- The Celtics have hired Jarell Christian as the head coach of their G League affiliate in Maine, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. Clevis Murray was the first to report that Christian was expected to fill that position (Twitter link). Christian, 35, has been in the Wizards’ organization since 2019. He spent one season as head coach of the Capital City Go-Go, Washington’s NBA G League affiliate, before becoming an assistant coach last season.
- The pending acquisition of Juan Hernangomez by the Celtics from the Grizzlies is a low-risk move, Jay King of The Athletic writes. Boston gave up two guards who probably wouldn’t have been in the rotation and the pick swap wasn’t a huge sweetener, King continues. Hernangomez could help them space the floor with his perimeter shooting and if he doesn’t pan out, his 2022/23 salary of $7.4MM can be cast off, since it’s not guaranteed.
So far during the NBA’s 2021 offseason, a total of 32 trades have been made, including the not-yet-official deals between the Grizzlies/Celtics and Nets/Pistons that were reported earlier today. Of the league’s 30 teams, 29 have been involved in those deals — the Nuggets are the only team that hasn’t forayed into the trade market at least once since the regular season ended.
[RELATED: 2021 NBA Offseason Trades]
After today’s trade agreement, Memphis is the only club that has completed six deals during the 2021 offseason. The Grizzlies acquired some extra draft assets from New Orleans as a reward for taking on Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams, moved up 10 spots in the draft to select Santi Aldama, sent Grayson Allen to Milwaukee, flipped Bledsoe to the Clippers for three players, then sent one of those three players (Patrick Beverley) to Minnesota in exchange for Juan Hernangomez and Jarrett Culver before flipping Hernangomez to Boston.
The Celtics, meanwhile, are one of just two other teams that has agreed to five trades so far this offseason. New president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been busy in his first summer on the job, striking the first deal of the offseason when he sent Kemba Walker to Oklahoma City. The team also acquired Josh Richardson from Dallas, traded away Tristan Thompson in a three-team deal, created a trade exception by signing-and-trading Evan Fournier, and agreed today to acquire Hernangomez.
The Pelicans are the other club that has made five trades so far this summer. Three of New Orleans’ trades came as a result of selling off picks in the July 29 draft, but the other two were significant moves — the Pels landed Valanciunas and Devonte’ Graham (via sign-and-trade) in a three-team deal with Memphis and Charlotte, and acquired Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple in the sign-and-trade sending Lonzo Ball to Chicago.
Here are a few more details on this offseason’s 32 trades:
- The Bulls, Clippers, Knicks, and Thunder have each made four trades, with the Hornets, Nets, Pacers, Spurs, and Jazz completing three.
- The Pistons, Cavaliers, Rockets, Bucks, Timberwolves, and Trail Blazers have made two trades apiece, while 11 teams have been involved in just one trade.
- Three of this offeason’s 32 trades have been three-teamers, while one (the Russell Westbrook/Spencer Dinwiddie deal) included five teams. The other 28 deals were just two-team agreements.
- Nearly half of this summer’s trades (15 of 32) included at least one 2021 draft pick — either the pick itself was dealt before the draft started, or the rights to a player were traded after he was selected on July 29.
- Eight of this offseason’s deals included a free agent being signed-and-traded. One of those eight – the Bulls/Pelicans deal – featured multiple players being signed-and-traded, with Ball heading to Chicago and Temple going to New Orleans.
- Eight first-round picks from future drafts (ie. 2022 and beyond) changed hands this offseason in six different deals. However, all of those picks were fairly heavily protected — all of them had at least top-10 protection.
- The one-year extension that Josh Richardson signed with the Celtics is worth $12,196,094, which represents a 5% raise on 2021/22 salary ($11,615,328), tweets Smith. Because Richardson was traded to Boston just a few weeks ago, extend-and-trade rules limited his raise to 5% of his previous salary.
- Smith also provides the specifics, down to the dollar, of Robert Williams‘ rookie scale extension with the Celtics (Twitter link). We took a closer look at that deal, along with details on some of the incentives, last week.
Jabari Parker earned a $100K guarantee by staying on the Celtics‘ roster this week, but he will still have to win a job in training camp, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Parker signed with Boston in April and averaged 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds over the final 10 games of the season while playing 13.8 minutes per night . The remainder of his $2.283MM contract is non-guaranteed, but he will receive $1,141,517 if he’s still with the team on opening night.
Robb believes Parker has a decent shot at sticking with the Celtics, who don’t have another reliable scorer off the bench at power forward. However, sources tell Robb that Boston continues to explore roster additions, and finding another forward could affect Parker’s prospects. He adds that trading Carsen Edwards or Kris Dunn would be another option to trim the roster to 15 players.
There’s more from Boston:
- The extensions the Celtics gave to Marcus Smart, Robert Williams and Josh Richardson will limit their roster flexibility next summer, Robb states in a separate story. The luxury tax line for the 2022/23 season will be about $145MM, and the new extensions leave Boston with a commitment of $141MM for 10 players. That could change if the Celtics decide to waive or stretch the contract of Al Horford, who only has a $14.5MM guarantee on his $26.5MM salary for 2022/23. Getting rid of Horford could open anywhere from $12MM to $18MM.
- With only $48MM in guaranteed money, the extension for Williams could turn out to be one of the best deals of the summer, contends Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Forsberg reports that the Celtics looked at several power forwards this summer and have the assets to make a deal if one becomes available.
- In case you missed it, we relayed several details on Williams’ extension earlier in the week.
Over the last few weeks, NBA teams have been overhauling their rosters, signing free agents, making trades, and locking up their draft picks to contracts. Prior to the draft and free agency though, several teams completed another major offseason change that shouldn’t be overlooked — over a quarter of the NBA’s clubs named a new permanent head coach.
One of the eight teams that named a new permanent coach this offseason simply retained a familiar face. Nate McMillan took over as the Hawks‘ interim coach halfway through the 2020/21 season, and the job he did the rest of the way, leading Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals, ensured the team wasn’t going to seek out a replacement.
The other seven teams, however, will have a new face on the sidelines to start the 2021/22. Here’s a recap of this offseason’s head coaching changes and a brief look at how they played out:
Boston Celtics
- Hired: Ime Udoka (story)
- Replaced: Brad Stevens (story)
- Contract details: Multiyear deal (specifics unknown)
- Other candidates who reportedly received consideration or interest: Jerome Allen, Chauncey Billups, Mike D’Antoni, Darvin Ham, Jay Larranaga, Charles Lee, Joe Mazzulla, Scott Morrison, Jamahl Mosley
The Celtics didn’t follow the usual script when making their head coaching change. Rather than being fired by the team, Stevens actually received a promotion to president of basketball operations, putting him in the unusual position of hiring his replacement.
Boston considered a mix of internal and external candidates before landing on Udoka, a former NBA player who was an assistant on Gregg Popovich‘s staff in San Antonio for seven years before also spending time with Philadelphia and Brooklyn. Udoka’s experience on Team USA’s staff at the 2019 World Cup worked in his favor, since he got to know Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart during that event.
Dallas Mavericks
- Hired: Jason Kidd (story)
- Replaced: Rick Carlisle (story)
- Contract details: Four-year deal
- Other candidates who reportedly received consideration or interest: Jamahl Mosley, Terry Stotts
The Mavericks took another step forward in 2020/21, improving their regular season winning percentage for a third straight season. Although Dallas’ season ended with another first-round loss to the Clippers, those positive strides made it a little surprising that the team ended up making major changes to both its coaching staff and front office. Carlisle stepped down and the team parted ways with longtime president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.
The searches for a new general manager and head coach occurred simultaneously, with owner Mark Cuban leading the process. He chose Nico Harrison to head up the team’s basketball operations department, and they quickly zeroed in on Kidd – a former All-Star and NBA champion with the Mavericks – as the choice for head coach.
The Mavs are hoping that Kidd learned from some of the mistakes he made during previous head coaching stints with the Nets and Bucks and will form a strong connection with franchise player Luka Doncic, who wasn’t always on the same page as Carlisle.
Indiana Pacers
- Hired: Rick Carlisle (story)
- Replaced: Nate Bjorkgren (story)
- Contract details: Four-year, $29MM deal
- Other candidates who reportedly received consideration or interest: Steve Clifford, Brian Shaw, Terry Stotts
The Pacers’ head coaching change in 2020 looks like one of the worst moves of that offseason in hindsight. The team dismissed Nate McMillan due to his lack of success in the playoffs, but his replacement – Bjorkgren – was unable to even get the team to the postseason during his lone season at the helm.
After Bjorkgren’s brief and disastrous tenure, the Pacers will seek stability by bringing back Carlisle, who coached the team from 2003-07 and has recorded the 15th-most wins of any coach in NBA history. He’ll assume control of a veteran squad that looks capable of bouncing back and potentially securing a top-six spot in the East with better health luck in 2021/22.
New Orleans Pelicans
- Hired: Willie Green (story)
- Replaced: Stan Van Gundy (story)
- Contract details: Multiyear deal (specifics unknown)
- Other candidates who reportedly received consideration or interest: Charles Lee, Jacque Vaughn, Fred Vinson, Teresa Weatherspoon
Like Bjorkgren in Indiana, Van Gundy proved to be a poor fit for his new team and lasted just one year before receiving his walking papers. When the Pelicans launched a search for their new head coach, they prioritized finding a candidate capable of connecting with the young players on the roster — especially Zion Williamson, who will be playing for his third coach in three years.
New Orleans initially appeared focused on Vaughn, but the Nets assistant withdrew from consideration in order to remain in Brooklyn. At that point, the Pelicans’ search narrowed to Green and Lee, with the Suns associate head coach ultimately winning out.
Green only has five years of experience as an assistant under his belt, but appeared in the NBA Finals in four of those five seasons with Golden State and Phoenix. And the fact that he’s only six years removed from being in the NBA as a player should help earn him some respect from a young Pelicans team.
Orlando Magic
- Hired: Jamahl Mosley (story)
- Replaced: Steve Clifford (story)
- Contract details: Four-year deal
- Other candidates who reportedly received consideration or interest: Chauncey Billups, Jarron Collins, Mike D’Antoni, Willie Green, Becky Hammon, Penny Hardaway, Jason Kidd, Charles Lee, Terry Stotts, Ime Udoka, Wes Unseld Jr.
It didn’t seem as if the Magic were particularly eager to move on from Clifford, but the veteran coach wasn’t enthusiastic about embarking on another rebuild, so the two sides mutually agreed to parted ways a few weeks after Orlando’s season ended.
While some of the candidates reported to be on the Magic’s radar had previous head coaching experience, most were assistants who had a strong record of player development and wouldn’t mind growing along with a young, lottery-bound team. Orlando eventually chose Mosley, who was an assistant for the Nuggets and Cavaliers before spending the last seven seasons under Rick Carlisle in Dallas.
Portland Trail Blazers
- Hired: Chauncey Billups (story)
- Replaced: Terry Stotts (story)
- Contract details: Five-year deal
- Other candidates who reportedly received consideration or interest: Jerome Allen, Brent Barry, Mike D’Antoni, Becky Hammon, Jason Kidd, Dawn Staley
Unable to get the Trail Blazers over the hump despite a long track record of regular season success, Stotts was let go by the Blazers this spring.
After reports stated that Damian Lillard would have a voice in Portland’s hiring process, the All-Star guard expressed public support for Kidd and Billups. When Kidd withdrew his name from consideration, reportedly uncomfortable with the idea of pursuing the job following Lillard’s public endorsement, Billups emerged as the frontrunner and beat out finalists D’Antoni and Hammon for the job.
Billups, who had a decorated career as a player, has long been viewed by people around the league as a good bet to be a successful NBA coach. He’ll get his chance in Portland, though the team could’ve handled the hiring better from a PR perspective.
The Blazers, who faced some backlash due to a 1997 sexual assault case involving the former All-Star guard, told reporters they thoroughly investigated that incident and came away confident that Billups hadn’t engaged in any wrongdoing. Subsequent reporting suggested that Portland’s investigation may not have been as exhaustive as the team claimed. However, any blow-back to the poorly-handled process seems more likely to affect president of basketball operations Neil Olshey than Billups.
Washington Wizards
- Hired: Wes Unseld Jr. (story)
- Replaced: Scott Brooks (story)
- Contract details: Four-year deal
- Other candidates who reportedly received consideration or interest: Sam Cassell, Chris Fleming, Willie Green, Darvin Ham, Charles Lee, Jamahl Mosley, Scott Morrison, Ronald Nored, Chris Quinn, Kevin Young
Halfway through the 2020/21 season, Brooks looked like the surest bet among the NBA’s 30 head coaches to be let go at season’s end. A second-half surge and a play-in tournament victory earned the Wizards a playoff berth and made the decision a little more difficult, but the team ultimately decided not to bring back Brooks, whose contract expired this year.
The Wizards, whose search focused exclusively on assistants without prior head coaching experience, narrowed their list down to four finalists — Unseld, Ham, Lee, and Mosley. After Mosley opted to take the Orlando job, Washington chose Unseld over the two Bucks assistants.
It was a logical choice for the Wizards, who gave Unseld his start as an assistant in 2005 and who employed his father (Wes Unseld Sr.) for years as a player, coach, and front office executive. However, Unseld Jr. earned the job on merit, not sentiment — he spent 16 years as an assistant in Washington, Golden State, Orlando, and Denver, and the Nuggets lobbied hard for him to get a head coaching opportunity they felt he deserved.
Robert Williams‘ new four-year contract extension with the Celtics, initially reported to be worth $54MM, actually has a base value of $48MM over four years, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Instagram video).
As Marks outlines, Williams will earn a salary around $10.7MM in 2022/23, the first year of his new deal. He’ll get annual 8% annual raises, all the way up to $13.285MM in ’25/26, for a total of $48MM in guaranteed money. There is no player or team option in the final year of the contract.
The agreement also includes about $5-6MM in total incentives, which could push the total value up to near $54MM, Marks explains. For instance, in the first year of his contract, Williams can make an extra $446K if he appears in at least 69 games. That bonus would be considered “likely” and would be added to Williams’ $10.7MM cap hit in ’22/23 if he plays in 69+ games in the final year of his rookie contract in ’21/22.
According to Marks, Williams also has incentives related to whether the Celtics make the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Eastern Finals, but he must play in 69+ games to qualify for those incentives. The 23-year-old can also earn bonuses if he makes the All-Defensive First Team or Second Team, Marks adds.
Williams has battled a handful of injuries in his first three NBA seasons, so it makes sense that the Celtics would include language that protects them to some extent if he continues to miss time. However, even if Williams fails to meet that 69-game threshold and never earns an All-Defensive spot, the C’s would be on the hook for $12MM per year over the course of the deal.
In a piece for BasketNews.com, Donatas Urbonas explores how Real Madrid is able to secure such lucrative buyout deals for its players, such as Facundo Campazzo, Gabriel Deck, and Usman Garuba, among others.
The Spanish powerhouse made over 10 million Euros in buyouts in the last nine months alone, more than the total budget of Euroleague teams such as Zalgiris, according to Urbonas, who explains that because of its pedigree as a championship team, Real Madrid is able to attract top talent, but also institute their own conditions. There’s also the appeal of living in Madrid and the top-flight amenities the club is able to offer.
Finally, Urbonas writes that the team invests tens of millions in its youth development program, which is renowned for getting the attention of NBA teams, making the exorbitant buyouts a tradeoff of that exposure and unrivaled development system.
We have more from around the world of hoops:
- Former Piston Reggie Hearn has signed with German team Fraport Skyline, reports Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw (via Twitter). Hearn spent last season with the G League Ignite, averaging 3.9 PPG in just 13 MPG.
- MarJon Beauchamp, a top-5o recruit in the class of 2020, has signed with the G League Ignite, reports ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. After COVID-19 disrupted his ability to train in San Francisco, Beauchamp enrolled in Yakima Valley junior college, where he averaged 30.7 PPG, 10.5 RPG and 4.8 APG per game while shooting 40% from three. Beauchamp joins a loaded Ignite team that may get even better, with top 2023 recruit Emoni Bates set to make his recruitment decision tomorrow.
- Former Celtics assistant Scott Morrison has signed on to be the head coach of the NBL’s Perth Wildcats, per an NBL announcement. The deal will span three years. Morrison, who had spent the previous three seasons with the Celtics, reportedly interviewed for Washington’s head coaching job this offseason.
August 24: The Celtics have officially extended Williams, per a team press release.
“Rob has embraced being a Celtic from day one,” team president Brad Stevens said in a statement. “He is a great teammate and is completely committed to getting better. We’re excited that he will continue to do so here in Boston.”
August 20: After agreeing to a four-year contract extension with Marcus Smart earlier this week, the Celtics have reached a deal to extend another rotation player through 2025/26. The team is in agreement with big man Robert Williams on a four-year, $54MM deal, agent Kevin Bradbury tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Williams, who will turn 24 in October, saw limited playing time in his first two NBA seasons, partly due to injuries, but emerged as a regular contributor for Boston in 2020/21. In 52 games (18.9 MPG), including 13 starts, he averaged 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per contest. His impressive .721 FG% was right in line with his career rate (.720).
Despite only having appeared in 113 regular season games to date, Williams has flashed promise on both ends of the court and brings plenty of athleticism to the Celtics’ frontcourt.
As Wojnarowski notes, the new four-year deal will put the former Texas A&M standout in the top half of NBA centers by annual salary, but he has the potential to outplay it if he stays healthy and continues to improve.
The timing of the deal is interesting. Typically, players eligible for rookie scale extensions reach deals closer to the October deadline, unless they’re obvious max-salary players like Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Williams – the fourth player to receive a rookie scale extension in 2021 – is the first one of those four to agree to a deal worth less than the max.
[RELATED: 2021/22 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]
The fact that the Celtics were willing to sign off on a new deal for Williams nearly two months ahead of the deadline suggests they were eager to get the young center locked up and were comfortable with the price point.
The extensions for Smart and Williams all but assure Boston will enter the 2022 offseason as an over-the-cap team, barring some major roster moves between now and then.
- The trade kicker in Marcus Smart‘s new extension with the Celtics will be worth either $1MM or 15% of his remaining contract, whichever is lesser, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Based on the terms of Smart’s deal, $1MM should always be the lesser amount, so that’s the amount of the bonus he’d receive if he’s traded.
AUGUST 24: Richardson has officially signed his extension, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
AUGUST 23: The Celtics have agreed to tack on a one-year extension to the current contract of newly-acquired swingman Josh Richardson, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The former Mavericks wing’s contract was initially set to expire in 2022 after paying him $11.6MM this season. Charania notes that Richardson is now set to earn $24MM over the next two years, indicating that Richardson’s one-year extension will likely be worth about $12-13MM in 2022/23.
Earlier this summer, Richardson was sent to Boston in exchange for 7’2″ center Moses Brown in a one-for-one exchange. The Celtics used the remaining portion of their Gordon Hayward trade exception to accommodate the acquisition.
The 6’5″ Richardson, 27, will suit up for his fourth team in four seasons this fall. Initially drafted by the Heat with No. 40 pick out of Tennessee in 2015, he spent his first four seasons in Miami, flashing the potential to become a reliable 3-and-D wing, one of the hottest commodities in the NBA. He was sent to the Sixers as part of the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade in the summer of 2019, and then was moved again, this time to the Mavericks, during the 2020 offseason.
During the 2020/21 season, Richardson averaged 12.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.5 APG, his worst output in those categories since becoming a full-time starter with the Heat in 2017/18. A career 35.8% shooter from long range (on 4.5 attempts a night), Richardson could help Boston in a more limited role as a floor spacer, supporting All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Richardson’s extension is the third one the Celtics have agreed to this month. The team also recently announced a new contract for Marcus Smart and also has a deal in place with Robert Williams.