- Marcus Smart admits the Celtics were a dysfunctional team last season, he said on ESPN’s The Jump this week. Many players were uncomfortable with their roles, according to Smart. “It’s hard for anybody to have to look themselves in mirror and sacrifice something,” Smart said.
Veteran big man Enes Kanter decided to sign with the Celtics with hopes of competing for an NBA championship next season, he explained to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype.
Kanter, 27, opted to leave the Blazers after spending the second half of last season with the organization, joining a Boston team that has the likes of Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward on the active roster.
“The reason I went [to Boston] is for a championship,” Kanter told Kennedy. “I feel like the team is really young and willing to learn and we have an amazing group of guys. I feel like we can beat any team on any floor. All we have to do is just be good friends and stay together. Let’s just go have fun! It’s definitely going to be a very, very exciting season.”
Kanter registered major interest from a handful of teams at the start of free agency, but he and agent Mark Bartelstein worked quickly to reach an agreement with the Celtics. He’ll likely be named the team’s starting center for the 2019/20 season.
“It’s my ninth year in the league and I understand that, for many people, the money is important. For me, the most important thing is being with a team that you’re really happy on and playing with a team that’s competing for a championship,” Kanter said. “That’s was the big thing for me. For everybody else, the money matters [more]. For me, the No. 1 thing was winning.
“After I got released by the New York Knicks, I would always hear, ‘Boston Celtics, Boston Celtics, Boston Celtics,’ but I never really got a chance to talk to them. When free agency started and the clock hit 6 pm ET, I actually talked to Danny Ainge. He told me about his plans and everything. Then, the second time he called me, I answered the phone and it wasn’t him. It was Kemba Walker and he was on Danny’s phone. Kemba said, ‘Hey, my man, are we doing this or not?’ Then, he talked to me about the team and everything. That showed me what kind of leader he is, and that made me very happy. That was one of the biggest reasons [I signed with Boston].”
There’s more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:
- The mother of former Grand Rapids Drive forward Zeke Upshaw has reached a private settlement in her federal lawsuit with the NBA and Pistons franchise, according to T.J. Quinn of ESPN.com. Upshaw tragically passed away after collapsing near the end of a G League game in 2018, with his mother Jewel filing a wrongful death lawsuit in the months that followed. NBA officials released the following statement on the matter: “Jewel Upshaw, the National Basketball Association, and the Detroit Pistons announced today that they have resolved their prior dispute and the litigation claims against the National Basketball Association and the Detroit Pistons pending in federal district court have been dismissed. The NBA and Pistons express their sympathies to Jewel Upshaw and the rest of Zeke’s family on his tragic passing.”
- The Pistons are expected to name Donnie Tyndall as new head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive, according to Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days. Tyndall has spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the Raptors 905, helping win a league championship under Jerry Stackhouse in 2017.
- New Celtics center Vincent Poirier impressed the team for a variety of reasons, as detailed by Jacob Carmenker of NBC Sports Boston. The Celtics were intrigued with Poirier’s athleticism, ability to rebound and willingness to sacrifice, reaching a two-year deal with him earlier this month.
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, 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.