- Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald explains why the Celtics shouldn’t be viewed as a potential suitor for Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who is reportedly on the trade block.
- O’Connor identifies the following teams as ones that appear most open to trading late first-round or early second-round draft picks: The Bucks, Raptors, Clippers, Celtics, Sixers, and Mavericks. Some of those clubs hold other teams’ picks and could dangle those in trade talks. For instance, Milwaukee owns Indiana’s lottery-protected first-rounder; Philadelphia has New York’s and Atlanta’s second-rounders; and Dallas controls Golden State’s second-rounder.
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DECEMBER 9: Hayward went through the Celtics’ Monday shootaround with the intention of playing tonight, per head coach Brad Stevens (Twitter link).
DECEMBER 8: In a bit of surprising news, Celtics forward Gordon Hayward told reporters today that the fourth metacarpal fracture in his left hand has healed, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston.
Hayward would not rule out a return to game action tomorrow night against the embattled Cavaliers. He did not partake in 5-on-5 scrimmaging with teammates in today’s practice. “Tomorrow’s a possibility,” Hayward said. “See how I feel when I wake up, go through shootaround, see how it goes.”
After signing a four-year, $127.8MM contract with Boston in 2017, Hayward violently broke his tibia and fractured his ankle five minutes into the Celtic’s first game of the 2017/18 season. He returned in the 2018/19 season a far cry from his old All-Star form. His contract began to look like an albatross as Hayward was relegated to a more modest bench role, averaging 11.5 PPG (on 46.6% shooting from the floor), 4.5 RPG and 3.5 APG.
Before his injury this season, Hayward was looking ready to earn a second career All-Star nod. This season, he is averaging 18.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists a night while shooting 55.5% from the field. Hayward is connecting on 43.3% of his 3.8 triples per contest.
A return this week would be two weeks ahead of the projected six-week recovery time from the surgery he underwent for the fracture on November 11.
The Celtics are 9-4 without Hayward in the lineup, and 16-5 overall. They currently boast the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Boston’s official Twitter account listed Hayward’s status for tomorrow as “questionable.”
“Motion and strength [are] going to take a little while to get back; it’s whether or not you can play through that and still be effective,” Hayward stressed. “That’s kind of what we’re determining but the bone is healed.”
- Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston examines how Jaylen Brown has won over Celtics fans in the early stages of the season. Brown has put forth his best campaign to date, holding per-game averages of 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals while helping the Celtics obtain a 16-5 record. “When [Brown] has it going, he definitely gives us a lot more options,” teammate Kemba Walker said. “He’s been playing well all year. I’m excited for him. He’s put in a lot of work each and every day, and it’s showing on the court.”
The frustrations in Cleveland are becoming too much for Kevin Love to hide, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavaliers lost by 47 points last night in Philadelphia, a day after a report that players are unhappy with first-year coach John Beilein. Fedor notes that at one point in the game Love wandered off by himself for a while during a timeout after rookie Darius Garland opted to shoot a fadeaway rather than pass the ball to him in the post.
“Just complete and utter frustration,” Love admitted after the game. “I think that’s natural. I really want to compete. I think most guys want to compete. Just really, really frustrated. I don’t know. Getting myself going is just … I don’t know what else I can do.”
Saturday marked the 12th loss in 13 games for the Cavs and the second straight in which a member of the organization commented on Love’s body language. He committed to the team last year by agreeing to a four-year extension after LeBron James left, but finds himself in an unfamiliar role as part of a rebuilding project after making four straight trips to the NBA Finals. A report surfaced Friday that Cleveland is ready to listen to trade offers involving Love.
“I’m really trying to be engaged,” he said. “I’m trying to be a good teammate. I don’t think any of these guys would say that I’m not a good teammate. It’s tough.”
There’s more Cavaliers news to pass along:
- Beilein received some encouragement last night from Sixers coach Brett Brown, who understands rebuilding as well as anyone, Fedor adds. Overseeing “the Process,” Brown won a combined 47 games during his first three seasons in Philadelphia, but now has his team in title contention. He promised to text Beilein advice on how to handle the constant losing
- The Cavaliers can make Beilein’s job a lot easier by getting rid of the veterans who refuse to give him a chance, contends Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. Beilein claims he has changed his college style to adapt to the NBA, but Lloyd notes that he’s really coaching two teams at once — a young core set for the future and seven veterans who are in the final year of their contracts. Lloyd believes general manager Koby Altman already knows which players need to be traded.
- Frank Urbina of HoopsHype lists the Jazz, Nets, Suns and Celtics as four possible landing spots for Love.
The Celtics believe Gordon Hayward will back on the court before their Christmas matchup with Toronto, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Coach Brad Stevens offered the updated prognosis for Hayward, who has been sidelined since November 9 with a fractured bone in his left hand.
President of basketball operations Danny Ainge said in a radio interview yesterday that Hayward remains ahead of schedule in his rehab and could return to practice by Saturday, relays Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston. The veteran forward was originally projected to be sidelined for about six weeks.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself and get too excited about it, but I think he’s progressing really well,” Ainge said in an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich.”
Hayward began conditioning, non-contact and shooting drills last week and consulted with his doctors Monday on FaceTime, Hartwell adds. He has also been working out with the team’s assistant coaches.
Hayward appeared to regain his All-Star form early this season after being fully recovered from a severe ankle injury suffered on opening night of the 2017/18 campaign. He was averaging 18.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists through eight games.
- The Celtics have assigned rookie center Vincent Poirier to their G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, the team tweets. The seven-foot French rookie has seen sparse action in Boston, averaging just 4.6 minutes across seven games.
Al Horford isn’t surprised that the Celtics are performing better this season than they did last year when he was was still on the team, as he tells Steve Bullpett of the Boston Herald.
“Well, with coach [Brad] Stevens it doesn’t surprise me,” said Horford, who signed a four-year deal with the Sixers last summer. “Coach, you know, he’s going to put everyone in position to be successful. I mean, even the year that we were there that Kyrie [Irving] and Gordon [Hayward] were missing and we had Shane Larkin starting or Semi [Ojeleye], he figured out how to do the most with what he had. So I’m not surprised by this.”
Horford added that last year’s squad simply had too much talent on it and not enough minutes – or basketballs – to go around, which he feels isn’t a sustainable model to win over the long-term.
“Last year was just too much,” Horford said. “There were too many guys for coach to satisfy everyone.”
The Celtics enter the night with a record of 14-5, putting them slightly ahead of the 15-6 Sixers in the Eastern Conference standings.
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie is having a breakout season, but no matter how well he performs, he’ll likely be relegated back to his sixth-man role once Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert both return from their respective injuries, Zach Braziller of the New York Post writes.
“If you don’t roll with it, you will be out the league,” Dinwiddie said. “You don’t have a choice. I could be out here trippin’ and I’ll be gone. If you roll with it, we figure it out and I get to stay and sometimes, every so often, I’ll have like a big game.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- If Irving, LeVert, and Dinwiddie can all stay healthy, the Nets have a powerful backcourt rotation that is only matched by few around the league, as Malika Andrews of ESPN.com relays. “We have no idea what our ceiling is because we are not even close to healthy,” Dinwiddie said. “We really have no idea how good we could be. It is encouraging to know that our floor is continuing to rise.”
- Before he injured his hand, Gordon Hayward was thriving and it was because of the Celtics‘ commitment to ball movement, Steve Bullpett of the Boston Herald writes. Hayward struggled last season in a slightly different on-court environment. “Yeah, if he gave the ball up, it wasn’t coming back,” said president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “I mean, I think it was everybody trying to figure out like how they could earn their opportunities, and there wasn’t enough to go around to feed everybody.”
- The first quarter of the season has made Vegas bookmakers more optimistic about the Celtics‘ chances of winning the NBA Finals, Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston explains. Boston is listed as 18-to-1 odds in SuperBook USA’s latest offerings. The team was 40-to-1 a month ago.
- Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been banged up all year, a trend that continued on Sunday when he took a shot to his abdomen while drawing an offensive foul. Smart, who missed the rest of the game, has been reluctant to sit out at all this season, but admitted to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald that he may not be able to return right away from his latest injury, which he believes is an oblique issue. A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston explored what it would mean for the C’s if their hard-nosed guard misses some time.