- There likely won’t be an update on Kyrie Irving‘s status today, a league source tells Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Mannix reports that the Celtics should know more within the next day or two about Irving’s ailing left knee. The team did get some good news on Jaylen Brown, who said today that he’s feeling better and hopes to play on Sunday in Sacramento (Twitter link).
Don’t expect LeBron James to be among those lobbying on behalf of a potential play-in tournament for a postseason berth. The NBA has reportedly kicked the idea around in a couple different variations, but James said today that he’s not a fan of the concept, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com details.
“No, no, no,” James said. “That’s wack. That’s wack. Why? You got to earn your spot to be in the postseason. No consolation for finishing last. That’s corny. That’s corny. That’s wack. To play for what? What are they playing for?”
While there’s a belief in some league circles that a play-in tournament at the end of the regular season to determine the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference would generate some drama, James is a firm believer that the eight teams with the best records in each conference deserve to make the playoffs.
“[Make the playoffs by winning the tournament], even if my record is better than yours? Nah, that’s wack,” James said.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Appearing on ESPN’s The Jump on Tuesday, Chauncey Billups called a report about the Pistons expressing interest in him for a front office role “100% false,” per Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “I haven’t spoken to anybody with the organization about the possibility,” Billups said. Still, this isn’t the first time Billups has been linked to a front office job — if the former NBA guard does land somewhere as an executive, former Pistons assistant GM George David would be a candidate to potentially join him, tweets Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press.
- Nine NBA teams have been officially eliminated from the postseason. While the 2017/18 season has been a fairly forgettable one for those clubs, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer highlights some silver linings worth mentioning.
- Over at ESPN.com (Insider link), Kevin Pelton and Bobby Marks have updated their future NBA power rankings, which consider each team’s outlook through the 2020/21 season. Unsurprisingly, the Warriors, Celtics, and Rockets still top their list, with the Sixers and Raptors jumping into the top five.
- Current Thunder head coach Billy Donovan still speaks highly of his former player at Florida – Celtics big man Al Horford, reports Taylor Snow of Celtics.com. “What I’ve always respected about (Al) is that it’s always about winning; he’ll do whatever he has to do to win and sacrifice whatever he has to to win.”
As indicated in previous stories, Marcus Smart is expected to miss about six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. The plan is for Smart to return to action should the Celtics make it to the second round of the playoffs and, per Chris Forsberg of ESPN, Smart is supremely confident that he will be able to return this postseason.
“I am confident [I’ll be back for the playoffs],” Smart said Monday night. “I had one of the top [hand] doctors do it. The surgery was a success… I’m real, real, real excited and eager to get back out there, whenever that is, hopefully it’s sooner than later, like I said. Hopefully the team can and, like I think they’re gonna do, is handle their business and have me back [in the postseason].”
Smart originally thought his injury was only a sprain, and even after further testing revealed more extensive ligament damage, he weighed non-surgical treatment options before finally deciding on having the surgery when doctors told him he risked further complications that might force him out of action for a longer period of time should he have tried to play before undergoing the procedure.
“The first [thing] was could I damage it any more?” Smart said. “When we went to get the second opinion, they said the same thing: The ligament is torn completely. There’s nothing else you can do. Then there was, ‘OK, could I possibly play with it and get the surgery afterwards?’ That came into play and when she said — the doctor pretty much said, ‘If it was me, I would get this now. The longer you wait, the harder it [will be] and cause more complications. So just get it over with and then there’s a possibility you could be back sooner than you thought.'”
There’s more out of Boston:
- All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving plans on obtaining a second opinion later this week for his ailing left knee, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
- Marcus Morris was fined $15K for “verbal abuse of a game official,” it was announced today by the NBA. The incident occurred at the conclusion of the Celtics’ 19-point loss to New Orleans on Sunday.
- Former Celtic and soon-to-be free agent guard Isaiah Thomas is willing to return to Boston next season, reports NBC Sports Boston. Asked on Twitter whether he would consider a reunion this offseason, Thomas tweeted, “Anything can happen.”
- Celtics assistant coach and former player Walter McCarty will interview for the head coaching vacancy at the University of Evansville, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Born and raised in Evansville, IN, McCarty is looking to become a head coach for the first time after also having spent time as an assistant at the University of Louisville and with the Pacers.
Celtics‘ president of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes he gave the wrong impression this week when he said Gordon Hayward suffered a setback in his rehab, relays Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Looking back, Ainge believes “setback” was too strong a term and created inaccurate headlines about Hayward’s progress.
“What happened is he went on the AlterG [anti-gravity treadmill] the first day and he felt some soreness,” the Celtics’ top decision-maker explained. “It was the first day he tried the AlterG, a long time ago. He just wasn’t ready for it at that point. That’s all it was. So I think ‘setback’ is the wrong way to put it. I mis-phrased that. I’m not sure what the right word is, but he wasn’t ready for that. So we waited a couple of weeks before we started that again, and since we started that again it’s been great and he’s progressed along on the AlterG. That’s all. It wasn’t like he had an accident or anything like that.”
Despite Ainge’s clarification, the Celtics haven’t changed their opinion that Hayward won’t return to the court this season, which has their stance since he broke his ankle on opening night. Ainge said Hayward hasn’t done any “running or even jogging or real jumping” on the practice court and there’s not enough of the season left to make a comeback realistic.
- The Celtics continue to be cautious with Kyrie Irving, who has been limited by a sore left knee, Bulpett adds in the same story. Irving was held out of tonight’s game, and coach Brad Stevens said the star guard won’t play again until he feels 100 percent. Teammate Jaylen Brown remains in concussion protocol, but the Celtics plan to bring him on upcoming West Coast trip.
- Celtics guard Terry Rozier is hoping Marcus Smart can return in the playoffs and promises to help convince him to stay in Boston this summer, relays Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Smart is expected to miss about six weeks after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and could return for a second-round series. He will be a restricted free agent this summer. “If I’m part of the plan in recruiting Marcus to stay here, then that’s what I’m going to have to do,” Rozier said.
- In a St. Patrick’s Day column, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston examines the ways that good luck that has touched the Celtics in recent years. Examples include the emergence of Rozier, the availability of Kyrie Irving and the Hornets’ refusal to accept a parcel of draft picks in exchange for their ninth selection in 2015 when team president Danny Ainge wanted to draft Justise Winslow.
- The injury bug has hit the Celtics hard in recently as Daniel Theis, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown suffered season-altering injuries. In the wake of those health issues, Marcus Morris is the first Boston player to step up and take advantage of his new spot in the starting lineup, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston relays. Morris scored 31 points on Wednesday vs. Washington.
- The Celtics are without Theis, Smart, Brown, and Gordon Hayward and it’s possible the team explores adding a player to offset the losses. Per Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (Twitter links), if a league doctor feels Brown could miss two more weeks due to his concussion, the Celtics could be granted a 16th roster spot to add another player. However, Boston is optimistic Brown will return soon, which would make the team ineligible for the hardship provision.
4:26pm: The Celtics announced in a press release that Smart underwent successful surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. He is expected to return to basketball activities in six to eight weeks.
11:03am: The Celtics are hopeful that Smart will be able to play in six weeks, sources tell ESPN. That would put the veteran guard on track to return near the end of the first round of the playoffs, or for the start of the second round.
10:33am: After receiving a second opinion on his injured right thumb, Marcus Smart will undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in that thumb, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). An exact timeline for Smart’s recovery isn’t yet known, but there’s hope that he’ll be able to return sometime during the playoffs, according to Wojnarowski.
Smart, 24, has posted his usual mediocre offensive numbers for the Celtics this season, averaging 10.2 PPG and 4.8 APG on .367/.301/.729 shooting in 54 games. However, his play on the other end of the court has had a noticeable impact on Boston’s defense. The club has a 99.4 defensive rating with Smart on the court, and a 103.6 defensive rating when he sits.
Already expected to be without Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, the Celtics would find themselves even more shorthanded if Smart is unable to return for the start of the postseason.
In that scenario, Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier would likely be leaned on more heavily in the Celtics’ backcourt. Of course, Irving and Brown are currently dealing with injuries of their own, opening the door for more minutes for players like Shane Larkin and Abdel Nader in the short term.
Smart suffered his thumb injury – initially ruled a sprain – during Sunday’s loss to the Pacers.
MARCH 15: Theis underwent successful surgery to repair his left knee lateral meniscus, the Celtics announced in a press release on Thursday. He will miss the remainder of the 2017/18 season but is expected to be ready for training camp, per the release.
MARCH 12: The Celtics’ frontcourt depth will take a hit the rest of the way, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, who reports that Daniel Theis has suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee. Theis will undergo knee surgery and will miss the rest of the season, sources tell Charania.
Theis, who signed with the Celtics last summer as an international free agent, had turned into a reliable rotation piece in Boston. For the season, the German big man has averaged 5.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 63 games (14.9 MPG). However, it looks like he won’t take the court again for the 2017/18 Celtics.
With Theis sidelined, the C’s figure to lean a little more heavily on Aron Baynes and Greg Monroe behind starting center Al Horford. Theis also saw action at power forward, so his absence could mean a few extra minutes for Marcus Morris and/or Semi Ojeleye. Additionally, the club could play some smaller lineups with someone like Jayson Tatum at the four to lessen the load on the frontcourt, if necessary.
As for Theis, he likely hasn’t played his last game as a Celtic. The 25-year-old remains under contract for one more year, with a non-guaranteed salary of $1,378,242 for 2018/19. That’s a bargain price for a rotation player, so Theis’ roster spot for next season should be safe unless he’s included in an offseason trade.
- Appearing today on Toucher & Rich on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that Gordon Hayward is back on track in his recovery from ankle surgery after suffering a setback recently. “He had like one setback for a couple of weeks, maybe a month and a half ago. We were progressing a little bit too fast, we thought,” Ainge said, per ESPN’s Chris Forsberg. “But, other than that, his work ethic and his determination have been amazing. … I don’t want to get people’s hopes up. He still is not back on the basketball court and we have a month left in the regular season. He’s got a ways to go but we’re excited about his progress and his determination.”
- During that same radio appearance, Ainge said that Kyrie Irving may need to undergo a surgical procedure on his knee at some point. However, the Celtics president made that surgery sound anything but urgent, writes Forsberg. “He has a surgery that may need to happen,” Ainge said of Irving. “But maybe not this summer, maybe the following summer or maybe the summer after that. I think that he could probably do it any time he wanted, but I’m not sure that it’s needed at this moment.”