Celtics Notes: Thomas, Horford, Ainge, Zeller

Isaiah Thomas believes the Celtics might have landed Kevin Durant if they could have gone into their meeting with a commitment from Al Horford, relays Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. In a wide-ranging interview, Thomas discusses the bright future in Boston, the additions the Celtics were able to make and how close he believes they came to getting Durant. “In our meeting, he was a fan of what he had going, was a fan of [coach] Brad Stevens and [president of basketball operations] Danny Ainge and those types of things,” Thomas said. “I honestly felt like we probably didn’t have enough for him in that situation. He’s trying to win a championship now. Like I said, if we had Al Horford going into that meeting, I think that would have been enough.”

There’s more today out of Boston:

• The Celtics recognize that they could use another shooter and a rim protector, but Ainge tells The Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett that chemistry is a concern when it comes to making moves. “It would be nice to add a rim protector that didn’t hurt our offense,” Ainge said. “It would be nice to have a shooter that didn’t hurt our defense. But I feel like we have a lot of guys that are good shooters. But the kind of guys you’re talking about, those guys are hard to find.”
• After appearing in a career-low 60 games last season, center Tyler Zeller hopes his new contract brings a larger role, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Zeller re-signed with Boston for $16MM over two seasons after becoming a restricted free agent this summer. Even though the second year of the deal is not guaranteed, it represents a significant raise for Zeller, who earned a little more than $2.6MM last year. Zeller often got overlooked in the Celtics’ crowded frontcourt last season, playing 10 minutes or fewer 28 times. “It was a frustrating year for me, but at the same time it was a time where I could work on my game,” Zeller said. “I was able to work out a lot, put a lot of time in the gym. Hopefully I continue to grow as a player and be even better this year.”
• Evan Turner‘s decision to sign with the Trail Blazers has created an opportunity for Marcus Smart, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. The third-year guard made it into 61 games last season, mostly as a reserve, but Stevens believes he has earned a shot at more playing time. “I think his greatest strength will always be that he’s a guy that makes winning plays that sometimes aren’t quantified,” the coach said, “whether that’s guarding a [Paul] Millsap for eight minutes, or guarding [Kristaps] Porzingis for six minutes, or guarding the point guard for the next four. He’s just a guy that will do anything you ask to help this team win.”