Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Celtics Rumors

2024/25 All-NBA G League Teams Announced

April 17th, 2025 at 1:14pm CST by Rory Maher

In a series of tweets, the NBA has announced the three All-NBA G League teams for the 2024/25 season. Here’s the full list of honorees:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

* Denotes two-way contract

^ Denotes standard contract

~ On a standard contract with the Cavaliers

While each player selected has some level of NBA experience, four of them — Flynn, Nowell, Brown and Warren — are currently free agents. Of that group, only Warren didn’t appear in an NBA regular season game during the ’24/25 campaign.

Davison, Tshiebwe and Nowell finished first, second and third in voting (in that order) for this season’s G League Most Valuable Player award, so it’s no surprise that they made the First Team. McClung, who was the league’s 2023/24 MVP, helped Osceola make the NBAGL Finals this spring, with the final spot going to former Pistons guard Flynn, who signed a 10-day contract with Charlotte last month.

Mason Jones recently helped Stockton win its first G League title, earning Finals MVP in the process. He’s joined on the Second Team by NBAGL Most Improved Player Harkless, McGowens, Brown, and Timme.

Former first-round pick Okeke signed a pair of 10-day contracts with Philadelphia before signing with Cleveland ahead of the playoffs. NBA veteran Warren, G League Rookie of the Year Alexander, Heat two-way guard Christopher, and Kings big man Jones round out the Third Team.

Davison and Isaac Jones were promoted from two-way deals to standard contracts at the end of the season. Timme was an NBA free agent before Brooklyn gave him a two-year standard contract in March due to his strong play in the NBAGL.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

And-Ones: Clutch Player Award, NBA Europe, Award Picks, Oweh

April 15th, 2025 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The official candidates for Clutch Player of the Year have been revealed, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor tweets. Here’s the list of candidates that voters can select for the award, as chosen by the league’s 30 head coaches:

Curry won the award last year.

We have more from around the international basketball world:

  • While the NBA is trying to establish a new league in Europe, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum insists that the goal is not to replace the EuroLeague, Eurohoops relays via a Reuters interview. “Our goal is to create a commercially viable league that features high quality on -court competition and respects the rich tradition of European basketball. And we think that that will better serve fans and players on the continent,” Tatum said. He notes that there are major cities in Europe that don’t have a team where the NBA can establish roots. “There are big markets in Europe that aren’t being serviced today, where there are millions of basketball fans that aren’t being serviced,” he said. London, Paris, Berlin and Rome are among the candidates that NBA Europe considers as prime targets.
  • The Athletic’s John Hollinger reveals his award picks. He has Gilgeous-Alexander atop his MVP list and the Rockets’ Amen Thompson as his Defensive Player of the Year. O’Connor, writing for Yahoo Sports, has the same duo winning those awards. They also both have Stephon Castle taking Rookie of the Year honors, Payton Pritchard atop their Sixth Man of the Year lists, and Kenny Atkinson as Coach of the Year.
  • Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh will test the draft waters, Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 tweets. Oweh averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals this past season. He played his first two seasons at Oklahoma.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Jaylen Brown Gets Pain-Killing Injections In Right Knee

April 13th, 2025 at 12:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

April 13: Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla confirmed on Sunday that Brown has received pain management injections for his right knee, per Ken Powtak of The Associated Press.

“Just part of the rehab process for him to get back to be his absolute best,” Mazzulla said. “He’s continuing to take care of himself and put himself in great position to be ready for the postseason.”

Asked whether he’s confident Brown will be available when the playoffs get underway, Mazzulla replied, “A hundred percent.”

April 12: Celtics star Jaylen Brown was given pain management injections this week as he continues to try to find an answer for his aching right knee, league sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.

Brown suffered a bone bruise several weeks ago, and it has become more painful recently, according to Shelburne. He was limited to 22 minutes and barely played after halftime in Boston’s overtime victory at New York on Tuesday. He sat out Wednesday’s game at Orlando, ensuring that he won’t reach the 65-game minimum to be considered for postseason awards, and he has been declared out for Sunday’s regular season finale against Charlotte.

Shelburne notes that teammate Kristaps Porzingis cautioned Brown against trying to do too much after Tuesday’s outing.

“He’s a tough dude,” Porzingis said. “He always preaches his warrior mindset. He lives by it. But to what extent do we need that right now? Maybe he needs to take care of it and make sure he’s going to be ready for the most important moment. I think we need to encourage him to make sure he does everything he needs to prepare to get it healthy and to prepare for what’s going to come.”

The Celtics had Brown on a minutes restriction for a while, but he worked his way back up to about 30 minutes per night prior to this week, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Barring a setback, he’s expected to be ready for the start of Boston’s first-round playoff series next weekend.

“We just got what we needed to get out of him as he continues to push himself and test himself,” coach Joe Mazzulla said after the Knicks game. “We still got games left so we got what we needed to get, what we needed to see and we’ll just continue to move forward.”

Brown, a four-time All-Star and the reigning MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals, is in the midst of another productive season. He’s averaging 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 63 games with .463/.324/.764 shooting numbers.

Robb points out that Brown has chosen to play through the pain numerous times, even though the Celtics have been virtually locked into the No. 2 seed for several weeks. Brown explained his reasoning after a game last week.

“I’m hoping to feel better and better,” he said. “But there’s no guarantee that rest or anything like that is going to make this thing better, so kind of figuring it out and going through it and getting ready for the playoffs.”

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Celtics Convert JD Davison To Standard Contract

April 13th, 2025 at 11:05am CST by Tristan Tucker

April 13: Davison’s promotion is now official, according to the Celtics.

April 12: The Celtics are converting two-way guard JD Davison to a two-year standard contract, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Boston had an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary.

Boston drafted Davison in the second round of the 2022 draft. In his three years on two-way deals, the 22-year-old has appeared in total 35 games with the Celtics, averaging 1.7 points in 5.2 minutes per contest.

Davison has seen much more playing time at the G League level, averaging 20.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 8.0 assists across 133 regular season games. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBAGL this season after averaging 25.6 PPG in the regular season.

Being converted to the standard roster will make Davison eligible for the playoffs.

It’s unclear what the specifics are on his deal at this time, but it may feature little to no guaranteed money for next season. Conversions around this time of year help give contending teams longer looks at developmental players into the offseason and gives them the flexibility to decide whether to keep them around. Davison would have been eligible for restricted free agency this offseason had he not been converted.

Because the deadline for signing players to two-way contracts passed in March, the Celtics are not eligible to sign another player to fill Davison’s slot. Drew Peterson and Miles Norris occupy Boston’s other two-way slots, with Norris on a two-year deal that runs through 2025/26.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Postseason Seeding Set For Eastern Conference

April 11th, 2025 at 11:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Wins by the Orlando, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Chicago on Friday night have locked in the playoff seeds for all six Eastern Conference playoff teams, along with the four play-in clubs.

Here’s how the top 10 teams in the East will finish the regular season, as the NBA confirms (via Twitter):

  1. Cleveland Cavaliers
  2. Boston Celtics
  3. New York Knicks
  4. Indiana Pacers
  5. Milwaukee Bucks
  6. Detroit Pistons
  7. Orlando Magic
  8. Atlanta Hawks
  9. Chicago Bulls
  10. Miami Heat

The play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference will feature the Magic hosting the Hawks on Tuesday and the Bulls hosting the Heat on Wednesday. The Orlando/Atlanta winner will claim the No. 7 spot in the playoffs and face the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The loser of that game will host the Chicago/Miami winner on Friday for the No. 8 spot and the right to face the Cavaliers in round one.

The Knicks will match up with the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs, while the Pacers and Bucks will meet in round one for a second consecutive year, with Indiana claiming home court advantage this time around.

We got a little more clarity on the Western Conference playoff picture by the end of Friday night, with the Lakers clinching the No. 3 seed by beating Houston and the Grizzlies now locked into the play-in tournament as a result of their loss to Denver. However, there are still several playoff berths and seeds up in the air, with the Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, and Timberwolves vying for the final three spots in the West’s top six.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Atlantic Notes: Whitehead, Brown, Boucher, Knicks

April 10th, 2025 at 5:41pm CST by Tristan Tucker

As the Nets near the end of the season, their priority in the last three games will be evaluating which players might be a part of their future. As Bridget Reilly of the New York Post writes, 2023 first-round forward Dariq Whitehead is hoping to prove he should stick around with the franchise for the long run.

Still just 20 years old, Whitehead has been limited to just 19 NBA games in his first two seasons after dealing with several injuries, including a stress reaction on his leg that ended his rookie year. The Duke product said he feels he’s almost back to 100% health.

“I feel it coming,” Whitehead said. “I will say it’s night and day from just trusting my body and stuff. Doing things I haven’t done in two years, which is amazing for me and I’m sure it’s amazing for the coaches and staff to see.”

In 17 games this year, Whitehead is averaging 6.2 points while shooting 44.8% on 3.9 three-point attempts per game. Over 75% of his shots have come from beyond the arc.

“This is going to be an important summer for me,” Whitehead said. “Since I’ve been hurt, I haven’t been able to just work on those things, which is getting my athleticism back and just doing certain movements. Just me attacking this summer is going to be really important for me.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Celtics star Jaylen Brown is out for the team’s Friday game against the Hornets, according to The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn (Twitter link). As Washburn notes, that means Brown won’t reach the 65-game threshold necessary to be eligible for postseason awards.
  • Chris Boucher has been a long-term fixture of the Raptors, making the team out of training camp in 2018/19 and becoming part of that season’s championship roster. As Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes, there is mutual interest in another contract between Boucher and the Raptors as he hits unrestricted free agency this summer. The big man has had a strong season, averaging 10.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game, though his role has fluctuated. “Obviously it’s not ideal, but it’s the business. I know how things go by now,” Boucher said of his minutes. “I’m trying to stay positive with how my life is and see the positive stuff, and I think I had a great year, too. I think that helps, knowing that I’m growing and being the player and the person that I want to be, so I take those wins. The season went by pretty quick, so I’ll enjoy the last few games and see what happens.”
  • The Knicks are showing a willingness to rest players in the last part of the season, Howie Kussoy of the New York Post writes. If New York wins on Thursday or Indiana loses, the Knicks will clinch the third seed. OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson will sit out of Thursday’s contest. New York’s playoff roster last season was depleted by injuries, so the team appears to be doing what it can do avoid history repeating itself.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Final Check-In On Open NBA Roster Spots

April 10th, 2025 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

With just four days left in the NBA’s regular season, there are still a few teams around the league with open 15-man roster spots, and there’s little downside to filling those openings before the regular season ends.

For playoff teams, adding one more player would create a little extra depth in the event of postseason injuries or garbage-time minutes. For non-playoff teams, it makes sense to try to convince a young player to accept a multiyear deal that includes little or no guaranteed money beyond this season, since it gives those teams another option for next year’s roster.

Even clubs over the luxury tax line or right up against it shouldn’t have a problem paying one more player a prorated minimum salary for the last day or two of the season — the prorated minimum for a veteran on a rest-of-season deal is just $11,997 per day, which is a drop in the bucket for NBA franchises.

With all that in mind, it’s safe to assume that some – if not all – of the teams with open roster spots should fill them by Sunday. Here are those teams:

  • Boston Celtics
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Golden State Warriors
  • New Orleans Pelicans
  • Toronto Raptors (2)

The Mavericks‘ plans for their open 15-man roster spot have already been reported. They intend to promote two-way player Brandon Williams to a standard contract and likely would’ve done it much sooner if they’d had enough room under their hard cap to do so.

The Pelicans technically have 16 players on standard contracts as of today, but two of those players – Elfrid Payton and Kylor Kelley – are on 10-day contracts that will expire this weekend. I’d expect New Orleans to look to sign Payton, Kelley or someone else to a multiyear contract that gives the club some roster flexibility beyond this season.

The Raptors opened up a pair of roster spots on Thursday by waiving Orlando Robinson and Cole Swider, both of whom were on rest-of-season contracts. Their reported plan is to fill those two spots in the coming days with players on multiyear deals — Robinson and/or Swider may even return, though Colin Castleton is reportedly also on Toronto’s radar, and a promotion of two-way player A.J. Lawson is a possibility too.

The other two teams here – the Celtics and Warriors – are either assured of a playoff spot (in Boston’s case) or are well positioned to make it (in Golden State’s case). But that doesn’t necessarily mean each of those teams will sign a win-now veteran as a 15th man. They already have enough depth on their respective rosters that they may prefer to add a younger prospect – perhaps a two-way player or someone from the G League – on a multiyear deal.

While there are only five teams with open spots on their 15-man rosters, that doesn’t necessarily mean those five clubs are the only candidates to make roster moves in the next few days.

Teams without an open roster spot could waive one of their current 15 players in order to make room for a new addition or a promoted two-way player. They’ll likely have to make that decision very soon though — 4:00 pm Central time on Thursday is the deadline to waive a player on an expiring contract in order to ensure he clears waivers before the final day of the regular season, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

The Cavaliers (Chuma Okeke), Kings (Terence Davis), and Knicks (P.J. Tucker) are among the teams who had been carrying an open 15-man roster spot but who have filled that opening this month.

Finally, it’s worth noting that there are a handful of clubs with two-way contract slots available, but the deadline for two-way signings passed in early March, so those roster spots will remain open.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Cavaliers Clinch Top Seed In Eastern Conference

April 9th, 2025 at 9:34am CST by Rory Maher

By defeating Chicago on Tuesday, the Cavaliers secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2016, as ESPN.com relays.

“Yeah, I mean I think you celebrate these moments,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “You know, we’ll talk about going forward, what that looks like, but today, tonight we celebrate. And, you know, I think the guys are super happy in that locker room.”

Cleveland’s victory also means that the defending champion Celtics are locked into the No. 2 seed in the East entering the playoffs.

Atkinson said he’ll talk to his coaching staff and players about the plan for the final three games of the season — resting regulars is one option. He said he would prefer Donovan Mitchell to sit the remaining regular season contests to fully heal after sustaining a left ankle sprain on Sunday. Mitchell missed Tuesday’s game with the injury.

“I think there are various options on the table. It’s going to be a collaborative thing and the players are part of it,” Atkinson said. “What is their feel on rhythm? We can do intrasquad scrimmages to prepare. We can do a lot of things to get ready.”

The Rockets didn’t play on Tuesday, but they clinched the No. 2 seed in the West when the Thunder beat the Lakers, notes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. The Thunder secured the West’s top seed three weeks ago.

Unlike the East, where the six guaranteed playoff spots were already known last week, the three through six spots in the West are still up for grabs. Only two games separate the No. 3 Lakers from the No. 8 Timberwolves with the regular season set to conclude on Sunday.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Marcus Smart: ‘Control What I Can Control’

April 7th, 2025 at 10:56am CST by Arthur Hill

For years, Marcus Smart dreamed of bringing a championship to Boston, so it felt odd to be back at TD Garden on Sunday with the rebuilding Wizards, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.

Smart didn’t play, despite loud chants from Celtics fans for coach Brian Keefe to put him in the game. Keefe explained that he’s focused on giving time to younger players as the season winds down. With one year left on his contract at $21.6MM, it’s uncertain whether Smart’s NBA future will be in Washington.

“Control what I can control,” he said. “That’s been my motto, and that’s kind of how it’s going to stand. These last couple years, you’ve seen things that you probably didn’t expect to see, you experienced things that you probably didn’t expect to experience, and it kind of brings things to the surface for you. You’ve just got to control what you can control.”

Smart was a popular figure in Boston for nine years as part of the young core that turned the Celtics into title contenders again. He was a fiery competitor and demonstrative leader who won Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2022.

His career abruptly changed a year later when he was sent to Memphis in a three-team deal that brought Kristaps Porzingis to Boston. Injuries limited his effectiveness with the Grizzlies, as he played just 20 games last season and 19 this year before being traded to the Wizards in February.

He’s averaging a career-low 18.7 minutes per night in 15 games with Washington while taking a back seat to his youthful teammates. He has embraced the role of a veteran leader and is impressed at how well his messages are being received.

“They’re calling me ‘Unc’ and things like that,” Smart said. “I ain’t ready for that. But it’s great. It’s a great group of young guys here, and the thing that I love about them is they’re ready to learn and they’re willing to learn. They’re constantly asking me questions, constantly asking me to demonstrate things, and that’s what you ask for. As a competitor, as a player yourself, when guys come up to you, that’s a great feeling. It allows you to see that what you’re doing and the impact that you’ve made hasn’t gone unnoticed, and keep doing it. So I was very excited.”

Keefe said Smart has been “terrific” since the trade and has served as a “tremendous leader, tremendous player,” Robb adds in a separate story. While it’s a rewarding role, it’s not what Smart wants to be at age 31. He believes he can still help a contender, and there may be several teams inquiring about him this summer.

The Wizards also acquired Khris Middleton from Milwaukee at the trade deadline, so they’ll have choices to make about whether to hold onto their two veterans or try to flip them for assets to help with the rebuilding project.

“I’m one of probably the biggest competitors in this league,” Smart said. “As long as I’m able to be out there, I want to be out there and I’m going to be out there. Where, when, how – that’s not in my control. All I can do is control my preparation and be prepared for whatever is thrown at me. So obviously I would like to get back to that play of racking up those minutes and really getting out there with those guys, but like I said, control what I can control.”

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Injury Notes: Giannis, Avdija, K. Murray, Celtics, Knicks

April 6th, 2025 at 8:15pm CST by Rory Maher

Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo went from questionable to doubtful to out for Sunday’s game against New Orleans, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (All Twitter links). The two-time MVP is dealing with left shoulder tendinopathy.

It’s worth noting that Milwaukee was on the second end of a back-to-back and officially clinched a playoff spot in the East on Saturday. That’s not to suggest that Antetokounmpo’s injury isn’t legitimate, but there’s also no reason to rush him back when the team has already secured a playoff berth.

Antetokounmpo, who has made the All-NBA First Team each of the past six seasons, will need to play in one of the Bucks’ final four games to qualify for major postseason awards. He has been playing some of his basketball of the season recently, averaging 36.0 points, 12.3 rebounds, 13.7 assists and 1.7 steals on .638/.500/.838 shooting over the past three games, all victories (39.3 minutes per contest).

Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:

  • Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija is another player who’s been on a tear to close out 2024/25, averaging 26.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals on .520/.457/.817 shooting over his past 13 games (36.6 MPG). However, he recently sustained a sprained right thumb and was ruled out of Sunday’s victory over San Antonio, the team announced (Twitter links). Sacramento’s win over Cleveland on Sunday has officially eliminated Portland from play-in contention, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. That means the Blazers will have a lottery pick for the fourth straight year.
  • Keegan Murray has been quite durable over his first three NBA seasons, playing 80 games as a rookie in ’22/23 and 77 in ’23/24. He missed his fourth game of ’24/25 on Sunday due to back soreness, per James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link). Trey Lyles started at forward in Murray’s place during the Kings‘ victory, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. The fourth overall pick of the 2022 draft, Murray will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.
  • The Celtics played without Jayson Tatum (left ankle sprain) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) on Sunday, but they still made quick work of the 17-win Wizards, Brian Robb writes in a pair of stories for MassLive.com. Tatum was initially listed as questionable before being ruled out, while Porzingis was a late scratch.
  • As expected, the Knicks had Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride back in action for Sunday’s contest vs. Phoenix, as Ian Begley of SNY.tv relays (Twitter links). Brunson had missed the past 15 games with a right ankle sprain, whereas McBride had missed the past eight with a left groin injury.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts