we round up here.

The 4-0 Knicks are blessed with depth, but coach Mike Woodson won't tolerate anyone complaining about a lack of playing time, Berman observes. "I’m not going to deal with guys with bad egos," Woodson said. "If there’s a problem, they got to go. It’s been great so far and will continue to be great because the guys we have are true pros."
Paul Flannery of SB Nation dissects the shortcomings of the 3-3 Celtics, concluding the defense of the team's undersized power forwards is the most significant problem.
Sixers GM Tony DiLeo says Andrew Bynum's injury "could be a blessing in disguise" that prompts the rest of the team to up their games while the big man is out, as Flannery also writes.
Jrue Holiday's extension was the first deal the Sixers made with the input of basketball analytics director Aaron Barzilai, notes John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who discusses Barzilai's role with DiLeo.
After initially joining the team on a 10-day contract last season, Alan Anderson has settled into the Raptors rotation after spending six years in Europe, Israel and the D-League waiting for another chance in the NBA, recounts Melissa Couto of the Toronto Sun. Playing alongside idol Vince Carter in Toronto would complete Anderson's dream scenario, Couto writes. Carter left the door open to an eventual return in an interview this week.
Though Nets GM Billy King is touting Gerald Wallace's ability to match up with LeBron James, Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News hears the primary reasons the team acquired him from the Blazers last season were to compensate for the failure to land Dwight Howard and persuade Deron Williams to stay.