- Celtics forward Marcus Morris received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his sore left knee on Saturday, and head coach Brad Stevens says Morris is already feeling better, reports Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. But while the news is generally positive, Stevens added that Morris will return slowly. “He probably won’t play every game, or obviously back-to-back games,” Stevens said. “A game, three days off, a game. Try it that way, and then progressing back to every other day. He won’t play back-to-backs for a while.”
- The Celtics‘ second unit has made a name for itself because of its defense but sooner or later they’re going to have to start improving on the offensive end, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston writes. Currently, he says, the bench lacks consistent shot-makers.
- There’s no indication that he necessarily will but Gordon Hayward is open to the idea of returning this season, Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press writes. The Celtics forward is still recovering from a broken ankle suffered on opening day but has recently shed his walking boot.
- The Celtics will be without Marcus Morris for at least a week. Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets that the forward who has missed four of the past five games with a lingering knee injury isn’t expected to be back until, perhaps, December 23 or Christmas Day.
- The Celtics have been without Marcus Morris for four of their past five contests, prompting president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to come up with a plan to help ease the offseason addition back into a consistent routine, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston writes.
The Celtics still have nearly three months to use the $8.4MM disabled player exception they acquired after losing Gordon Hayward. While there are probably no available free agents worth signing with the DPE, Boston could also use the exception to trade for a player in the last year of his contract. However, Danny Ainge says the Celtics are remaining patient as they consider their options, adding that “there’s nothing that really excites us” right now.
“The reason we haven’t used it is we need to be careful with it because we don’t know what injuries may happen over this next stretch,” the Celtics’ president of basketball operations said, per A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. “That could be important for us, heading into the late season and into the playoffs and if our roster changes if somebody’s not healthy at a particular position.”
[RELATED: Explaining the Celtics’ disabled player exception]
The most likely scenario for the Celtics’ disabled player exception is that the team seriously explores using it at the trade deadline, or hangs onto it even longer to sign a player who is bought out after the deadline. Still, Ainge acknowledges that if the front office identifies a player “we’re excited about,” who could help in the playoffs, the team could use the DPE to trade for him sooner rather than later.
- The Celtics assigned Guerschon Yabusele and Abdel Nader to their G League affiliate, the team announced on Twitter.
- Although there remains no timetable for his return, Celtics forward Gordon Hayward has been given the green light to remove his walking boot. “I feel alright I guess, as well as I could,” Hayward told the media, including A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. “I’m out of the boot right now so that’s good, slowly getting better.“
Paul George is back in Indiana tonight for the first time since the blockbuster trade that sent him to Oklahoma City. The deal was supposed to signal the start of a rebuilding process for the Pacers and the creation of a title contender in Oklahoma City, but things haven’t worked out that way. Indiana enters tonight’s game 16-11 and in fifth place in the East, while the Thunder are a disappointing 12-14 and stuck in ninth place in the West.
George was shipped to OKC in early July in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, who are both putting up career-best numbers in Indiana. Oladipo is scoring 24.5 points per game, while Sabonis is averaging 12.1 points and 8.5 rebounds, both more than double his totals from last season.
Meeting with reporters today, George expressed joy in seeing the Pacers playing so well and said the reason he had his agent tell the team he was unlikely to re-sign after this season is so it could start preparing right away, according to Matthew VanTryon and Jim Ayello of The Indianapolis Star.
“When we reached out to the front office, to tell them our plans, our future plans, it was to help them along the way,” George said. “And it was bad at first, so to speak, that maybe this trade wasn’t going to pan out. But it obviously did. They got two great, young pieces.”
We rounded up a few more reactions as writers revisited the July deal:
- The Pacers should receive an apology for the initial negative reaction to the trade, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The general feeling was that Indiana didn’t get enough in return for George, with Cavaliers owner Dan Snyder saying, “I will say [the Pacers] could’ve done better,” and the Oklahoma City police department tweeting about the theft of George. Deveney adds that the deal turned out to be better than some other offers the Pacers received, including Gary Harris and draft choices from the Nuggets, and Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley and some non-lottery picks from the Celtics.
- The Thunder had to take the gamble when a star like George became available, contends Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Even if Oladipo turns out to be an All-Star, he wasn’t a good fit with Westbrook during his lone season with the Thunder, Tramel writes, with some observers contending he was out of shape and others saying he couldn’t adjust to Westbrook’s ball dominance. George can be a dominant player on both ends, and his acquisition may have been what inspired Westbrook to agree to a five-year extension in September.
- The Pacers should be elated with the results of the deal, according to a consensus of writers on an NBA.com Blogtable. Indiana could be headed for a playoff spot, while George may be joining the Lakers next summer — if not earlier.
- Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy revealed that he rated Celtics forward Jayson Tatum as the top player in the draft but Van Gundy is still surprised by the rookie’s 3-point shooting. Tatum, who played one season at Duke, led the league coming into Monday’s action with his 52.3% success rate from long range. “I thought he was the best prospect in the draft,” Van Gundy said Sunday in his pregame press conference. “He’s got all the tools. Anbody who says they’re not surprised by (his) three-point shooting, based on what he did in college, is lying. If there’s somebody who says I knew he’d knock down 50 percent of his threes even though he made 32 percent of them from the college line, they’re lying.”