Mitch Creek Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Casey, Smart, Celtics, Nets

November 15th, 2018 at 10:44pm CST by JD Shaw

Dwane Casey made his return to Toronto on Wednesday, guiding the Pistons to a 106-104 victory over the Raptors in his first game back since being fired as Toronto’s coach. The Raptors made the surprising decision to let go of Casey after his team was swept by the Cavaliers in the spring.

“Nobody likes getting fired,” Casey told Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “If anybody expects you to like who fired you or be happy with that, that’s not realistic. The fans are some of the best fans in all of sports, whether it’s soccer, baseball or basketball.

“From that standpoint, there are no hard feelings, but you always have a (figurative) two-by-four on your shoulder for the person who fired you when you were doing well.”

Casey’s peers believed he was doing well, voting for him to win the Coach of the Year award around the time he was dismissed from Toronto. Wednesday’s victory could signify a sense of revenge against his former team.

“It is specifically pointing the finger at me — and that’s their prerogative,” Casey said. “They said I was the problem. I know what we did over a seven-year period there and starting from the rebuilding, developing and in the lottery to where they are now.

“They can’t take that away. A lot of people can take credit for all the good and put all the bad on me — and that’s fine.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic division tonight:

The Celtics could benefit from starting Marcus Smart, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston writes. “I’d like to see us find some consistency at some point,” head coach Brad Stevens said. “I think that it’s not consistent, whatever our issues are.” The Celtics have started the 2018/19 season with an 8-6 record.
Kyrie Irving downplayed his call for the Celtics to sign another veteran, explaining his comments to the media this week. “I wasn’t speaking about anyone specific,” Irving said, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. “I just was speaking to like a vet that’s been through a championship run, through championship runs, that’s able to be patient with this team as well as understand what we’re going through of just figuring out the pieces and how they mesh well together.” Celtics general manager Danny Ainge claimed he hasn’t spoken to Irving about his comments.
Nets training camp invitee Mitch Creek is continuing to pursue his dream of becoming an NBA player, as relayed by NetsDaily. Creek, 26, called the Nets “an elite program everywhere you go” and praised the coaching staff, performance team and others. He currently plays for the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate.

Nets Sign Gordon, Waive Creek

October 12th, 2018 at 9:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have signed forward Drew Gordon and waived forward Mitch Creek, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.

The older brother of Magic star Aaron Gordon, Drew Gordon went undrafted out of New Mexico in 2012. He has bounced around various professional leagues since that point, primarily playing overseas. In addition to a brief stint with the Sixers during the 2014/15 season, the 6’9″ power forward has also spent time with clubs in Serbia, Italy, Turkey, France, Lithuania, and Russia.

Gordon will be making up for lost time. He was expected to sign with Brooklyn prior to camp but that deal didn’t come to fruition.

Most recently, Gordon played for Zenit St. Petersburg during the 2017/18 season. The 28-year-old recorded 11.1 PPG and 6.7 RPG in 21 VTB League games, along with 12.4 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 17 EuroCup contests.

Creek has spent most of his professional career with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia before signing with the Nets in August. In 31 games in Australia last season, Creek averaged 14.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.5 APG. He was named to the All-NBL Second Team. He also played for the Mavericks’ summer league team, recording 6.8 PPG and 5.2 RPG in five games in Las Vegas.

Nets Sign Australian Wing Mitch Creek

August 20th, 2018 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have officially signed Australian swingman Mitch Creek to an NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release. The terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, but it’ll almost certainly be a minimum salary deal that is non-guaranteed or includes a modest partial guarantee.

In addition to announcing their new deal with Creek, the Nets also confirmed the previously-reported signing of former USC guard Jordan McLaughlin, who is said to have signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the club.

Creek, a longtime standout wing for the Adelaide 36ers in Australia, eyed a deal with the Nets earlier this summer, but had to work through some contract-related roadblocks in order to free himself up to sign with Brooklyn.

Late in July, reports out of Australia began to surface suggesting that Creek was opting out of his contract with German club Wuerzburg in order to attend training camp with the Nets, as NetsDaily relayed at the time. However, the 36ers reportedly filed an injunction to prevent him from making the leap to the NBA without receiving compensation.

Creek had previously been under contract with Adelaide through the 2018/19 season, but exercised an out clause in that deal to play in Germany. As such, the 36ers believed they should be entitled to some sort of compensation, particularly in the event that he earns a spot on the Nets’ regular season roster. It’s not clear what sort of agreement the 36ers, Nets, and Creek reached, but Adelaide made an announcement earlier this month indicating that the 26-year-old was free to head to the NBA.

In 31 games in Australia last season, Creek averaged 14.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.5 APG. He was named to the All-NBL Second Team. He also played for the Mavericks’ Summer League team last month, recording 6.8 PPG and 5.2 RPG in five games in Las Vegas.

Brooklyn now has 18 players under contract, including 15 on guaranteed salaries.

Mitch Creek Freed To Sign With Nets

August 9th, 2018 at 10:43am CST by Luke Adams

Australian star Mitch Creek has been released from his contract with the Adelaide 36ers of Australia’s National Basketball League, and is now free to sign with the Nets, the 36ers announced today in a press release.

“The club has loved being a part of Mitch’s journey over the last eight years and is thrilled to have played a role in the opportunity Mitch has worked so hard for and thoroughly deserves,” the statement from the 36ers reads. “On behalf of the entire Adelaide 36ers Family, we wish Mitch every success in the NBA and look forward to watching his progress.”

Late in July, reports out of Australia began to surface suggesting that Creek was opting out of his contract with German club Wuerzburg in order to attend training camp with the Nets, as NetsDaily relayed at the time. However, the 36ers – Creek’s longtime Australian team – reportedly filed an injunction to prevent him from making the leap to the NBA without receiving compensation.

Creek had previously been under contract with Adelaide through the 2018/19 season, but exercised an out clause in that deal to play in Germany. As such, the 36ers believed they should be entitled to some sort of compensation, particularly if he earns a spot on the Nets’ regular season roster. It’s not clear what sort of agreement the 36ers and Nets came to, but it appears no further roadblocks stand in the way of Creek signing with the NBA club.

In 31 games in Australia last season, Creek averaged 14.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.5 APG. He was named to the All-NBL Second Team. The 6’5″ wing also played for the Mavericks’ Summer League team last month, recording 6.8 PPG and 5.2 RPG in five games in Las Vegas.

Nets Notes: Hollis-Jefferson, Harris, Creek, Atkinson

August 8th, 2018 at 9:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

The injury that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson suffered in an exhibition game in China over the weekend has been diagnosed as a left adductor strain, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Lewis provides no details on a prognosis for Hollis-Jefferson, but he adds that the 23-year-old forward will begin rehab work right away.

Hollis-Jefferson was playing in Jeremy Lin‘s “Hoop for Hope” game on Saturday when he felt pain after landing on a dunk attempt. He immediately went to the locker room and returned to the United States later that day.

There’s more news out of Brooklyn:

Joe Harris is grateful to the Nets for helping him revive his career after being waived in 2016, but his decision to re-sign with Brooklyn last month wasn’t made out of sentiment, Lewis writes in a full story. Harris accepted a two-year, $16MM deal when he might have gotten better offers elsewhere, but he says familiarity with the organization played a role in his decision. “Everybody knows what you’re about and what you bring,” Harris explained. “It’s hard to duplicate that. It takes a lot of time. … If you go somewhere else it’s difficult. You’re not going to get that instantly. Then factor in I have comfort with the system. I just felt like although it was a two-year deal versus a longer deal this was the best case for me.”
Mitch Creek wants to sign with the Nets, but his Australian team won’t let him go without compensation, according an article on NetsDaily. The Adelaide 36ers have filed an injunction in an Australian court and are seeking $75K in U.S. dollars before they will release Creek. The Adelaide Advertiser reports that the team is hoping to resolve the situation within 24 hours so Creek can finalize a training camp deal with Brooklyn. “We are ensuring in the event that he gets a spot on the final roster that there is some sort of compensation [for Adelaide],” 36ers chief executive Ben Kavenagh told the newspaper. The Nets’ interest in Creek was first reported by Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia (Twitter link).
Respect around the league for Nets coach Kenny Atkinson could serve as a “secret weapon” for the organization in free agency next summer, suggests Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily.