Al Horford

Celtics Notes: Horford, Brissett, Holiday, Lundberg

June 23rd, 2024 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Al Horford could have gone out on top, but that’s not on his agenda. The veteran Celtics big man says he wants to keep playing next season and beyond, as he told Jared Weiss of The Athletic (video link).

“I’m coming back. That’s the plan. … I’ll start training in a couple weeks again,” he said.

Horford, 38, has one year left on his contract and will make $9.5MM next season. If all goes well, he might be seeking another contract next offseason.

“I feel good, I want to keep it going,” he said.

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Oshae Brissett will reportedly decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s leaving, Brian Robb of MassLive.com writes. The Celtics still have the option to bring back Brissett on a veteran’s minimum deal or with Non-Bird rights. However, Brissett might prefer to find a bigger role in another organization. If he signs elsewhere, Jordan Walsh could move up the depth chart.
Mike Guevera, Jrue Holiday‘s longtime performance coach, marvels at how much time and effort Holiday puts into his workouts, “I’ve been doing this for 16 years. In my career, he’s approached the off-court stuff probably more intensely than the on-court stuff better than anybody I’ve worked with across the board in the NFL and the NBA,” Guevera told Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina.
Forward Gabriel Lundberg, who played four games for Phoenix in 2021/22, indicated that he turned down an offer from the Celtics, according to Thomas Picture of TV2 Sport. It apparently would have been a training camp invite, rather than a guaranteed contract. “Boston (was) very honest and transparent in their approach to me. I would have become something like the 15th man on the team and really only a training player,” he said. “So nothing with guaranteed playing time or opportunities. It doesn’t work for me anymore.” Lundberg has instead signed a two-year contract with the Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade.

Celtics Notes: Brown, Horford, Mazzulla, Offseason

June 22nd, 2024 at 5:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

Even the fans who booed when Jaylen Brown‘s name was announced at a 2016 draft party have to admit the Celtics made the right choice, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. On his way to capturing an NBA title and the Finals MVP trophy, Brown faced plenty of doubters throughout his eight years in Boston, including those who believed he and Jayson Tatum couldn’t play together, those who wanted him traded for Kevin Durant, and those who thought he was wildly overpaid when he signed a five-year, $286MM extension last offseason.

“Just the story and the journey is awesome,” Brown said. “You know, just being drafted here in Boston, like a lot of the people probably didn’t watch me play in the Pac-12 at Cal. It led to a lot of people feeling a way about that. I just came in and kept my head down and told myself, ‘I’m going to just keep working.’ And to be here in this moment now, through all the years, through all the doubt, through all of the ups and downs, through all of the verdicts, through all of the everything, it just makes the story that much sweeter.”

Brown also addressed the possibility of repeating, something no NBA champion has been able to do since 2018. Boston is in position to keep virtually its entire roster intact, which Brown believes will provide an edge.

“I think we have an opportunity. I think we definitely have a window,” he said. “We take it one day at a time. We definitely have to make sure we stay healthy. But, you know, we’ll enjoy the summer, enjoy the moment, and then we get right back to it next year.”

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This year’s title was especially meaningful to 38-year-old Al Horford, who discussed the bonds he has formed with fans throughout New England, per Jay King of The Athletic. Horford was grateful for the chance to return to the Celtics in a 2021 trade after leaving for Philadelphia in free agency in 2019. “I’ve been all over the country and I just haven’t seen the love, the care and the commitment from people towards not only their sports but their community,” he said.
Coach Joe Mazzulla has been dealing with a torn meniscus in his knee, but he was one of the most active figures during Friday’s championship parade, observes Brian Robb of MassLive. Mazzulla, who jumped off his duck boat and ran through the street to high-five fans, said the injury helped him focus during the latter part of the season. “I’ll tell you what, it was one of the best things that happened to me for the rest of the season because it put me in this fight or flight mentality where I could just not relax,” Mazzulla said. “I had to constantly train to keep it pain-free, had to constantly get physical therapy. My physical therapist has been great and it was just awesome. I’ve been thinking about maybe getting hurt every All-Star break.”
Any changes the Celtics make this offseason are likely to come at the margins, notes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Backup centers Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman are both unrestricted free agents, but Himmelsbach believes Boston likes the flexibility they offer and will try to re-sign them using Bird rights. Oshae Brissett has a player option on his minimum-salary deal, while the team holds an option on Neemias Queta, and Svi Mykhailiuk will be a free agent. Himmelsbach suggests the Celtics might keep a roster spot or two open in case there are ring-chasing veterans willing to sign for a discount. He also notes that Brad Stevens will be picking in the first round at this week’s draft for the first time since taking over as team president. Boston, which holds the 30th pick, hasn’t made a first-round selection since 2020.

Celtics Notes: Horford, Tatum, Holiday, Offseason, Ainge

June 18th, 2024 at 9:56am CST by Luke Adams

No player in NBA history had appeared in more playoff games before winning a championship than Al Horford, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, who notes that the veteran center finally claimed his first title with a win in his 186th career postseason contest. Horford earned praise after Monday’s victory from his teammates, including Derrick White, who referred to the big man’s career as “so underrated,” and Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, who said the Celtics “leaned on (Horford) so much” during their championship season.

“Nobody deserved it more than Al,” Brown said. “He’s been a great not just leader on the court but off the court as well. … It’s been an honor to be by his side. And Al Horford is a real-life legend and hero. It’s been great to be his teammate.”

Horford turned 38 earlier this month, but he remains under contract with Boston for at least the 2024/25 season and it doesn’t sound like he has any plans to call it a career this summer.

“For me, I never really put a timeframe on it,” Horford told ESPN when asked on Sunday how long he’ll continue playing. “I want to make sure that I feel healthy, that I’m enjoying what I’m doing and for me, thankfully, I have my wife’s support and my family’s. That’s a big deal to me. … I feel like I’ve been asked this for a few years now and I feel good, I want to keep playing. Why not keep going? I don’t want to limit myself.”

Here’s more on the new NBA champions:

Not that there was any doubt, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (YouTube link) said on NBA Countdown on Sunday that the Celtics will put a five-year, super-max offer on the table for Jayson Tatum at some point in the coming days or weeks. The deal, which would begin in 2025/26, would be worth a projected $315MM, assuming the cap comes in at $141MM for ’24/25, then increases by 10% the following year.
Jrue Holiday earned a bonus worth $1,264,800 as a result of the Celtics’ championship, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. It’s the second time in the past four years Holiday has cashed in on that bonus in his contract — he also received it in 2021 when Milwaukee won the title. As Marks adds (via Twitter), Holiday earned a total of approximately $2.8MM in bonuses this season for six separate individual and team achievements.
Can the NBA’s best team get even better during the coming offseason? Mark Deeks of HoopsHype considers that question in his preview of the Celtics’ summer, while Marks (ESPN Insider link) also takes a look ahead at the key decisions and roster moves on tap this offseason in Boston.
The Celtics’ big bets on Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis last summer paid major dividends in the short term and put the team in a great position to vie for additional championships in the coming years, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com.
While Brad Stevens signed off on those Holiday and Porzingis deals, among other moves that pushed the Celtics over the top, Danny Ainge’s fingerprints remain all over the team’s current roster, according to Robb, who spoke to Boston’s former president of basketball operations about his old club’s success. As Robb relays, Ainge said he’s “very happy” for the Celtics but declined to take any credit for this year’s championship run. “I feel fortunate to be a part, a very small part of all of their lives,” Ainge said. “I have a feeling that Jaylen and Jayson and Wyc (Grousbeck) and (Steven Pagliuca) and Joe (Mazzulla) and Brad and Payton Pritchard, Al Horford, the whole group, every one of those guys would have found success without me being involved.”

Celtics Notes: Horford, Tillman, Mazzulla

June 14th, 2024 at 7:36pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Celtics center Al Horford has served as a key component to helping Boston potentially achieve its championship aspirations, opines John Hollinger of The Athletic.

Boston currently leads the Mavericks 3-0 in its NBA Finals series. Since being reacquired by the Celtics in 2021 via trade, Horford has helped guide the club to a pair of Finals appearances across the last three seasons.

This season, the 38-year-old has carved out a definitive role as Boston’s sixth man, backing up starting center Kristaps Porzingis and All-NBA starting power forward Jayson Tatum.

Horford has started 13 of Boston’s 17 playoff games, while Porzingis has alternately been sidelined due to injury or has been working his way back from injury.

A former five-time All-Star and All-NBA Third Teamer, the 6’9″ big man is averaging 9.5 points on .473/.352/.750 shooting splits, plus 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.7 steals per night.

Horford’s abilities to effectively defend at a high level and to stretch the floor have helped him become a uniquely effective role player for this five-out club’s emphasis on long-range sniping and switchable defense, Hollinger notes.

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Celtics reserve big man Xavier Tillman has been grappling with the unexpected death of his father, Roosevelt, during these playoffs, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Roosevelt passed away at his Grand Rapids, Michigan home on May 19, aged 58. “It was very, very hard, especially because I love basketball and everything that it’s allowed me to do,” Tillman said of his father’s death. “But at the same time, my heart was hurting every day.”
Young second-year Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has totally reconfigured his league-wide reputation thanks to his team’s dominant 15-2 playoff run so far, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Last season, after being thrust into the head coaching role just before training camp, Mazzulla led the team back to the Eastern Conference Finals, where it eventually fell in seven games to the Heat. “Just being in the interim role was tough [for Mazzulla],” All-Star wing Jaylen Brown reflected. “Even though we weren’t making any excuses, but him inheriting that position, it was a little bit more of uncertainty about what we were doing going forward. It wasn’t his [coaching] staff.”
As The Ringer’s Seerat Sohi observes, Mazzulla’s at-times unorthodox approach to his job has often befuddled his detractors, but it seems, in his second season, as if he’s proving his doubters wrong one by one. “If you’ve ever been in a fight with someone and you think you’re about to beat them, you usually get sucker punched,” Mazzulla said. “The closer you are to thinking you’re going to beat them up, the closer you are to losing.”

Kristaps Porzingis Unavailable For Game 3

June 12th, 2024 at 7:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:55pm: Appearing on NBA Countdown, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said there is “real doubt” about Porzingis’ availability for the rest of the NBA Finals (video link).

5:45pm: Kristaps Porzingis will miss tonight’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals due to a posterior tibialis dislocation in his left leg, the Celtics announced (via Twitter).

The injury occurred late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game as Porzingis battled for rebounding position on a free throw. The team called his condition “rare” and said it’s not related to a right calf strain that kept him out of action for more than a month.

Porzingis has been a difference maker in the first two games of the series, coming off the bench to average 16 points and five rebounds in 21.9 minutes per night. Boston has a +27.7 net rating when he has been on the court vs. Dallas.

Porzingis brushed aside concerns about the injury Sunday night and indicated that he expected to be ready for the next game. However, the decision was ultimately made by the Celtics’ medical staff, who don’t believe it’s wise to let him play. It may be significant that the decision was announced nearly two hours before game time, rather than letting Porzingis participate in warm-ups to see how he responds.

In his pre-game meeting with reporters, coach Joe Mazzulla said the medical team watched Porzingis go through some tests and determined he wasn’t ready, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Mazzulla added that Porzingis will be considered day-to-day for Friday’s Game 4 and beyond, per Eddie Sefko of Mavs. com (Twitter link).

With two days of rest since Game 2, starting center Al Horford might log more minutes than usual tonight. Horford played 30 and 28 minutes in the first two games against the Mavericks, but he was on the court for 40 minutes during the last game of the Eastern Conference finals against Indiana while Porzingis was sidelined.

Mazzulla may also opt to give more playing time to backup big men Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta. Kornet saw about three minutes of action in Game 1, while Queta hasn’t played yet in the series.

Celtics Notes: White, Walsh, Horford, Series Outlook

June 10th, 2024 at 5:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

It’s going to get even more expensive for the Celtics to keep their core group together. Derrick White, who has excelled during the postseason, will be seeking a contract extension this summer, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack article.

White will make $20MM next season in the last year of the four-year deal he signed with the Spurs. He’s eligible for another four-year deal that would max out in the neighborhood of $126MM. The remainder of the Celtics’ starting lineup is signed through at least the 2025/26 season, with all making at least $29MM per season.

We have more on the Celtics:

The lone rookie on the team, Jordan Walsh, has only appeared in two postseason games but he’s contributing in other ways, Souichi Terada of Masslive.com writes. He’s trying to push Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown whenever he’s matched up against the star wing duo in practice. “I’m here to kill you in practice. I don’t care who you are, I’m trying to kill. So that’s kind of the mentality I have,” he said.
Al Horford‘s experience and leadership is invaluable to the team, Baxter Holmes of ESPN writes in a feature story. “The bottom line is, we are much better because Al Horford is on our team, and everybody in the room is better because Al Horford is on the team,” top executive Brad Stevens said. “That’s the most important thing. He raises all ships. That’s just the way he’s always been. We don’t take that for granted. We know how important he is.” Horford’s on-court contributions have remained steady –he’s averaging 9.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in the postseason.
The ESPN trio of Brian Windhorst, Marc Spears and Dave McMenamin provide their observations and expectations for the remainder of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Mavericks.

NBA Finals Notes: Brown, Porzingis, Mavs’ Centers, Luka, Kyrie

June 8th, 2024 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters during a media session on Saturday, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd referred to Jaylen Brown as the Celtics‘ “best player” when asked about the challenges of facing the Boston wing (Twitter video link).

“Well, Jaylen’s their best player,” Kidd said. “So just looking at what he does defensively, he picked up Luka (Doncic) full court, he got to the free throw line, he did everything. That’s what your best player does.”

You could certainly make a case that Brown has been the Celtics’ best player in this postseason — his 24.8 points per game during the playoffs rank slightly behind Jayson Tatum‘s 25.3 PPG, but he has got his points far more efficiently, shooting 54.3% from the floor and 36.6% on three-pointers, compared to 43.8% and 29.9% for Tatum.

Still, the general consensus is that Tatum – who has also averaged a team-high 10.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game in the postseason – is Boston’s best player, so Kidd’s comments raised some eyebrows. While they may reflect his honest opinion, it’s hard not to read Kidd’s praise of Brown as an attempt at gamesmanship, given that the relationship between the two Celtics stars has been a popular topic of speculation among outsiders over the years.

Here’s more on the NBA Finals, with Game 2 on tap for Sunday:

Given how well the Celtics played in Game 1 with Kristaps Porzingis coming off the bench, head coach Joe Mazzulla will face an interesting decision on whether to return the big man to his spot in the starting lineup on Sunday, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com. As Robb notes, Boston played its best basketball with Porzingis on the court and could still manage his minutes over the course of the night if he starts. However, the team has gone 10-1 with Al Horford as its starting center during the playoffs and is riding an eight-game winning streak, so Mazzulla may not want to mess with what’s working.
Despite Mazzulla saying prior to Game 1 that Porzingis had no minutes limit, the big man told reporters on Saturday that he is in fact facing a minutes restriction (Twitter link via Souichi Terada of MassLive.com). Porzingis, who logged 21 minutes in Game 1, didn’t offer any specifics on that restriction.
Porzingis’ presence represents a major problem for the Mavericks, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, who says the Celtics’ floor-spacing centers essentially neutralized the impact of Dallas big men Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively, who had to chase Porzingis and Horford out to the perimeter rather than hanging back and protecting the rim. As Townsend points out, Gafford and Lively combined for just 10 points, eight rebounds, and no blocks on Thursday, while Porzingis and Horford totaled 30 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocks.
Doncic and Kyrie Irving were unable to beat their defenders one-on-one in Game 1, which would’ve forced the Celtics to send help and created open shots for teammates, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. As a result, the two stars combined for just three assists, while the team as a whole had only nine. If that doesn’t change going forward and Doncic and Irving can’t do more in those one-on-one situations, it will likely be a quick series, Hollinger opines.

Porzingis Will Come Off Bench In Game 1, Won’t Face Minutes Restriction

June 6th, 2024 at 7:16pm CST by Luke Adams

Playing on Thursday for the first time since suffering a calf strain on April 29, Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis will come off the bench in Game 1 of the NBA Finals vs. Dallas, with Al Horford continuing to start at the five for the Eastern Conference champions, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

However, according to head coach Joe Mazzulla, Porzingis won’t be a minutes restriction on Thursday, as Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tweets.

During his three healthy games at the start of the postseason, Porzingis averaged 30.5 minutes per game after logging 29.6 MPG across 57 regular season contests. Given those numbers, it would be surprising if he played more than 25-30 minutes in Game 1, but it sounds like he could do so if needed.

In his first season as a Celtic, Porzingis averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.9 blocks per game with a .516/.375/.858 shooting line. He has diversified Boston’s offense with his ability to score in the post and make outside shots while serving as the team’s top rim protector on defense, so keeping him healthy will be a top priority during the NBA Finals. The big man missed Game 5 of the first round vs. Miami and the entire Eastern Conference semifinals and finals due to his calf injury.

Porzingis has started 458 of 459 career regular season games over the course of his nine-year career, as well as all 14 of his playoff contests. His lone appearance off the bench came in January 2017 for the Knicks when he returned to action following a four-game injury absence.

Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Tatum, Horford, Holiday

June 5th, 2024 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

After days of speculation, Kristaps Porzingis confirmed that he’ll be ready when the NBA Finals begin Thursday night, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. The Celtics big man, who has been out of action since April 29 with a right calf strain, updated his status during a session with reporters at Wednesday’s media day, and the team made it official by not listing anyone on its injury report.

“I will play tomorrow,” Porzingis said. “… Tomorrow will be my first real minutes in a while. I did as much as I could to prepare for this moment. But there’s nothing like game minutes and game experience that I will get tomorrow. It will be tough to jump into the Finals like this. But I did everything I could to prepare for it. And we’ll see tomorrow night.”

Because of the long layoff, the Celtics will have to monitor Porzingis’ calf and may limit his minutes throughout the series to lessen the risk of a repeat injury, Terada adds. Porzingis is confident about his ability to stay healthy after going through a long list of tests to receive medical clearance.

“I did everything,” he said. “You have to check all the boxes to even get to this point. Of course, as I said, you cannot imitate the same intensity in practice as it’s going to be tomorrow in the game. I have to feel confident to go out there and leave it all out on the floor and expect that I’m going to be healthy and be completely fine.”

There’s more from Boston:

The memories of watching the Warriors celebrate their 2022 championship at TD Garden are still fresh for the Celtics players who were on that team, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. It’s part of the motivation to earn a banner of their own this time around. “I’m a firm believer in everything happens for a reason,” Jayson Tatum said. “There’s a lesson to be learned in every situation. I do feel a lot different this time, this go-around, two years later. I’m excited for the opportunity for us to get the job done.”
Al Horford inspires his teammates by continuing to be productive late in his career, notes Jay King of The Athletic. King points out that Horford, who turned 38 on Monday, is one of just five active players remaining from the 2007 draft. He’s the oldest big man to still be in a team’s rotation, and only six players older than him were still in the league this season. “It’s funny,” Horford said, “because I feel like everybody has been talking about me being old since I was, like, 23 years old. Because I was already thinking ahead, thinking team, thinking all these other things (about the future), and that’s just who I am.”
Jrue Holiday talked to ESPN’s Malika Andrews and Kendrick Perkins (video link) about winning over Boston fans after being acquired in a trade last fall. “When I first came, I thought that they would hate me,” Holiday said, referring to the rivalry from his time in Milwaukee. “… Once [Boston] loves you, there’s nothing like it.”

Celtics Notes: Holiday, Porzingis, Horford, Tatum

June 3rd, 2024 at 9:12am CST by Arthur Hill

Jrue Holiday‘s season began with a shocking trade to Portland and is ending with a trip to the NBA Finals. Brian Windhorst of ESPN retraces the steps of the deals that turned a player who described himself as a “Buck for life” into an indispensable part of the Celtics‘ quest for a title.

Milwaukee was looking for a roster upgrade to convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign an extension, and even though the Bucks were barely mentioned in Damian Lillard trade talks throughout the summer, they emerged as the favorites in late September. Holiday was sent to the Trail Blazers, who notified the rest of the league that he was going back on the trade market.

Portland was determined to separate the trades into two separate transactions, which meant the Bucks had no say in where Holiday would ultimately end up. The Blazers also worked closely with Holiday, who wanted to go to a team that was willing to give him an extension.

Holiday compiled a list of five or six preferred destinations, according to Windhorst, who hears that several teams, including the Knicks and Pacers, made offers loaded with draft assets but were told they weren’t on Holiday’s list. The bidding ultimately came down to the Clippers and Celtics, and Boston landed him by giving up its unprotected first-round pick in 2029 and the Warriors’ first-round selection this year, along with Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams.

“There’s a list of guys in the league that you always think you’ve never had a real chance to get that you think are perfect fits,” team president Brad Stevens said after the deal was finalized. “And Jrue is one of those guys.”

There’s more from Boston:

Kristaps Porzingis had been labeled as a bad teammate in the past, so he was determined to make a good first impression after the Celtics acquired him from Washington last summer, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “They were open to me here. There was not any kind of tension,” Porziņgis recalled. “I told them from Day 1, I’m coming in here to help you guys win. That’s all I’m here for and whatever it takes. If it takes me sitting on the bench or coming off the bench or whatever, then I’m here for it.”
Chad Finn of The Boston Globe looks back at Al Horford‘s decision to leave the Celtics in free agency in 2019, stating that it seemed like the heart of the team was lost when he signed with the rival Sixers. Finn adds that it “felt like a wrong had been righted” when Boston brought Horford back in a 2021 trade with Oklahoma City.
After closing out the Eastern Conference Finals on May 27, the Celtics are in the unusual position of having more than a week to rest and prepare for Dallas, notes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. It’s a huge difference from 2022 when Boston won a seventh game at Miami and faced a quick turnaround for the start of the NBA Finals in San Francisco. “Having nine days off is kind of good for your body, for everybody to get healthy,” Jayson Tatum said. “But we’re in the NBA Finals and we’re also anxious and excited to play. I wish it did start a little bit earlier. A lot of guys have been here before. We understand the magnitude of the moment, guys starting sharp, guys staying fresh.”

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