Atlantic Notes: Defense, Melo, Smith, Garnett
Through two games, it sure looks like multitude of veteran additions that the Knicks made this offseason have made them a more complete team. In the Atlantic division's only contest today, the Knicks stayed unbeaten in impressive fashion with a 100-84 win over the rival 76ers. They are now 2-0 for the first time since 1999.
Let's round up some other Sunday night links from around the Atlantic divsion here:
- ESPN Boston's Chris Forsberg breaks down first round pick Jared Sullinger's night on Saturday, a game in which he was thrust into the Celtics starting lineup in his third game as a pro. Sullinger responded admirably, grabbing 7 boards in more than 30 minutes of action.
- 76ers head coach Doug Collins is still hopeful that he can help "unlock" third-year swing man Evan Turner, and thinks it could be just one breakout game away, writes John Finger of CSN Philly. Turner, the second pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, has showed stellar rebounding skills but the rest of his game has yet to develop as planned.
- Brook Lopez spent much of the offseason in the weight room in an effort to improve his rebounding abilities, writes Roderick Boone of Newsday, but the Nets big man has yet to see the results of his hard work translate on the court.
Earlier updates:
- The Knicks have held their first two opponents to 84 points or less for the first time in 60 years, writes Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York. Carmelo Anthony seems to be buying into Mike Woodson's defensive philosophy, and his teammates have noticed and followed suit.
- One of those teammates is Knicks guard J.R. Smith, who was told to shoot on Sunday by Woodson and responded with 20 points off the bench, writes Ian Begley of ESPN New York. Smith, who is normally prone to jacking up too many bad shots, joined the Knicks last season after returning from China and reupped with the team on a two-year deal in July.
- The rebuilt Celtics may take longer to mesh than originally expected, opines Sherrod Blakely. Blakely says that Kevin Garnett's defensive abilities make him uniquely critical as all the new pieces try to find their place on the team.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Nets, Knicks
- Nets rookie guard Tyshawn Taylor is recovering from a strained right quad, but remains anxiously eager to prove himself to the team's coaches. The former Kansas Jayhawk also said that watching the team practice while being sidelined is helping him become acquainted with how the team is expected to run (Tim Bontempts of the New York Post writes).
- According to John N. Mitchell of Philly.com, Spencer Hawes is excited about playing power forward next to Andrew Bynum. The former Washington Huskies big man has mostly been playing center since entering the league, but believes he has the skill-set to mesh well with the former Lakers star.
- John R. Finger of CSN Philly writes about how Maalik Wayns can contribute to the 76ers with his speed and scoring ability. Dei Lynam of CSN Philly says that Dorell Wright has been impressive in camp, especially with his shooting and playmaking ability. Also, Max Rappaport of NBA.com looks at how Dorell, Jason Richardson, and Nick Young form a remarkable combination of viable outside shooters.
- Knicks point guard Raymond Felton has lost 20 pounds since leaving the Trail Blazers and currently weights 207 pounds, according to Ben Golliver of the Blazers Edge. Felton admitted that his conditioning issues to start the 2011-12 season significantly affected his play early on.
Odds & Ends: Dentmon, Curry, Williams, Wright
Here are a few Friday odds and ends from around the Association, with opening night just over a month away:
- After we rounded up a few highlights from the Celtics' media day earlier this afternoon, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com adds a few more, courtesy of Kevin Garnett's podium appearance. KG discussed Ray Allen, the Heat, and his decision to re-sign with the Celtics, among other topics.
- Justin Dentmon has signed with Fujian Quanzhou in China, agent Bill Neff tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. Last year's D-League MVP had brief stints with the Spurs and Raptors in 2011/12.
- Asked once again about his contract situation in a Q&A with Jason McIntyre of Big Lead Sports, Stephen Curry reiterated that he hopes to remain with the Warriors long-term, adding: "I’m an NBA junkie and I know all of the latest news and contract situations. But I won’t base my decision on 'Oh, this guy makes a certain amount, I need to make more' or that kind of thing. It’s about timing in the NBA and the right situation, and winning more than money. But yeah, I know everybody’s contract, that’s common knowledge, but it doesn’t impact my situation."
- The Trail Blazers must decide by October 31st whether to pick up Elliot Williams' $2.37MM option for 2013/14, and with Williams' season over due to a ruptured achilles tendon, he's not sure what the team will do. Either way, as he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com, Williams intends to be ready and healthy for the '13/14 season.
- Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside wonders which former D-Leaguers on camp invites have the best odds to earn regular-season NBA roster spots.
- We heard earlier this week that Julian Wright was closing in on a deal with Israel's Maccabi Rishon, but David Pick of Sportando says (via Twitter) Wright may be having second thoughts after agreeing to terms with the club.
- In a piece for the Detroit Free Press, Dan Feldman of PistonPowered says Joe Dumars' willingness to look overseas to acquire a player like Slava Kravtsov is a good sign for the Pistons.
Celtics Notes: Dooling, Pierce, Garnett, Cap
A week after the Celtics announced his surprise retirement, Keyon Dooling opened up to Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com about his motivations for ending his playing career early. Camerato's piece is extremely engaging, and is worth a read for any NBA enthusiast, Celtics fan or otherwise. Here are the rest of today's Celtics notes from the team's media day in Boston:
- If Kevin Garnett had retired or signed with another team this summer, Paul Pierce would have seriously contemplated retirement, Pierce told the media today (Twitter link via Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com). The longtime Celtic says he didn't want to endure another rebuild.
- Pierce's plan now is to retire when Garnett does, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. That could happen in the summer of 2015, when KG's newly-signed deal expires.
- While GM Danny Ainge says he had some doubts about whether Garnett would be back (Twitter link via A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com), head coach Doc Rivers was skeptical about the big man's retirement talk: "He told me that all year; it was a bunch of crap. I never believed him" (Twitter link via Forsberg).
- Ainge says the Celtics don't have the bi-annual exception available, based on money committed thus far, according to Forsberg (via Twitter). That news is surprising, since it was believe the Celtics signed players using either Bird rights, the mid-level exception, or the minimum-salary exception. Like the Bulls, the Celtics are hard-capped at $74.307MM because they used the non-taxpayer MLE, so perhaps the team is just getting uncomfortably close to that hard cap.
- As we noted earlier today, the Celtics have formally announced the signings of Darko Milicic, Rob Kurz, and Micah Downs.
No-Trade Clauses In New KG, Duncan Contracts
While the NBA's collective bargaining agreement includes certain scenarios in which a team needs a player's approval to trade him, it's rare that an actual no-trade clause is negotiated into a deal. Heading into this summer, only Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki had official no-trade clauses in their contracts.
However, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports, the number of no-trade provisions in the Association doubled this offseason. Deeks tweets that both Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan have no-trade clauses in their new deals with the Celtics and Spurs, respectively. Both players inked three-year contracts this summer, so they can't be included in trades until those deals expire in the summer of 2015 (or 2014, for Duncan, if he declines his third-year player option).
Of course, it's unlikely that either Garnett or Duncan would have been in danger of being moved even without the no-trade provisions. Duncan has been a Spur for his entire career, while Garnett recently reiterated that he intends to retire as a Celtic.
Doc Rivers Talks Garnett, Bass, Lee, Heat
At Boston Community Development's Hoop Dreams event last week, Celtics coach Doc Rivers sat down with longtime Boston sportswriter Bob Ryan to answer a few questions about his team heading into the 2012/13 season. The Fab Empire provided video of the Q&A session in three parts, and CelticsBlog did a great job of recapping Rivers' most interesting comments, so let's check out the highlights….
- Kevin Garnett feels fantastic — "the best he has felt in years," according to Rivers.
- Rivers felt that playing Brandon Bass and Garnett at the four and five respectively created matchup problems, since opposing big men didn't want to come out of the paint to defend the duo's jump shots.
- Even before Ray Allen was injured and Avery Bradley emerged as the starting two guard last season, Rivers had hoped to bring Allen off the bench to provide scoring for the second unit. Rivers added that he expects Courtney Lee to start at shooting guard this year, at least until Bradley is fully healthy.
- Noting that the Celtics were third in field-goal percentage but 30th in field-goal attempts last season, Rivers stressed that his team has to play at a faster pace. He'd also like to see his players getting to the foul line more often, since that gives the team time to set up its defense at the other end.
- The Heat are "always on my mind," says Rivers, who adds that he brings the Eastern Conference champs up constantly to his players and wants his guys to hate Miami. The C's coach confessed that his team wouldn't likely win a "track meet" with the Heat, but said that if the game became a "thinking meet," he would give his team the edge.
Atlantic Notes: D-Will, Knicks, Garnett, Sullinger
Deron Williams has mentioned since his free agent decision in early July that he came very close to signing with the Mavericks rather than the Nets. And according to D-Will, if it weren't for the Nets' move to Brooklyn, he almost certainly wouldn't be back with the team this season.
"It was a huge factor," Williams told Tony Manfred of Business Insider. "I don't think I would have even thought about staying if [the Nets were] staying in New Jersey."
Williams' stance may not come as a surprise, but as Manfred notes, it's another reminder of the impact a larger market can have on the free agent decisions of NBA stars. Here are a few more Tuesday morning items from around the Atlantic Division:
- Williams is "definitely open" to playing for Team USA at the 2014 World Cup of Basketball, according to an Associated Press report (via NBA.com).
- The Knicks figure to hire an assistant coach to replace the departing Kenny Atkinson, and Lasalle Thompson is a leading candidate, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com shares his top five picks for Knicks-related storylines that just won't go away.
- In a recent interview in China, Kevin Garnett discussed his last few years with the Celtics, including the end of the Big Three era. Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com passes along video of the conversation.
- Forsberg and Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com take a shot at predicting how Jared Sullinger's rookie season for the Celtics will play out.
Kevin Garnett Plans To Retire As A Celtic
While touring China to promote the shoe company Anta, Kevin Garnett participated in an interview with Chinese website Hupu.com, and was asked about his future in the NBA. According to HoopsHype's translation, Garnett indicated that he intends to finish his playing career with the Celtics.
While it's hard to determine the exact context of Garnett's comments when they've been translated from English to Chinese and back to English, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he intends to finish his career in Boston. The 36-year-old signed a three-year deal this summer to remain a Celtic, and though there's no guarantee he'll retire at age 39, it sounded like retirement was an option he was considering as early as this offseason.
If Garnett does play past his current contract, I still wouldn't expect him to leave Boston as long as Doc Rivers continues to coach the team. Former teammates Kendrick Perkins and Sam Cassell both suggested earlier this summer that they couldn't picture KG playing for any coach except Doc.
Celtics Re-Sign Kevin Garnett To Three-Year Deal
JULY 14, 1:08pm: The move is now official, the Celtics have announced.
JUNE 30, 9:24am: The Celtics will re-sign Garnett to a three-year deal worth $34MM, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
Odds & Ends: Magic, Ellis, Turiaf, Bulls, Garnett
Earlier today we heard that the Magic general manager Rob Hennigan spoke with the media and addressed the plethora of issues he has on his plate in his first few weeks on the job. Following Hennigan's availability, Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel put together a comprehensive story on the rapid rate of change with which the Magic have overhauled their organization. By Schmitz's count, the Magic have dispatched of 17 important pieces of the organization since December. Starting as early as tomorrow night's draft, it is Orlando roster's turn for a makeover.
Here are some some odds and ends from around the NBA on this Wednesday night: