Luke Kornet Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Notes: R. Williams, Mazzulla, White, Horford

March 6th, 2023 at 9:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla announced that center Robert Williams will be sidelined for seven-to-10 days with a strained left hamstring, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. However, given Williams’ history of injuries, Washburn believes he could be out longer and it might be best to shut him down until the playoffs.

Williams didn’t play Sunday after hurting his hamstring in Friday’s loss to the Nets. Washburn notes that even though Sunday’s game went to two overtimes, Mazzulla didn’t bring big men Luke Kornet or Blake Griffin off his bench. Grant Williams was used at center for long stretches of the game, and the Knicks repeatedly attacked him on the pick-and-roll.

According to Washburn, the Celtics believe they can survive the loss of their starting center with their current rotation of big men. However, he notes that the team has an open roster spot and there are numerous veteran free agents for president of basketball operations Brad Stevens to consider.

There’s more from Boston:

After holding the NBA’s best record for most of the season, the Celtics have now dropped three of their last four games, Washburn adds. Mazzulla said he has “zero concerns” about the recent rough patch, framing it as an opportunity for the team to grow. “You obviously want to be playing your best basketball later in the season as you get closer to the playoffs, but this is a tough stretch,” Mazzulla said. “And whatever this stretch has you have to learn from it and use it later in the year.”
With Robert Williams unavailable, Mazzulla went back to his early-season lineup by inserting Derrick White into the starting five, per Brian Robb of MassLive. White had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes, and Robb suggests he could be considered the team’s third-most valuable player behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Al Horford believes a lack of focus is causing the Celtics to let big leads slip away, according to Souichi Terada of MassLive. Brooklyn overcame a 28-point deficit Friday night, and New York trailed by as many as 14 points on Sunday. “We’re not locking in as much as we need to,” Horford said. “This is the second time that we kind of have a lead, we feel good about it, a team makes a run and we just kind of let them back in the game. And throughout the season, you’re gonna have adversity. We’ve played pretty good basketball most of the year, and this is a time where you tighten up, you fix some of these things, some of these issues, or it goes the other way.”

Several Players Set To Receive Salary Guarantees

October 19th, 2022 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Most players who are still on non-guaranteed contracts as the NBA’s regular season begins won’t have their salaries for 2022/23 fully guaranteed until January. The league-wide salary guarantee date is January 10, and teams must waive players on non-guaranteed contracts on or before January 7 in order to avoid being on the hook for the full-season salaries.

However, a number of players on non-guaranteed deals have language in their contracts that calls for them to receive full or partial guarantees if they’re not waived before their team’s first game of the regular season. Those players are as follows:

Full guarantees:

Dalano Banton (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($300,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,563,518).
Keita Bates-Diop (Spurs): Non-guaranteed salary ($1,878,720) becomes fully guaranteed.
Justin Champagnie (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($325,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,637,966).
Tre Jones (Spurs): Partial guarantee ($500,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,782,621).

As our full list of early salary guarantee dates shows, Isaiah Joe (Sixers), Josh Jackson (Raptors), and D.J. Wilson (Raptors) also would’ve had their salaries become fully guaranteed if they had remained under contract through their teams’ first regular season games. However, they were all waived within the last week. Joe has since signed with the Thunder on a deal that includes a guaranteed first-year salary.

Partial guarantees:

Matthew Dellavedova (Kings): Non-guaranteed salary ($2,628,597) becomes partially guaranteed ($250,000).
Haywood Highsmith (Heat): Partial guarantee ($50,000) increases to $400,000.
Luke Kornet (Celtics): Partial guarantee ($300,000) increases to $1,066,639.
Chima Moneke (Kings): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to $500,000.
Markieff Morris (Nets): Non-guaranteed salary ($2,905,581) becomes partially guaranteed ($500,000).
KZ Okpala (Kings): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to $500,000.
Edmond Sumner (Nets): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to $500,000.

Guarantee dates are a matter of negotiation between a team and a player, so there’s nothing stopping a club from approaching a player and asking him to agree to push that date back. If a player feels as if he’ll be waived if he says no, he may agree.

This happened last season, for instance, when Isaac Bonga‘s and Sam Dekker‘s contracts with the Raptors called for their salaries to be fully guaranteed as of opening night. Both players assented to moving their guarantee dates back to November 6. When that new deadline arrived, Toronto opted to retain Bonga and guarantee his full salary while waiving Dekker.

In other words, it’s not yet a sure thing that all the players mentioned above will get the guarantees described here, even if they remain under contract through Wednesday (or Tuesday, in Kornet’s case). We may get word in a day or two that a couple of them agreed to postpone their salary guarantee dates.

For the most part though, we should count on this group of players receiving some added security, with a handful of names coming off our list of players who still have non-guaranteed salaries.

Celtics Rumors: G. Williams, Final Roster Spots, Coaching Staff

October 13th, 2022 at 4:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics and forward Grant Williams have had discussions about a rookie scale extension, but no deal appears imminent, according to reports from Jared Weiss of The Athletic and Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

A league source tells Himmelsbach that, as of Thursday afternoon, the two sides were at something of a stalemate, with Williams believed to be seeking approximately $14-16MM annually over four years, while Boston’s offers have fallen short of that.

Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who wrote earlier this week that there doesn’t appear to be an extension coming for Williams, said on Wednesday that he’s heard the forward’s camp has conveyed to the Celtics that the team’s most recent offer won’t be accepted before Monday’s deadline (hat tip to HoopsHype). However, that doesn’t mean Boston won’t increase its offer in the coming days.

Whether or not Williams signs an extension on or before Monday, he’ll be viewed as an important part of the future for the Celtics, who would be able to make him a restricted free agent next summer, Himmelsbach writes.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

The Celtics plan to enter the season carrying a full roster of 15 players, a league source tells Himmelsbach. Danilo Gallinari‘s ACL injury is a factor in that decision — with Gallinari sidelined, holding open a roster spot would essentially put Boston down two players.
The Celtics have 11 players on guaranteed contracts, with Al Horford and Luke Kornet (both on partial guarantees) also expected to make the roster. That leaves two openings, and Noah Vonleh looks like a safe bet to grab one of them, according to Himmelsbach, who says Jake Layman, Justin Jackson, and Mfiondu Kabengele are probably vying for the last spot. Since Kabengele is already on a two-way contract, Boston may prefer to use that 15th spot on Layman or Jackson, neither of whom are eligible for a two-way deal.
The Celtics had been exploring the market in search of an assistant coach to add to Joe Mazzulla‘s staff following his promotion to the interim head coaching job. However, they’ve ultimately decided they’re happy with their current group and intend to move forward without making a hire, writes Himmelsbach.
In an in-depth story for NBC Sports Boston, Chris Forsberg takes a look at why Celtics players believe Malcolm Brogdon is capable of being the piece that pushes them over the top. “I’ve played against him for a couple years now so I know what he brings,” Jayson Tatum said of his new teammate. “I’m extremely happy that we have him.”

Atlantic Notes: Kornet, Griffin, Reed, Brunson, Nets

September 30th, 2022 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

When word broke on Friday that the Celtics have agreed to sign Blake Griffin, we noted that injuries to Danilo Gallinari and Robert Williams helped necessitate the move. However, those aren’t the only Boston frontcourt players dealing with health problems.

According to Jared Weiss and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Celtics big man Luke Kornet sprained his ankle in practice this week and is expected to miss at least one or two weeks.

Kornet doesn’t have a fully guaranteed salary, but finished last season with the Celtics and has a partial guarantee on his new contract with the team, so he looks like a good bet to make the 15-man regular season roster, despite this setback.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Noting that the Celtics repeatedly targeted Blake Griffin on defense during their first-round victory over Brooklyn in the spring, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston weighs whether the former No. 1 overall pick still has enough left in the tank to be an asset to his new team.
While the Sixers still view Paul Reed primarily as a center, they’re taking a look at him as a power forward during training camp, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Reed, who played the four at DePaul, is enjoying the opportunity. “I am happy about being able to switch on and guard smaller defenders,” Reed said. “And playing on the wing, being able to attack from the outside, I like doing that.”
New Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson is downplaying the pressure that comes along with his big new contract and the expectation that he’ll become New York’s long-awaited answer at point guard. Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News has the story and the quotes.
Nick Friedell of ESPN takes a look at the five biggest questions facing the Nets this season. Beyond the obvious ones relating to Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons, Friedell examines how head coach Steve Nash might respond to a disappointing season and a tumultuous summer, and wonders if the team has enough depth at center.

Celtics Notes: Udoka, Grousbeck, Stevens, Centers

September 24th, 2022 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

During a press conference on Friday, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said a law firm hired to investigate coach Ime Udoka’s intimate relationship with a female staff member uncovered “a volume of violations,” writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. The team reached out to the law firm this summer after being made aware of the nature of the relationship. Grousbeck added that the investigation focused entirely on Udoka, and no one else in the organization is facing disciplinary action.

Grousbeck received the firm’s report on Wednesday and talked to several shareholders before deciding to impose a season-long suspension on Udoka that runs through June 30. He added that there is a “a significant financial penalty” that goes along with the suspension, but didn’t specify whether Udoka will go through the entire year without being paid.

“This felt right, but there’s no clear guidelines for any of this,” Grousbeck responded when asked whether Udoka should have been dismissed. “This is really a conscious, gut feel and being here 20 years.”

There’s more from Boston:

Team president Brad Stevens‘ answer about the level of communication Udoka will have with the team during his suspension was troubling, contends Steve Buckley of The Athletic. “I’m not going to get into specifics of what I, how we’re moving forward with that,” Stevens said at the press conference. “But I will say that he’s got a lot of relationships with a lot of people. As we alluded to earlier, yesterday wasn’t an easy day for a lot of people in a lot of ways.” Buckley warns that any conversations between Udoka and the players could undermine 34-year-old interim coach Joe Mazzulla and recommends that the suspended coach should be banned from talking to them during the season.
Stevens wasn’t interested in returning to his former job as head coach while Udoka is suspended, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Grousbeck brought up the idea, but Stevens believes he can better serve the team by staying in his current position and acting as an advisor to Mazzulla.
Stevens told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that the Celtics won’t overreact to Robert Williams‘ injury by signing a veteran big man before giving a chance to players already on the roster. Washburn suggests that could mean more minutes for Luke Kornet and possibly two-way player Mfiondu Kabengele.

Celtics Notes: Smart, G. Williams, Roster Spots

September 14th, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

Marcus Smart agrees with the theory that a shallow rotation left the Celtics exhausted by the time they reached the NBA Finals, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Smart, who admitted that he still rewatches the Finals to see what he could have done differently, said the team exacerbated the problem by getting off to a slow start and not playing to its potential until January.

“I think depth was one of the big things that hurt us,” he said. “You had me, Jayson (Tatum), Jaylen (Brown) and our starters playing, clawing (up the standings) and we did it to ourselves.”

Smart likes the offseason additions the Celtics made, though Danilo Gallinari may be lost for the season with a torn ACL. Smart heard his name mentioned in Kevin Durant trade rumors this summer, but he’s thankful that he wasn’t moved and that the core of the team has remained intact.

“For someone who’s always talked about in trade talks, I didn’t really pay too much mind to that. Until it actually happens, I don’t believe it,” Smart said. “We can sit here and say this person said this, but we don’t even know who said it. It’s like a telephone game. By the time it gets back to you, you don’t know what changed and who said what. Until it actually happens, I try to pay trade rumors no mind.”

There’s more from Boston:

In an interview with Bobby Manning of CLNS Media, Smart revealed that he’s still feeling the effects of injuries from last season’s playoffs. He suffered a sprained right foot in the Eastern semifinals and a sprained right ankle in the conference finals. He also had to miss Game 2 of the Bucks series after aggravating a right thigh injury. “My ankle is feeling better, it’s still healing, so I’m dealing with that,” Smart said. “Just giving it as much rest as I can, but definitely back on the court. I’m definitely back into the action. It feels like yesterday we just started playing, we haven’t really missed a beat, but I’m definitely doing everything I can to be ready for next season and to go deeper. I’m pretty close (to 100%), obviously it’s September, you don’t want to be in June, July, May shape right now so I’m trying not to go too crazy, but I’m really close and I’ve been doing this going into my ninth season.”
Grant Williams‘ hopes for a contract extension will be impacted by the three-year, $33MM deal that Maxi Kleber got from the Mavericks, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Robb believes Williams would be better off taking what he can get in an extension rather than dealing with the unpredictability of restricted free agency.
Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston examines the battle for roster spots at Celtics training camp and views Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, Mfiondu Kabengele, JD Davison and Jake Layman as having the best shot at making the team.

Contract Details: Kornet, Wall, Jokic, Garland, Reed, More

July 13th, 2022 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Luke Kornet‘s new two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Celtics includes multiple salary guarantee dates this year, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Currently, Kornet’s $2.13MM salary for 2022/23 is only partially guaranteed for $100K, but that guarantee would increase to $300K if the big man remains under contract through August 15. If Kornet makes Boston’s regular season roster, half of his salary (approximately $1.07MM) would become guaranteed.

Kornet’s deal with the Celtics doesn’t include any guarantee triggers beyond that, so his ’22/23 salary would become fully guaranteed after the league-wide salary guarantee deadline in January. His ’23/24 salary is non-guaranteed and would become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through January 7, 2024.

Here are a few more details on newly signed contracts:

The second year of John Wall‘s two-year deal with the Clippers is a team option, Hoops Rumors has learned. Los Angeles used its full $6,479,000 taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Wall.
Nikola Jokic‘s super-max extension with the Nuggets and Darius Garland‘s new maximum-salary extension with the Cavaliers both feature 15% trade kickers.
Davon Reed‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Nuggets is fully guaranteed in year one and non-guaranteed in year two. Reed’s second-year salary will become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived by July 8, 2023.
The Magic used a portion of their mid-level exception to sign second-round pick Caleb Houstan to a four-year contract that includes guaranteed $2MM salaries in each of the first two seasons. The third and fourth years are worth the minimum and are non-guaranteed — there’s also a team option on the fourth year.
As expected, the Lakers signed second-rounder Max Christie to a two-year, minimum-salary contract. That deal will be fully guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned. L.A. couldn’t offer Christie more than two years or more than the rookie minimum after using the full taxpayer mid-level exception on Lonnie Walker.
Michael Foster Jr.‘s deal with the Sixers is an Exhibit 10 contract, meaning the team has the option of converting it into a two-way contract before the season.

Celtics Notes: Gallinari, Brogdon, Kornet, Baynes, G. Williams

July 12th, 2022 at 12:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

With Danilo Gallinari‘s signing now official and the trade for Malcolm Brogdon completed, the Celtics introduced their two newest additions at a press conference today. Gallinari had a circuitous route to Boston, being traded from the Hawks to the Spurs and then waiting for his release from San Antonio. He said he grew up in a family of Celtics fans and it was a “no-brainer” to join the team when the opportunity arose.

“The run they had, it was amazing to see,” Gallinari said of Boston’s journey to the NBA Finals (Twitter link from A. Sherrod Blakely of Full Court Press. “I’ve been a pretty versatile player. There’s a lot of things I can do, I can add and gel right away with the guys we have.”

Brogdon was acquired from the Pacers to provide “a true play-making guard” in Boston’s backcourt. He also cited connections to the organization, saying his grandfather was a huge fan of Bill Russell. Brogdon told reporters he’s looking forward to being on the same team with Marcus Smart.

“Bringing me here actually helps him,” Brogdon said (Twitter link from Boston basketball writer Mark Murphy). “I’m gonna push Marcus. I’m gonna embrace him, he’s gonna embrace me. I really think he and I will play well together. We have different skill sets, but we both want to win so bad it doesn’t matter.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Also at the press conference, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the team remains in the market for another center, tweets Jay King of The Athletic. He added that the organization is “really high” on the recently re-signed Luke Kornet and has confidence that he can fill a larger role next season.
The Celtics checked on Aron Baynes, who is attempting an NBA comeback, but don’t plan to make an offer to the veteran big man, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
Grant Williams said Monday that he hasn’t talked to management about an extension, but he hopes something can be worked out before the October deadline, King writes in a full story. “I think both parties are hopefully mutually understanding that we want to get this thing done and make sure that we come together and have a successful next few years,” Williams said. “Because I love Boston, I love the fact that I not only get to be there and be around the team that I’m with, cause I have great relationships with the guys. But I also just love the city and being able to live there.”

Celtics Re-Sign Luke Kornet

July 1st, 2022 at 4:52pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9: The Celtics have officially re-signed Kornet, per a team release.

JULY 1: The Celtics are re-signing big man Luke Kornet, having agreed to terms with him on a new two-year contract, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Kornet, who will turn 27 later this month, has bounced around the NBA since making his debut in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt. The forward/center has averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 148 total games (14.3 MPG) for the Knicks, Bulls, Celtics, Cavaliers, and Bucks.

Kornet finished the 2020/21 season with the Celtics following a deadline trade and then spent much of the ’21/22 campaign with the team’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, before being promoted to Boston’s 15-man roster in February.

While Kornet hasn’t seen much action at the NBA level for the Celtics, he put up solid numbers for Maine, averaging 14.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 1.9 BPG in 11 regular season NBAGL appearances this past season.

Terms of the deal aren’t known, but I’d be surprised if it’s worth more than the minimum, and it may not be fully guaranteed for both years. The Celtics opened up a series of roster spots for the coming season when they agreed to send five players to Indiana in exchange for Malcolm Brogdon.

Celtics Sign Luke Kornet, Promote Sam Hauser

February 11th, 2022 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

11:00pm: Boston has promoted Hauser, the team announced.

6:33pm: The Celtics have officially signed Kornet, the team announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

1:47pm: The Celtics intend to sign free agent big man Luke Kornet to a rest-of-season contract and will promote Sam Hauser from his two-way deal to the 15-man roster, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Boston’s series of deadline trades left the team with just 10 players on its standard roster, plus a pair of players on two-way deals. Promoting Hauser and signing Kornet will be a first step toward replenishing the roster, though the Celtics will still have three openings on their main roster, along with one available two-way spot.

Kornet, 26, has bounced around the NBA since making his debut in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt. The forward/center has averaged 5.7 PPG and 2.6 RPG in 136 total games (15.0 MPG) for the Knicks, Bulls, Celtics, Cavaliers, and Bucks.

Kornet finished the 2020/21 season in Boston following a deadline trade and has spent much of this season with the team’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. He has averaged 15.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 4.3 APG in 14 G League contests (27.1 MPG) while also spending some time in the NBA on 10-day deals with Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Hauser, meanwhile, signed a two-way contract with the Celtics last August after going undrafted out of Virginia. The 6’8″ forward has played limited minutes in 10 NBA games with Boston, but has been a G League standout, putting up 21.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 3.3 APG on .473/.412/.765 shooting in 18 games (35.1 MPG) for Maine.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said earlier today that he expecting to add a couple players before the weekend and that he was focusing on frontcourt players, ideally ones who could shoot. Kornet and Hauser fit that bill.

After trimming some salary at the deadline, the Celtics are far enough below the luxury tax line that they’ll be able to fill all their roster spots, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.