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And-Ones: Key Dates, Las Vegas, 2021 Draft, Clemons

April 6th, 2022 at 12:09pm CST by Luke Adams

If a team wants to waive a player who is on an expiring contract, that move will have to be made by Thursday at 5:00 pm ET, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Players on multiyear deals can be cut after that, but a player in the final year of his contract must clear waivers before Sunday.

Sunday is also the last day for NBA teams to officially sign a player or convert a player from a two-way contract to a standard deal, Marks adds. That deadline has typically varied from team to team, depending on when the club plays its final regular season game — this year, all 30 teams will play their regular season finales on April 10.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Having bought a 66-acre parcel of land in Las Vegas, the Oak View Group intends to build and run an arena that could one day attract an NBA team, writes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. The plan is to open the arena in 2026, and consultant Marc Badain says it will be “NBA-ready.” The league has long stated that expansion isn’t in its immediate plans, but if and when that changes, Seattle and Las Vegas are considered two of the top candidates for franchises.
  • Within the same story, Vorkunov also explores the increased number of fines the NBA has handed out to players who use profanity this season, examining why those penalties have become more frequent and where the league seems to draw the line.
  • John Hollinger of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at the NBA’s impressive 2021 draft class and considers whether it could end up rivaling the 1996 class, which Hollinger considers the best ever.
  • As Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw first reported (via Twitter), Maine Celtics guard Chris Clemons was named the NBA G League’s Player of the Month for March. He averaged 29.0 points, 5.6 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game in 11 appearances, including a 52-point outburst on March 17 vs Lakeland.
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Checking In On Active 10-Day Contracts

April 5th, 2022 at 8:54am CST by Luke Adams

With just six days left in the 2021/22 season, no more standard 10-day contracts will be signed this spring.

Teams looking to fill open 15-man roster spots will do what the Pistons did with Carsen Edwards or what the Bucks are doing with Luca Vildoza, signing players to rest-of-season contracts, ideally with at least one extra non-guaranteed year tacked onto those deals.

It is possible that one or two more “10-day” contracts will be signed by teams eligible for hardship exceptions. Those clubs have full 15-man rosters but are hardship-eligible either because a player tested positive for COVID-19 or because several of their players are injured.

Those hardship 10-days, like the one the Thunder completed with Georgios Kalaitzakis on Monday, are technically just rest-of-season contracts that don’t give the team any form of Bird rights this offseason. Kalaitzakis will become a free agent immediately after the season ends, and Oklahoma City won’t be able to use the Non-Bird exception to re-sign him in the summer.

Here are the remaining active 10-day contracts, which will expire in the coming days:

The Mavericks, Thunder, and Trail Blazers have full 15-man rosters, so they won’t create any openings on their respective rosters when their current 10-day agreements expire.

However, the Jazz, Celtics, Pacers, and Magic are each using a roster spot on a 10-day player. When those contracts expire, those clubs could either bring back the same player on a rest-of-season contract or use that 15th slot on someone else. For instance, Utah might want to promote two-way player Trent Forrest to its standard roster to ensure that he’s playoff-eligible.

Nearly any free agent signed to a rest-of-season deal using a 15-man roster spot will be playoff-eligible, so the Jazz and Celtics will have plenty of options. Semi Ojeleye, Kyle Guy, Joel Ayayi, Luka Samanic, and Chris Smith are the only players who have been placed on waivers since March 1, making them ineligible for the postseason.

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Jaylen Brown Halfway To Receiving Bonus

April 3rd, 2022 at 8:05pm CST by JD Shaw
  • Now that the Celtics have won 49 games, forward Jaylen Brown is halfway to meeting the criteria for a $482K bonus, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Brown will receive the bonus if Boston makes the second round of the playoffs. The incentive was deemed unlikely at the start of the season, Marks notes.
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Jaylen Brown Refuses To Comment On Vaccination Status

April 3rd, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Rory Maher

In the wake of a report last week from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps indicating that the Celtics and Sixers might have unvaccinated players, Bontemps asked Jaylen Brown about his COVID-19 vaccination status and Brown refused to comment, saying he wouldn’t speak about his or anyone else’s status when it came to the vaccine (Twitter link via Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe).

Keith Smith of Spotrac and Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald have the full quote from Brown (Twitter links):

“Last year I missed the playoffs. This year, from a competitive standpoint, I’m excited and ready to play against anybody. As a vice president of the players association, it’s a part of my job description to protect our players’ rights and our medical privacy. So you won’t hear me commenting on my status or anybody else’s.”

This is notable because on January 15, Canada implemented a rule barring unvaccinated players from entering the country. If the Celtics face the Raptors in the playoffs, any Boston players who haven’t been vaccinated would be ineligible to cross the border to play in Toronto.

Last Monday, Boston kept four players out of action in its first game at Toronto since the new rule was implemented. It was the second night of a back-to-back, so their absences could have been unrelated to the border restrictions. The four were Robert Williams, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum and Brown.

Sources told Bontemps that Williams has received the vaccine, Horford later stated that he’d be “ready to play wherever,” and Tatum said on media day that he was vaccinated, but he defended people who chose not to be. Brown made a similar statement, saying the vaccine is a matter of choice.

The Celtics blew out the Wizards on Sunday afternoon by a score of 144-102, with Brown putting up 32 points (on 12-of-17 shooting), seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in 29 minutes. With Boston’s victory and Milwaukee falling to Dallas, the Celtics moved into second place in the East with a 49-30 record.

Boston closes its schedule with three road games against Chicago, Milwaukee and Memphis, so they won’t play in Toronto again unless the two teams meet in the playoffs. The Raptors are currently the fifth seed in the East with a 45-32 record.

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Robert Williams Says His Meniscus Surgery Went Well

April 2nd, 2022 at 6:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

Coach Doc Rivers compared Harden’s situation to what Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen experienced when they joined the Celtics. It’s harder to put up impressive stats on teams with multiple scoring options.

  • Celtics center Robert Williams was happy with the results of his meniscus surgery, tweets NBA writer A. Sherrod Blakely. “Everything went as well as we wanted to (with the surgery),” Williams said. “We have to take our time, make sure I’m healthy … everyone here cares about me long-term.”
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Robert Williams Already Back At Celtics' Facility

April 1st, 2022 at 9:20am CST by Luke Adams
  • After undergoing meniscus surgery on Wednesday, Celtics big man Robert Williams didn’t require much recovery time at home — he was back at the team’s facility on Thursday, tweets Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. “He’s in the meetings, in the gym, in good spirits,” head coach Ime Udoka said. “And so getting him around and just getting that flexibility back in, off top. And then we can kind of build up pretty quickly from there.”
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Celtics Notes: Tatum, Theis, Horford, White

March 31st, 2022 at 10:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics coach Ime Udoka wasn’t happy with his team’s level of composure during Wednesday’s loss to the Heat, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Amid a playoff-level atmosphere and with first place in the East on the line, Udoka thought his team got too distracted by the officiating.

“We talked about it at halftime. We were complaining a little bit too much, being down one as poorly as we played early and not playing our best basketball,” Udoka said. “We got caught up in that early in the game as some calls late that didn’t go our way and we got caught up in that. We still have to transfer down to the other end and continue to guard, play through it. It’s a physical team that felt like a playoff atmosphere tonight as far as that. We could do a better job with our composure for sure.”

Marcus Smart was ejected after picking up two technical fouls late in the fourth quarter, but a bigger concern is Jayson Tatum, who was called for his 13th technical of the season in the first half. If he gets three more, Tatum will receive an automatic one-game suspension.

“I do not want to have to sit out a game,” he said. “The previous 12 techs, I’ve looked at all of them. I agree with probably 10 of them I deserved, but tonight, I don’t know. That’s the one I got to think about and watch. That was a tough one. I was trying to have a conversation. I was asking questions. It’s unfortunate that I got that tech, but just something that we got to move on from and continue to keep playing.”

There’s more from Boston:

  • Wednesday marked the Celtics’ first game with a regular rotation since Robert Williams‘ meniscus injury, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Grant Williams moved into the starting lineup, but didn’t make an impact, so Daniel Theis played 17 minutes and scored 15 points while making all six of his shots from the field. “Daniel is capable,” Udoka said. “He’s not jumping like Rob, but he’s a lob threat. We know that. However, we got to deliver it. We missed some opportunities, had some turnovers trying to force some passes tonight but Daniel had a great game overall. You can see his growth, what he’s doing the past few games.”
  • After a report Wednesday questioning whether the Celtics are fully vaccinated so that all their players would be eligible for a potential playoff series with the Raptors, Al Horford indicated that it won’t be an issue for him, according to Matt Vautour of MassLive. Horford was held out of Monday’s game at Toronto for personal reasons. “We’re clear on that. I’ll be ready to play wherever,” Horford said.
  • Derrick White played his 70th game of the season Wednesday night, triggering a $500K bonus, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. White’s cap hit will be adjusted to $16,892,857 for next season, and Boston is now $1.75MM away from the luxury tax for this season.
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Vaccination Status Could Affect Celtics, Sixers In Series With Raptors

March 30th, 2022 at 5:09pm CST by Arthur Hill

All the Eastern Conference playoff matchups are still to be determined, but COVID-19 vaccinations could be a factor for whomever winds up facing the Raptors, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

On January 15, Canada implemented a rule barring unvaccinated players from entering the country. Among the top four teams in the East, the Heat and Bucks both confirmed to Bontemps that all their players have been vaccinated, but the Celtics and Sixers refused to comment.

Boston kept four players out of action Monday in its first game at Toronto since the new rule was implemented. It was the second night of a back-to-back, so their absence may not be related to their vaccination status.

Robert Williams suffered a meniscus tear in Sunday’s game that will require surgery, and Al Horford was unavailable both Sunday and Monday for personal reasons. Jayson Tatum missed the game with right patella tendinopathy, and Jaylen Brown was held out because of soreness in his right knee.

Sources told Bontemps that Williams has received the vaccine, but there’s less clarity on the other three Celtics. Tatum said on media day that he was vaccinated, but he defended people who chose not to be. Brown made a similar statement, saying the vaccine is a matter of choice.

Brown and Horford both spent time in health and safety protocols in October, Bontemps notes, and Horford re-entered the protocols in December.

The Sixers haven’t played in Toronto since late December, but they’ll be there on April 7, which should provide some clarity on who will be eligible.

Any players who want to get vaccinated in advance of an upcoming series are running out of time, Bontemps adds. To qualify as fully vaccinated in Canada, people must be two weeks beyond either a single Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the second shot of the two-dose options. Games 3 and 4 of a playoff series are roughly three weeks away.

It’s also possible that the Raptors could host the Nets in the opener of the play-in tournament, which would affect Kyrie Irving, the league’s most noted non-vaccinated player. Irving was just cleared last week to begin playing home games, so he will be eligible at some point in the playoffs regardless of Brooklyn’s opponent.

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Robert Williams Expected To Return In 4-6 Weeks

March 30th, 2022 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

9:46am: The Celtics have provided an official update on Williams, announcing that he underwent a successful partial left knee meniscectomy and confirming that he’s expected to return in about four-to-six weeks (Twitter links).

7:41am: Robert Williams underwent surgery this morning on the torn meniscus in his left knee, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that the Celtics big man is expected to return within about four-to-six weeks. There’s optimism his return could fall on the shorter end of that timeline, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).

While Williams will, of course, miss the rest of the regular season, there’s a chance he could play again in the postseason, especially if Boston advances to the second round. The Eastern Conference Semifinals will begin between April 30 and May 3, which is at least a month away.

As we noted when Williams was first diagnosed with a torn meniscus, the recovery timeline for the injury can vary significantly depending on the severity of the tear and how it’s treated. Jaren Jackson Jr. missed most of last season due to the injury, while James Wiseman and Collin Sexton are on similar timetables this year. However, the injury costs some players only weeks rather than months — for instance, Didi Louzada is nearing a return after undergoing meniscus surgery in early February.

A four-to-six week projection is even more aggressive than Louzada’s timeline, but it’s not out of the question. If Williams is able to make it back for the Celtics and play anywhere near the level he was at prior to the injury, it would provide a significant boost to the team’s chances of making a deep playoff run.

The Celtics have the NBA’s best record since the start of February and Williams has played a major role in their recent success, anchoring the league’s top-ranked defense and emerging as a strong candidate for an All-Defensive nod. He has averaged 10.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 2.2 BPG with an impressive .736 FG% in 61 games (29.6 MPG) this season.

Williams is under contract for four more seasons beyond this one, so the Celtics will take his long-term health into account as they determine if and when he’s able to play this spring.

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