- Asked about Gordon Hayward‘s potential return, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said on Thursday that it’s too early to put a timetable on the forward’s recovery, as Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald details. “I think it’s just safe to say that we’re not counting on him this year and go from there,” Ainge said. “Just take the pressure off him and let him heal correctly is the most important thing and not even really talk about when he should return to play. That’ll work itself out over time.”
- Ainge, who said the Celtics are exploring possible roster additions, added that the club is “not in a major rush” to make any moves, per Bulpett.
For the first time, NBA teams are permitted to carry up to 17 players this season. In addition to carrying up to 15 players to the NBA roster, teams can add two more players on two-way contracts. The rule changes related to roster sizes have allowed teams to maintain a little extra flexibility, and many clubs are taking advantage of that added flexibility to open the season, carrying the full 17 players.
Several teams still have open roster spots though, affording those clubs a different kind of flexibility. A team carrying only 14 NBA players, for instance, has the opportunity to sign a free agent or add a player in a trade at any time without waiving anyone, all the while avoiding paying for a 15th man who almost certainly won’t see much playing time.
With the help of our roster count page and our two-way contract tracker, here’s a breakdown of the teams that have at least one open NBA or two-way spot on their rosters:
Teams carrying just 14 NBA contracts:
- Boston Celtics
- Charlotte Hornets
- Detroit Pistons
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Portland Trail Blazers
It makes sense that a few of these teams would avoid carrying a 15th man to open the season. The Rockets, Thunder, and Trail Blazers are all taxpayers, and teams like the Clippers and Hornets are close enough to the tax threshold that avoiding a 15th salary is logical. Among these clubs, the Celtics seem like perhaps the best bet to fill their final roster opening soon, now that the team has likely lost Gordon Hayward for the season.
Teams carrying just one two-way contract:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Houston Rockets
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers don’t currently have a G League affiliate of their own, but the other five teams on this list do, so that’s probably not the reason Portland has waited to fill its second two-way slot. In all likelihood, these six teams will add a second two-way player in time for G League training camps, which open next week. The season tips off on November 3.
Celtics forward Gordon Hayward underwent surgery on Wednesday night to repair a dislocated left ankle and fractured tibia, and while that surgery was deemed successful, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that his client is unlikely to return to the court this season.
Although Bartelstein isn’t expecting Hayward to be back during the 2017/18 campaign, he remains confident in the 27-year-old’s long-term prognosis, suggesting to Wojnarowski that the injury isn’t career-threatening.
“We expect him to make a full recovery and return to his All-Star form,” Bartelstein said.
With Hayward likely to miss the entire season, the Celtics will be eligible to apply for a disabled player exception to help replace their star forward, and the league should grant that exception at some point. The DPE would give Boston the opportunity to sign, claim, or trade for a player earning up to $8.406MM. If the C’s were to use the exception to trade for someone, that player would need to be in the final year of his contract.
While there’s no guarantee that the C’s will make use of that disabled player exception right away, the team does have an open spot on its 15-man roster, and head coach Brad Stevens indicated on Wednesday that there’s a decent chance the club will fill it, as Wojnarowski details. In the meantime, Boston made two-way player Jabari Bird active on Wednesday to help add some depth, and the game won’t count as one of Bird’s 45 NBA days, since that clock doesn’t start until G League training camps do.
Assuming Hayward misses the season, the Celtics would be able to recoup up to about $7.2MM of his $29.73MM+ salary via insurance, ESPN’s report notes.
In the wake of Gordon Hayward‘s horrific injury in Tuesday’s season opener, the Celtics plan to use their roster opening to add another player, relays Chris Forsberg of ESPN.
Boston trimmed its roster to 14 players last week, along with a pair of two-way deals. One of those two-way players, Jabari Bird, was added to the active roster before tonight’s game against the Bucks. Until G League camps open, Bird’s time with the Celtics won’t count against the 45 days he is permitted to be in the NBA.
“I think we will at least be actively looking for that roster spot, just because, obviously, the standpoint of the youth, but also because you lose one of your better shooters and more versatile players,” coach Brad Stevens told reporters. “A guy who can put the ball in the basket for you. We’ll see how that works itself out. We haven’t really gotten into it too much because we have our hands full tonight.”
Boston is more than $12MM over the cap and already used its room exception to sign Aron Baynes, so the team can only offer a minimum-salary deal. If Hayward’s injury is determined to be season-ending, the Celtics can apply for an $8.4MM disabled player exception. That money is only usable for free agents, players on waivers or anyone with a single season left on their contract.
Hayward will undergo surgery tonight, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, to fix a dislocated and fractured left tibia. The team hasn’t set a timetable for his return.
Hayward got a huge ovation from Boston fans when a videotaped message from his hospital bed was played before the start of tonight’s game, Forsberg tweeted. “It’s hurting me that I can’t be there,” Hayward told the crowd. “… I want nothing more just to be with my teammates and walk out onto that floor tonight.” (Twitter link)
OCTOBER 18, 4:53pm: Hayward has been diagnosed with a dislocated and fractured left tibia, and will undergo surgery to repair the injury, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Head coach Brad Stevens said the team is expecting a “full recovery” for Hayward, but declined to speculate on a recovery timeline, tweets Jay King of MassLive.com.
OCTOBER 17, 8:35pm: Gordon Hayward suffered a gruesome fractured left ankle less than six minutes into the Celtics‘ regular-season opener against the Cavaliers on Tuesday, the team announced.
Hayward collapsed after an attempted alley-oop off a pass from Kyrie Irving. He landed on the hardwood and his leg collapsed underneath his weight. Players from both teams were distraught as medical personnel put an air cast on Hayward’s leg and took him into the locker room on a stretcher.
A fractured ankle is a preliminary diagnosis as Hayward will likely undergo an MRI to determine the full extent of the injury, per Mannix (via Twitter).
Several players, including LeBron James and Isaiah Thomas, went to the locker room area to see Hayward before he was taken to the hospital, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Twitter links). Droves of NBA players sent Hayward well wishes over social media, including Thunder forward Paul George, who suffered a gruesome leg fracture during a Team USA scrimmage in August 2014.
Hayward’s injury is devastating for everybody involved as the 27-year-old signed a lucrative four-year, $128MM deal with Boston this offseason. Hayward spent the first seven seasons with the Jazz before signing with the Celtics this offseason. Alongside acquisition Irving and incumbents such as Al Horford, Hayward was expected to help Boston contend for an NBA championship.
Hayward set career highs in PPG (21.9), APG (5.4), RPG (4.7) and field goal percentage (.471%) in 73 games last season with the Jazz. The Butler University product made his first NBA All-Star team last season, too.
While it’s unclear whether or not Hayward’s injury is career-threatening, it seems unlikely that we’ll see him on the court again this season. As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes, in the event of a season-ending injury, the Celtics will be eligible to apply for a disabled player exception worth $8.4MM. That DPE could be used to sign a free agent claim a player off waivers, or trade for a player with one year left on his contract.
Gordon Hayward‘s ugly left ankle injury was a horrible way for the Celtics and their prized free agent acquisition to start the 2017/18 season, but Chris Mannix of The Vertical (video link via NBC Sports Boston) hears from sources that there’s some “cautious optimism” about Hayward’s eventual recovery.
According to Mannix, the injury, which has been described to him as a “clean break,” is one that could have been worse, even if it didn’t look that way at the time. Mannix suggests that the All-Star forward should be able to make a full recovery.
The Celtics have yet to issue an update on Hayward themselves, so while Mannix’s report is encouraging, we’ll wait for official word from the team on Hayward’s diagnosis, possible surgery, and recovery outlook. In the meantime, here’s more out of Boston:
- Applying for a disabled player exception would give the Celtics some flexibility to sign or trade a replacement for Hayward, as we noted on Tuesday night. Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype identifies some potential targets in free agency or on the trade market in the event that Boston does attempt to add reinforcements.
- Charles Curtis of USA Today makes the case for why the Celtics are still a legit contender even without Hayward in the lineup.
- Before the season opener on Tuesday, Marcus Smart spoke to reporters – including Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald – about his failed contract extension talks with the Celtics, suggesting that he’ll be more expensive to lock up as a restricted free agent next summer. “We thought it was close from the fact that we didn’t ask for much,” Smart said. “We were going to take less money than what we probably are valued, and some other things, but they just weren’t budging. (Luxury tax was) the big issue. They weren’t willing to pay the luxury tax. We even gave them options of things where they wouldn’t have to pay or be so deep into the luxury tax, and they still wouldn’t budge.”
- In an in-depth piece for The Boston Globe, Adam Himmelsbach revisits the Celtics’ eventful offseason, with several Celtics executives, including Danny Ainge and Mike Zarren, providing quotes.
As usual, the 2017 NBA offseason featured a ton of player movement, with new rookies entering the league, free agents changing teams, and a total of 40 trades being completed between the end of the 2016/17 season and 2017/18’s opening night.
Some teams were more involved in that summer carousel than others. The Celtics, for instance, will enter the season carrying only four players – Al Horford, Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart – who finished last season with the team. The Clippers are another team whose roster underwent significant turnover this offseason, with only five players returning from last year’s squad.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, teams like the Warriors, Bucks, and Trail Blazers made minimal changes, bringing back 12 players from last year’s rosters. That was especially impressive in Golden State’s case, since the club entered the summer with players like Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, David West, Andre Iguodala, Zaza Pachulia, Shaun Livingston, and JaVale McGee eligible for free agency — all of those players re-signed with the Dubs.
As a point of comparison, the Clippers took on more new players in their Chris Paul trade alone than clubs like the Warriors, Bucks, and Blazers added all summer.
After taking a closer look earlier today at the NBA’s youngest and oldest opening night rosters, we’ll turn our attention to the clubs with the most and least roster continuity to open the season. Listed below are the number of returning players for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, from most to fewest. Two-way players aren’t included in this list.
Bringing back a significant number of players doesn’t necessarily lead to regular season success, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a few of the teams near the top of this list enjoy fast starts due to their players’ familiarity with each other, while teams near the bottom of the list may take some time to get used to their changes.
Here’s the returning-player count for each team:
- Golden State Warriors: 12
- Milwaukee Bucks: 12
- Portland Trail Blazers: 12
- Denver Nuggets: 12
- Note: Nuggets’ figure set to dip to 11 once the team officially signs Richard Jefferson and waives Jameer Nelson, as is expected.
- Dallas Mavericks: 11
- Miami Heat: 11
- Philadelphia 76ers: 11
- Phoenix Suns: 11
- San Antonio Spurs: 11
- Toronto Raptors: 11
- Washington Wizards: 11
- Memphis Grizzlies: 10
- New Orleans Pelicans: 10
- Brooklyn Nets: 9
- Charlotte Hornets: 9
- Detroit Pistons: 9
- Houston Rockets: 9
- Chicago Bulls: 8
- Los Angeles Lakers: 8
- New York Knicks: 8
- Note: The Knicks are the only team carrying 16 players to open the season.
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 8
- Orlando Magic: 8
- Utah Jazz: 8
- Atlanta Hawks: 7
- Cleveland Cavaliers: 7
- Minnesota Timberwolves: 7
- Sacramento Kings: 7
- Indiana Pacers: 6
- Los Angeles Clippers: 5
- Boston Celtics: 4
Celtics shooting guard Marcus Smart is headed to restricted free agency next summer after the two sides failed to reach an extension agreement. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said the parties were “relatively close” as today’s deadline neared but couldn’t finalize the deal (Twitter link).
Smart and the Boston front office were “fully engaged” in talks, according to The Vertical’s Shams Charania, but couldn’t bridge the monetary gap before the deadline expired. Luxury tax implications were the primary concern for the Celtics, Charania adds (Twitter links). Boston has approximately $80MM in commitments next season just for its three star players, Gordon Hayward, Al Horford and Kyrie Irving.
Smart will make $4,538,020 this season. He’ll be a restricted free agent if Boston extends him a qualifying offer of just over $6MM, which it is virtually certain to do.
Smart’s representative had a number in mind and the Celtics got close to it, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets. However, Smart’s camp believes he’ll receive a major offer sheet next July if he has a strong season, Kyler adds.
Smart’s agent, Happy Walters, confirmed that notion with Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, saying “it will cost them a lot more” to sign his client next summer. Walters also said that he wasn’t seeking a max extension for Smart and that he was “very reasonable” in his asking price (Twitter links).
Smart appeared in 79 regular-season games last season and filled up the stat sheet, averaging 10.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 4.6 APG and 1.6 SPG in 30.4 MPG. His weakness is shooting, as he has posted averages of 35.8% from the field and 29.1% from 3-point range in his three NBA seasons.
Smart, 23, was the sixth overall pick in the 2014 draft. He’ll share playing time with Jaylen Brown at the off-guard spot. He’ll also see some action at the point behind Irving.
- Barring a sudden change, Marcus Smart and the Celtics are set to let today’s deadline pass without a new deal in place, a league source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald tweets a similar sentiment, citing a source who says there’s “a pulse but not much else” in the Smart negotiations.
Kevin Love penned a farewell tribute to former teammate Richard Jefferson on Instagram, relays Hayden Grove of Cleveland.com. The veteran forward was traded Saturday to the Hawks along with Kay Felder to help reduce the Cavaliers’ luxury tax bill. Jefferson spent two seasons in Cleveland and helped the team win its only NBA title. “We would never have been able to celebrate our 2016 Championship without the contributions of RJ,” Love wrote. “He always stepped up to make our team better.”
Jefferson recorded an episode of his “Road Trippin'” podcast Saturday and said he knew his time in Cleveland was over when the team signed Dwyane Wade last week. Atlanta waived both players shortly after completing the deal, but the 37-year-old Jefferson has stated that he has no plans to retire and has already received interest from the Bucks and other teams.
There’s more today out of Cleveland:
- Jefferson was nearly traded last summer after unveiling the Cavs’ championship rings on his Snapchat account before the team was ready to make them public, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Former GM David Griffin was reportedly so angry that he wanted to move Jefferson to another team, but he eventually cooled down and accepted an apology.
- Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving took a shot at his former home, saying there’s “a vast difference” between Boston and Cleveland, according to the Associated Press. “Boston, I’m driving in and [thinking], ‘I’m really playing in a real, live sports city?” Irving said to reporters this week. Irving is also downplaying the thought of starting his Celtics career with a game in Cleveland, relays Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “I understand the magnitude … but I know what it is going to entail in terms of marketing, whatever the case may be, to garner up this energy to make people feel a certain type of way,” Irving said. “I get all that. It’s part of the game. It’s been a part of the game for a while, but it’s just two hoops and a basketball.”
- The Cavaliers have been very cautious with LeBron James‘ injured left ankle during the preseason, but coach Tyronn Lue expects him to be ready for opening night, McMenamin posts on ESPN Now. “That would be a tough one for him personally to miss,” Lue said. “There’s a lot of hype behind the game but like I told him, we got to be smart about it. It’s just one game, but I think he’ll be OK.”