Ainge Doesn’t View Celtics’ Current Roster As Championship-Caliber
Asked today during an appearance on Toucher and Rich in Boston if he believes the Celtics, as currently constituted, are good enough to win a championship, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge offered a straightforward assessment.
“No, I do not,” Ainge said, according to Alex Barth of 98.5 The Sports Hub. The Celtics’ exec added that he believes the roster needs another piece or two to reach that level (Twitter link via Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston).
In a recent conversation with The Boston Globe, Ainge shouldered the blame for the Celtics’ modest record (14-14) and up-and-down play, and he echoed those sentiments in his radio appearance on Thursday.
“This team, where we are, 14-14, if there’s somebody to blame, this is Danny Ainge to blame,” Ainge said. “This is not Brad Stevens. It’s not Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. It’s not good enough right now. And we all know that. And, you know, we need to get better.”
While Ainge acknowledged that a roster change is probably necessary, he also said he believes the team is capable of playing better if its key players are able to get healthy at once, which hasn’t really happened this season. Due to various injuries and COVID-19 protocols, the Celtics’ core four – Tatum, Brown, Kemba Walker, and Marcus Smart – has played just two games together in 2020/21.
Ainge’s comments today suggest that if the Celtics make a move, they’d want to acquire a player who will be part of the regular rotation even when everyone else is healthy and available.
“Depth is a problem and we’re aware of that,” Ainge said, per Barth. “But when you just say that you’re going to go add depth, then you get healthy and then the depth doesn’t get to play. And we’ve run through those problems before in the past.”
The Celtics are fairly well-positioned to make an in-season trade, armed with a $28.5MM trade exception, all their future first-round picks, and a handful of young prospects who would likely be expendable in the right deal.
NBA Officially Announces 2021 All-Star Plans
The NBA has officially announced its plans to host an All-Star game on Sunday, March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, with the league’s global celebration set to commence on one night for the first time in history.
Along with the All-Star Game, which starts at 8:00 pm ET, the league also announced plans to host the Skills Competition and Three-Point Contest at 6:30 pm ET, along with its annual Dunk Contest at halftime.
As part of the events, the NBA is committing more than $2.5MM in funds and resources toward Historically Black Colleges and Universities, plus support and awareness around equity and access to COVID-19 care, relief and vaccines, the league said.
The All-Star game will follow the same format as last year’s game. The two captains — along with the starters for the contest — will be announced Thursday night on TNT. While subject to change, Lakers forward LeBron James and Nets forward Kevin Durant are currently in line to become this year’s captains, as both players have been leading their conferences in fan voting.
The “Elam Ending,” which was introduced in last year’s game, will be back for this year’s event. As was the case in 2020, the target score will be determined by adding 24 points to the winning teams total after three quarters, to honor the late Kobe Bryant.
Several prominent NBA players have pushed back against the idea of holding an All-Star Game at all amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but the league believes it can be held safely and has established additional measures on top of its usual health and safety protocols. A “mini-bubble” will be created to help ensure participants’ safety, which includes enhanced PCR testing and private travel. No fan activities will be held in light of the pandemic.
Ish Smith Suffers Quad Injury, Out 6-8 Weeks
Wizards reserve point guard Ish Smith has suffered a right proximal quadriceps injury, and is expected to be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks, per an official team tweet. Washington will reassess his status after three weeks of rehabilitation.
Smith inked a two-year, $12MM contract with the Wizards in the summer of 2019. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. In 19 games with the Wizards this season, Smith is averaging 5.2 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 3.5 RPG across 20.6 MPG.
The 6’0″ veteran guard out of Wake Forest has already been unavailable for the past two Wizards games with the injury, as Fred Katz of The Athletic notes (Twitter link). In his stead, Raul Neto and Troy Brown have compensated for his minutes behind starter Russell Westbrook.
“It’s tough news,” head coach Scott Brooks said of the Smith injury, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). “He does things that we’re not going to be able to replace in the second unit. He gives us that instant change of pace.”
Five New Positive COVID-19 Tests Among Players Since Feb. 10
The NBA has announced that five new NBA players, among the 454 who have been tested for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 since February 10, yielded a confirmed positive test result.
This tally marks a jump from the last time COVID-19 test results were announced, when just one player among 470 recorded a confirmed positive test between February 3-9. It’s also the first time since January 20 that the league has had a week with more than one new positive confirmed test.
The NBA noted that anyone who “has been identified as having been in close contact to an infected person, is isolated or quarantined.”
Four Spurs players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, prompting the postponement of four San Antonio games thus far due to contact tracing that left the team without the league-mandated minimum of eight players available. At least one of the Spurs players recorded a positive result in a confirmatory test.
Hornets forwards Cody Martin, Caleb Martin, and P.J. Washington all missed action due to the league’s health and safety protocols late last week, though it is unclear if they tested positive, registered an inconclusive test result, or were held out as a consequence of contact tracing.
Per our tracker, 29 regular season NBA games have been postponed so far during the 2020/21 season due to coronavirus-related absences, and a 30th was delayed due to extreme weather in Dallas this week.
Kings Forward Chimezie Metu Has Fractured Wrist
8:44pm: Metu will be re-evaluated in four weeks, according to a team press release.
5:09pm: Kings forward Chimezie Metu has a fractured wrist and will be sidelined for several weeks, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee reports.
The injury occurred on what Kings coach Luke Walton deemed a “dangerous play” by Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas on Sunday.
Metu continued to experience soreness after going through pregame warmups for Monday’s game against the Nets. An X-ray afterward revealed a right wrist fracture.
He’ll be examined by a hand specialist to determine his recovery timeline, Anderson adds.
After Metu dunked during the fourth quarter on Sunday, he hung from the rim with Valanciunas standing beneath him. Valanciunas appeared to pull Metu down by his left leg, according to Anderson, causing him to crash to the floor. Metu extended his right hand to break his fall.
Valanciunas was given a technical foul on the play for unsportsmanlike conduct, but not a flagrant foul.
Metu is on a two-way contract with the Kings. A 2018 second-round pick of the Spurs, Metu has appeared in 11 games for the Kings this season. He’s averaging 3.4 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 6.5 MPG.
D’Angelo Russell To Undergo Left Knee Procedure
Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to remove a loose body, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Russell is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks, Wojnarowski adds.
It’s another big blow to a struggling team that has dealt with injuries and illness this season.
Russell last played on February 8, when he lasted just six minutes against the Mavericks before leaving with what was described as left leg soreness. He also missed a game this month due to right quad soreness.
Russell is averaging 19.3 PPG and 5.1 APG for a club that has won just seven of 27 games. Without him, Malik Beasley, Ricky Rubio and Jordan McLaughlin will get the bulk of the minutes at the guard spots.
After being drafted by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick in 2015, Russell was shipped to the Nets in the summer of 2017. He became an All-Star for Brooklyn in 2019 but wound up with the Warriors on a four-year, $117MM maximum contract sign-and-trade that summer.
He was traded last February, along with Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman, to Minnesota in exchange for Andrew Wiggins and two future draft picks.
As The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski tweets, Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns have only played five games together since the trade.
Cole Anthony Sidelined Until After All-Star Break
Magic rookie guard Cole Anthony has a non-displaced fracture of his right first rib and will not return before the All-Star break, according to a team press release.
Anthony suffered the injury a week ago against Portland. Beyond the prognosis that he can’t play until after the March 7 All-Star game, there is no timetable for his return. It will depend upon how he responds to treatment. He was originally diagnosed with a shoulder strain.
Anthony, the 15th overall pick in last year’s draft, is averaging 11.0 PPG and 3.8 APG in 26.7 MPG. He’s started 17 of 25 games, entering the lineup when Markelle Fultz suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Anthony averaged 15 PPG and 5.5 APG in the four games prior to playing 14 minutes against the Trail Blazers. Michael Carter-Williams has taken over most of the point guard duties in his absence, with newly-signed two-way player Chasson Randle expected to assume a backup role following Frank Mason‘s injury and subsequent release.
Draymond Green Blasts Double Standard In Treatment Of Players
The Cavaliers‘ decision to sit out Andre Drummond until they can find somewhere to trade him sparked a post-game speech from Warriors forward Draymond Green Monday night, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN. After Golden State defeated Cleveland, Green charged that a double standard exists in the league involving players who request a trade and teams that stop using players until they can be dealt.
“Because when James Harden asked for a trade, and essentially dogged it – no one’s going to fight back that James was dogging it his last days in Houston – but he was castrated for wanting to go to a different team,” Green said. “Everybody destroyed that man. And yet a team can come out and say, ‘Oh, we want to trade a guy,’ and then that guy has to go sit, and if he doesn’t stay professional, then he’s a cancer. And he’s not good in someone’s locker room, and he’s the issue.”
Drummond, who was in street clothes on the Cavaliers’ bench, talked to Green briefly before the game, although Green didn’t reveal the nature of their conversation. Another veteran in the same situation is Pistons’ forward Blake Griffin, who also won’t play again until his team finds a trade partner.
Green was fined $50K last season for saying on Turner Sports that he believed Suns guard Devin Booker should ask to be traded.
“And we’re seeing situations of Harrison Barnes getting pulled off the bench,” Green told reporters. “Or DeMarcus Cousins finding out he’s traded in an interview after the All-Star Game, and we continue to let this happen. But I got fined for stating my opinion on what I thought should happen with another player, but teams can come out and continue to say, ‘Oh, we’re trading guys, we’re not playing you.’ And yet we’re to stay professional.”
Green emphasized that players deserve to be treated with the same respect as team officials and called on the league to start protecting players from the “embarrassment” that can arise. He noted that players who are benched while they wait for a deal are expected to stay in shape and not complain publicly about their circumstances.
“As players, we’re told to, ‘Ah, no, you can’t say that, you can’t say this,'” Green said. “But teams can? It goes along the same lines of when everyone wants to say, ‘Ah, man, that young guy can’t figure it out.’ But no one wants to say the organization can’t figure it out. At some point, the players must be respected in these situations, and it’s ridiculous, and I’m sick of seeing it.”
Nets Waive Norvel Pelle, Sign Andre Roberson
1:03pm: The Roberson signing is official, the Nets announced in a press release.
6:16am: The Nets have waived center Norvel Pelle, opening up a spot on their 15-man roster, the team announced in a press release issued early on Tuesday morning.
With that newly-opened roster spot, Brooklyn will sign free agent forward Andre Roberson, who has agreed to a deal with the club, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) initially reported that the Nets were “strongly considering” adding Roberson to replace Pelle.
Charania had said on Monday that the Nets mulled the possibility of signing Roberson last month before opting for veteran swingman Iman Shumpert instead. With so many non-guaranteed contracts at the back of their roster – including Pelle’s – the Nets ultimately decided to circle back to the former Thunder forward.
Roberson, who is limited on offense but has a reputation as a defensive stopper, returned last August during the NBA’s summer restart after having been on the shelf for two-and-a-half years due to knee issues. In his last full season, way back in 2016/17, he averaged 6.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG on .464/.245/.423 shooting and typically guarded opponents’ top perimeter threats.
Roberson’s defensive ability should be an asset on a Nets team that doesn’t lack offensive firepower, with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving leading the way. Roberson and Durant were teammates for three years in Oklahoma City.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Brooklyn will carry a modest $217,845 cap hit for Pelle’s 22-day stint with the club. The big man, who logged limited minutes in just three games for the Nets, will clear waivers on Thursday and will be free to sign with any team, assuming he goes unclaimed.
If Roberson signs a guaranteed contract or is retained beyond the salary guarantee deadline of February 24, he’ll have a full-season cap hit of $998,978, the prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum, per Marks. Once the signing is official, the Nets will once again have a full 15-man roster, though they could make additional adjustments before next Wednesday’s salary guarantee deadline.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wednesday’s Mavs/Pistons Game Postponed
12:55pm: The game has officially been postponed, tweets Eric Woodyard of ESPN.
10:58am: The Pistons will have back-to-back games in Texas postponed this week, as their contest against the Mavericks in Dallas on Wednesday will no longer be played as scheduled, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As Charania explains, this postponement is entirely unrelated to COVID-19 and is instead due to the weather-related state of emergency in Texas. Winter storms and unusually cold temperatures have hit the Dallas area and have caused massive blackouts in parts of the state.
The weather has also resulted in two postponements for the NHL’s Dallas Stars, who were initially scheduled to host the Nashville Predators on Monday and Tuesday.
The Pistons also had their Tuesday game in San Antonio postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak among the Spurs.
The fact that this postponement doesn’t have anything to do with the coronavirus is a silver lining for the NBA, but it’s still another game in a long line of them that will need to be made up at some point later in the season. The league has now postponed over 30 regular season games in 2020/21.