Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Sign Josh Richardson To One-Year Extension

August 24th, 2021 at 7:00am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

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.

Marcus Smart Signs Four-Year Extension With Celtics

August 21st, 2021 at 3:09pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 21: The Celtics have officially signed Smart to his extension, the team announced today in a press release.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather play and no other fans I’d rather play in front of. I love Boston, and Boston loves me,” Smart said in a statement. “We’ve had some great moments and success in my time here, but there’s more to accomplish. I’m ready to put that Celtics jersey back on and get to work out on the Parquet with my teammates.”

AUGUST 16: Longtime Celtics guard Marcus Smart will sign a four-year, $77.1MM contract extension with the team that drafted him, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Charania adds that the deal will include a trade kicker.

Smart’s new contract is fully guaranteed through 2025/26. There is no player option, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who notes that the new agreement will begin during the 2022/23 season.

Originally selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2014 draft out of Oklahoma State, Smart first re-signed with Boston on a four-year, $52MM deal that will take him through the 2021/22 season. A two-time All-Defensive Team selection, the 27-year-old guard has proved to be a valuable addition during seven playoff-bound NBA seasons with the Celtics.

The 6’3″ Smart, working mostly as a starter, averaged 13.1 PPG, 5.7 APG, 3.5 RPG and 0.5 BPG during the 2020/21 season. Beyond his raw numbers, Smart has shined as a wing and perimeter defender and operated as a vocal team leader.

Smart is earning $14,339,285 in 2021/22 and is eligible for a starting salary worth 120% of that amount on an in-season extension. The Celtics offered the maximum amount they could, so the new deal will start at $17,207,142 in ’22/23 and will feature 8% annual raises, for a total of $77,087,994.

The Celtics’ backcourt underwent two major transitions earlier during the 2021 offseason. Boston traded oft-injured former All-Star starting point guard Kemba Walker to the Thunder, then signed former starting Lakers point guard Dennis Schröder to a one-year, $5.89MM deal using the taxpayer mid-level exception.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Celtics Notes: Williams, Stevens, Garnett, Schedule

August 20th, 2021 at 8:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The four-year extension agreement reached with Robert Williams was a sensible move by the Celtics, Kevin Pelton of ESPN opines. Williams showed before he was slowed by injuries that he could be productive as the starting center after Daniel Theis was traded in March. The $54MM deal shows that the Celtics are planning to give him a much larger role than he’s had most of his young career. The contract will take him through his development years and into his prime, Pelton adds.

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While extensions to Williams and Marcus Smart will eat up the team’s cap space in future years, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has maintained a level of future flexibility, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe notes. The Celtics were able to dump Kemba Walker’s contract, gain a $17.1MM trade exception in the Evan Fournier deal with the Knicks, and sign Dennis Schroder below market value. “I think we’ve been fortunate to add some guys that can really play,” Stevens said. “That’s a positive. I think we’re in a good position from a big picture standpoint.”
The Celtics will hold a ceremony to retire Kevin Garnett’s number on March 13, the team tweets. The Hall-of-Famer spent six seasons in the organization from 2007-13, winning the 2008 championship.
The Celtics have a rough stretch in December, including a five-game West Coast trip against many of the top teams in that conference, longtime beat reporter Mark Murphy tweets. The entire regular-season schedule can be accessed here.

Celtics Notes: Roster, Two-Way Slot, Tax, Begarin

August 19th, 2021 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking today to reporters, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens suggested the team has completed its major offseason moves.

Stevens pointed out that Boston has 16 players on standard contracts (15 guaranteed salaries, plus Jabari Parker‘s non-guaranteed deal) and said he’s comfortable bringing this group to training camp, noting that any additional moves will likely be “tweaks around the edge” (Twitter links via Keith Smith of Spotrac).

The Celtics do still have one open two-way slot, and Stevens said the team is still considering how to fill it. There’s no rush to do so, since Boston could end up targeting a player who gets waived by another team this fall, according to Stevens (Twitter link via Smith).

Here’s more from the Celtics’ new president:

Discussing Boston’s key offseason additions, Stevens said the team likes Josh Richardson‘s toughness and ability to play multiple positions, and added that the Celtics were “very fortunate” to land Dennis Schröder and Enes Kanter for the taxpayer mid-level exception and the veteran’s minimum, respectively (all Twitter links via Smith).
Stevens has the green light to go into luxury-tax territory in 2021/22, which is why he didn’t want to trigger a hard cap this offseason by acquiring a player via sign-and-trade or using more than the taxpayer portion of the MLE, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Stevens confirmed that second-round pick Juhann Begarin will remain overseas for at least the 2021/22 season (Twitter link via Weiss). Stevens added that the team will be monitoring Begarin and 2020 second-rounder Yam Madar “quite a bit” in Europe this year (Twitter link via Smith).

Checking In On Unsigned 2021 NBA Draft Picks

August 18th, 2021 at 3:12pm CST by Luke Adams

When Usman Garuba officially signed his rookie contract with Houston earlier this week, he became the 30th and final first-round pick from the 2021 draft to sign his first NBA deal. There will be no draft-and-stash players among this year’s first-rounders — they’re all now officially on NBA rosters.

As our tracker shows, another 23 second-rounders from this year’s draft class have also signed their first NBA contracts or – in Joe Wieskamp‘s case – agreed to a deal that should be officially completed soon.

That leaves just seven prospects from 2021’s 60-player draft class who have yet to be signed. They are as follows:

New York Knicks: Rokas Jokubaitis, G, Lithuania
Boston Celtics: Juhann Begarin, G, France
Brooklyn Nets: Marcus Zegarowski, G, Creighton
Philadelphia 76ers: Filip Petrusev, F, Serbia
Philadelphia 76ers: Charles Bassey, C, Western Kentucky
Detroit Pistons: Balsa Koprivica, C, Florida State
Brooklyn Nets: RaiQuan Gray, F, Florida State

Of these seven players, at least three appear on track to spend the 2021/22 season in Europe. Jokubaitis returned to his team in Barcelona following his Summer League stint with the Knicks, while Petrusev signed with Turkish team Anadolu Efes after playing for the Sixers in Summer League. Begarin, who also played in Summer League for the Celtics, will likely end up heading back overseas to France

That leaves just four true unsigned second-round picks, including a pair of Nets. It will be interesting to see what Brooklyn’s plans are for Zegarowski and Gray. The team currently has 13 players on guaranteed contracts and one on a two-way deal, so there could conceivably be room for Zegarowski on the 15-man squad, with Gray getting the other two-way deal.

However, DeAndre’ Bembry has a partially guaranteed contract and looks like a good bet to make the Nets’ regular-season roster, and Reggie Perry (free agent) and David Duke (Exhibit 10) are among the other candidates to get a two-way deal from the team. It’s also not clear if Brooklyn intends to carry a full 15-man roster to start the season, since leaving a roster spot open would create major tax savings for the franchise.

I could envision a scenario in which Zegarowski signs a two-way contract and Gray signs a G League deal to play for the Long Island Nets, but that’s just my speculation. There are still a number of ways the Nets could go.

Meanwhile, prospects drafted in the 50s like Bassey (No. 53) and Koprivica (No. 57) are generally good candidates for two-way deals, but the Sixers and Pistons have recently filled both of their two-way openings. Perhaps Philadelphia envisions Bassey taking Anthony Tolliver‘s spot on the 15-man roster, since Tolliver is on a non-guaranteed contract.

It’ll be trickier for Detroit to find a roster spot for Koprivica. The Pistons already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and still may re-sign restricted free agent Hamidou Diallo. Stashing Koprivica overseas or in the G League could be the plan. Koprivica was born and raised in Serbia, so he might be more comfortable spending a season overseas than a typical NCAA draftee would be.

Eastern Notes: Fournier, C. Smith, Windler, Madar

August 18th, 2021 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Originally reported as being a four-year deal that could be worth up to $78MM, Evan Fournier‘s new contract with the Knicks could actually max out at $79MM, but only has a base value of $73MM, according to breakdowns from Bobby Marks of ESPN and Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links). The deal, which has a fourth-year team option, includes $1.5MM in annual unlikely incentives that account for that $6MM difference.

The exact value of Fournier’s first-year salary is $17,142,857, according to Smith. That figure is important because the traded player exception created by the Celtics in their sign-and-trade of Fournier to the Knicks is equivalent to that amount. Boston will have until the 2022 offseason to use that $17.14MM trade exception.

Here’s more from around the East:

The two-way contract that undrafted rookie Chris Smith signed with the Pistons will cover two seasons, according to Keith Smith (Twitter link).
A first-round pick in 2019, Cavaliers wing Dylan Windler tells Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that his NBA career has been a “really bumpy and rough road” so far. Windler, who is recovering from left knee surgery, has been limited to 31 NBA games in two seasons due to various health issues and acknowledges that he may be facing a make-or-break season. “I don’t really want to put that much pressure on myself, but in reality, yeah it is,” Windler said to Fedor. “The league is a hard place to stick around. Not a lot of guys last. I’m just hoping this season I can be fully healthy and pain free and then I will be able to show people what I can do when I’m at 100 percent. If that isn’t enough, then at the end of the day, you have to live with that.”
KK Partizan officially announced the signing of Celtics draft-and-stash guard Yam Madar to a three-year contract. While the Serbian team’s press release doesn’t mention NBA outs, Madar’s new deal will likely give him the opportunity to come stateside if and when Boston is ready to add the 2020 second-rounder to its roster, but it appears that won’t happen in 2021/22.

Atlantic Notes: Smart, Embiid, Madar

August 17th, 2021 at 9:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

Marcus Smart‘s extension with the Celtics puts him at the intersection of being a franchise cornerstone and on the trade block, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

As Weiss observes, the timing of Smart’s deal – during Summer League as opposed to right before the regular season – points to the possibility of his inclusion in a superstar deal, as the usual moratorium on trading players off an extension has been changed from six to five months due to the shortened offeason. As a result, Smart will be trade-eligible before the 2022 deadline.

Weiss adds that the Celtics wouldn’t make this deal strictly for trade purposes, noting that it’s also an indication of their belief in the gritty guard and that Smart and new head coach Ime Udoka are a match made in heaven.

“He has that edge and toughness about him,” Udoka said of Smart soon after being hired. “The things he brings to your team are the things you’d love every player to bring.”

Udoka also called Smart the heart and soul of the team. The four-year, $77.1MM extension is a bet that that’s still true even if he’s given the added responsibility of leading the team’s offense.

We have more news from the Celtics:

Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston has similar thoughts, writing that – rather than preventing the Celtics from adding another big name – the Smart extension actually opens up multiple pathways for a deal to be made. Forsberg adds that despite the Celtics signing Dennis Schroder, Smart should be considered the best bet to be the team’s starting point guard entering the season, and that much of the Celtics’ ceiling as a team will revolve around how the trio of Smart, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown is able to function together with Smart at the helm.
Joel Embiid‘s super-max extension does more than just lock up the Sixers’ All-NBA center through 2027, writes Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice. It also sends a message of stability and desirability to stars around the league as president Daryl Morey continues to shop Ben Simmons and hunt for a second superstar to pair with Embiid. Neubeck adds there were rumors the Knicks hoped to pair Embiid and Damian Lillard once Embiid’s contract ended in 2023, which is now off the table.
Partizan Belgrade is “very close” to a deal with Celtics stash pick Yam Madar to a two-year deal, according to a MozzartSport report (hat tip to Sportando). The Serbian team would pay $250K for Madar’s buyout with current team Hapoel Tel Aviv. It was previously reported that Madar was likely to sign with Ratiopharm Ulm.

Knicks Notes: Walker, Fournier, Dinwiddie, Cash

August 17th, 2021 at 6:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Knicks’ two-year, $18MM offer to Kemba Walker was the only one he needed to consider, the point guard said today during an introductory press conference for him and Evan Fournier.

“Perfect timing. Really motivated,” Walker said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “Super excited that these guys have belief in me. That’s all I need. I just need somebody to believe in me. These guys do, and I appreciate that.”

Bontemps also writes that the status of Walker’s knee remains a big question. When asked if he’d play in back-to-backs this season (he didn’t last year), Walker replied with a smile, “You gotta ask (coach Tom Thibodeau).”

Thibodeau responded in a customary fashion. “Playing,” he said, eliciting laughter from those in attendance.

We have more Knicks news here:

Both the Clippers and Lakers were interested in trading for Walker, but couldn’t reach a deal with the Thunder, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Berman runs through what held up the Knicks in their pursuit of other guards, writing that they liked Lonzo Ball but wanted a more ready-made point guard. Berman adds that – given Walker’s and Derrick Rose‘s history of knee injuries – Immanuel Quickley and rookie Miles McBride may be more important than realized to the team’s success.
Spencer Dinwiddie responded to the claim in Berman’s article that he didn’t see the Knicks as “an appealing fit,” tweeting today, “Why y’all still writing this stuff about me? I never said that.” He went on to say he’s just happy to be a member of the Wizards.
The Knicks will send $110K to the Celtics as their return for the Fournier sign-and-trade, reports Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). In addition to the 28-year-old shooting guard, the Knicks will receive two future second-round picks (one heavily protected) for their role in helping the Celtics create a $17.1MM trade exception.

Knicks Acquire Evan Fournier From Celtics Via Sign-And-Trade

August 17th, 2021 at 9:36am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks‘ have turned their free agent agreement with swingman Evan Fournier into a sign-and-trade deal with the Celtics, announcing today in a press release that they’ve officially acquired Fournier and two future second-round picks from Boston in exchange for cash. Fournier received a four-year deal that includes a fourth-year team option and can reportedly be worth up to $78MM.

Turning the transaction into a sign-and-trade will allow the Celtics to create a traded player exception worth Fournier’s first-year salary. That new trade exception will be worth $17.1MM, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

The Knicks, meanwhile, had the cap room necessary to sign Fournier outright, but will pick up some extra draft assets due to their willingness to work with Boston on a sign-and-trade agreement.

According to Himmelsbach (Twitter link), one of the two second-round picks the Knicks are receiving is heavily (top-55) protected — it’s the Hornets’ 2022 second-rounder. The other pick will be a 2023 second-rounder that originally belonged to Oklahoma City, Washington, Miami, or Dallas.

It’s a similar move to the one the Celtics made last fall when Gordon Hayward left for Charlotte in free agency — the Hornets acquired a pair of second-rounders in that deal, while Boston created a $28.5MM trade exception.

Fournier, who had spent six seasons in Orlando entering the 2020/21 season, was traded from the Magic to the Celtics in a midseason deal that used the Hayward trade exception. He dealt with a handful of health issues over the course of the season, but had a solid overall year when he was available, averaging 17.1 PPG, 3.4 APG, and 3.0 RPG on .457/.413/.788 shooting in 42 total games (30.0 MPG) for Orlando and Boston.

The Celtics explored re-signing Fournier, but recognized they’d face competition on the open market and pivoted to acquiring Josh Richardson (using the rest of the Hayward TPE) to address the wing position. The Knicks ultimately outbid Boston to land Fournier.

“We identified Evan as a key addition as we entered free agency and are ecstatic that he’s joining us,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in a statement. “He’s a great teammate, a fierce competitor, and a perfect complement to our returning players. He wants to be a part of what we are building here, and we are happy to have him join our family.”

The Knicks have now officially completed their deals with Fournier, Nerlens Noel, and Kemba Walker. The team still has to announce a few other signings, including Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, and Taj Gibson.

Yam Madar Expected To Play In Germany If Celtics Don't Sign Him

August 16th, 2021 at 8:22am CST by Luke Adams

If the Celtics opt not to sign 2020 second-rounder Yam Madar for the 2021/22 season, the expectation is that he’ll play for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany, according to reports out of Israel (hat tip to Sportando). Madar remains a candidate to come stateside, but Boston already has 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts (plus Jabari Parker on a non-guaranteed deal) for ’21/22, so it may be another year before the Israeli guard signs his first NBA contract.