The Celtics reached their roster limit Saturday by waiving Daniel Ochefu, according to RealGM’s official NBA transactions log.
The 23-year-old center signed with Boston on Friday. He will be eligible to join the Celtics’ G League affiliate in Maine if he clears waivers tomorrow.
Undrafted out of Villanova last year, Ochefu spent his rookie season with the Wizards, appearing in 19 games. He was waived last week and received a $50K guarantee on his $1,312,611 salary for this season.
The Hawks have officially requested waivers on Richard Jefferson and Kay Felder, the team announced today in a press release. Atlanta had formally confirmed their trade for Jefferson and Felder about an hour ago, so the duo’s stint with the team was very short-lived, as expected.
The Cavaliers sent Jefferson and Felder to the Hawks in order to clear a pair of contracts – one fully guaranteed and one partially guaranteed – from their books. The deal will help reduce Cleveland’s projected tax bill and gets the team’s roster in order for the start of the regular season.
From the Hawks’ perspective, the move essentially allowed the team to acquire 2019 second-round pick for free, since the Cavs sent enough cash ($3MM) to cover Jefferson’s salary and Felder’s guarantee. Jefferson’s $2.5MM salary and Felder’s $457K guarantee will remain on Atlanta’s cap for this season, reducing the team’s available cap room.
Jefferson and Felder will clear waivers on Monday, assuming they’re not claimed by another team. It will be interesting to see where each player lands, since Jefferson wants to continue his career and Felder has some appeal as a young prospect.
According to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net (Twitter link), Jefferson is drawing interest from some non-contending teams, and the Celtics could be a possibility for him too. The veteran forward isn’t eligible to re-sign with the Cavs at any point this season.
The Celtics have signed free agent center Daniel Ochefu to their NBA roster, the team announced today (via Twitter). Ochefu recently cleared waivers after being cut by the Wizards.
Ochefu, who played his college ball at Villanova, signed with the Wizards last year as an undrafted free agent. The 6’11” rookie was an unexpected addition to the club’s 15-man regular season roster and spent the year with the franchise, appearing in 19 games. Ochefu played sparingly in those contests, averaging 1.3 PPG and 1.2 RPG in 3.9 minutes per game.
With only $50K of his minimum salary for 2017/18 guaranteed, Ochefu was a roster casualty for Washington earlier this week, but it didn’t take him long to find a new home.
It will be interesting to see whether the Celtics view Ochefu as a keeper when they set their 15-man regular season roster next week, or whether the C’s hope to eventually get him on their G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws. Boston currently has just 14 players on guaranteed salaries, leaving the 15th spot available for Ochefu if the team wants to retain him.
The Celtics had a historically busy offseason, Chris Forsberg of ESPN writes, involved in so many major transactions that it’s hard to pinpoint just one single deal to to summarize the commotion. In early July it was announced that the C’s had agreed to a deal with Gordon Hayward, the only thing they lacked was cap room.
Given that it was a known fact around the league that the Celtics would need to shed salary, Boston executives were swamped with calls from teams looking to facilitate their Hayward signing by helping the club clear space. The eventual deal that was agreed upon – the one that would send Avery Bradley – to the Pistons – was struck at the last minute.
News of the deal was initially kept quiet while the Celtics and Pistons set out to inform the respective players involved but Detroit managed to get in contact with Marcus Morris well before the C’s were able to reach out to Bradley. Bradley, it’s said, had to find out that he was traded through Google.
The Celtics have waived Daniel Dixon, Jonathan Holmes, L.J. Peak and Andrew White, the team announced on Twitter.
Dixon, initially reported to be joining the team in August, didn’t officially sign on with the C’s until this week. The shooting guard went undrafted out of William & Mary back in June.
Holmes, on the other hand, a big man out of Texas, went undrafted back in 2015 and has struggled with injuries since.
Peak, a familiar face from his time at Georgetown also went undrafted this summer after declaring as an early entrant.
Finally, White, a sharp-shooting swingman inked back in August has also been let go.
Dixon, Peak and White could all end up as affiliate players with with the club’s G League squad while Holmes could end up in Maine as well, with returning rights.
After a wild summer that saw him sent from the Celtics to the conference-rival Cavaliers, Isaiah Thomas tells Lee Jenkins of SI.com that 2017 has been the best year of his career, but the worst year of his life. Thomas posted historic regular season numbers and was the unquestioned leader of a Boston team that won two playoff series in the spring, but a hip injury sidelined him toward the end of the postseason, and he has had to adjust to a new team and city while recovering from that injury.
Thomas, who is expected to be sidelined through at least the end of December, admits to Jenkins that he made his hip injury worse by playing in the postseason. However, the standout point guard remains confident that he can make a full recovery, and the Cavaliers share that view much more than they did when they first acquired him, says Jenkins. For his part, Thomas says he intends to play until he’s 40.
While Jenkins’ in-depth feature on the former Kings, Suns, and Celtics guard is worth reading in full, here are a few more quotes of interest from Thomas:
On his reaction to the blockbuster deal that sent him to Cleveland:
“None of it made any sense. It still doesn’t make any sense. I’m still asking, ‘What the hell happened?’ It’s a trade you make in NBA2K. It’s not a trade you make in real life.”
On whether he’s seeking revenge on the Celtics after their decision to trade him:
“Boston is going to be all love, [but] I might not ever talk to Danny [Ainge] again. That might not happen. I’ll talk to everybody else. But what he did, knowing everything I went through, you don’t do that, bro. That’s not right. I’m not saying eff you. But every team in this situation comes out a year or two later and says, ‘We made a mistake.’ That’s what they’ll say, too.”
On not rushing back from his hip injury to get in the Cavs’ lineup:
“The nice thing about the Cavs is nobody is in a rush. Most places are trying to get you back, which isn’t always best for you. These guys know they’re going to play in June. It’s a given.”
The Celtics have finalized a contract agreement initially reported in August, announcing this week (via Twitter) that they’ve signed undrafted rookie Daniel Dixon to their roster. The move brings Boston back up to the 20-man preseason roster limit.
Dixon, a 6’6″ shooting guard, played his college ball at William & Mary, enjoying a breakout season in his senior year. Appearing in 30 games in 2016/17, Dixon averaged 19.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 2.5 APG, with a shooting line of .482/.378/.870.
Boston’s initial training camp roster didn’t include Dixon, but the team cleared a roster spot to finalize his signing by waiving another camp invitee – Devin Williams – last week.
While terms of Dixon’s agreement aren’t known, it figures to be a non-guaranteed deal. The Celtics likely view the rookie guard as a potential affiliate player for the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s G League team.
Although fourth-year guard Marcus Smart has a strong desire to remain with the Celtics for the long term, he and agent Happy Walters have yet to hear from the team about a possible rookie scale extension, he tells Shams Charania of The Vertical.
Smart, the sixth overall pick in the 2014 draft, is extension-eligible for the first time this offseason. He and the Celtics will have until October 16 to work out an agreement. If the two sides don’t finalize a new deal, Smart would remain on track to become a restricted free agent during the summer of 2018.
Although Smart has provided solid defense during his three years with the Celtics, he continues to struggle with his offensive game. The 23-year-old averaged a career-high 10.6 PPG and 4.6 APG in 2016/17, but his .359 FG% and .283 3PT% were about in line with his unimpressive career rates.
Smart, who reportedly lost about 20 pounds during the offseason, will have an opportunity to claim a larger role in the Celtics’ rotation this year, with so much roster turnover taking place around him. Backcourt mate Avery Bradley is no longer in the picture, and neither is fellow defensive stopper Jae Crowder.
Deadlines often spur action, so the Celtics could reach out and engage in negotiations with Smart’s camp within the next week. The team no longer has to worry about paying Bradley or Isaiah Thomas in free agency next summer, and doesn’t project to have any cap room to pursue outside free agents, so it would make sense for the club to try to lock up its own players. For now though, it doesn’t look like an extension for Smart is imminent.