Forsberg’s Latest: Fredette, Asik, Green
Some Celtics fans may have been upset with their team’s the lack of activity around the trade deadline, but Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston opines that acquiring Jimmer Fredette (if he reaches a buyout agreement in Sacramento) would be the perfect mea culpa, especially with the city’s ‘love’ of reclamation projects. All in all, Forsberg suggests that Fredette would be better suited to join a contender at this point, where he’d have an opportunity to jump-start his career in an offense-focused role and the expectations would be minimal.
Here’s more out of his latest Celtics mailbag:
- Forsberg wonders if the team would revisit efforts to acquire Omer Asik from the Rockets this summer, when they’ll have a $10.3MM trade exception as well as plenty of draft picks to offer.
- As with many players on the roster, Jeff Green‘s future in Boston could be tied in part to the draft and whether the Celtics end up drafting a player at his position.
- There’s always the chance that Kelly Olynyk becomes trade fodder, but Forsberg believes the more cap-effective route would be to nurture the young center and hope his game continues to evolve.
- When asked who he thinks will definitely return next year, Forsberg says that with so much hinging on the Celtics’ draft position and who they add on draft night, it’s difficult to say with any certainty. The exceptions are head coach Brad Stevens and – unless they can find a taker by giving up some assets – Gerald Wallace.
- Colton Iverson’s NBA future depends on how crowded Boston’s roster is and his development. The team currently owns his rights and has kept tabs on him overseas, and Forsberg notes that the 7’0 center can rejoin the team for summer league with a chance to compete for an official roster spot.
- As for the lack of trades around the deadline, Forsberg says the team put a high price on their talent, and as evidenced with the lack of activity around the league, few teams were willing to give up draft picks to acquire players.
Eastern Notes: Heat, Iverson, Miller
The Heat essentially stood pat at the trade deadline. Outside of shipping Roger Mason Jr. to the Kings for a highly protected second-round pick, they didn’t do much to add to their rotation. The next few weeks could be as intriguing as some of the past offseasons have been for the Heat when it comes to personnel and rounding out the bench, as the team sorely needs to add some depth, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Winderman believes the team needs to add another wing player amid the current shaky shooting from both Shane Battier and Ray Allen.
More from around the east:
- The Celtics continue to keep close tabs on Colton Iverson, the team’s second round pick in 2013, writes Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe. The 7-footer is playing with Besiktas of the Turkish League, and in 18 games, he’s averaging 6.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 3.1 APG over 17.3 MPG. Iverson is playing overseas because the Celtics didn’t have enough room on their roster to keep him after the draft, but the team likes his aggressive play, and he still factors into their future plans, opines Holmes.
- Carmelo Anthony was surprised at the news the Knicks would be buying out the contracts of Beno Udrih and Metta World Peace, writes Matt Winkeljohn of ESPNNewYork.com. Anthony stated, “It’s sad to see them go, but this is the business of basketball … it happened, and we’ve got to move on. The buyouts kind of surprised me because [Friday] Metta seemed like he was in a good place. He was happy, he played . . . he was a different Metta.”
- Andre Miller scored five points, and dished out three assists in his first game with the Wizards. They’re not huge numbers, but he is already making a big impact with his new team, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The team’s rotation has changed, and the offense ran smoother than it had been when John Wall was off the court, but Miller’s biggest contribution may be him mentoring Wall, opines Michael. Wall stated, “That’s a guy you can learn from. It’s a guy that loves the game and is still playing at 37. I hope I can be playing at 37.“
Atlantic Rumors: Lowry, Sixers, Wyatt, Celtics
The Raptors continue to be aggressive in their search for the right Kyle Lowry trade, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who echoed his own late-January dispatch on the subject as he answered reader questions in a chat. Ford also says the Sixers are still leaning toward taking Andrew Wiggins over Jabari Parker if they have the opportunity at draft time. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Blazers had talks with the Sixers in December about Spencer Hawes, tweets Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers, who wonders if Portland will reignite those discussions now that Joel Freeland is sidelined for at least the next month with a sprained right MCL.
- Sixers camp invitee Khalif Wyatt has signed to play in the D-League, reports Gino Pilato of D-League Digest (Twitter link).
- The Celtics are keeping an eye on Turkish league center Colton Iverson, whom they took 53rd overall this past June, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia observes.
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com goes over the likely scenarios for the Celtics at the deadline, writing that it’s more likely the team trades Keith Bogans in the summer than in the next eight days.
- We rounded up news on the Knicks in a separate post.
Eastern Notes: Celtics, Raptors, Pacers, Heat
With Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett now playing in Brooklyn, and Rajon Rondo still making his way back from an ACL injury, expectations aren't high for the Celtics in 2013/14. In fact, GM Danny Ainge tells Ian Thomsen of SI.com that he frequently hears from C's fans who want the team to lose games and pick up a top draft pick for 2014. Ainge suggests that fans hoping for losses should be careful what they wish for, and also says he doesn't believe there's necessarily a franchise-altering player in next year's draft.
"If Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was out there to change your franchise forever, or Tim Duncan was going to change your franchise for 15 years? That might be a different story," Ainge said. "I don't see that player out there."
Here's more from around the Eastern Conference:
- While there's no clear frontrunner yet for the 15th and final spot on their regular season roster, it seems the Raptors will indeed carry a full 15-man roster, says Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Julyan Stone, Carlos Morais, and Chris Wright are in the running for the last opening.
- The Pacers have done an admirable job building their roster into one capable of title contention without ever bottoming out, but theirs is hardly a blueprint for other small-market teams to follow, writes Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com at SBNation.com.
- Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe spoke to 2013 second-rounder Colton Iverson about spending this season in Turkey, and the possibility of joining the Celtics down the road.
- In his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman explores how the Heat's addition of Michael Beasley could impact the roles of Rashard Lewis and James Jones, who are both in contract years.
Odds & Ends: Pekovic, Adelman, Johnson, Sixers
Timberwolves president of basketball ops Flip Saunders remains optimistic that the club will soon re-sign Nikola Pekovic, and tells Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune that he's trying to explain the thought process behind the team's offer to the big man and his camp. Saunders stopped short of confirming that coach Rick Adelman will be back for this coming season, but echoed owner Glen Taylor's comments from last month, saying that he's optimstic that Adelman will return. There's more from Minnesota and other NBA locales in tonight's roundup:
- The Wolves reached out to Ivan Johnson's camp earlier this summer, but the team has since moved on, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
- The Sixers received permission last month to interview Bulls assistant coach Ed Pinckney, and the interview has indeed taken place, observes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who names David Vanterpool, Michael Curry, and Jay Larranaga as the other "serious candidates" behind front-runner Brett Brown.
- A multitude of conflicting recent reports left it unclear whether 53rd overall pick Colton Iverson would play overseas or join the Celtics this season, but a source tells Jay King of MassLive.com that Iverson has signed his one-year deal with Besiktas of Turkey.
- DeMarre Carroll indicated on Twitter tonight that he's inked his deal with the Hawks. The team is expected to make a formal announcement Saturday, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- LeBron James has "serious reservations" about whether he can take on the presidency of the union, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who nonetheless supports the MVP's candidacy, even as sources describe James as unlikely to take the job.
- The Magic didn't strike a buyout agreement before they waived Al Harrington today, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel confirms. That means the team is stuck paying the guaranteed portion of his contract, minus whatever it can recoup via set-off rights.
- Pac 12 commissioner Larry Scott wants to see the end of the "one-and-done" rule for NBA draft eligibility, and Matt Norlander of CBSSports.com wonders if incoming NBA commissioner Adam Silver will make a push for change on that front.
Atlantic Rumors: Iverson, Pargo, Williams, West
Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reported last week that Celtics second-round pick Colton Iverson had agreed to a deal with Besiktas of Turkey, but today Washburn tweets that Boston's release of Shavlik Randolph could clear the way for Iverson to join the Celtics this season. The C's would have to open up another roster space, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times points out (via Twitter), but Washburn says the team plans additional moves and needs big men (Twitter link). They're not the only Atlantic Division team looking to add to its roster, as we detail:
- The Knicks are looking for a point guard, and their latest target appears to be 33-year-old Jannero Pargo. A source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com that New York and the Mark Bartelstein client have entered talks (Twitter link).
- Mo Williams had been another possibility, but he's looking for a better haul than the minimum salary, which puts the Knicks out of the running, Zwerling tweets. The Grizzlies and Heat look like the strongest suitors for Williams.
- The Knicks are also up against the Grizzlies in the pursuit of Delonte West, who tells Washburn that he'd be willing to accept a non-guaranteed deal (Twitter link).
- As we passed along earlier today, Zach Links of Hoops Rumors heard from Andrei Kirilenko as part of a conference call on the veteran forward's decision to take a discount to sign with the Nets.
International Notes: Celtics, Calathes, Goudelock
After publishing a pair of posts yesterday rounding up the latest international updates on current, past, or future NBA players, we have a few more items of note today, including a follow-up on yesterday's Colton Iverson report. Here are this afternoon's international notes:
- There were conflicting reports yesterday on whether or not Iverson was heading overseas, but Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes that the Celtics second-rounder has agreed to a deal with Besiktas of the Turkish League. It's a two-year contract with an NBA out after the first season, says Washburn.
- According to a report from RSport.ru (English translation via Sportando), Nick Calathes has informed Lokomotiv Kuban that he would like to come to the NBA for the 2013/14 season. The Russian club still hopes to hang on to Calathes, who would need to be bought out of his deal in order to join the Grizzlies.
- Ex-Laker Andrew Goudelock has signed a one-year contract with Russian club Unics Kazan, the team announced today (Twitter link). Goudelock was last season's D-League MVP and played well for the Bulls in this year's Summer League, so it seemed as if there would have been NBA opportunities available for him. However, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (via Twitter), Goudelock had yet to receive a guaranteed contract offer from an NBA team, prompting him to head overseas.
International Notes: Colton Iverson, Mbakwe, Lawal
We'll keep track of tonight's relevant international basketball rumblings below:
- Hoopsworld's Alex Kennedy tweets that Christian Eyenga and Craig Brackins have signed with Stelmet Zielona Gora of the Euroleague. Eyenga, a former first-round pick by the Cavaliers, was last seen in the NBA as a member of the Lakers during the 2011-12 season. Brackins' last stint in the NBA was with the 76ers during the 2011-12 season as well.
- 2013 second round pick Colton Iverson had reportedly reached a two-year agreement to play for Besiktas, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. However, Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) cites a league source that says Iverson has not agreed in principle or signed a deal with anyone.
- Carchia also notes that undrafted prospect Trevor Mbakwe will head to Italy next season to play for Virtus Roma.
- Interestingly enough, Carchia writes that Mbakwe will replace Gani Lawal, who we've heard had been drawing NBA interest from at least four teams early in June.
Atlantic Links: Stone, Knicks, White, Celtics
The battle for the Atlantic Division title in 2013/14 figures to be an intra-city affair between the Knicks and Nets. The Raptors don't appear to be on their level, and the Celtics and Sixers have taken clear steps back, so while we await a Big Apple showdown, here's the latest from the Atlantic:
- As part of his mailbag column, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star confirms the Raptors' deal with Julyan Stone is off. Smith suggested as much earlier this week. Stone, who was reportedly in line for $1.9MM over two years, failed his physical, and the club doesn't have any plans to rekindle negotiations with him.
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News has plenty of criticism for the Knicks front office, and notes that there's mutual displeasure between Iman Shumpert and the team. The report he references about owner James Dolan's desire to trade Shumpert was an off-the-record remark from Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.com that remains unsubstantiated, but it's clear that all is not rosy in Madison Square Garden.
- James White, whom the Knicks waived last month, appears to have no shortage of overseas opportunities. Chinese league teams arranged for him to fly to Las Vegas so they could explore the possibility of signing him, and the 30-year-old swingman has also met with Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv, reports David Pick of One.co.il. (All Twitter links).
- The Celtics' agreement to sign Phil Pressey could push Colton Iverson, the team's second-round draft pick last month, to play in Europe this season. Iverson's camp has indicated they're willing to accept a deal with an overseas team to help the C's save roster space, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes amid his weekly league roundup.
Celtics To Acquire Colton Iverson
After being selected 53rd overall by the Pacers, Colton Iverson will be sent to the Celtics in exchange for cash, reports Andy Katz of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
On a night when they appear to have agreed to a much larger deal, the Celtics added a pair of bigs in Iverson and Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk.
For tonight's for draft results, click here.