Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Trade Rumors: Schröder, Reddish, Ross, Knox, Forbes, J. Smith

December 13th, 2021 at 11:02am CST by Luke Adams

Rival teams anticipate that the Celtics will be willing to discuss Dennis Schröder in trade talks this season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Boston unexpectedly signed Schröder to a one-year, $5.9MM deal in the offseason using the taxpayer mid-level exception after the bottom fell out of the point guard’s market. He has enjoyed a strong season so far, averaging 17.5 PPG and 4.9 APG through his first 26 games (33.4 MPG) with the Celtics, which may ultimately price the club out of being able to re-sign him as a free agent in 2022.

The Celtics won’t have cap room in 2022 and would only be able to offer Schröder a 20% raise using his Non-Bird rights. As such, it might make more sense to recoup some value by getting what they can for him at the trade deadline — especially since the C’s don’t look like a legitimate contender at this point.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA, courtesy of Charania:

The Hawks are believed to be seeking a first-round pick in any trade involving Cam Reddish, while the Magic are taking a similar stance with Terrence Ross, says Charania. Neither team should face significant pressure to lower its asking price, since both players are under contract for one more season beyond this one.
Sources tell Charania that teams have called the Knicks to ask about former lottery pick Kevin Knox, who is in his fourth season and will be a free agent in 2022. Knox had a nice game on Sunday, with 18 points and five rebounds vs. Milwaukee, but has otherwise barely played this season, prompting teams to wonder what New York’s plan for him is.
Spurs guard Bryn Forbes, who is on a one-year, $4.5MM deal, is expected to receive trade interest from contenders, according to Charania. Forbes played a role for Milwaukee’s championship team last season.
Suns center Jalen Smith has drawn a little interest and is a candidate to be moved before this season’s trade deadline, per Charania.

Stevens Traveled To Serbia To Scout Yam Madar

December 13th, 2021 at 8:40am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been in Serbia as of late, attending multiple ABA League games, according to a Eurohoops report. Stevens’ scouting trip has focused on Yam Madar, a Celtics second-round pick in 2020 who is currently playing for KK Partizan and could be brought stateside as soon as next season.

Jaylen Brown To Return On Monday

December 12th, 2021 at 5:04pm CST by JD Shaw

Celtics star Jaylen Brown (hamstring strain) will return from a five-game absence on Monday against the Bucks, Brian Robb of Masslive.com writes. Boston has lost three straight games and went 1-4 during the stretch that Brown was sidelined.

“I’m feeling good,” Brown said, clearly motivated to return. “I’m feeling like myself, like how I started the season and how I was starting to feel coming back from COVID, getting my legs back up under me.

“Obviously, it’s been difficult to watch, especially wanting to be out there seeing how our team’s been fighting for the most part. It’s been hard to watch, but coming back I’m looking to just add to winning, trying to get everybody on the same page, bring energy and make winning basketball plays.”

Brown originally suffered the injury on November 4 and had missed eight contests. He then returned on a minutes limit for a handful of games, which he now believes was a mistake.

“I think I came back maybe a little too early before because I was not myself,” Brown admitted, as relayed by Robb. “And hamstring’s are a little bit tricky so we were just taking time to figure it out. The organization and the medical staff had good communication and we figured it out.”

The Celtics have struggled so far this season, owning just a 13-14 record to date. For his part, Brown has averaged 21.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 32.8 minutes per contest, appearing in 13 of the team’s 27 games. He’s expected to be available for 30 minutes when the club plays Milwaukee, according to Robb.

Celtics’ Josh Richardson Enters Protocols

December 10th, 2021 at 5:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics wing Josh Richardson has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, the team announced (Twitter link). He will miss the game against Phoenix Friday night, and possibly several more.

It’s unclear at this time whether Richardson tested positive or not, but if he did, he would need to isolate for at least 10 days or until he returns two consecutive negative PCR tests a minimum of 24 hours apart.

The Celtics acquired Richardson in a trade over the summer by using a trade exception and sending Moses Brown to the Mavs. He later inked a one-year extension with Boston, so he’ll earn $24MM over the next two seasons.

Richardson is having a solid season in a reserve role for the 13-13 Celtics, currently the No. 10 seed in the East. Through 20 games (24.4 MPG), he’s averaging 9.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.3 APG on .464/.354/824 shooting. Fellow reserves Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith, and Payton Pritchard figure to see more action in Richardson’s stead.

Inconsistent Play Irritates Udoka

December 9th, 2021 at 8:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics have a .500 record and their inconsistency has been maddening to players and coach Ime Udoka, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. “I don’t know, you probably don’t know, and that’s why you’re asking me and I don’t know either,” Dennis Schröder said of the team’s inconsistency. “We’ve got to come out and do it for 48 minutes. It can’t happen that we just do it for two or three quarters.” Udoka admitted, “The effort and the inconsistency is frustrating at times.”
Detailing the same topic, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston believes changes might be forthcoming for the Celtics but there’s no clear-cut solution to all of their problems. They do need to make defense a priority after ranking 18th over the last 10 games in the points per possession category.

Schroder Has Bolstered Isolation Offense

December 6th, 2021 at 6:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dennis Schroder has provided a jolt to the Celtics’ offense with his speed and isolation ability, Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes. Schroder has averaged 17.9 PPG and 4.9 APG while starting 14 of 23 games. Schroder is thus far pumping up his value after settling for a one-year, $5.9MM contract during a disappointing foray into free agency over the summer.

Jayson Tatum Dismisses Selfish Label

December 4th, 2021 at 2:45pm CST by JD Shaw

Celtics star Jayson Tatum dismissed the notion that he’s been playing selfish basketball, Jay King of The Athletic writes. A recent ESPN story from Tim Bontemps quoted an anonymous assistant coach who questioned how bad Tatum wants to win. “I laughed,” Tatum said when asked about the topic. “I think when people get upset or you get a reaction out of somebody, it’s probably because they feel like it’s kind of true. But I just laughed because I know it’s not true. I know my teammates, my coaches, anybody I’ve ever been around, selfish is the last thing.”

Celtics Will Be "Cautious" With Jaylen Brown

December 3rd, 2021 at 2:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jaylen Brown experienced tightness in his right hamstring during Wednesday’s game and Celtics coach Ime Udoka plans to be “cautious” about playing him, tweets Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Brown missed eight games last month with a hamstring strain.

Claxton Changes Agents, Reportedly Coming Off Mono

December 2nd, 2021 at 8:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on Toucher and Rich on Boston radio on Thursday morning, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens expressed displeasure with one of the quotes included in Tim Bontemps’ ESPN report on the team last week. As we relayed, an anonymous assistant coach who spoke to Bontemps questioned Jayson Tatum‘s desire to win, suggesting that the forward only wants to win “on his terms.” Stevens vehemently disagreed, calling the comment “a joke.”

Stevens said that anonymous assistant coach shouldn’t be making that sort of comment without putting his name to it, but acknowledged that wouldn’t happen because it would provide Tatum with bulletin-board material when the Celtics played the assistant’s team.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Simmons, Drummond, Horford

December 2nd, 2021 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

After missing nine games due to a case of COVID-19, Sixers center Joel Embiid had a huge game in his first night back on Saturday, racking up 42 points and 14 rebounds. However, he struggled on Monday and again on Wednesday, scoring a total of 29 points on just 7-of-33 shooting in a win over Orlando and a loss to Boston.

Embiid said after Wednesday’s game that he feels like he’s still rounding into form again following his COVID-related absence, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN relays.

“I would never use it as an excuse but obviously I think it’s going to take me awhile to get back, especially legs and cardio and all that stuff,” Embiid said. “But every single day I got to keep working hard, and keep getting better.”

Head coach Doc Rivers acknowledged after Wednesday’s loss that Philadelphia needs improved shooting from Embiid, but said the issues on offense extend beyond the team’s star center.

“We’ve got to get Joel going,” Rivers said. “We get him going, the whole team gets going. That’s the number one thing. But that’s two games in a row I thought the offense was lackluster. Execution is really bad right now. But, again, I’m not concerned by it. We’re going to get through it. It’s just that we’re dropping games while we’re getting through it.”

Here’s more on the Sixers:

Asked on Wednesday about the Ben Simmons situation, Rivers said it’s not an issue that’s at the front of his mind. “I literally don’t even talk about it,” Rivers said (Twitter link via Justin Grasso of SI.com). “I coach the team and the guys that I can see every day. I let (president of basketball operations) Daryl (Morey) and (GM) Elton (Brand) deal with all of the other stuff.”
Speaking to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire, veteran center Andre Drummond said he has loved his time in Philadelphia so far and dismissed the idea that he ever had any “real beef” with Embiid.
Al Horford only spent one season with the 76ers after signing a four-year, $97MM deal with the team in 2019. He wasn’t a fit in Philadelphia and admitted on Wednesday when his Celtics faced the Sixers that 2019/20 was a “difficult year” for him, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “No question about it,” Horford said when asked if his reputation took a hit during his time with the Sixers. “But it’s everything on me. It was my decision to leave [the Celtics], and it was like, ‘How are you going to respond when you’re faced with adversity?’ Being down, being talked down about and those things. I was written off, and I’m glad I got another opportunity in a place where I want to be.”