Celtics Sign Robert Williams To Four-Year Extension
August 24: The Celtics have officially extended Williams, per a team press release.
“Rob has embraced being a Celtic from day one,” team president Brad Stevens said in a statement. “He is a great teammate and is completely committed to getting better. We’re excited that he will continue to do so here in Boston.”
August 20: After agreeing to a four-year contract extension with Marcus Smart earlier this week, the Celtics have reached a deal to extend another rotation player through 2025/26. The team is in agreement with big man Robert Williams on a four-year, $54MM deal, agent Kevin Bradbury tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Williams, who will turn 24 in October, saw limited playing time in his first two NBA seasons, partly due to injuries, but emerged as a regular contributor for Boston in 2020/21. In 52 games (18.9 MPG), including 13 starts, he averaged 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per contest. His impressive .721 FG% was right in line with his career rate (.720).
Despite only having appeared in 113 regular season games to date, Williams has flashed promise on both ends of the court and brings plenty of athleticism to the Celtics’ frontcourt.
As Wojnarowski notes, the new four-year deal will put the former Texas A&M standout in the top half of NBA centers by annual salary, but he has the potential to outplay it if he stays healthy and continues to improve.
The timing of the deal is interesting. Typically, players eligible for rookie scale extensions reach deals closer to the October deadline, unless they’re obvious max-salary players like Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Williams – the fourth player to receive a rookie scale extension in 2021 – is the first one of those four to agree to a deal worth less than the max.
[RELATED: 2021/22 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]
The fact that the Celtics were willing to sign off on a new deal for Williams nearly two months ahead of the deadline suggests they were eager to get the young center locked up and were comfortable with the price point.
The extensions for Smart and Williams all but assure Boston will enter the 2022 offseason as an over-the-cap team, barring some major roster moves between now and then.
Nerlens Noel Sues Rich Paul, Klutch Sports
Knicks center Nerlens Noel has filed a lawsuit against agent Rich Paul and the Klutch Sports agency, reports Darren Heitner of SportsAgentBlog.com.
The suit, which was filed in Dallas, Texas, claims that in a birthday party for the Klutch-represented Ben Simmons in 2017, Paul convinced Noel that he was a “$100MM man,” and that if Noel fired then-agent Happy Walters and signed with him, Paul would get him a max contract. Noel subsequently left Walters and signed with Paul.
As part of the same pitch, Paul allegedly told Noel to cut off negotiations with the Mavericks, who had offered Noel a four-year, $70MM extension, and instead sign his one-year, $4.1MM qualifying offer. After a season plagued by injury, however, his free agency proved unsuccessful, as he claims that no one from Klutch presented any ideas for how to pursue long-term contracts, and none were forthcoming on the market, leading him to sign a two-year, $3.75MM contract with the Thunder, which Noel claims was largely orchestrated by Thunder stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George, rather than by Rich Paul.
Finally, the lawsuit states that Noel learned that multiple teams, including the Sixers, Clippers, and Rockets informed him that they attempted to get in touch with Paul about offering Noel a contract, but were unable to make contact.
Noel left Klutch Sports in December of 2020, and is suing Paul and the agency for the loss of approximately $58MM stemming from the initial declined extension with Dallas.
Pacers Sign DeJon Jarreau To Two-Way Deal
August 24: The Pacers have made the two-way signing of Jarreau official, per a team press release. The club also confirmed that Brimah has been waived in a corresponding move.
August 21: Free agent guard DeJon Jarreau will sign a two-way contract with the Pacers, a source tells Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
Jarreau had an impressive performance with the Heat‘s Summer League team and was considered a strong candidate to sign with Miami. However, it wasn’t clear if the Heat were planning a two-way or Exhibit 10 deal for Jarreau, so he intends to take the offer from Indiana.
Jarreau, 23, is coming off a Final Four season with Houston in which he was named Defensive Player of the Year in the American Athletic Conference and the Most Outstanding Player in the Midwest Regional. He joined the Heat after going undrafted and put up 11.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game in Las Vegas.
The Pacers already have a two-way deal in place with rookie shooting guard Duane Washington, so Jarreau would fill the other slot. Amida Brimah technically holds that spot for now, but Indiana doesn’t intend to bring him back. A qualifying offer to Cassius Stanley, who played 24 games last season, was withdrawn last week. It would have amounted to another two-way contract with a $50K guarantee.
Hornets Sign Terry Rozier To Four-Year Extension
AUGUST 24: The Hornets have officially signed Rozier to his extension, the team announced today in a press release.
“In his two seasons with the Hornets, Terry Rozier has been an instrumental part of our team,” president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. “Terry is a highly competitive, tough and talented player that has continually improved all aspects of his game. He has provided leadership and an infectious work ethic that has been a tremendous benefit to our younger players. Terry is an important member of our young, talented team and we are thrilled to have him as a member of the Hornets organization for years to come.”
AUGUST 19: The Hornets and guard Terry Rozier have agreed to a four-year contract extension, agent Aaron Turner tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The deal, which locks up Rozier through the 2025/26 season, is guaranteed and is for the maximum amount the Hornets could have offered before the 27-year-old reached free agency, according to Charania. That means it’ll start at about $21.49MM in 2022/23 (120% of Rozier’s $17.91MM salary for ’20/21) and will be worth approximately $96.26MM over four years.
Acquired by the Hornets in the sign-and-trade deal that sent Kemba Walker to Boston in 2019, Rozier had enjoyed the two best seasons of his NBA career in Charlotte. In 2020/21, he established new career highs in PPG (20.4), APG (4.2), and FG% (.450), among other categories.
Rozier has also become a reliable threat from beyond the arc, knocking down 39.6% of his 7.5 three-point attempts per game in 132 total contests for the Hornets. He shot three-pointers at a lesser rate (35.4%) on a lesser volume (3.5 attempts per game) during his four years with the Celtics.
Rozier’s play and the emergence of Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball made the Hornets willing to part with Devonte’ Graham in free agency this summer. Rozier and Ball will lead a talented backcourt that also includes free agent addition Ish Smith and 2021 lottery pick James Bouknight.
A total of seven veteran players have now agreed to contract extensions since the new league year began, with Rozier joining Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Julius Randle, and Marcus Smart. Three players – Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – have also finalized rookie scale extensions, as our tracker shows.
Mavs To Hire Jared Dudley As Assistant Coach
12:49pm: Dudley has agreed to join the Mavericks’ coaching staff, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
8:30am: The Mavericks are in advanced discussions with veteran forward Jared Dudley about hiring him as an assistant coach on Jason Kidd‘s staff, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Dudley, 36, has appeared in over 900 NBA regular season games since entering the league in 2007. He began his career in Charlotte, then spent time with the Suns, Clippers, Bucks, Wizards, Suns, Nets, and Lakers over the course of 14 seasons.
However, Dudley has seen his playing time decline significantly in recent years. In 2020/21, he logged just 81 total minutes in 12 games for the Lakers, and a report last week indicated that L.A. wasn’t expected to re-sign him. Now, it seems as if he’s prepared to move onto the next stage of his career.
While Kidd and Dudley never played together, they have plenty of history. Dudley played for Milwaukee in 2014/15 when Kidd was the head coach, and the Hall-of-Fame point guard was an assistant with the Lakers for the past two years.
Kidd’s coaching staff is still taking shape, but it appears he’s making it a priority to add at least a couple assistants with playing experience. J.J. Barea and Tyson Chandler are among the other NBA vets who have been mentioned as possible candidates.
Michael Carter-Williams Has Ankle Surgery, Will Miss Start Of Season
Michael Carter-Williams underwent surgery on his left ankle Monday and won’t be available for the beginning of the 2021/22 season, the Magic announced today (via Twitter).
Doctors removed a bone fragment and repaired a ligament in the ankle, according to president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman. No timetable has been set for the veteran guard to return, with the team stating that it will depend how the ankle responds to treatment and rehabilitation.
Carter-Williams, 29, averaged 8.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists last season, starting 25 of the 31 games he played. He missed the first half of the season with an injured foot, then took over as a starter in mid-February when both Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony were sidelined by injuries.
Carter-Williams, who joined the Magic as a free agent in March of 2019, re-signed with the team last November on a two-year, $6MM contract. His $3.3MM salary for the upcoming season is fully guaranteed.
Celtics Sign Josh Richardson To One-Year Extension
AUGUST 24: Richardson has officially signed his extension, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
AUGUST 23: The Celtics have agreed to tack on a one-year extension to the current contract of newly-acquired swingman Josh Richardson, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The former Mavericks wing’s contract was initially set to expire in 2022 after paying him $11.6MM this season. Charania notes that Richardson is now set to earn $24MM over the next two years, indicating that Richardson’s one-year extension will likely be worth about $12-13MM in 2022/23.
Earlier this summer, Richardson was sent to Boston in exchange for 7’2″ center Moses Brown in a one-for-one exchange. The Celtics used the remaining portion of their Gordon Hayward trade exception to accommodate the acquisition.
The 6’5″ Richardson, 27, will suit up for his fourth team in four seasons this fall. Initially drafted by the Heat with No. 40 pick out of Tennessee in 2015, he spent his first four seasons in Miami, flashing the potential to become a reliable 3-and-D wing, one of the hottest commodities in the NBA. He was sent to the Sixers as part of the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade in the summer of 2019, and then was moved again, this time to the Mavericks, during the 2020 offseason.
During the 2020/21 season, Richardson averaged 12.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.5 APG, his worst output in those categories since becoming a full-time starter with the Heat in 2017/18. A career 35.8% shooter from long range (on 4.5 attempts a night), Richardson could help Boston in a more limited role as a floor spacer, supporting All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Richardson’s extension is the third one the Celtics have agreed to this month. The team also recently announced a new contract for Marcus Smart and also has a deal in place with Robert Williams.
Emmanuel Mudiay Signs With Lithuanian Team
Veteran point guard Emmanuel Mudiay has inked a one-year contract with the Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunas, per an official team announcement.
The 25-year-old was selected with the No. 7 pick by the Nuggets in the 2015 draft. Across his 300 NBA games played between 2015-20, Mudiay averaged 11.0 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 2.9 RPG on .401/.323/.744 shooting. Beyond his tenure with the Nuggets, Mudiay also suited up for the Knicks and Jazz. His last NBA stint was spent with Utah during the 2019/20 season.
Mudiay received offers to play in the G League and in Europe in 2020/21, according to a recent report, but turned them down in hopes of catching on with an NBA team. The former lottery pick, who played on the Trail Blazers’ Summer League team this year, was once again angling for an NBA comeback. However, his agreement with Zalgiris Kaunas had been anticipated as a contingency plan.
Though this marks Mudiay’s first appearance with a European team, this is not his first experience in a non-NBA pro league. Back when he was an elite high school prospect, the 6’3″ Mudiay opted to bypass college, instead signing a one-year, $1.2MM deal with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China for the 2014/15 season before entering his name into NBA draft consideration.
Mudiay still has to report to the team in Lithuania and undergo a physical examination.
Jeremy Lamb Unlikely To Finish 2021/22 Season With Pacers
The Pacers have made an effort to trade Jeremy Lamb and his $10.5MM expiring contract this offseason, but haven’t had any luck, so the veteran wing will likely open the season on the team’s roster, writes J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star. However, according to Michael, Lamb isn’t expected to still be a Pacer by the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
Lamb, 29, suffered a torn ACL during his first season in Indiana in 2019/20. That injury delayed his start to his second season with the team, and lingering knee and leg issues limited him to 36 total games in 2020/21. He averaged 10.1 PPG and 3.6 RPG in .435/.406/.947 shooting in 21.3 minutes per contest.
As Michael writes, since the Pacers added Caris LeVert earlier this year and drafted Chris Duarte in July, there’s no longer a clear role on the wing for Lamb, so the team is comfortable moving on from him. However, Lamb may have to prove this fall that he’s fully healthy in order to increase his appeal as a trade chip. At this point, teams likely wouldn’t give up much of value to acquire him.
Although the Pacers haven’t found a deal they like yet, Michael hears that about four teams have expressed some level of interest in Lamb. The Lakers and Hornets are among those clubs, Michael adds.
Kevin Pangos Drawing Interest From Cavaliers, Others
Former Gonzaga guard Kevin Pangos, who has spent the last several seasons playing in Europe, is garnering interest from the Cavaliers, according to reports from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com and Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.
Pangos, 28, has carved out an impressive career overseas, having spent time in Spain, Lithuania, and Russia since going undrafted in 2015. In 2020/21, he averaged 13.5 PPG and 6.6 APG on .449/.390/.845 shooting in 39 EuroLeague contests (28.9 MPG) for Zenit Saint Petersburg, earning a spot on the All-EuroLeague First Team.
According to Fedor, Pangos has received “big” offers to remain in Europe, but it sounds like he’s interested in making the move to the NBA. Urbonas and Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link) both suggest that the Canadian guard would likely need a guaranteed contract offer to justify a return stateside.
As Urbonas writes, the Grizzlies are among the other teams eyeing Pangos, but they already have too many players on guaranteed salaries on their roster and likely aren’t in position to offer more than an Exhibit 10 contract. Murphy names the Raptors as another NBA club with interest.
Cleveland could ultimately be the best fit for Pangos. As Fedor has previously reported, the team remains in the market for one more point guard even after acquiring Ricky Rubio earlier this offseason. The Cavs also have plenty of roster flexibility, with just 10 players on guaranteed contracts so far — Lamar Stevens, Damyean Dotson, Dean Wade, and Mfiondu Kabengele don’t have full guarantees.