The Celtics’ flurry of action prior to the trade deadline has left them with a handful of open roster spots. They’ll fill them by signing free agents to 10-day deals in the short term, then explore the buyout market as players become available, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe reports.
The trades that they made were done to improve the second unit, Himmelsbach adds. They view Derrick White as an upgrade in a sixth-man role, while Daniel Theis has already shown during his previous stint with the Celtics that he can mesh with this group. That deal with Houston for Theis came together at the last minute, Himmelsbach tweets.
The trades will also open up playing time for Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- How does Kevin Durant feel about the James Harden trade? In a TNT interview (hat tip to the Washington Post’s Ben Golliver), the Nets superstar said, “I’m excited for our team and looking forward to finishing the season out with this new group … The playoffs are right around the corner and we’ve got to fast track and get used to each other. I think everybody got what they wanted.”
- The Nets explored trades involving Nic Claxton, Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News tweets. Andre Drummond was added in the Harden deal and LaMarcus Aldridge is expected to return in the near future from an ankle sprain. Those developments will presumably eat into Claxton’s playing time.
- The Knicks, who didn’t pull off a trade on Thursday, still want to compete for a play-in spot, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. They still believe they made an upgrade in adding Cam Reddish last month, even though coach Tom Thibodeau has played the young wing sparingly, and they’re expected to get Derrick Rose back in action from ankle surgery later this month.
Durant looked so unhappy when picking all-star players…
Of course he is, he ain’t playing… duh, come on dude why would he care to pick up players?
Considering all the trades that went down. I think Dinwiddie is the only one we missed out on. KP value has sure gone down. NY overhyped him. And he benefited from it. Do t get why he doesn’t add 30 LBs.
NY didn’t overhype him, he just wasn’t the same when he came back from the injury. He got paid and I doubt he really cares about his legacy based on the way he handled himself in NY with his brother.
He was def overhyped. There’s a diff between the level of “really good” people attributed to him, and a decent player on a team where you have to take the most shots due to roster construction.
Then factor in when the world at large didn’t get Durant’s sarcasm to the question asked by a reporter, at MSG, about “a 7′ player who can handle the ball and shoot from range” and Durant’s response was something like “yea, he’s a unicorn out there”…. when Durant is himself 7′ and can handle + shoot.
Straight over everyone’s head – the media thrusts the moniker on Kristaps and suddenly masses groupthink themselves into believing he’s better than just another decent NBA player. Interchangeable for sure.
Ben trade is best for both teams. Philly probably overpaid a little. But they got their man and kept Maxey. They have to be feeling good about it.
Do we have any rumored names yet for the buyout market ?
I could see Drummond as one and maybe Kemba Walker also