Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Jeffries, Diakite, Walker, Dinwiddie

March 25th, 2024 at 8:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics’ bench has turned into a strength during their current hot streak, Jay King of The Athletic writes.

Over the last nine games, Payton Pritchard has averaged 13.9 points and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 47.0% from the field. Meanwhile, Sam Hauser has made 21 three-pointers over his past three games entering Monday’s action. Al Horford, Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman and Oshae Brissett have also delivered impactful performances.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

DaQuan Jeffries’ contract with the Knicks, which he signed on Monday, runs through the end of this season with a team option for 2024/25, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets. Mamadi Diakite’s contract with the Knicks, also signed on Monday, runs through next season too, but the 2024/25 salary is non-guaranteed rather than a team option, Katz adds (Twitter link).
Lonnie Walker‘s minutes have dropped since Kevin Ollie was named the Nets’ interim coach but he’s trying to keep a positive attitude, according to NetsDaily.com. “I don’t think it negatively affects me. You might have your ups and downs, your days where you might not feel as much,” Walker said. “But for the most part, I got a great family around me that really supports me and I understand that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.” Walker will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Spencer Dinwiddie was given very little leeway by former Nets coach Jacque Vaughn before he was dealt and later joined the Lakers, according to Shams Charania. Speaking on the Run It Back program (video link), Charania said Dinwiddie “was essentially told in Brooklyn: No pick and rolls, no isolations.”

Anthony Davis, Derrick White Named Players Of The Week

March 25th, 2024 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Lakers big man Anthony Davis and Celtics guard Derrick White have been named the NBA’s players of the week for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Despite being voted an All-Star and building a strong case for an All-NBA spot, Davis hadn’t yet earned a Player of the Week nod this season. He earns the honor this week after leading the Lakers to victories over the Hawks, Sixers, and Pacers, averaging 27.0 points, 16.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.0 blocks in those three games and shooting 68.6% from the field.

With the 3-0 week, Los Angeles now holds a 2.5-game lead over Golden State for the No. 9 spot in the Western standings, though the Lakers remain 2.5 games back of the Kings and Mavericks, who currently rank seventh and eighth in the conference.

It’s also the first Player of the Week award this season for White, whose Celtics had a 4-0 week to extend their current win streak to nine games. White often gets overlooked on a roster that also features Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis, but put up big numbers in Boston’s four most recent wins, averaging 20.3 PPG, 8.8 APG, and 6.5 RPG.

Davis beat out fellow nominees Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Green, and Domantas Sabonis in the West, according to the NBA (Twitter link). Jalen Brunson, Damian Lillard, Pascal Siakam, and White’s teammate Payton Pritchard were the other players nominated in the East.

Jrue Holiday Explains The Issue With His Shoulder

March 25th, 2024 at 11:50am CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics guard Jrue Holiday explained the shoulder issue that will cause him to miss his fourth straight game tonight, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Not a dead arm. I got hit on my shoulder and it felt like my arm went dead,” Holiday said. “But it’s not a nerve thing or anything. It’s just the part of the shoulder that I got hit in. But my shoulder is fine.

Celtics Notes: Holiday, Hauser, Pritchard, White

March 22nd, 2024 at 9:37pm CST by Rory Maher

Boston has all but secured the No. 1 seed in the East, holding an 11-game lead on second-place Milwaukee with 12 games left on the team’s schedule.

As Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes (subscription required), the Celtics have been resting some of their top players over the past week to be cautious — for example, Jayson Tatum missed Friday’s game vs. Detroit with what was officially called a right ankle impingement, but there’s no indication it’s anything serious.

However, veteran guard Jrue Holiday, who missed his third straight game on Friday with a sprained right AC joint in his shoulder, does not fall into that category. Holiday tells Himmelsbach he’s been experiencing “dead arm” following a hard screen from Wizards center Richaun Holmes last Sunday (Twitter video link).

The two-time All-Star has been getting treatment for the injury, which requires rest to heal, per Himmelsbach. While Holiday says he’s starting to feel better, there’s no timeline for his return. Despite the team’s sizeable lead in the standings, he’s eager to get back on the court.

“I still want to play,” Holiday said. “That’s part of the reason I play basketball. But it’s also keeping rhythm. Sometimes when you’re out for a long time you break rhythm, but I feel like I’ve been in a good groove and I want to continue to play.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Backup forward Sam Hauser missed a couple games with an ankle sprain he sustained vs. Washington, but he returned to action in Friday’s victory, Himmelsbach adds in the same story. The third-year sharpshooter says he was relieved the injury wasn’t more serious. “It didn’t feel great, that’s for sure,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect or how it was going to feel in the days to come, but it’s felt pretty good throughout the week.”
Giving Payton Pritchard a four-year, $30MM rookie scale extension last offseason is looking like a shrewd decision by the Celtics, according to Brian Robb of MassLive, who says the fourth-year guard has outperformed that deal this season, though the extension doesn’t begin until 2024/25. “Payton’s been great, and I’m not surprised, to be honest,” Jaylen Brown said. “Some guys just got a certain mentality they carry themselves with. Payton is somebody you don’t worry about. Even in the lowest of times he’s a hard worker and his mindset is phenomenal in terms of a relentless, never-give-up warrior-type mentality. So you put him out there, I’m not surprised at anything we’re seeing now. It’s just now the work is coming to fruition.” Pritchard has been logging major minutes of late with Holiday injured and is arguably playing his best basketball of the season.
Guard Derrick White met the 65-game criteria for postseason awards on Friday, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. White earned a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team in 2022/23 and is having another excellent campaign. White has three pending bonuses, Marks notes — the 29-year-old will earn $250K if he makes another All-Defensive team, $500K if he makes at least 185 threes (he’s currently at 172), and $500K if he appears in 70 games.
Robb of MassLive lists four takeaways from Friday’s blowout victory, including a big night for Brown, who finished with 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting.

Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Maxey, McBride, Thomas

March 21st, 2024 at 12:44pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics star Jayson Tatum played in his 65th game of the season on Wednesday against Milwaukee, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That means the 26-year-old will be eligible for postseason awards, including All-NBA.

As Marks observes, Tatum already met the performance criteria for a super-max extension by a earning spot on the All-NBA First Team each of the past two seasons. However, he needed one more year of service time to meet the experience requirement. Tatum will be eligible to sign what is projected to be the most lucrative extension in league history at the beginning of July.

If that comes to fruition, which is highly likely, Tatum will be the second Celtic on a Designated Veteran contract, also known as the super-max. Jaylen Brown signed his own super-max extension last summer.

Tatum is having another excellent season in 2023/24, averaging 27.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 4.9 APG and 1.0 SPG on .474/.382/.830 shooting in his 65 appearances (35.7 MPG) for Boston, which holds (by far) the best record in the NBA at 55-14.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey had scored exactly 30 points in three straight games entering Wednesday’s contest vs. Phoenix, but registered a season-low six points in 30 minutes during the loss to the Suns, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscriber link). Maxey, a first-time All-Star who will be a restricted free agent in the offseason, shot just 3-of-13 from the floor. Philadelphia is currently 38-31, the No. 8 seed in the East, but the team only trails No. 6 Indiana by a half-game (one win).
In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Stefan Bondy details how Miles McBride‘s diligent work ethic has helped him stay ready for big minutes when called upon. The Knicks guard had a career-high 29 points (on 9-of-13 shooting) in 47 minutes on Monday while being tasked with shadowing Stephen Curry. As Bondy writes, McBride comes from a family of athletes — his father Walt was a professional player and coach. “I was a defender,” said Walt. “His brother (Trey, a pro in Germany) is a defender. His mom was a tennis player, so that lateral movement is also important to defending.”
The Nets have had a disappointing season, currently holding a 26-43 record. But the development of third-year guard Cam Thomas continues to be a bright spot for Brooklyn, writes Dan Martin of The New York Post. Over the past six games, Thomas is averaging 26.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 3.3 APG on .475/.405/.848 shooting (34.2 MPG), and he’s one of just a few players who have excelled under interim head coach Kevin Ollie, Martin notes. “It’s my first year really playing, actually figuring out how an NBA game actually works,” said Thomas, who called his playing time in his first two seasons “sporadic.” “They say Year 3 (for me), but it’s really like my rookie season. Being a key player on the scouting report instead of, my first two years, I was probably popping up sporadically, surprising teams off-guard with my scoring outbursts.”

Joe Mazzulla Told To Stop Trying To Block Shots During Time Outs

March 20th, 2024 at 6:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla tried to block a shot by Phoenix forward Royce O’Neale after a timeout last week, but he’s been instructed to retire the lighthearted gesture, relays Brian Robb of MassLive. “I’ve been told I can’t do that anymore,” Mazzulla said during an appearance on a radio show, but he declined to say who made that request.

Atlantic Notes: Trent, Porzingis, Barclays, Jones

March 19th, 2024 at 8:54pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The reeling Raptors appear doomed for an NBA draft lottery return this summer, but there are still plenty of reasons to pay attention to the team down the stretch, contends Eric Koreen of The Athletic.

Chief among them, argues Koreen, is watching combo guard Gary Trent Jr. make his push towards a lucrative new contract in free agency. As Koreen notes, Trent is enjoying a particularly prolific scoring run right now.

Koreen wonders if Trent will fetch something around the league’s mid-level exception, projected to be around $13MM, or something significantly more than that. He also writes glowingly about young new trade acquisition Ochai Agbaji, as well as intriguing 10-day signing Jahmi’us Ramsey.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics’ strategy of conserving the minutes of oft-injured center Kristaps Porzingis as he returns from a hamstring injury worked swimmingly against the Pistons, per Brian Robb of MassLive.com. Porzingis played for the first time since incurring a hamstring strain that sidelined him for 11 days. He logged just 22 minutes, but scored 20 points while shooting 7-of-14 from the floor. He also grabbed eight boards.. “It felt great,” Porzingis said. “Yeah, just different because I had the minutes restriction. Just different spurts of playing. I barely played in the first and then in the second I had a longer stretch. Something unusual, but other than that it’s always good to be out there.”
Barclays Center owner BSE Global announced that it will undertake work on some major renovations to the Nets‘ homecourt, per Lucas Kaplan of Nets. The project will reportedly include building out some fresh, premium fan clubs.
New Sixers big man Kai Jones is looking forward to his opportunity to play for a contender after an emotionally trying offseason, he said during an interview with Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link). After demanding a trade from the Hornets ahead of the season, Jones was cut instead. He explained to Charania that he has suffered some close personal losses and is now in therapy. “I didn’t want to die,” Jones reflected.

And-Ones: Cousins, LeBron, Redick, Value Contracts, 2025 FAs

March 18th, 2024 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

Former All-NBA big man DeMarcus Cousins will be returning to the Taiwan Beer Leopards in mid-April, according to Chen Jung-chen and James Lo of Focus Taiwan. Cousins played four games for the Leopards in January.

“Super excited to be back and gearing up for an epic season of playoffs with my teammates and all of you,” Cousins said in a video released on the team’s Facebook page. “Your support means the world, let’s lock it in and go all the way for this championship run.”

While he hasn’t officially announced his retirement from the NBA, the 33-year-old said in an interview last month that he doesn’t really expect to be back in the league. Since playing for the Nuggets in 2021/22, the four-time All-Star has been out of the NBA, competing professionally in Puerto Rico and Taiwan.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Lakers superstar LeBron James and ESPN commentator JJ Redick are starting a new podcast that’s “planned to be a pure conversation about basketball,” reports Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. “It’s meant to be a very free-flowing conversation about the sport and about the game,” former NBA sharpshooter Redick told Marchand. “If you look at it in a very simplistic way, it’s just about basketball.” A teaser of the Mind the Game podcast was released on YouTube, with the first full episode debuting tomorrow.
With several caveats (no maximum or minimum-salary deals, no rookie scale deals, no second-round exception deals), Keith Smith of Spotrac lists what he believes are the 10 best value contracts in the NBA. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, the East’s reigning Player of the Week, ranks No. 1, followed by Grizzlies forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. at No. 2.
Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon of HoopsHype rank 75 players who could potentially be free agents in 2025, with the top spot going to Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, followed by Knicks star Brunson. Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers), Scottie Barnes (Raptors) and Lauri Markkanen (Jazz) round out the top five.

Celtics Notes: Hauser, Pritchard, Tatum, Porzingis

March 18th, 2024 at 10:41am CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics forward Sam Hauser appears to have escaped serious injury after stepping on the foot of a Wizards player during Sunday’s game, a source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. X-rays on Hauser’s left ankle came back negative, according to Himmelsbach’s source. His status for tonight’s game against Detroit hasn’t been determined, but he isn’t expected to be out of action long.

Hauser was on the verge of a historic night when the injury occurred early in the third quarter. He was 10-of-13 from beyond the arc, leaving him one short of the franchise record for three-pointers in a game and four away from Klay Thompson‘s league mark. Coach Joe Mazzulla recognizes what a dangerous shooter he has in Hauser, who’s connecting at 43.2% from long distance this season and is typically one of the team’s most durable players, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.

“I loved his confidence, loved his aggressiveness, loved how guys look for him and I love how he got his shots within the flow of our execution,” Mazzulla said. “And that’s the weapon that he is, his ability to just put two on the ball, his ability to create open shots for himself and for other people, so it was fun to watch him shoot him. It was fun to watch his guys look for him.”

There’s more from Boston:

Payton Pritchard registered his first double-double of the season, posting 14 points and 13 assists in the win over Washington, notes Souichi Terada of MassLive. Pritchard was vocal about his lack of playing time last season, but he has settled into a regular reserve role after signing a four-year extension last summer. “I think Payton really, amongst our season, has been kind of underrated and the growth that he’s had as a player,” Mazzulla said. “His ability to play with the ball, his ability to play without the ball. He’s finding ways without scoring to highly impact the game, whether it’s his assists or with his defense or his rebounding.”
With the top seed in the East all but wrapped up, the Celtics will likely rest their stars a little over the last month of the season, but it won’t be easy to convince Jayson Tatum to go along with that plan, per Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (video link). “I’ve been here seven years. They understand kind of what they’re dealing with,” Tatum said. “I don’t like to sit out. I understand if I was injured or whatever, but I said it before, I just love to play the game.”
Wizards interim coach Brian Keefe is impressed by the development of Kristaps Porzingis, Himmelsbach adds in a separate piece. Keefe was with the Knicks when they drafted Porzingis in 2014 and was tasked with helping him get ready for the NBA. Keefe also coached him last season as an assistant in Washington. “He’s grown tremendously,” Keefe said. “This is kind of what we probably all envisioned when we first had him. The guy was so versatile, could play multiple different positions inside and outside. I’m thrilled that he’s having a great year this year.” Porzingis missed his fifth straight game Sunday due to hamstring soreness, but he worked out on the court prior to the game and may return to action tonight.

Hornets Notes: G. Williams, Offense, M. Williams, Ball

March 17th, 2024 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Hornets forward Grant Williams has been on the receiving end of some media criticism recently in his former NBA markets.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported after Williams was traded from Dallas to Charlotte last month that he had “personality clashes” and “rubbed a lot of people the wrong way” during his half-season with the Mavs, while Celtics commentator Mike Gorman said this week during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub that Williams was “annoying to everybody” during his time in Boston.

Asked by Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer about Gorman’s comments, Williams disputed the characterization.

“I try my best to take the high road on most things. I’ve always tried to treat people with respect,” Williams said. “Gorman was just talking in regard to what he thought he experienced and if you ask any one of my teammates across my career in this league, they’d know that I have not only been a great teammate, but a person they can rely on, a person they could talk to. That’s something that I’ve tried to pride myself on.

“So it’s tough hearing things like that because you never want to have someone attacking your character, especially as a teammate but also as a man. But at the end of the day, you can only focus on what you can control.”

Celtics star Jayson Tatum came to Williams’ defense on Wednesday, tweeting that the former Boston forward was a “great teammate.” Williams said it “meant the world” that Tatum said that about him.

“Honestly, I didn’t even ask him,” Williams told Boone. “So, that’s why it was even cooler and I had to thank him afterward because that’s my dog for life. And all those guys up in Boston are. I talk to those guys more than most in my whole life career. … I know I’ve always tried to treat those guys in Boston with respect, especially the commentating staff. So it surprises me that Gorman said that. But maybe that’s his true opinion.”

Here’s more on the Hornets:

The Hornets’ margin for error on offense is much smaller when LaMelo Ball isn’t available, so head coach Steve Clifford has been trying to get his team to follow a specific formula with the star point guard out, Boone writes for The Charlotte Observer. “I know I’m saying the same thing all the time, but it’s offensive pace, offensive force, playing inside-out,” Clifford said. “When the ball hit the paint the other night, our numbers were much better than when it doesn’t. … We just get away from that. We don’t have that kind of team. If Melo is playing, it’s totally different. But with the group we have here, we are capable of playing well but we all have to be playing the same way. And for us, that ball has got to hit the paint before we shoot.”
In a mailbag for The Charlotte Observer, Boone explained why he doesn’t expect to see Mark Williams return for the Hornets before the end of the season, laid out why a Ball trade is extremely unlikely, and discussed whether Aleksej Pokusevski has a place in the team’s future, among other topics.
Within that mailbag, Boone was asked whether the Hornets will have their eye on any particular positions in the draft and identified two areas of need: Another three-and-D wing and a P.J. Washington replacement at power forward. While Brandon Miller has shown tremendous upside as a three-and-D player, Cody Martin has been limited by injuries for two seasons and Gordon Hayward is no longer around to play that role.