The Celtics made a major push for two top free agents last summer, and while the team couldn’t lure Kevin Durant to Boston, Al Horford signed a long-term deal with the club. To some observers, it represented a significant step forward for the Celtics, since they traditionally haven’t done well recruiting top free agents. However, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony tells Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald that he has always viewed Boston as a favorable destination.
“I think it’s always been that,” Anthony said of the Celtics’ appeal. “I mean, when you think about basketball, Boston is one of the top places that you think of. … I think it’s always been that; it was just a matter of who was a free agent and if they had the money and the (cap) space here to pay them.”
As Bulpett details, Anthony also praised the job Danny Ainge and the Celtics have done with the roster over the last few years, suggesting that the front office has done a “hell of a job” rebuilding the team since moving Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic division:
- With the Nets now more than a third of the way through their 2016/17 schedule, Brian Lewis of The New York Post takes stock of the season and the roster. As Lewis observes, it’s still hard to determine exactly who the Nets are, since the team has been hit hard by injuries during the season’s first two months.
- While it’s obvious the Sixers should have made a trade by now to help clear up their center logjam, it won’t be easy to get fair value for Nerlens Noel and/or Jahlil Okafor, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who examines the duo and outlines the potential downside of making a deal.
- 2016 has been the best year in Raptors‘ history, but the team will have some difficult decisions to make in 2017, writes Steven Loung of Sportsnet.ca.