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Celtics, Nets, Hornets Considered Three-Way Trade

October 13th, 2019 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

In the early hours of free agency, the Celtics discussed a three-way sign-and-trade that would have brought Kemba Walker to Boston while sending Kyrie Irving to the Nets and Terry Rozier to the Hornets, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald.

The Celtics were hoping to pull off the deal and still have enough resources left to keep Al Horford, but the trade got scrapped when Horford elected to accept a four-year, $109MM contract from the Sixers.

The proposed transaction wouldn’t have been as difficult to execute as some in the media have claimed, Bulpett adds. The Nets had the cap space to sign Irving outright and would have sought some compensation to participate, but all three teams had interest. Bulpett states that while the deal never got close to completion, Brooklyn officials were clear about what they wanted and their price could have been met.

In an interview this week, Horford suggested that he might have given stronger consideration to staying in Boston if he had known Walker was joining the team.

“I don’t want to get caught up in the past,” Horford said, “but, yeah, that would have been totally different.”

The Celtics were willing to give the 33-year-old a four-year-deal, according to Bulpett, but he landed in a good situation in Philadelphia, where he is surrounded by enough talent to compete for a title and won’t be asked to play center as often because of Joel Embiid.

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Kanter's Role Remains Undefined

October 11th, 2019 at 7:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics are still decided whether to use center Enes Kanter as a starter or have him play a bigger role on the second unit, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reports. Kanter signed a two-year deal worth approximately $10MM to be a rotation player for Boston.

“Everybody’s preference is to start,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “But he didn’t seem to me like he was losing sleep over it. He understands what we were thinking, and I told him no decisions have been made. We’re still mixing and matching. We’ll be doing it all the way until Oct. 21.”

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Woj, Lowe Discuss Extension Candidates

October 11th, 2019 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams
  • In a discussion on this year’s extension candidates (video link), Wojnarowski suggests that Raptors forward Pascal Siakam would be a lock for a maximum-salary offer sheet if he reaches restricted free agency next summer. Woj believes Kings sharpshooter Buddy Hield would get a similar offer and that Jaylen Brown (Celtics) and Domantas Sabonis (Pacers) would do very well too, given the lack of veteran stars expected to hit the free agent market.
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Jaylen Brown Hires Agent To Handle Extension Talks

October 10th, 2019 at 6:29pm CST by Luke Adams

After operating without an agent for his first three seasons in the NBA, Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown has hired Jason Glushon to take the lead on his contract extension negotiations with Boston, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

Brown’s salaries on his first NBA deal were essentially locked in due to the league’s rookie scale, and he has worked with specialists for marketing and endorsement deals, so this is the first time in his career when an agent has become a necessity. Up until October 21, he’ll be eligible to sign a new contract, which would go into effect during the 2020/21 season. If he and the Celtics don’t work something out by then, he’ll become a restricted free agent next July.

A report last month indicated that the Celtics and Brown are unlikely to reach a long-term agreement before the season begins, given the club’s history of letting extension-eligible players reach restricted free agency. It’s also hard to pin down Brown’s value, since his upside and his place in a relatively weak 2020 free agent class seem to warrant a significant investment, while his mediocre 2018/19 season may give the C’s pause.

[RELATED: Execs discuss Jaylen Brown’s value]

Glushon’s list of NBA clients includes Jrue Holiday and Brown’s former teammate Al Horford, so he has some experience negotiating deals worth in excess of $100MM. I expect Brown, who turns 23 next month, will be looking to surpass that threshold if he signs a new four- or five-year extension with the Celtics, since a breakout 2019/20 season would put him in line for an even bigger payday as a restricted free agent.

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Al Horford Discusses Decision To Leave Celtics For Sixers

October 10th, 2019 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

While it wasn’t quite as shocking as some of this summer’s blockbuster trades, Al Horford‘s move from Boston to Philadelphia raised some eyebrows around the NBA. After Horford turned down his 2019/20 player option with the Celtics, there was a sense that he’d still work something out to remain with the team. However, a lucrative four-year offer from the Sixers helped lure him to an Atlantic rival instead.

Speaking this week to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald, Horford said that his decision to sign with the Sixers began to form once he and his teammates realized that Kyrie Irving would likely leave the Celtics in free agency as well.

“We all kind of felt that Kyrie was going to leave,” Horford said. “It was like, maybe he’ll stay, but then it was, nah, he’s probably going to leave just based on how everything was. And then I’m looking at my career and myself and the years that I have left. There were certain things that we wanted to accomplish as a team and things that we needed to make that happen. We got all those pieces last year, but it didn’t happen for us, and moving forward I didn’t know if it was going to be a two-year wait or whatever it was going to be.

“It was that and the financial reasons. When we started with the team trying to come up with things and we couldn’t agree on certain numbers, that’s when I decided, you know what, I’m going to have to open my free agency. I believe not only that I am worth a certain amount of money, but also I want to be in a position that I have a really good opportunity to win now. You know, my window is now. That’s how I feel.”

The four-year, $109MM contract Horford signed with the Sixers, which includes $97MM in fully guaranteed money, was worth more than the Celtics were willing to offer. According to Bulpett, the original belief was that the big man was heading toward a new three-year deal in Boston, but the C’s were outbid.

While Irving’s departure was one of the factors that contributed to Horford’s departure, the 33-year-old told Bulpett that even if Kyrie had stayed, he’s not sure “if it would have worked” in Boston.

“There would have had to be some major changes as far as players, because it was just clear that the group that we had just wasn’t going to be able to coexist,” Horford said.

Asked if he might have been more willing to stick with the Celtics if he’d known Kemba Walker was on his way, Horford said that he doesn’t want to get caught up in the past, but admitted that it “would have been totally different.”

Still, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston is skeptical that a Walker/Horford pairing ever could have worked logistically, since the Celtics didn’t start seriously looking at Kemba as a viable possibility until they knew Horford had one foot out the door.

Structuring the acquisition of Walker as a sign-and-trade instead of an outright signing opened the door slightly to the possibility of bringing back Horford, but in order to make it work, the C’s would have needed to turn Irving’s deal with Brooklyn into a sign-and-trade as well, which would’ve meant sending at least one extra asset – likely a first-round pick – to the Nets to incentivize them to play along. On top of all that, Horford still probably would’ve required a more lucrative offer than Boston was willing to put on the table, since a $109MM deal may not have been realistic for the hard-capped Celtics.

For his part, Horford said he would understand if there are Celtics fans upset at him for signing with the rival Sixers.

“I won’t hold it against anybody if they feel negatively toward me for leaving,” Horford told Bulpett. “… I felt like I really gave everything I had. I gave everything I had — on the floor, trying to be the best leader that I could, trying to help the guys as much as I could, putting in the extra work. So no regrets, but disappointment. I understand if people are disappointed. I’m disappointed, too. We didn’t win a championship; we didn’t get to that stage.”

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Atlantic Notes: Brown, Payton, VanVleet, LeVert

October 9th, 2019 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

While Jaylen Brown and the Celtics have reportedly opened talks on a possible rookie scale extension for the fourth-year swingman, a new deal by the October 21 deadline is considered unlikely. As one Eastern Conference executive pointed out to Frank Urbina of HoopsHype, it’s easy to see why each side may be reluctant to get something done before the summer of 2020, when Brown can become a restricted free agent.

“The Celtics may be thinking that they don’t want to give a max deal to their third-best player, but Jaylen Brown may be thinking that he can be the top free agent next summer if he has a big year,” that executive said. “Brown could play his way into a max contract. He’s going to have a bigger role than ever before with Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Marcus Morris gone, and next summer’s free agent class is weak.”

As Urbina notes, that Eastern executive believes the Celtics should be comfortable at this point going up to about $20MM per year for Brown — or even higher if they feel like he’s in position to potentially secure a maximum-salary offer sheet next July.

“If you want him to be part of your core long-term and want to lock him in, it may make sense to give him more,” the exec said. “Boston may be comfortable saying, ‘We’ll give you something around $25MM [per year] now to sort of get a discount and not pay the max.’ And Brown really could be the top free agent available next summer, so I could see the argument for giving him the max.”

As we wait to see whether Boston can find common ground with the 22-year-old, here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • With Dennis Smith Jr. on the shelf due to a back strain, offseason free agent addition Elfrid Payton may be playing his way into the Knicks‘ starting point guard job, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv. No matter who starts, it will be a big year for all three Knicks point guards — Smith will be extension-eligible next summer, Payton has a non-guaranteed 2020/21 salary, and Frank Ntilikina will be eligible for restricted free agency.
  • Eric Koreen of The Athletic explores whether the Raptors‘ one-year extension for Kyle Lowry will affect future negotiations with Fred VanVleet, who will be an unrestricted free agent in 2020. As Koreen notes, VanVleet has talked about wanting to be a starter, and there may be teams willing to offer him that role – and pay him like a starter – next summer.
  • After signing a three-year extension with the Nets this offseason, Caris LeVert is eager to prove he’s capable of becoming a star, writes Michael Lee of The Athletic. “I’m at the point where now I feel I can control how good I can be,” LeVert said. “I’m going to push myself every single day and see where that ceiling is. I don’t know where it is. I don’t like to put limits on myself.”
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Lakers Notes: AD Trade, LeBron, Pelinka, More

October 9th, 2019 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

When David Griffin arrived in New Orleans as the Pelicans‘ new head of basketball operations, he was faced with a predicament related to Anthony Davis, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Sources confirm to McMenamin that there was some lingering resentment toward the Lakers within the Pelicans’ organization – all the way up to ownership – due to the way AD’s public trade request played out earlier in the year. However, Griffin also recognized that L.A. was the most logical trade partner for New Orleans.

“When I took over, there was some latent discontent, maybe with the way things had been handled,” Griffin said. “We just talked about the fact that, look, in all likelihood the best package is going to come from this team, because it’s the only team that AD’s willing to stay at.”

As McMenamin details, agent Rich Paul had signaled to the Celtics and other suitors that Davis wouldn’t re-sign with them in 2020, since the big man wanted to play in New York or Los Angeles.

“The last thing you want to do is put a GM in a situation where he trades away an asset and then the guy walks out the door,” Paul said. “Like, you can’t do business that way. So it’s not really a hard conversation to have. And I don’t think it stopped [Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny Ainge from trying. It’s just that maybe he didn’t have the deal [he wanted]. He wasn’t willing to give up the young players, which I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t give them up either if the guy is not going to re-sign.”

The Pelicans’ big win on draft lottery night helped clear a path for the team to work something out with the Lakers for Davis, as Paul observed to McMenamin: “The fact that [the Pelicans] were going to get the first pick caused me to understand that it softened the blow of losing Anthony Davis because the organization could still have some momentum.”

McMenamin’s story at ESPN provides an in-depth look at several other aspects of the Lakers’ pursuit and acquisition of Davis, as well as the franchise’s adjustment to having him on the roster. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said that even on the day the Lakers and Pelicans reached a trade agreement, there were a couple times he was convinced a deal wouldn’t come together. But the front office persevered in part because they believed they owed it to LeBron James. “When a player of LeBron’s stature puts his trust in the organization,” Pelinka said, “I think there’s an implicit bilateral trust going back, saying: ‘We’re going to do everything we can to put you in a position to win more championships, because that’s what you’re about.'”
  • Pelinka, who added that he believes in treating his superstar players “like partners,” admitted that he has probably had hundreds of three-way calls with James and Davis since the trade as he has solicited their opinions on certain roster moves. “Every single decision. I [have] never been involved so much,” Davis said. “No matter who the player was, he wanted to make sure. It was on everything. And it was like, ‘Wow.’ To the point where I was like, ‘All right, Rob, stop calling me.'”
  • Kendrick Perkins, who was teammates with LeBron in Cleveland and AD in New Orleans, had a hand in bringing the two stars together. The veteran big man introduced Davis to Klutch Sports in 2018 when word got out that he was considering an agent change, writes McMenamin.
  • Rich Paul believes that Davis’ ability to make threes and pass the ball separates him from other stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo. AD’s agent offered the following spicy take: “If you put Anthony Davis on that Bucks team last year, they’d be playing in the Finals. He knows how to make guys better. That’s not a knock to Giannis, but that’s just what [I think].”
  • The NBA was willing to allow LeBron to give up his jersey number (23) to Davis despite the paperwork not being filed in time, but Nike nixed the idea, citing tens of millions of dollars in wasted inventory on James jerseys, sources tell McMenamin.
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2019/20 Over/Unders: Atlantic Division

October 8th, 2019 at 6:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2019/20 NBA regular season will get underway in just two weeks, which means it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign.

With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

We’ll kick things off today with the Atlantic division…

Philadelphia 76ers

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Sixers poll.

 Boston Celtics

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Celtics poll.

Toronto Raptors

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Raptors poll.

Brooklyn Nets

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Nets poll.

New York Knicks

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Knicks poll.

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Poirier Eager To Do Dirty Work

October 6th, 2019 at 7:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • French center Vincent Poirier is looking to earn minutes with the Celtics through grit and determination, as he told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Poirier signed a two-year contract to compete for a role with one of the East’s top teams after playing in Spain last season. “You have a couple of guys who make all the dirty jobs,” he said. “If not, you cannot win. You have to be great at what you can do, and what I can do is all the dirty jobs.”
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Atlantic Notes: Lowry, Brown, Dinwiddie, Prince

October 6th, 2019 at 4:02pm CST by clarkcrum

Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes that while Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has now spent seven full seasons in Toronto and helped the team bring home its first championship last season, the 33-year-old’s future after this season is up in the air.

Lowry will turn 34 in March, which means that Father Time will be creeping in to add some slippage sooner rather than later. Wolstat suggests that Chauncey Billups is a decent comparable to Lowry and that Billups, also a five-time All-Star, made his last All-Star appearance at age 33.

The Raptors need to add some young talent around Pascal Siakam, and Fred VanVleet, eight years Lowry’s junior, also will be looking for a new, more lucrative deal with the Raptors this summer.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston reports that Celtics guard Jaylen Brown is looking to hire an agent for the first time in his NBA career to represent him in negotiations with Boston on what Brown hopes will be a long-term deal that’ll keep him with the Celtics.
  • Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie sent out an interesting tweet in response to the NBA’s latest take on his plan to convert his contract into a digital investment vehicle. Per Marc Stein of The New York Times, an NBA spokesperson says Dinwiddie’s arrangement “remains prohibited by the CBA,” to which Dinwiddie replied, “This won’t end well lol.”
  • Nets forward Taurean Prince is making a case for a rookie-scale extension, especially with his preseason performance against SESI France Basquete, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Prince, who has been praised all summer by teammates, led the team with 22 points. “It’s just proof that the work I’ve put in and that the coaches have put in and the things we’ve been doing as a team have been working. I’m glad we’ve been able to transfer it over to the game.”
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