Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets Have Interest In Marcus Smart

February 5th, 2018 at 12:28pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets are among the teams that have explored possible Marcus Smart trade scenarios with the Celtics, league sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter). A recent report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski suggested that Boston is willing to move Smart in exchange for a first-round pick.

According to Stein, former lottery pick Emmanuel Mudiay has been made available by the Nuggets in their talks with the Celtics, but it doesn’t appear Denver has been open to including a future first-rounder in an offer for Smart.

Stein isn’t the first reporter to link Mudiay to the Celtics. Over the weekend, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald said he has heard from a league source that the Celtics and Nuggets have discussed a hypothetical deal of Smart for Mudiay and a draft pick. However, Bulpett added that another league source had denied that account.

If the Nuggets are willing to attach a draft pick to Mudiay in an offer for Smart, it will almost certainly be a second-rounder. While Smart is respected around the NBA for his excellent perimeter defense, his offensive game is extremely limited, and he’s in a contract year, meaning he’ll get more expensive in restricted free agency this summer.

Wojnarowski, who initially reported Smart’s potential availability, appeared today on Zach Lowe’s Lowe Post podcast and expressed skepticism that the Celtics will land a first-rounder for Smart, unless they’re willing to take on long-term salary in return. Woj believes it’s probably more likely that the 23-year-old stays put in Boston through the deadline.

Monroe Deal Possibly On Hold Due To Separate Move

February 4th, 2018 at 1:58pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Celtics agreed to a deal with Greg Monroe on Friday but the team may be waiting for a corresponding trade before making the signing official, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.

Celtics Notes: Smart, Rozier, Nader, Monroe

February 4th, 2018 at 12:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

The emergence of Terry Rozier may affect the Celtics’ willingness to trade Marcus Smart, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. Rozier posted a triple-double earlier this week in his first NBA start, then followed that with a 31-point game.

Smart took over as Boston’s primary defensive stopper on the wing after Avery Bradley was traded to Detroit during the offseason. He has excelled in that role, posting the league’s second highest defensive rating of 98.9 among players averaging at least 30 minutes per game. But Smart will be a restricted free agent this summer, and the Celtics may be reluctant to match a sizable offer for someone who will be sharing time with Rozier.

There’s more today out of Boston:

Smart expects to remain out until after the All-Star break with a hand laceration he received by punching a glass picture frame, relays Taylor Snow of NBA.com. Smart, who was angry about misfiring on a potential game-winning shot against the Lakers in a January 23 game, suffered a cut that required 20 stitches. “Being a competitor, missing the last shot, you kind of get upset with yourself,” Smart said. “You rethink about that night and what you could’ve done differently. You kind of replay everything in your head. As a competitor you want to make every shot, especially with the game on the line, and we fell short. So it was just a lot of frustration about my play as well.”
The younger Celtics are taking advantage of increased playing time with Kyrie Irving sidelined by a right quadriceps injury, Blakely writes in a separate story. Rozier has been the obvious beneficiary, but rookie forward Abdel Nader has also been making some important plays. “I just think when you’re young and you get the opportunity to play, it’s great experience when you have the responsibility of the game on your shoulders instead of just, you know, when you increase your minutes played,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens.
Once free agent Greg Monroe formally signs, he will make the Celtics the clear favorite in the Eastern Conference, Blakely adds in another piece. The veteran center announced his plans to come to Boston after agreeing to a buyout with the Suns earlier this week. He cleared waivers Saturday and is expected to sign soon. Blakely notes that Monroe will give the Celtics the additional size and inside scoring that they have been needing.

Woj: Celtics Would Trade Marcus Smart For First-Rounder

February 3rd, 2018 at 6:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics would be willing to trade guard Marcus Smart for a first-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. On his latest podcast, Wojnarowski says Boston wouldn’t mind moving Smart as long as it doesn’t have to take on much future salary in return.

Smart will be a restricted free agent this summer after he and the Celtics failed to reach an agreement on a rookie contract extension. Woj speculates that the financial uncertainty, coupled with Smart’s difficulties from 3-point range, where he is shooting 30% this season, may make him expendable.

Boston has financial concerns for next season with more than $104MM in committed salaries against a projected $101MM cap. That’s without considering Smart, who will be seeking a substantial raise from this year’s salary of about $4.5MM and could push the team toward luxury tax territory.

Appearing on the same broadcast, ESPN’s Bobby Marks warns that other organizations may be wary of giving up a first-rounder for Smart without knowing how much it will take to re-sign him. Such a move would put someone in the difficult position of having to commit financially to keep Smart or losing a first-round pick for about two months of having him on the roster.

Marks speculates that Smart could have commanded an annual salary of $13MM to $14MM in the summer of 2016, but under current conditions his offers are more likely to be in the $8MM to $10MM range.

Before a recent hand laceration, Smart was averaging 10.1 points and 4.7 assists through 46 games, mostly in a reserve role. He is expected to return sometime in mid-February.

Celtics Reportedly Pursuing Williams, Evans

February 3rd, 2018 at 11:01am CST by marksuleymanov

The Celtics reached an agreement with center Greg Monroe on a one-year, $5MM pact on Friday but the team is not done searching for scoring options off the bench, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reports.

Citing two Western Conference sources, Bulpett writes that the Celtics’ top two targets are Lou Williams and Tyreke Evans. The Grizzlies are currently sitting Evans until the deadline; Williams continues to score at will, posting at least 20 points in his past six games for the Clippers.

As the Celtics seek upgrades, however, general manager Danny Ainge is not budging from paying his desired price. The Grizzlies are reportedly seeking a first-round pick for Evans and it’s safe to assume Williams, who is averaging a career-high 23.5 PPG, will command a similar return.

Bulpett notes that the Celtics are being cautious with their pursuit of wing players as they do not want Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum to lose playing time.

Latest On Greg Monroe

February 1st, 2018 at 4:20pm CST by Luke Adams

4:20pm: Monroe, whose buyout is now official, has spoken to both the Celtics and Pelicans and could make a decision within the next 24 hours, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7. If it comes down to those two teams, Monroe would have to weigh an increased role in New Orleans vs. a greater chance to win a title in Boston.

Scott Kushner of The Advocate tweeted earlier today that the acquisition of Mirotic won’t adversely affect New Orleans’ pursuit of Monroe.

11:06am: The Pelicans have gathered “significant momentum” in their pursuit of Monroe and intend to make an aggressive play for him, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Wojnarowski, Pels head coach Alvin Gentry has already spoken to Monroe, who could decide on his next NBA home as soon as Friday or Saturday. Playing time will be a big factor in the veteran’s decision, Woj adds.

10:43am: The Suns and Greg Monroe reached a buyout agreement on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. However, Monroe has not yet been formally waived by Phoenix. Once he’s cut, he’ll spend two days on waivers before becoming eligible to sign with a new team, so no club with interest in the veteran center will be able to add him right away.

Still, the list of potential suitors for Monroe is growing longer. As we relayed in our initial report on Monroe’s buyout, the Celtics and Pelicans are viewed as two viable potential destinations for the big man, with the Thunder cited as a possible dark horse. TNT’s David Aldridge adds a couple more teams to that list today, tweeting that the Spurs and Wizards also have interest in Monroe.

While there are a number of teams trying to get into the mix, the buzz around the Pelicans continues to be the loudest. According to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), there’s “strong” mutual interest between the Pels and Monroe, who is a New Orleans native. With DeMarcus Cousins out for the season due to an Achilles injury, major minutes are available in New Orleans’ frontcourt — not every suitor could necessarily offer Monroe that significant a role.

Although the Pelicans could pitch Monroe on regular minutes and the idea of a homecoming, they may find themselves at a disadvantage if other teams offer the 27-year-old more than the minimum salary. New Orleans has portions of its mid-level and bi-annual exceptions available, but is only about $1.2MM away from a hard cap, limiting the team’s ability to sweeten the pot for Monroe. By comparison, a club like the Celtics could offer up to $8.4MM, the value of their disabled player exception (though I’d be very surprised if they do so).

It’s also worth noting that the Pelicans’ reported pursuit of Nikola Mirotic could be affected by how things play out with Monroe — it’s not clear if the club would have interest in adding both players.

Suns Buy Out Greg Monroe

February 1st, 2018 at 4:06pm CST by clarkcrum

FEBRUARY 1, 4:06pm: The Suns have officially waived Monroe, according to a press release issued by the club. He’s on track to clear waivers on Saturday.

We rounded up several rumors on Monroe’s next landing spot earlier today.

JANUARY 31, 9:53pm: The Suns and Greg Monroe have reached an agreement on a buyout, tweets Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN adds that there will be “significant interest” around the league in signing Monroe to a rest-of-the-season contract once he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

The timing of the deal is a bit peculiar with the trade deadline about a week away, but Bordow surmises that a worthy deal likely wouldn’t have materialized for Monroe anyway, so the timing really didn’t matter to Phoenix. Wojnarowski adds that the Suns did in fact exhaust all trade possibilities before agreeing to the buyout.

Monroe, who was sent to the Suns earlier this season in the move that landed Eric Bledsoe in Milwaukee, had seen inconsistent minutes since arriving in Phoenix, with Tyson Chandler and Alex Len also vying for minutes at the five. Monroe has been viewed as a candidate to be traded or bought out since the Suns acquired him — a trade would have been challenging due to his $17.88MM cap hit.

Earlier in the evening, John Gambadoro of ArizonaSports.com opined that a buyout could be forthcoming after Monroe was not in attendance for tonight’s game against Dallas. Multiple sources indicate that the Celtics, who possess an $8.4MM disabled player exception, are a team to watch in the Monroe sweepstakes, with Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports reporting that the interest is expected to be mutual.

Helping Boston is the fact that its disabled player exception – acquired as a result of the season-ending injury to Gordon Hayward – does not prorate throughout the season. As detailed by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, this is different from the mid-level exception that most teams would utilize to offer Monroe a salary over the minimum.

In addition to the Celtics, another team said to be interested in Monroe is the Pelicans, per Bordow. New Orleans is in a position to make the playoffs and just lost All-Star DeMarcus Cousins for the rest of the season. Moreover, a potential deal for Nikola Mirotic just fell through after New Orleans refused to guarantee Mirotic’s 2018/19 salary.

New Orleans is over the cap and wouldn’t be able to offer a free agent more than the prorated portion of the bi-annual exception — even that would be tricky due to the team’s hard cap and tax ramifications. Still, Monroe is from the New Orleans area, so the Pelicans may be hoping that he is willing to take some sort of hometown discount. In addition, New Orleans could offer him a starting position, while the Celtics would almost certainly bring him off the bench.

The Thunder could also be a dark horse in the Monroe sweepstakes, according to Mannix. Meanwhile, the Bucks are ineligible to re-sign Monroe after trading him earlier in the league year.

Danny Ainge ‘Pretty Sure’ Celtics Will Use DPE

February 1st, 2018 at 9:16am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing today on radio show Toucher & Rich in Boston, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that he’s “pretty sure” his front office will use the team’s disabled player exception before the March 12 deadline (Twitter link via A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston). The $8.4MM exception could be used to acquire a player in a trade or to sign a player who is bought out by his current team.

“We’re on the phone all the time,” Ainge told NBC Sports Boston. “We don’t have to do a deal. We’ll do a good deal. We don’t feel we have to do something because we have some glaring weakness. We know our team is not perfect, but I like the guys on the team.”

As we detailed on Wednesday, several teams around the NBA hold disabled player exceptions after having players go down with season-ending injuries. But none of those exceptions is worth more than Boston’s $8.4MM DPE.

Since the disabled player exception can only be used once, the size of the Celtics’ exception wouldn’t give them an advantage over, say, the Heat – who have a $5.5MM DPE – if both clubs were pursuing a player like Tyreke Evans (who is earning $3.29MM). However, the Celtics’ exception can accommodate a wider range of players. For instance, Boston is the only team capable of acquiring Lou Williams‘ $7MM salary using a DPE.

Adding a scorer like Evans or Williams would make sense for the Celtics, as would bolstering their frontcourt with another big man — Greg Monroe, who reached a buyout agreement with the Suns, would be one candidate. Still, Ainge tells NBC Sports Boston that he’s not focused on a specific position or need as he considers his team’s options.

“It’s not like other sports where we need a defensive back that does this one thing, or we need a second baseman,” Ainge said. “Basketball is different. There’s lots of different ways we can play. It all depends on the ‘who’ more than the actual needs.”

2017/18 NBA Disabled Player Exceptions

January 31st, 2018 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Last month, we published an updated glossary entry outlining how the NBA’s disabled player exception functions. As we explain in that article, the disabled player exception can be granted when a team has a player go down with an injury deemed to be season-ending. The exception gives the club some additional spending flexibility, functioning almost as a cross between a traded player exception and a mid-level exception.

We go into more detail on how exactly disabled player exceptions work in the glossary entry linked above, and in a piece from earlier in the season on the Celtics’ DPE. Essentially, a DPE gives a team the opportunity to add an injury replacement by either signing a player to a one-year contract or trading for a player in the final year of his contract.

Because the rules related to disable player exceptions are somewhat restrictive, and the exceptions themselves often aren’t worth a lot, they often simply expire (this year’s deadline is March 12). According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, only about one in four teams granted DPEs since 2007 have used them.

However, the Celtics are one team well positioned to take advantage of their DPE this season — it’s worth the maximum allowable amount ($8.4MM), the Celtics aren’t close to the tax line, they have an open roster spot, and they have a collection of extra draft picks that could be used to accommodate a trade.

While Boston may be the team most likely to use its DPE this season, there are several other clubs that have those exceptions available. Here’s a breakdown:

(Note: List updated on 2-9-18)

Teams that have been granted disabled player exceptions:

Boston Celtics: $8,406,000 (Gordon Hayward) (Update: Used on Greg Monroe)
Brooklyn Nets: $6,000,000 (Jeremy Lin) (Update: Used on Dante Cunningham)
Miami Heat: $5,500,000 (Dion Waiters)
Detroit Pistons: $5,248,660 (Jon Leuer) (Update: Used on James Ennis)
Los Angeles Clippers: $2,756,757 (Patrick Beverley)
Utah Jazz: $2,625,000 (Thabo Sefolosha)
New Orleans Pelicans: $2,480,899 (Alexis Ajinca)

As noted above, the Celtics are the best bet to use their disabled player exception, and not just because it’s worth the most (and can therefore accommodate a wider range of potential trade targets). Even if teams like the Clippers or Pelicans identify a modestly-paid player worth acquiring, they’re unlikely to use their DPEs because of how close they are to the luxury tax line and hard cap, respectively.

Teams ineligible for disabled player exceptions:

Phoenix Suns (Brandon Knight)
Memphis Grizzlies (Mike Conley)
New Orleans Pelicans (DeMarcus Cousins)
Oklahoma City Thunder (Andre Roberson)

The Grizzlies, Pelicans, and Thunder had the misfortune of having their key players ruled out for the season after the January 15 application deadline. Since they can no longer apply for a DPE, they’ll have to make do with any remaining exceptions they have. As for the Suns, a DPE to replace Knight would have been worth about $6.8MM, but Phoenix remains nearly $9MM below the cap, rendering that exception unnecessary.

Celtics Not Re-Signing Jarell Eddie For Now

January 31st, 2018 at 11:45am CST by Luke Adams

Jarell Eddie‘s 10-day contract with the Celtics expired on Tuesday, but he won’t receive a second 10-day deal from the team at this point, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Eddie, who signed his contract with the Celtics on January 20, had been a lights-out shooter in the G League this season, posting 17.2 PPG and 4.1 RPG with an impressive .490/.500/.947 shooting line. While that performance earned him a contract with Boston, it didn’t earn him much playing time — Eddie appeared in two games and played just six total minutes during his 10-day stint with the C’s.

While Eddie could be brought back to Boston at some point, it makes more sense for the team to maintain flexibility by keeping its 15th and final roster spot open as the trade deadline approaches. If the Celtics don’t use that roster opening to add a player in a deadline trade, they’ll likely consider using it to add Eddie or another 10-day player later in February, while monitoring the buyout market as well.

The Celtics are just one of a handful of teams not re-signing players after expired 10-day deals, as our tracker shows. Nigel Hayes didn’t receive a second 10-day contract from the Lakers this week after his initial pact expired, and DeAndre Liggins hasn’t been re-signed by the Pelicans after playing on two 10-day deals with the club.

In Liggins’ case, it’s worth noting that a team can’t sign a player to three 10-day contracts — after the expiration of the second, the team must decide whether to sign the player for the rest of the season or let him go.