- Discussing his decision to ask the Cavaliers for a trade, Kyrie Irving called it the “best thing” he’s done. Howard Beck of Bleacher Report has that quote and much more in an in-depth feature on the Celtics‘ starting point guard.
Despite Kyrie Irving‘s verbal commitment to re-signing with the team next summer, the Celtics have explored a potential contract extension for Terry Rozier, a source tells Brian Robb of BostonSportsJournal.com. The two sides have until next Monday to complete a deal. If they don’t, Rozier will remain on track to reach restricted free agency in 2019.
While Robb describes the Celtics as having been engaged and “active” in extension negotiations, it’s hard to imagine the two sides reaching an agreement in the coming days. With Irving expected to stick around long-term and Marcus Smart already locked up to a long-term deal, the Celtics would be committing a ton of money to point guards if they were to extend Rozier as well. Additionally, it’s not clear whether Rozier would be comfortable accepting a bench role for the next several years of his career by re-upping with the C’s.
“That’s something I’m really going to have to sit down and think about,” Rozier told Robb on Tuesday.
Here’s more out of Boston:
- The NBA hit Marcus Smart with a $25K fine earlier this week for his role in an on-court altercation with J.R. Smith, the league announced in a press release. The incident, which resulted in Smart’s ejection, occurred during Saturday’s game against the Cavaliers. Smith was fined $15K.
- The Celtics continue to work on figuring out their rotation for the regular season, as head coach Brad Stevens acknowledged after that Saturday loss to the Cavs. Taylor C. Snow of Celtics.com has the story.
- Asked about the Celtics’ struggles during the preseason, Kyrie Irving said that he and his teammates “have to be a lot smarter,” as Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston details. “We have to be a lot more diligent in what we’re doing out there, a lot more communicative,” Irving said. “And it’s going to take some time for us to figure that out because we don’t have 1-2-3-4-5 set in stone. Like 2, 3, and 4 is like up in the air for us so you can see that our wings are having somewhat of a struggle just figuring out, ‘OK, who is the 4, who is the 3 here?'”
- In a separate piece on Irving, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe passes along some of the point guard’s observations on his time in Cleveland and what he learned from playing with LeBron James.
The Celtics have waived Nick King and Jeff Roberson, according to the team’s Twitter feed. The pair of forwards had agreed to Exhibit 10 deals with Boston earlier last month.
King went undrafted out of Middle Tennessee State and spent Summer League playing for the Lakers. Roberson also went undrafted and saw limited action for the Warriors’ summer league squad. Both players are expected to play for the Celtics’ G League team, the Maine Red Claws.
Boston now has 18 players under contract, including its pair of players on two-way deals. The team will need to make one more move before the season begins, as the maximum roster count is 17.
The decision on Boston’s final roster spot may come down to Jabari Bird, who has a guaranteed salary but is dealing with legal issues, vs. Marcus Georges-Hunt, who is on a non-guaranteed deal.
The 2018/19 NBA regular season will get underway in just eight days, which means it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign. With the help of the lines from Bovada and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division, to have you weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
We’ll kick things off today with the Atlantic division…
Boston Celtics
- 2017/18 record: 55-27
- Over/under for 2018/19: 59.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Robert Williams, Brad Wanamaker
- Lost: Greg Monroe, Shane Larkin, Abdel Nader
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Celtics poll)
Toronto Raptors
- 2017/18 record: 59-23
- Over/under for 2018/19: 55.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Greg Monroe
- Lost: DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, Lucas Nogueira
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Raptors poll)
Philadelphia 76ers
- 2017/18 record: 52-30
- Over/under for 2018/19: 54.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Sixers poll)
Brooklyn Nets
- 2017/18 record: 28-54
- Over/under for 2018/19: 31.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Nets poll)
New York Knicks
- 2017/18 record: 29-53
- Over/under for 2018/19: 28.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Mario Hezonja, Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson
- Lost: Michael Beasley, Jarrett Jack, Kyle O’Quinn
(Trade Rumors app users, click here for Knicks poll)
The Knicks have started their preseason on a high note, winning each of their three games under new head coach David Fizdale. Fizdale is known for his high energy, positive attitude and veteran mindset, with each of these habits quickly rubbing off on some of his players.
“Absolutely, heck yeah. I want to win everything,’’ Fizdale said after team’s victory over the Pelicans on Friday, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. “I want to win every game. These guys are building habits right now. And winning is a habit. Anytime we step on the court, if they decide to play checkers together, pool, ping-pong, I want them competing to win. We have to get that really rooted deeply into who we are.’’
Fizdale is well-respected across the league and has two NBA titles under his belt as an assistant with Miami. The Knicks hired him this past offseason as head coach, and he’s quickly made his mark on changing the overall culture of the organization.
Fizdale’s decision to bring in Hall of Famers Walt Frazier and Patrick Ewing to discuss what it means to play for the Knicks was praised this week, with the second-year head coach now focused on getting his team ready for the regular season.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Lance Thomas is working hard to maintain his status as the Knicks’ starting power forward, Berman writes in a separate story. “Lance is just … man is he a good leader,’’ Fizdale said. “He’s just a really good leader. Those guys respect him big time. When he speaks, the gym shuts down and everybody listens.”
- J.J. Redick has provided some much-needed firepower off the bench for the Sixers, as detailed by NBA.com’s Brian Seltzer. Redick shot a perfect 10-of-10 against the Mavericks on Friday.
- Celtics coach Brad Stevens offered strong words of support for assistant Jerome Allen this week, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports. Allen pled guilty to accepting a $18K bribe from the parent of a prospective recruit when he coached for Pennsylvania in 2014.
After Kyrie Irving‘s verbal long-term commitment to the Celtics, it appears the free agent class of 2019 became a little less lucrative. Irving was reportedly one of the Knicks’ prime targets next summer and now, New York’s free agency hopes may be Kevin Durant or bust, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News opines.
- In a well-written, in-depth piece, Zach Lowe of ESPN chronicles the obstacles and difficulties Gordon Hayward has overcome as he completes his return from a broken ankle he suffered five minutes into his Celtics career last season.
Celtics assistant coach Jerome Allen faces a suspension after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to accepting an $18K bribe when he was Penn’s head coach in 2014, according to an ESPN report.
Allen has been on Brad Stevens’ staff since 2015, months after he was fired by Penn. He will likely retain his current job but receive punishment for his actions, the story continues. The suspension will likely be in the two-week range, according to a Boston Herald report. The plea agreement requires him to repay the $18K in addition to a $200K fine.
Allen accepted the bribe from the father of a prospective student in order to get the teenager admitted to the university as a listed recruit.
Allen issued a statement on Friday which read in part, “I am heartbroken that my players — current and former — will know that I broke the law. But, I do hope that some good may come out of this I wish to model to my young players how one accepts responsibility for wrongdoing, including the consequences that come from unlawful behavior.”
Allen coached the Quakers for five-plus seasons and failed to win more than nine games in any of his last three seasons.
After announcing on Thursday night that he plans to re-sign with the Celtics once he’s eligible for free agency next summer, Kyrie Irving reiterated that stance today, telling reporters that he has “every intent” to reach a new deal with the Celtics on July 1 (Twitter link via Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe).
As Irving explained, his decision to stick with the Celtics was influenced by the club’s young core of players, including Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, as well as an appreciation that the franchise was willing to take a chance on him and get him “out of Cleveland” (Twitter links via Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald).
The five-time All-Star added that not wanting to move again after getting comfortable in Boston was also a factor in his decision, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). “Honestly, thinking about starting over was just a sh**ty thought,” Irving said today.
According to Himmelsbach, Irving initially told the Celtics that he would publicly declare his intent to re-sign during a group interview prior to Thursday’s fan event. But that interview came and went without Irving addressing his future — he decided to make his announcement in front of fans later in the evening instead.
Here’s more on Irving and the C’s:
- Irving told a small group of teammates on Wednesday afternoon about his plans to re-sign, as Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston details. The news was a “nice surprise,” according to Al Horford, one of the teammates in attendance. “Just his commitment to the organization, and a sense that we can put all the speculation behind us and focus on the season,” Horford said. “That was very big of him to do something like that.”
- Marcus Smart was also excited about Irving’s decision, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston relays. “It means a lot when you have a guy that has won at the highest level, has been where you want to go, wants to do it again with you,” Smart said. “It’s great for him, the organization and this city that he wants to come back.”
- A league source tells Jay King of The Athletic that Irving and Pelicans star Anthony Davis have spoken about what it would be like to play together in Boston. Irving and Davis are both on designated rookie extensions though, and teams aren’t permitted to trade for two players on those contracts. So if the Celtics want to make a play for Davis, it would have to happen in July 2019 at the absolute earliest, after Irving signs a new contract.
- Speaking to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge asserted that Irving is capable of being “the best player in the world” on a given day against a given team.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston examines several players who will be affected by Irving’s free agency decision, including Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker, and Terry Rozier. We opened up a discussion earlier today about Rozier’s future.
On Thursday night, Kyrie Irving announced to fans at a Celtics event that he plans to re-sign with the club next July when he can become a free agent. Irving’s verbal commitment to the Celtics doesn’t necessarily guarantee anything, since a lot can change between now and July 1. But it was a rare declaration for a star free-agent-to-be — even if a player ultimately intends to re-sign with his current team, he’ll usually hedge his bets this far out, talking about how he wants to “focus on the season” or how he knows the NBA is “a business.”
Irving stating in no uncertain terms that he intends to remain a Celtic going forward is great news for the franchise, but it also casts some uncertainty on Terry Rozier‘s future with the team. If Irving receives a maximum-salary contract from Boston next summer, the club would be committing an estimated $45MM to Irving and Marcus Smart in 2019/20, with that number projected to increase to $52MM+ by 2021/22.
That’s already a lot of money to invest in a pair of point guards, and adding a lucrative new deal for Rozier on top of that would probably be financially irresponsible. After all, based on what he showed down the stretch last season, Rozier should have a great chance to match – if not exceed – Smart’s four-year, $52MM contract as a restricted free agent in 2019. By re-signing him, Boston would be looking at using well over half of its cap room on point guards.
We don’t know for sure that Irving will get the full max from the Celtics. And it’s possible that the team could consider moving Smart to create additional cap flexibility. It’s even conceivable that the C’s could bite the bullet and re-sign Rozier without cutting costs elsewhere, since no cap rules prevent them from doing so — it would simply result in a big tax bill.
Still, it seems like something’s got to give.
Trading Rozier in advance of the 2019 deadline might allow the team to maximize his value, but that seems unlikely as long as the Celtics are vying for a title. Waiting until free agency in 2019 and hoping to negotiate a trade at that point is another option, but it’s a risky one, since there would be nothing stopping Rozier from signing an offer sheet outright with a rival suitor. Matching an offer sheet for Rozier with the intent to cut costs later would also be dangerous, since potential trade partners could drive a harder bargain knowing that the C’s are anxious to reduce their tax bill.
What do you think? What path will the Celtics take with Rozier, with Irving now on track to re-sign? What should the team do with him?
Jump into the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Celtics guard Kyrie Irving said at a team event on Thursday that he plans to re-sign with Boston once he reaches free agency in the summer of 2019, per Kristen Ledlow of NBA TV (Twitter link). The Celtics’ official Twitter account posted a video of the All-Star guard making the announcement to fans.
Irving, who is entering his second season as a member of the Celtics, has also communicated his desire to stick around long-term to team ownership in recent weeks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Armed with a player option for the 2019/20 season, Irving is widely expected to turn down that option and ink a new deal next July. His free agency is still nine months away and it’s unlikely that he’ll sign an in-season extension, so the Celtics’ level of success this season could alter his future decision, but for now he appears committed to the franchise.
Because the Celtics hold his Bird rights, Irving will be eligible to sign a five-year deal worth up to a projected $189.66MM with the club next summer. It’s not clear if Boston will put that five-year max offer on the table, but any lucrative new contract for Irving would create uncertainty about Terry Rozier‘s future with the organization — Rozier will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2019, and the C’s would be investing heavily in the point guard position already with long-term deals for Irving and Marcus Smart.
Over the offseason, there had been rumors that Irving was interested in teaming up with Jimmy Butler once both players hit the free agent market in 2019, but The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor indicates (via Twitter) that those reports were overblown. Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype suggests (via Twitter) that those whispers were coming out of Butler’s camp.
Boston, led by Irving, is expected to be a lead contender for the NBA title this season. Irving was traded to the team in 2017 after spending six seasons with the Cavaliers, winning a championship in 2016 alongside fellow All-Star LeBron James. In his first season with the C’s, Irving played in 60 games last season, averaging 24.4 points, 5.5 assists and 1.1 steals per contest