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Celtics Sign Torrey Craig

February 8th, 2025 at 9:15am CST by Tristan Tucker

February 8: The agreement between the Celtics and Craig is official, per a team press release.

February 6: The Celtics have agreed to a deal with forward Torrey Craig, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).

The eight-year NBA veteran was waived by the Bulls earlier this week in order to make room for the players they acquired in the deal that sent away Zach LaVine.

The Celtics had two open roster spots after trading away Jaden Springer at the deadline, meaning no corresponding move will be necessary to bring Craig aboard.

Earlier Thursday, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said acquiring a wing would be the first order of business for the Celtics regarding their open roster spots, according to MassLive’s Brian Robb (Twitter link).

Boston will address that need by adding a solid shooter in Craig, who has made 39.7% of 3.1 three-point attempts per game over the past three seasons with Phoenix and Chicago (141 total games).

The veteran swingman is also considered a solid, versatile perimeter defender and is an experienced playoff performer, appearing in 75 postseason games and starting in 19 of them.

Craig was limited to just nine appearances this season with the Bulls — he has battled injuries and wasn’t a significant part of the rotation even when healthy. Before being waived, he appeared to be nearing a return from a right ankle sprain that had sidelined him since December 30.

The Celtics still have some optionality with their 15th roster spot, which they’ll likely fill later in the season.

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NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Game Rosters

February 6th, 2025 at 6:33pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The 24 players selected for the 2025 All-Star Game were drafted on a Thursday pre-game TNT show by coaches Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and later announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.

Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:

Team Shaq

O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft, selecting James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) among its eight players.

The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Doncic to L.A. Additionally, Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis all played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.

Team Kenny

In contrast to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name — Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-timers. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.

Team Chuck

Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He secured the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama as first-time All-Stars and Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.

A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge — those rosters were announced earlier this week. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (game one) while the other two also play each other (game two). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

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Celtics Trade Jaden Springer, Second-Round Pick To Rockets

February 6th, 2025 at 10:54am CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 6: The trade is official, the Celtics and Rockets announced today. In addition to the terms outlined below, Houston is also receiving a protected 2027 second-round pick.

Based on the draft assets Boston controlled, per RealGM, that ’27 second-rounder figures to be either the Trail Blazers’ or Pelicans’ pick (whichever is least favorable; top-55 protected). In other words, the Rockets will only get that pick if either Portland or New Orleans is among the NBA’s top five teams in 2026/27.

FEBRUARY 5: The Celtics have agreed to trade guard Jaden Springer and a 2030 second-round pick to the Rockets in a cost-cutting move, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Charania, the two teams will also swap heavily-protected second-rounders. Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that Houston will send Boston a top-55 protected 2031 second-round selection.

A salary-dump deal involving Springer had long been anticipated for the defending champions, who had been operating well beyond the luxury tax line and had a projected end-of-season tax bill of about $65.6MM prior to this trade, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Moving off Springer’s expiring $4.02MM contract will reduce that projected tax payment to approximately $50.2MM, per Marks, while also opening up a second spot on Boston’s 15-man roster. It doesn’t impact their tax apron position — they remain over the second apron.

Teams can’t carry fewer than 14 players for more than 14 days at a time, so the Celtics will have up to two weeks to re-add a 14th man once their deal with the Rockets is official. Signing a replacement for Springer will bump the team’s tax bill back up a little, but the newcomer figures to be on a prorated minimum-salary deal and will have a far more modest cap hit than Springer did, so the accompanying tax penalty won’t be substantial.

As for the Rockets, they entered the day with more than $10MM in breathing room below the luxury tax line, so absorbing Springer’s $4.02MM salary doesn’t materially change their cap situation. They also have an open spot on their 15-man roster, meaning no one will have to be waived to finalize the deal.

Houston doesn’t have any trade exceptions available, but they can use a portion of their mid-level exception to take on Springer’s salary without sending out a player for matching purposes.

Springer was the 28th overall pick in the 2021 draft, but never developed into a reliable rotation player for the Sixers and was traded to the Celtics at last season’s deadline. The 22-year-old played sparingly in Boston too, appearing in just 43 games over the past year and averaging 1.9 points and 1.0 rebound in 6.3 minutes per contest.

Although Springer will be eligible for restricted free agency at the end of his contract, he’s not expected to receive a qualifying offer. In fact, he may reach unrestricted free agency before season’s end — if the Rockets want to use their 15th roster spot on another player, he’ll likely be the odd man out.

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Trade Rumors: Durant, Heat, Hunter, Hornets, Celtics

February 6th, 2025 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

Before the Heat agreed to trade Jimmy Butler to the Warriors, those two teams and the Suns had the framework in place for a potential deal that would have sent Butler to Phoenix and Kevin Durant to Golden State, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during a Thursday appearance on Get Up (YouTube link).

When it became clear that Durant wasn’t interested in reuniting with the Warriors, the three teams pivoted. The Heat and Warriors got together to finalize a Butler deal, while Durant now appears likely to remain in Phoenix through the deadline

According to Windhorst, there was a window after the Warriors’ talks for Durant fell through for the Heat to make a play for the Suns’ superstar forward, but Phoenix sought several additional assets that Miami didn’t want to give up.

“I do think there was some interest on both sides, but in the cursory discussions, from what I understand, Phoenix was looking for a massive return for Kevin Durant,” Windhorst said. “The Heat weren’t really into that game. They had gotten comfortable with acquiring Andrew Wiggins. That was a deal they had kind of agreed to the day before.”

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

  • Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter is a name to watch ahead of the deadline, says Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link). Previous reporting indicated that the Cavaliers are talking to Atlanta about Hunter, and Mannix confirms that Cleveland is considered the frontrunner, though he suggests other teams have also called about the 27-year-old.
  • Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) has heard that the Hornets are “very open” to moving Miles Bridges, Cody Martin, and Vasilije Micic. Of those three players, Martin, who has an $8.12MM pseudo-expiring contract (next season’s salary is non-guaranteed) would likely be the easiest to move. Bridges has a pricey contract that runs through 2026/27, while Martin has more on-court value than Micic, who is on a $7.7MM de facto expiring deal.
  • Having agreed to trade away Jaden Springer, the Celtics are on the lookout for a reserve wing player whom head coach Joe Mazzulla could trust more, sources tell Brian Robb of MassLive.com. Boston will likely target that sort of player on the buyout market if no trade options emerge today.
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Kyrie Irving, LeBron James Talk Doncic/Davis Mega-Deal

February 5th, 2025 at 9:22am CST by Rory Maher

Following Tuesday’s loss two-point loss in Philadelphia, Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving talked at length about the blockbuster trade that saw Luka Doncic become a member of the Lakers and Anthony Davis head to Dallas.

“Just really shocked, and you just don’t imagine that you’re going to get ready to go to sleep, and then you find out news like that. It’s still a grieving process right now. I miss my hermano,” Irving said of Doncic, per Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link). “We had a lot of time together, Kieff (Markieff Morris) too, and Maxi (Kleber). We built some bonds that went beyond the basketball court.”

As Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes, Irving wasn’t asked a single question about Tuesday’s game, with all of the focus on his reaction to the trade. Irving reiterated multiple times that he was still trying to process the news, which broke late Saturday night.

“This is a business, it’s way above my pay grade, and I’ve just got to adjust and be ready to welcome in my new teammates with open arms and kind of be ready to go back to Dallas, too, to speak in front of our fans,” Irving said. “I know they are feeling it, too. I’m feeling it too, guys. So, yeah, it’s just an adjustment period. I don’t want to downplay this either, or disrespect our new guys. They’re going to help us win, and help us build toward a championship, but just like everyone else at home, when you kind of see it from afar, it hurts.”

“This is a weird case in NBA history to be a part of,” Irving said later (story via Christian Clark of The Athletic). “At the same time, it’s the nature of our business. It is a ruthless business. So you have to be able to pick up the pieces. Still run toward the championship. That’s the ultimate goal on why I play. Having other guys who are championship guys helps, too. But at the same time, we have to acknowledge that our little Slovenian president is no longer here and we have to adjust.”

According to Bontemps, Irving also spoke about his last season in Boston back in 2018/19, when Davis was a frequently rumored target of the Celtics. Irving said the plan at the time was for him to team with Davis, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, though that obviously didn’t happen — he and Durant both signed with Brooklyn in 2019 free agency, while Davis wound up being traded to Los Angeles.

“Yeah. That has no foreshadowing either, on anything, guys. Just letting you know right now,” Irving said with a laugh, referring to speculation swirling around Suns star Durant ahead of Thursday’s 2:00 pm CT trade deadline. “We were discussing in 2018, just for everybody at home that’s watching, because I know all of these words are going to be looked at.

“But yeah, in 2018, it was a dream for Kyrie, AD, KD to be on one team and still keep JT and let him grow and then see how it goes. But back then, those young guys weren’t ready to be in trade rumors, man. Our locker room splintered after that once they found out. It wasn’t [Jaylen Brown] or JT, but our locker room splintered once they started figuring out the trade rumors, and our season started going in a whole different way.”

After Tuesday’s win over the Clippers, Lakers superstar LeBron James said he was completely caught off guard by the three-team mega-deal as well and confirmed that he had no idea it was in the works, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays.

“My emotions were all over the place, obviously,” James said. “We had just come off a big win, a huge win in the Garden. I was out. I mean, you guys have seen the report. I was out with my family at dinner and got the news, and the first time I heard it, I thought it was for sure fake. I thought it was a hoax, people messing around or whatever. But then when AD called me, AD FaceTimed me and I talked to him for quite a while, and even when I got off the phone with him, it still didn’t seem real.”

Even though he was shocked by the trade, James said he was fully on board with having Doncic on the roster and that he was “committed to the Lakers organization,” McMenamin adds.

“Luka’s been my favorite player in the NBA for a while now,” James said. “I think you guys know that. And I’ve always just tried to play the game the right way and inspire the next generation. And Luka happens to be one of them. And now, we’re teammates. So it’ll be a very seamless transition.”

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Jeffrey Lurie Denies Interest In Buying Celtics

February 4th, 2025 at 7:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics, whose controlling owners put the franchise up for sale in 2024, were expected to receive four or five bids last month from prospective ownership groups before narrowing those interested parties down to a smaller group of finalists.

Bill Simmons of The Ringer (hat tip to MassLive) indicated last week that Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, was among those finalists, but Lurie suggested to reporters on Monday that’s not the case.

“No, I’m not really interested in acquiring another sports team,” Lurie said, per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. “I would never say never, but I’m not looking to own another sports franchise. The Celtics, again, are exceptional. They’re so well run. They’re so talented. It’s my childhood team. However, I do not expect that to happen.”

As Volin writes, Lurie grew up in the Boston area and sold an 8% share of the Eagles in December, generating $600MM+ as a result of that sale. That fueled speculation that he was gearing up to invest in the Celtics, but Lurie said on Monday that he remains focused on the Eagles.

“I think it’s connected because they’re my childhood team,” Lurie said. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for their whole culture. I sort of see it as like a kindred soul in the NBA. Wyc [Grousbeck] has been an outstanding owner, I love the way they’ve developed that team and we’ve got to celebrate so many banners over the years. [But] it’s not something that’s top of mind. My whole focus is on my love of the Eagles and to win another Super Bowl for Philadelphia.”

Current Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca was said to be spearheading a consortium that was interesting in taking over majority control of the team. Another current minority stakeholder, Robert Hale, expressed interest in becoming majority owner or joining a group in October, and said in the lead-up to the January 23 deadline that he was “still hanging around the hoop.”

Mark Bezos, the founding partner of HighPost Capital private equity group and the half-brother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was also believed to be among the possible bidders.

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Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Horford, Tucker, Trade Deadline, Pritchard

February 1st, 2025 at 8:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

With everybody healthy for Friday’s game against New Orleans, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla tinkered with his closing lineup, according to to Souichi Terada of MassLive. Mazzulla rotated his centers in the final minutes of the two-point victory, using Kristaps Porzingis when Boston had the ball and Al Horford when the team was on defense.

“Just different looks,” Mazzulla explained. “We need to play different ways, different coverages. Give them different ones. We just needed to change the matchup and give them a different coverage, looking to take away the three and so just kind of do that.”

Terada notes that Porzingis played well defensively, collecting three steals and four blocks. However, Mazzulla opted to use Horford in key defensive possessions because he’s more effective in closing out on perimeter shooters.

“For me, nothing changed,” Porzingis said. “We trust Al and he comes in for defense and when my name gets called, I’m always ready. Nothing changed.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

  • P.J. Tucker could wind up being an option on the buyout market after today’s Clippers-Jazz trade, Terada suggests in a separate story. Tucker hasn’t played yet this season, but he’s a tough defender with a lot of playoff experience. As a second apron team, the Celtics are limited in the buyout candidates they can pursue, but they’re eligible to sign Tucker because his $11.5MM salary is below the $12.8MM mid-level exception. Boston has kept a roster spot open since the start of the season.
  • In a mailbag column, Brian Robb of MassLive puts the chances of a Celtics trade by the deadline at 95%. Robb says it’s possible the team could move Jaden Springer to reduce its luxury tax bill, even though he’s been an important contributor lately. Beyond that, Robb sees a need to upgrade from Springer, Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman on the wing, as well as Xavier Tillman in the frontcourt.
  • Payton Pritchard has become famous for his success on long-distance shots at the end of quarters, but he’s proving there’s a lot more to his game than that, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN. Holmes examines how Pritchard has been able to work his way up from a little-used reserve to become a point of emphasis for opposing coaches on a team filled with stars. “Every day, I’m trying to prove that I can still reach another level,” he said. “I can still show people what I’m trying to become. That’s why I’m always challenging the best that we have — like Jaylen (Brown) and Jayson (Tatum). I’m trying to become as good as them one day. That’s why I challenge them. I’m trying to keep taking steps to better myself, which, at the end of the day, is only going to better our team.”
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Celtics, Knicks, Nuggets Among Teams Registering Interest In Yabusele

January 30th, 2025 at 7:39pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Celtics, Knicks, Nuggets and others have called the Sixers to express interest in trading for forward Guerschon Yabusele, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto writes.

As we relayed earlier this week, the Sixers reportedly “love” the French forward, but his impending unrestricted free agent status gives the team plenty to think about at this deadline.

Yabusele is averaging 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game so far this season while shooting 50.2% from the field and 39.3% from three. He’s been a crucial part of a Sixers team that has been ravaged by injuries. Yabusele entered Thursday with 22 starts under his belt.

After Yabusele’s $2.09MM salary expires this offseason, he’ll have no shortage of suitors in free agency. The Sixers only hold his Non-Bird rights, so they’re limited in what they can offer him unless they use their mid-level exception — they’ll likely only have the taxpayer form of the MLE.

As Scotto writes, given that the Sixers are 19-27 and currently on the outside looking in for the play-in tournament (though they’re tied with the Bulls), contending teams are calling about Philadelphia’s veterans. Not only would Yabusele bolster any playoff rotation, but his team-friendly contract this year could offer savings for contenders looking to cut costs.

Yabusele isn’t the only player generating interest on the trade market. As we wrote on Monday, Eric Gordon is also receiving interest. Scotto reports that rivals have checked in on Andre Drummond, Kelly Oubre and, notably, Caleb Martin as well. Martin signed a four-year, $35MM deal with Philadelphia this summer — if the Sixers decide to sell their veterans, he would be one of the more coveted players on the block.

Drummond has a player option worth $5MM next year while Oubre has one worth about $8.38MM.

Despite what sounds like healthy interest in players who would make sense to sell for a team interested in draft position, I’m somewhat skeptical the Sixers would proceed with a full-blown fire sale. For starters, as mentioned, Philadelphia is tied with the Bulls for 10th in the East. They’re also just four games out of the sixth seed, entering Thursday. While nothing has gone according to plan for Philadelphia this year, the team remains in position to claim a postseason appearance with better health luck moving forward. The Sixers are on a four-game winning streak, for what it’s worth.

The Sixers’ draft pick in this class is also protected, but only if it lands in the top six. While it’s not unheard of for teams with low odds to win big and move into the top four, the Sixers have likely already won too many games to truly bottom out and end up as one of the league’s worst six teams record-wise. And even if the Sixers did end up with one of the six worst records, there’s still a chance that pick falls out of their hands and into the Thunder’s if they’re leap-frogged by a team with lower odds on lottery night.

If the Sixers envision themselves as contenders next year, it would make sense to keep players like Martin, Oubre and Yabusele who can contribute to winning with a healthier roster.

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NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Reserves

January 30th, 2025 at 5:51pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The 2025 NBA All-Star reserves were revealed on Thursday night during TNT’s Inside the NBA broadcast and officially confirmed by the league (Twitter links).

Fourteen players will join the 10 starters announced last week in the All-Star Game in San Francisco on Feb. 16.

All-Star reserves were selected by the league’s head coaches. Here are the players who made the cut:

Eastern Conference reserves:

The East features three first-time All-Stars in Cunningham, Herro and Mobley. The guard spots in the East were highly contentious, with Atlanta’s Trae Young, Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey among those also in the running. Ball finished first in fan voting, but that had no bearing on the coaches’ decisions.

The Cavaliers are well-represented in San Francisco, with Donovan Mitchell named a starter last week and Garland and Mobley now joining him. This is Garland’s second All-Star nod after being named in the 2021/22 season. Jarrett Allen also had a shot at a spot, but ultimately wasn’t voted in.

This is Jaylen Brown‘s fourth All-Star appearance, Lillard’s ninth, and Siakam’s third.

Western Conference reserves:

Wembanyama, Sengun and Williams are each first-time All-Stars. The reigning Rookie of the Year, Wembanyama has taken several steps forward to help the Spurs to a 20-24 record, putting them in contention for a play-in spot. Meanwhile, Sengun and Williams are key contributors for the top two seeds in the conference.

Edwards, in his third overall and consecutive appearance, is having a career year from beyond the arc, connecting on 41.8% of his 9.8 three-point attempts. We wrote earlier today about how the Grizzlies view Jackson as a bona fide star amid their 31-16 record this season.

Veterans Harden and Davis round out the West reserves. Harden, the most decorated reserve, is making his 11th appearance in the game while averaging 21.7 points and 8.4 assists per game in his age-35 season. Davis continues to be one of the premier defensive players in the league en route to earning his 10th All-Star nod. The Lakers big man is currently injured and out at least one week, but it’s unclear if that would affect his availability for the All-Star Game, which is still more than two weeks out.

Fresh off making the NBA Finals last season, the Mavericks won’t have a representative in the All-Star Game, with Luka Doncic injured and Kyrie Irving not earning a spot. The Kings’ Domantas Sabonis, the Clippers’ Norman Powell, the Suns’ Devin Booker and the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox were among those who were not named to the team.

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NBA Announces Player Pool For 2025 Rising Stars Event

January 28th, 2025 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially revealed the 10 rookies, 11 sophomores, and seven G League players who have been selected to take part in the 2025 Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend in San Francisco next month.

The following players made the cut, as voted on by NBA assistant coaches (rookies and sophomores) and selected by the league office (G Leaguers):

Rookies

Sophomores

G League Players

* Note: Players marked with asterisks are on standard or two-way contracts with NBA teams.

As usual, the Rising Stars event will consist of four teams and three games. The seven G League players will comprise one team, while the other 21 players will be drafted to three squads on February 4.

The four teams will be split into two first-round matchups and the winners of those two games will face one another for the Rising Stars championship. The two semifinals will be played to a target score of 40 points, while the final will be played to a target score of 25 points.

All three contests will take place on Friday, February 14 as part of All-Star weekend’s opening night. The winning team will compete on Sunday in a similar four-team tournament, with the three other rosters made up of NBA All-Stars.

A handful of injury replacements will be necessary, with McCain, Lively, and Brandon Miller among the players who won’t be available to suit up. Additionally, since players selected as All-Stars won’t play in the Rising Stars event, Wembanyama will almost certainly need to be replaced.

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