Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas won’t need surgery to fix the right hip injury that forced him out of the playoffs, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Several hip specialists evaluated Thomas, but no course of action could be determined until the swelling lessened. The injury first struck Thomas in mid-March, then was aggravated in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Wizards. “Isaiah is making good progress,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “He’s out on the court, he’s shooting. He’s full speed ahead on the stationary bike and working in the swimming pool. He’s progressing nicely.” As long as there are no setbacks, Thomas is expected to be ready for training camp.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- For the second straight season, the Celtics appear headed to camp with more than 15 guaranteed contracts, Himmelsbach writes in a separate story. Shane Larkin reached an agreement with Boston last week on a fully guaranteed deal, which brings the total to 16. The roster will have to be trimmed to 15 by the start of the season, not counting a pair of two-way contracts, so the Celtics will either have to make a trade or waive a player with guaranteed money. In the same situation last fall, Boston waived R.J. Hunter and his $1.2MM deal.
- The Knicks are still hoping to find a veteran point guard to team with Ron Baker and rookie Frank Ntilikina, relays ESPN’s Ian Begley. The team believes its best chance to get one is in a potential Carmelo Anthony trade.
- The Nets didn’t require DeMarre Carroll to undergo a physical before completing their trade with the Raptors because they received so much compensation, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Brooklyn picked up Carroll, Toronto’s 2018 first-rounder and an additional 2018 second-rounder, while the Raptors got Justin Hamilton, who has since been waived, and an $11.8MM trade exception. Carroll played 72 games last season after having knee surgery in his first year in Toronto and being limited to 26 games.
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov intends to sell up to 49% of the team while keeping ownership of the Barclays Center, writes Mike Ozanian of Forbes. The NBA’s advisory finance committee has approved Prokhorov’s lease terms, but a final OK must come from the league once a seller is found.
Celtic fans saying to trade Isaiah Thomas + crowder and a pick for Irving are so funny. You need to realise midgI.T has negative value in the league. No teams wants the worst defensive player in the league who’s not even a good passer for a point guard for the max lol. Isaiah won’t taste success till he’s off the bench
The guy plays harder than you’ll ever play. It’s actually pretty incredible how a dude that small can score so much.
Haha I wouldn’t say negative value. He was a top 15-20 player this past season. Won’t taste success? I’d say making it to the Conference Finals is a success. But I’m sure the Miami fan is just bitter about missing the playoffs.
Oh you mean making it to the conference finals and not managing to win a game while he’s playing? I ain’t bitter lol last season was one of my favourite as a heat fan. No team will ever turn their season around they way heat did.
He made an All-NBA team which is something Irving didn’t do this season. Also, Irving isn’t much better at defense lol
He’s 20x better when he tries
Bledsoe as a piece back in a Melo trade works
There’s an article a few down on my Celtics feed that says Yabusele was already signed?
He has. They have 16 guaranteed contracts now. Updated the article to reflect that.