Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Sign Jason Collins

July 31st, 2012 at 2:59pm CST by Daniel Seco

JULY 31ST: The Celtics have officially signed Collins, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 21ST: The Celtics have agreed to terms with center Jason Collins on a one-year, veteran minimum deal, reports Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (via Twitter). Collins, 33, appeared in 30 games for the Hawks during the 2012/13 season where he averaged 1.3 PPG and 1.6 RPG in just over 10 minutes per contest.

By signing Collins, Boston has added a legitimate seven-footer to provide depth off the bench in place of Greg Stiemsma, who is headed to Minnesota after reaching a deal earlier on Saturday. Collins' best season came in 2004/05 with the Nets as he started in 80 games and averaged 6.4 PPG along with 6.1 RPG. Beyond the stat sheet, Collins remains a strong defender and brings 95 games of playoff experience to Boston.

Odds & Ends: Celtics, Alonzo Gee, Randy Foye

July 26th, 2012 at 10:14pm CST by Daniel Seco

The Celtics and Heat will kickoff the upcoming season as the NBA released the schedule for 2012/13 on Thursday. In another notable matchup, the Nets will host the Knicks on opening night in the inaugural basketball game at the Barclays Center. Among the highlights of the five Christmas Day contests include the Thunder taking on the Heat in Miami and the Knicks heading to the Staples Center to battle the Lakers. Here's the latest news and happenings from around the league…

The Celtics may appear to have a complete roster as the calendar turns to August, but general manager Danny Ainge is always looking for another piece that may make his team better, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. "I'm always looking for ways to improve the team," Ainge said. "I like our team; I like our guys. But I'm always looking. You're never going to hear me say, 'I'm done.' Because you never know what may open up down the road or in the near future."
Talks are slow but steady between the Cavaliers and Alonzo Gee, says Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Sulia link). Gee's agent, Andre Buck, won't rule out accepting the Cavs' qualifying offer if that's the best contract his client receives from Cleveland.
The Jazz wanted Randy Foye more than any other team and that made the former Villanova star's decision easier when it came time to sign a contract, writes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. "I felt," Foye said, "I could come in and contribute and help these guys."
The Wizards have invited former Gonzaga guard Steven Gray to attend the team's training camp, reports HoopsHype (via Twitter). Gray spent the 2011/12 season in Europe playing for Latvian club BK Ventspils where he averaged 11.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG.
The Lakers continue to have interest in Jodie Meeks as the two sides are in talks about a potential contract, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.

Jordan Hill Re-Signs With Lakers

July 25th, 2012 at 5:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 25th, 5:09pm: The Lakers have officially announced the signing, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (Twitter link).

JULY 20th, 7:59pm: Power forward Jordan Hill has reached an agreement to re-sign with the Lakers on a two-year deal worth nearly $8MM, his agent Kevin Bradbury tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Bradbury said Thursday the Timberwolves were "right there" with the Lakers in the competition for Hill's services, but apparently the Lakers won out, helped by their status as a title contender.

"Jordan was excited about the fact that Steve Nash decided to join the Lakers and the prospect of winning a championship in LA," Bradbury said to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Wednesday, a report by Ramona Shelburne and Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com suggested the Lakers would turn their attention to re-signing Hill and extending the contract of Andrew Bynum if they were to back off trade talks for Dwight Howard, but it's unclear exactly what bringing back Hill means for a Howard-to-L.A. deal.

The Lakers are limited to paying Hill no more than $3,632,527 for 2012/13, believed to be the value of the team option in his previous contract. The Rockets declined that option long before a midseason trade that sent him to the Lakers. Teams are prohibited from re-signing players to contracts that would give the player a higher salary in a season than what he would have earned if his option had not been declined. Bradbury told David Aldridge of TNT that Hill turned down larger offers to return to the Lakers (Twitter link).

Hill averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds a game with a 15.8 PER last season with the Rockets and Lakers, coming to L.A. in a midseason trade. He appeared in only seven regular season games for the Lakers, but played in all 12 playoff games, leading all postseason performers in offensive rebounding percentage.

The Wolves, who've missed out on other targets like Nicolas Batum and Courtney Lee of late, seem poised to shift their focus to Celtics restricted free agent Greg Stiemsma, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

2011/12 Taxpaying Teams

July 25th, 2012 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

While teams get their books in order for the 2012/13 season, navigating the salary cap and the luxury tax threshold, Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com takes a look back at the league's 2011/12 finances. Deeks shares the official list of teams that paid the luxury tax in 2011/12, along with the amount each club paid. The list is as follows:

Los Angeles Lakers: $12,557,264
Boston Celtics: $7,365,867
Miami Heat: $6,129,340
Dallas Mavericks: $2,738,843
San Antonio Spurs: $2,514,275
Atlanta Hawks: $666,199

The more punitive luxury-tax penalties introduced in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement have yet to kick in, so the tax penalties for the aforementioned six teams come by way of the old system — teams are penalized $1 for every dollar they spend over the tax line. In 2011/12, that tax line was at $70,307,000, so the Hawks, for instance, spent $70,973,199 on their roster.

Tax penalties for 2012/13 will remain the same as in 2011/12, but next offseason the CBA's increased restrictions take effect in earnest. In the summer of 2013, teams over the luxury tax line are ineligible to acquire players in sign-and-trade deals, while clubs that exceed the tax threshold for the 2013/14 season will pay an incremental rate based on team salary.

Odds & Ends: Celtics, Hawks, Miles, Brewer

July 24th, 2012 at 10:22pm CST by Michael Pina

ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg takes a closer look at the non-guaranteed contract Jamar Smith has signed with the Celtics after impressing the team in summer league. That's one of a handful of Tuesday night odds and ends from around the league. Here are a few more:

With only four players remaining on the Hawks roster from last season, new general manager Danny Ferry has managed to clean his team's salary structure while keeping hopes high for the future, writes HoopsWorld.com's Lang Greene.
C.J. Miles, a free agent who most expected to have found a new team by now, will meet with the Cavaliers this week, writes The Dallas Morning News' Eddie Sefko.
The Timberwolves made Ronnie Brewer a "generous" offer, but the free agent forward decided to sign with the Knicks instead, according to TwinCities.com's Ray Richardson.
Before signing A.J. Price, the Wizards were interested in signing Jonny Flynn to be John Wall's backup, but decided against it, writes the Washington Post's Michael Lee.
ESPNNewYork.com's Jared Zwerling breaks down the Knicks decision to acquire Ronnie Brewer and Pablo Prigioni.
Mavericks second-round pick Bernard James is expected to sign a contract with the team in the next day or two, reports ESPNDallas.com's Jeff Caplan.
The Trail Blazers reportedly interviewed as many as 10 candidates to fill their empty head coach position in Las Vegas last week, but have yet to contact any of them to say they were advancing to a second round of discussion, according to The Oregonian's Jason Quick. The process remains in its infant stage.
Agent Mark Bartelstein tells Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that he hopes Carl Landry and Dominic McGuire will make decisions in the next few days. Those two players, including free agent Brandon Rush, could be part of the Warriors' plan moving forward (Sulia links).

Agent: Pietrus Won’t Sign For Veteran’s Minimum

July 24th, 2012 at 4:32pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Celtics likely wouldn't mind having Mickael Pietrus on their roster for next season, it appears it will take more than the veteran's minimum to bring Pietrus back. Agent Bill McCandless tells WEEI.com's Ben Rohrbach that his client won't be accepting a minimum-salary contract this summer.

"[Pietrus] will not play for the veteran’s minimum. Period," said McCandless. "It’s not happening. That’s the beginning, middle and end of that…. He is not a veteran’s minimum player. There’s no chance he’ll ever sign for that."

The minimum salary for a nine-year veteran like Pietrus would be about $1.23MM, but McCandless says he's received an offer "triple that" from a team overseas. According to the agent, he's also engaged in serious talks with a few NBA teams about Pietrus, and has discussed money "much more than the veteran minimum."

"He’s looking for a team that likes him and respects what he does," Pietrus' agent said. "If he ends up on a championship or playoff contender, that’ll take care of itself…. He’s still open to a return. He loved Boston. Everybody knows that. But we’re all big boys, and this is a big boy business."

Odds & Ends: Howard, Celtics, Turiaf, Warriors

July 23rd, 2012 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

While it's always a little dangerous to read too much into Summer League results, it's still worth looking back at the month's top performers in Orlando and Las Vegas. A pair of SBNation.com scribes have done just that, with Mike Prada ranking the drafted rookies, from Damian Lillard to Fab Melo, while Scott Schroeder lists a few of the top "veterans," including Josh Selby, Tobias Harris, and Markieff Morris.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Association:

We haven't heard many updates about the Dwight Howard talks involving the Magic, Lakers, and Cavaliers in the last couple days, but Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio hears they're not entirely dead — they're just in a holding pattern for now, with teams (particularly the Magic) weighing other options.
An opposing executive tells Amico that it's too early to evaluate Chris Grant's job performance as Cavs GM.
Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com takes an in-depth look at the Celtics' roster and payroll situation
Spain's Real Madrid is eyeing big men, and Ronny Turiaf is on their radar, according to Javier Maestro of Encestando.es (English link via HoopsWorld).
Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com names a few forwards the Warriors could still potentially target in free agency.

Celtics Sign Jamar Smith

July 21st, 2012 at 2:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have signed free agent guard Jamar Smith, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Bulpett says the move was made earlier this month, and though the team has yet to confirm the signing, Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com says Smith has earned an official invitation to training camp in the fall. So, it's likely Smith has a non-guaranteed deal, perhaps with a team option for a second season, as RealGM.com suggests.

The 6'3" Smith, 25, went undrafted in 2010 out of Southern Indiana and played last season for BK Prostejov in the Czech Republic. The Celtics had him in camp in 2010, and he's a part of the Celtics summer league team this year. He appeared in 48 games for the Maine Red Claws, Boston's D-League affiliate, in 2010/11, racking up 13.7 points and 5.0 assists per game to go with 43.2% three-point shooting.

Bulpett adds that the team is also pursuing Dionte Christmas, a 6'5" guard out of Temple who went to camp with the Sixers in 2009.

Greg Stiemsma Still Waiting For Offer From Wolves

July 21st, 2012 at 2:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

Greg Stiemsma and agent Mike Naiditch have been patiently awaiting an offer from the Timberwolves while the team deals with other priorities, but that's about to change, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Naiditch said Stiemsma's willing to give the Wolves a discount, but suggested that won't be the case unless an offer is made today (Twitter link).

Stiemsma would like to play near his native Wisconsin, as Zgoda notes, and with the Bucks never a serious contender for him, Minnesota represents his closest option (Twitter link). Last night Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com reported that an unidentified team has made a significant offer, noting that it's not the Wolves. It's not the Celtics, either, since they're limited to offering the biannual exception of $1.957MM and appear likely to withdraw their qualifying offer, making Stiemsma an unrestricted free agent.

Stiemsma seems likely to sign for more than $2MM per year, and could fit into a team's $3MM mini mid-level exception or the $2.5MM room exception. A team with cap room could sign him, too, of course. He could wind up with the Cavs, who might be after frontcourt help following the loss of free agent Antawn Jamison and their unsuccessful amnesty waiver claim of Luis Scola, but that's just my speculation. If the Wolves don't sign him, Zgoda suggests Ronny Turiaf might be next in line for the team (Twitter link).

Celtics Acquire Courtney Lee

July 20th, 2012 at 10:08pm CST by Luke Adams

5:49pm: The second-round picks the Blazers will get are both for 2013, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. They'll receive the Celtics' own selection, along with the Timberwolves' pick that the C's acquired in an earlier deal. Freeman also passes along word from Blazers GM Neil Olshey, who says he is hopeful Pavlovic will make the team out of camp (Twitter link). Freeman confirms, via Twitter, that the Celtics will send the Blazers cash to cover Pavlovic's salary, which will likely be the veteran's minimum. Pavlovic's 2012/13 contract is non-guaranteed, so he could be waived without the Blazers taking a cap hit, Freeman confirms in an email to Hoops Rumors.

4:05pm: In making their own official announcement about the trade, the Trail Blazers noted that they'll acquire two future second-rounders from the Celtics, rather than just one (Twitter link).

2:12pm: The Rockets have officially announced the Lee sign-and-trade agreement in a press release. Based on the team's announcement and a tweet from Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, the deal looks like this:

Celtics receive: Courtney Lee (sign-and-trade from Rockets)
Rockets receive: JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, Sean Williams, Bobcats' 2013 second-round pick (from Celtics), and the rights to Jon Diebler (from Trail Blazers)
Trail Blazers receive: Sasha Pavlovic, second-round pick (from Celtics)

According to ESPN.com's John Hollinger (via Twitter), Lee will earn exactly $5MM in his first year, making his total contract worth the same as the maximum mid-level exception (four years, $21.35MM). The Rockets, meanwhile, are expected to waive Moore and Williams in the very near future. Diebler, the player whose rights Houston receives from Portland, was selected by the Blazers 51st overall in 2011 and spent last season overseas.