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Celtics Notes: Kemba, Kanter, Fall, Green

July 17th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Celtics introduced offseason additions Kemba Walker and Enes Kanter at a press conference today, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told reporters, including A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link), that landing Walker and Kanter was his “Plan A” heading into the offseason.

While it’s hard to believe that a franchise so frequently linked to Anthony Davis would have considered Walker and Kanter its top priorities, Ainge’s comments make more sense if you assume he’s talking about Boston’s plan on June 30. By that point, the Lakers had already agreed to acquire Davis and the C’s had a good idea that Kyrie Irving and Al Horford wouldn’t be back.

In fact, Ainge said today that the Celtics started to get a sense as early as March or April that Irving may not be back in Boston for the 2019/20 season (Twitter link via Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston).

“I was obviously thinking a move in a different direction at that point, thinking of the different options,” Ainge said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com.

We have much more on the Celtics today, so let’s dive in…

Kanter said today that a recruiting call from Walker (via Ainge’s phone) helped convince him to join the Celtics. “Kemba was one of the biggest reasons I came here,” Kanter said, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link).
The Celtics attempted to work out sign-and-trade deals with the Sixers and Nets for Horford and Irving, respectively, but both teams wanted more draft pick compensation than Boston was comfortable with, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Turning those free agent departures into sign-and-trades might have allowed Boston to retain more cap flexibility or pick up an extra asset or two.
Having agreed in June to sign Tacko Fall to an Exhibit 10 contract, the Celtics haven’t indicated yet that they intend to alter their plans for the rookie following his impressive Summer League performance. However, his showing in Las Vegas certainly caught the team’s eye. “We want to take his development very seriously,” Ainge said of Fall (Twitter link via Himmelsbach). “He’s a high priority for us to develop.”
Another Summer League standout, Javonte Green, is drawing significant interest overseas, according to Himmelsbach, who tweets that it’s probably unrealistic to expect the wing to become an affiliate player for the Maine Red Claws.
After rescinding Daniel Theis‘ qualifying offer over the weekend, the Celtics still had a tiny bit of cap room to sign a rookie to a contract longer than two years, ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted (via Twitter). However, making their deals with Theis, Kanter, and Brad Wanamaker official today eliminated that cap room.

Daniel Theis Re-Signs With Celtics

July 17th, 2019 at 2:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 17: The Celtics have officially re-signed Theis, the club confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 2: The Celtics have reached an agreement to keep forward/center Daniel Theis, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The two-year, $10MM deal was confirmed by Theis’ agents, Michael Tellem and Aaron Mintz of CAA.

Boston will use its Early Bird rights to re-sign Theis, allowing the team to exceed the cap, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The deal won’t be finalized until after the Celtics exhaust their cap space by adding Kemba Walker.

Theis has been a reliable backup since coming to Boston in 2017. He appeared in 66 games this season, starting twice, and averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in about 14 minutes per night.

Theis may complete the Celtics’ efforts to fortify the center position after losing Al Horford in free agency and trading Aron Baynes. They reached an agreement with Enes Kanter on Sunday and French center Vincent Poirier earlier today.

Boston has no plans to pursue free agent DeMarcus Cousins, believing the “potential drama” outweighs any benefits, according to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (Twitter link).

Celtics Re-Sign Brad Wanamaker To One-Year Deal

July 17th, 2019 at 2:26pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JULY 17: Wanamaker’s new one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Celtics is now official, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 2: The Celtics will bring back Brad Wanamaker, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal will be for one season and, likely, at the minimum.

The point guard played in 36 games for the Boston last season. Wanamaker went undrafted out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2011 and ended up playing overseas.

Wanamaker shot 41.0% from behind the arc on a total of 39 attempts for Boston last season. The soon-to-be 30-year-old will fit in behind new addition Kemba Walker on the team’s depth chart.

Celtics Sign Enes Kanter To Two-Year Deal

July 17th, 2019 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 17: The Celtics have officially signed Kanter, the team announced today (via Twitter).

JULY 1: The Celtics have agreed to terms with free agent center Enes Kanter on a two-year deal with a second-year player option, his manager Hank Fetic announced today (via Twitter). According to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (via Twitter), Kanter’s new contract will be worth nearly $10MM, so it projects to fit into Boston’s room exception.

Kanter, 27, has spent time with the Jazz, Thunder, Knicks, and Trail Blazers since entering the league as the third overall pick in the 2011 draft. Last season, he was bought out with the Knicks in February and signed in Portland for the rest of the season. In 67 total games, he averaged 13.7 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 24.5 minutes per contest.

Kanter boosted his stock down the stretch by taking over as the Blazers’ starting center after Jusuf Nurkic broke his leg. Kanter averaged 11.4 PPG and 9.7 RPG in 16 postseason contests. Portland agreed to acquire Hassan Whiteside in a trade with Miami earlier today, signaling that the club didn’t expect to bring back Kanter.

Having agree to acquire Kemba Walker using their cap room, the Celtics had been on the lookout for a big man with their $4.8MM room exception. They were linked to Kanter and Kevon Looney on Saturday, though Looney’s agent tells Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) that he didn’t hear from the C’s.

While Kanter will help improve the Celtics’ interior scoring and rebounding numbers, he’s not considered an elite defender, so the team will have some work to do in its frontcourt to make up for the departures of Al Horford and Aron Baynes.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Celtics Contract Details: Yabusele, Poirier, Edwards

July 15th, 2019 at 4:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics stretched Guerschon Yabusele‘s $3MM+ cap hit for 2019/20 when they waived him last week in order to create a little extra room under the cap, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights. While that decision may seem curious, it helped allow Boston to complete a couple less glamorous signings.

For one, the Celtics’ new two-year deal with French center Vincent Poirier isn’t worth the minimum, but rather has a value of $4.65MM over two years, per Siegel (Twitter link). Poirier’s deal starts at around $2.27MM, which wouldn’t have been possible without cap space, since the team has already committed its full room exception to Enes Kanter.

Meanwhile, second-round pick Carsen Edwards also benefited from the Celtics’ leftover cap room. According to Siegel (Twitter link), the former Purdue standout will earn $1,228,026 in his rookie season, rather than the rookie minimum of $898,310. By using their cap room, the C’s were also able to lock up Edwards to a four-year contract.

Celtics Sign Vincent Poirier

July 15th, 2019 at 11:52am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 15: Poirier has officially signed with the Celtics, per NBA.com’s transactions log. Baskonia also issued a press release confirming that the Spanish team has parted ways with Poirier.

JULY 2: French center Vincent Poirier has agreed to a two-year contract with the Celtics, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. He will sign for the veteran’s minimum, according to Brian Robb of The Boston Sports Journal (Twitter link).

Poirier, 25, played for Baskonia in Spain this season and was the EuroLeague’s leading rebounder at 8.3 per game. He told reporters in March that he had received interest from several NBA teams.

Poirier will add some frontcourt depth to the Celtics, who will lose Al Horford in free agency and are trading Aron Baynes to the Suns. Boston reached a deal on Sunday with Enes Kanter, who presumably will be the new starting center.

Atlantic Notes: Williams, Knicks, Horford, Barrett

July 14th, 2019 at 9:54pm CST by JD Shaw

Second-year Celtics center Robert Williams picked up some skills from former teammates Al Horford and Aron Baynes during his rookie season, as he explained in a recent interview with Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.

“Al isn’t the fastest person, but one thing that always amazed me about him was any time he got the ball, even if you knew what he was doing, it’s effective as hell,” Williams said, as relayed by Himmelsbach. “I kind of took to that. He taught me how to really put an emphasis on my moves.

“And watching Baynes showed me the importance of just going straight up on defense instead of swiping down. Honestly, I don’t even always have to block it. Making them alter it is a great solution too.”

Williams, 21, is expected to see more playing time entering next season with Horford leaving Boston in free agency and Baynes being traded to Phoenix. He appeared in 32 games with the team last year, averaging just 2.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 8.8 minutes per contest.

The Celtics also signed eight-year veteran Enes Kanter in free agency, one of the league’s most skilled players on the low block and another player Williams could learn from.

Here are some other notes from the Atlantic Division today:

The Knicks’ brass has been noticeably quiet since missing out on several top free agents in early July, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. New York was exceedingly confident that it could land two superstar talents on the open market this summer, but fell short to rival Brooklyn in pursuit of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Veteran center Al Horford broke the hearts of Celtics fans by choosing to sign a four-year, $109MM deal with the Sixers in free agency. “It feels right,” Horford said while wearing his new jersey in a video posted to the team’s social media this week. Horford will help make up a deadly 76ers frontcourt that includes the likes of Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid.
R.J. Barrett ended summer league exactly the way the Knicks hoped, Berman writes in a different article for The Post. Barrett tallied 21 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists during a 103-87 win over the Wizards on Saturday, showcasing his talents on both ends of the floor.

Celtics Sign Carsen Edwards

July 14th, 2019 at 10:07am CST by marksuleymanov

JULY 14: Edwards has officially signed, the Celtics announced in a press release.

JULY 13: The Celtics have agreed to a four-year deal with their 2019 second-round draft pick Carsen Edwards, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Edwards’ contract, which guarantees him $4.5MM in salary, is for three seasons with the fourth season being a team option.

As Himmelsbach notes, it’s not overly common for second-round picks to receive three guaranteed seasons but the Celtics are high on the former Purdue standout. Edwards, selected 33rd overall, has also played well during the NBA Summer League, averaging 18.0 PPG on 52% shooting in four contests.

In his junior season at Purdue, the 21-year-old Houston native averaged 24.3 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 36 games.

Celtics Sign Grant Williams, Romeo Langford

July 11th, 2019 at 10:40pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Celtics have signed Romeo Langford and Grant Williams, according to a team press release.

Langford was the No. 14 overall pick in this year’s draft. The wing spent one year at Indiana, where he scored 16.5 points per game on 44.8% shooting. He’ll make approximately $3.46MM in the first year of his rookie deal, assuming he signed for the typical 120% of the rookie scale.

Williams spent three seasons at Tennessee and was selected with the no. 22 overall pick in this year’s draft. During his junior season, he scored 18.5 points and swatted 1.5 blocks per game. The big man will make roughly $2.38MM during the 2019/20 season, assuming he also signed for the typical 120% of the rookie scale.

Celtics Waive Guerschon Yabusele

July 10th, 2019 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

4:02pm: The Celtics have officially waived Yabusele, the team announced this afternoon (via Twitter).

11:08am: The Celtics will release former first-round pick Guerschon Yabusele, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

Yabusele has a $3,117,240 cap hit for the 2019/20 season, per Basketball Insiders, so a team with enough cap room or a trade exception big enough to absorb that number could claim him. Otherwise, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent and the Celtics will be on the hook for that dead money. Boston wouldn’t owe him his $4,781,846 salary for 2020/21, since that’s a team option that has not yet been exercised.

Yabusele, the 16th overall pick in the 2016 draft, remained overseas for a year before joining the Celtics in 2017. The 6’8″ power forward didn’t make much of an impact for the club in his two seasons in Boston, averaging 2.3 PPG and 1.4 RPG in just 6.6 minutes per contest (74 games).

As Keith Smith of RealGM notes (via Twitter), waiving Yabusele will create some extra roster flexibility for the Celtics, who had been projected to have 15 players on guaranteed contracts. The club now has an open regular-season roster spot available for a 15th man.