Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Gasol, Lin, Poirier, Erman

July 28th, 2019 at 11:41am CST by Arthur Hill

Raptors center Marc Gasol is thankful that the Grizzlies didn’t agree to his request not to be traded, relays Alex Madrid of Eurohoops. Gasol had been with Memphis for more than a decade before the team committed to rebuilding and sent him to Toronto in a deadline deal. The move led to Gasol collecting his first NBA championship ring.

“There have been few players that haven’t been traded over the years in the NBA,” Gasol said. “If it had been dependent on me, I wouldn’t have been traded. I always thought I could reverse the situation there (in Memphis) and bring the team to the top. But, thank God, they ignored me.”

Gasol will be part of the remaining foundation as the Raptors try to stay in contention without Kawhi Leonard. The 34-year-old will earn $25.6MM this season in the final year of his contract.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Jeremy Lin appears distraught about his free agency situation in a video tweeted by Daily Sports Dosage. “Free agency has been tough,” Lin says. “Because I feel like in some ways the NBA has kind of given up on me.” The Raptors signed Lin in February to provide backcourt depth, but he shot just 37% in 23 games and was barely used during the playoffs.
French center Vincent Poirier could have made more money in Europe, but he wanted the challenge of playing in the NBA, tweets Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. Poirier was the EuroLeague’s top rebounder last season, and the Celtics believe his athleticism will translate well.
Former Celtics assistant Darren Erman will become head coach of the organization’s G League affiliate in Maine, according to Jay King and Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Known as a defensive specialist, Erman has spent the past four seasons with the Pelicans.

R.J. Hunter To Play In Turkey

July 27th, 2019 at 5:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

R.J. Hunter, a former first-round pick who finished last season with the Celtics, has reached an agreement with Turk Telekom Ankara of the Turkish BSL and Basketball Champions League, relays Nicola Lupo of Sportando.

Hunter got into just one NBA game after signing a two-way contract with Boston in January, but posted an 18.4/5.2/4.0 line in 44 G League games. He became an unrestricted free agent last month when the Celtics decided not to extend a qualifying offer.

Boston took Hunter with the 28th pick in the 2015 draft, but he was never able to make an impact. He played 36 games as a rookie before being waived after one season, then had brief stays with the Bulls and Rockets. He’s got a career average of 3.0 points per night in 45 games.

Celtics Become 26th Franchise To Fully Own G League Team

July 25th, 2019 at 8:18pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Celtics have an agreement in place to buy the Maine Red Claws, their G League affiliate, as the team announced today.

“Over the years, the G League and the Red Claws have become increasingly important to the Celtics and our player development efforts. We look forward to deepening both our ties with basketball operations and within the community, and further bringing the Celtics experience to fans in Maine,” said Team President Rich Gotham.

There are 28 teams in the G League and after this move, only two franchises do not wholly own their affiliate, as 2 Ways & 10 Days highlights on Twitter.

The Rockets (Rio Grande Valley Vipers) and Pistons (Grand Rapid Drive) have “hybrid” affiliations with their respective G League clubs, meaning they manage and fund the basketball operations while local ownership maintains the control of the business and its community relations, as the G League details on its website.

The Red Claws played their first game in 2009 and are located in Portland, Maine. The team was previously owned by Maine Basketball, LLC.

Celtics Officially Sign Tacko Fall, Three Others

July 25th, 2019 at 3:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have formally announced a series of previously-reported deals, confirming that all four signings have now been officially completed. Those deals are as follows:

Tacko Fall, C: Exhibit 10 contract (story)
Javonte Green, G/F: Partially guaranteed two-year contract (story)
Max Strus, SG: Two-way contract (story)
Tremont Waters, PG: Two-way contract (story)

Of the four, Fall will likely be the player whom Celtics fans monitor most actively during training camp in September. The 7’6″ undrafted center made a strong impression in limited Summer League minutes, making 17-of-22 shots from the field and averaging 7.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.4 BPG in just 12.6 minutes per contest (five games).

Fall and Green figure to get the opportunity to compete for a spot on the Celtics’ 15-man regular season roster, while Strus and Waters are in position to occupy the team’s two-way contract slots to open the season.

Jaylen Brown, Julius Randle Invited To Team USA Camp

July 23rd, 2019 at 10:07am CST by Arthur Hill

Jaylen Brown of the Celtics and Julius Randle of the Knicks are the latest additions to the USA Basketball training camp roster for the FIBA World Cup, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

They will help to restock the camp after a series of high-profile withdrawals in the past week. Tobias Harris was the latest big name to turn down a shot at making the World Cup team, joining Anthony Davis, James Harden, Bradley Beal, CJ McCollum and Eric Gordon. Decisions are expected soon from Damian Lillard and Kevin Love.

Brown struggled somewhat while adjusting to a reserve role last season, but still put up numbers similar to his breakthrough campaign of 2017/18, averaging 13.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 74 games. At 22, he is part of the young foundation in Boston.

Randle signed with New York after posting a career-high 21.4 PPG in his lone season with New Orleans. The 24-year-old is also a reliable rebounder, averaging 8.7 per night with the Pelicans.

The changes are transforming Team USA from a star-filled squad into a younger group similar to the team that captured the World Cup gold medal in 2010, Charania notes.

Horford Denies Sixers Tampered

July 22nd, 2019 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers power forward Al Horford shot down an ESPN report that his new team was guilty of tampering prior to free agency. He addressed the issue on the Dan Patrick Show (hat tip to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg). Horford declined his team option with the Celtics and signed a four-year, $109MM contract with Philadelphia. “It’s ridiculous. … (Celtics GM) Danny [Ainge] was really good to me. I know he’s definitely frustrated that things didn’t work out with us,” Horford said.

Smart, Young Invited To Join USA Basketball Camp

July 22nd, 2019 at 6:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been added to USA Basketball’s training camp roster for the FIBA World Cup this summer, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Veteran forward Thaddeus Young, who signed with the Bulls in free agency this summer, has also been invited to participate, Charania adds in another tweet.

The move was necessitated by the flurry of defections from the original 20-man roster. Anthony Davis, James Harden, Bradley Beal, CJ McCollum and Eric Gordon have already withdrawn from Team USA participation this summer, starting with training camp in Las Vegas in August. Two other players, Damian Lillard and Kevin Love, are also undecided and will announce their decisions in the next few days.

The roster will be trimmed to 12 players for the World Cup in China. Smart, who averaged 8.9 PPG, 4.0 APG and 1.8 SPG last season, would give coach Gregg Popovich a versatile defensive option if he makes the final cut.

Smart joins new teammate and backcourt partner Kemba Walker, who is on the original 20-man roster. That list of 20 invitees to the USA Basketball camp can be found here. Smart signed a four-year deal with Boston last summer.

Young averaged 12.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG in 81 games with the Pacers last season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Celtics Notes: Horford, Green, Roster, Walker

July 19th, 2019 at 8:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics feel there was tampering involved in the departure of Al Horford to rival Philadelphia, according to Brian Windhorst. The ESPN analyst said as much on a Hoop Collective Podcast (hat tip to NBC Sports Boston’s Justin Leger).

“What happened with Horford, again from what I’m told, really upset the Celtics,” Windhorst said. “They were thinking they were going to be able to negotiate with him, talk to him about a new contract, and all of a sudden it was like he already knew what his market was and he was out of there.”

The Sixers inked Horford to a four-year deal that can be worth up to $109MM.

We have more on the Celtics:

Swingman Javonte Green is expected to sign a two-year deal with the Celtics, with a partial guarantee in the first year and a non-guaranteed second year, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe tweets. The news that Green was signing with Boston surfaced on Thursday. Green, who has played overseas since going undrafted in 2015, averaged 10.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.8 APG, and 1.8 SPG in 22.6 MPG over five Summer League games at Las Vegas this month.
The Celtics will have an open competition for the final roster spot, Himmelsbach reveals in the same tweet. Players with partial guarantees and their two-way contract players will try to earn that spot. Guards Max Strus and reportedly Tremont Waters are their two-way players.
Kemba Walker received the max allowed for a free agent from an opposing team but the opportunity to join a contender seeking a point guard tipped the scales to Boston, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer relays. “It really came down to my happiness and how I want to compete night-in and night-out,” Walker said. “It’s a winning organization, and I want to win. That’s what it’s all about. Throughout my basketball career as a pro, I haven’t won consistently, and I want to get a taste of that.”

Contract Details For Daniel Theis

July 19th, 2019 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

Daniel Theis‘ new two-year, $10MM deal with the Celtics is only guaranteed for the first year, according to Pincus. Theis’ $5MM non-guaranteed salary for 2020/21 would become guaranteed if he remains under contract through July 3, 2020.

Celtics Sign Max Strus To Two-Way Contract

July 19th, 2019 at 7:58am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 19: The Celtics have officially signed Strus to his two-way deal, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions. The team is expected to fill its other two-way contract slot with second-round pick Tremont Waters.

JUNE 21: Max Strus of DePaul will sign a two-way deal with the Celtics, tweets Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated.

The 6’6″ guard averaged 20.1 points per game as a sophomore and shot .363 from 3-point range. He was a second-team choice to the All-Big East Team.

P.J. Dozier held one of Boston’s two-way contracts for all of last season, while Walt Lemon filled the other slot at the start of the year before being replaced by R.J. Hunter. Both Dozier and Hunter are free agents.