- According to Jayson Tatum himself, the Celtics intended to draft him all along, even prior to trading down from No. 1 to No. 3 ahead of the June 22 draft. Tatum explained as much on a recent podcast. The Sixers, he says, were under the assumption that Boston was looking at Markelle Fultz with the top pick.
- Offseason signee Daniel Theis could bring energy on the glass and defensive versatility to the Celtics, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe writes in a profile piece on the German forward.
One of the primary storylines of the 2017 NBA offseason was the continuation of the talent exodus from the Eastern Conference, as stars like Jimmy Butler and Paul George were sent to Western contenders. In a piece evaluating the offseason for Eastern teams, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton assigns grades that suggest that the conference did poorly as a whole this summer — multiple teams received an F.
Still, while one of those teams assigned a failing grade by Pelton – the Knicks – is an Atlantic club, New York’s division rivals all received praise. In Pelton’s view, the Celtics, Sixers, Raptors, and Nets each deserved a grade of B or higher for their summer moves — those clubs were four of just five Eastern teams to be marked that highly.
Taking a closer look at the roster moves by those Atlantic teams, it’s not hard to see what Pelton liked. The Celtics landed arguably the top free agent on the market – or at least the best one who had a chance to change teams – when they signed Gordon Hayward to a four-year, maximum salary deal. And while Danny Ainge couldn’t swing a deal for a player like Butler or George, he added another probable lottery pick to Boston’s stockpile when he traded down from No. 1 to No. 3 in the draft.
The Sixers were on the other end of that trade with Boston, and drafting a potential franchise player in Markelle Fultz earns them a high grade. In addition to investing in another young player with huge upside, Philadelphia also delved into the free agent market more aggressively in an effort to add veterans, and signed J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson to short, team-friendly contracts.
The Raptors entered the offseason in a difficult spot, with four key players facing free agency, and managed to bring back two of those players on shorter deals than expected, locking up Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka to three-year pacts. The club also got out from under DeMarre Carroll‘s exorbitant salary, replacing him with a cheaper and more productive swingman in C.J. Miles, and drafted a potential steal in OG Anunoby.
Meanwhile, the Nets made creative use of their cap room, taking on Carroll’s and Timofey Mozgov‘s bad contracts in order to secure draft picks and D’Angelo Russell. The club also managed to acquire a player it pursued aggressively a year ago, and got him at a reduced rate — Allen Crabbe is now a Net, and the fact that Brooklyn traded Andrew Nicholson to Portland in the deal means the net cost for Crabbe isn’t quite so high.
As for the Knicks, there’s still time for them to enter the mix for the best offseason in the Atlantic. For instance, if they were able to acquire Kyrie Irving with a Carmelo Anthony-based package in the coming weeks, the summer would look a lot different for the franchise. But that looks extremely unlikely, and so far this offseason the Knicks have made a series of questionable moves, including drafting Frank Ntilikina over Dennis Smith Jr., replacing Phil Jackson between the draft and free agency, committing more money than expected to Tim Hardaway Jr. and Ron Baker, and hanging onto Anthony.
What do you think? Which Atlantic team had the best offseason? Place your vote below and then head to the comments section to share your thoughts.
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One month into the 2017/18 NBA league year, most of this year’s draftees know where they’ll be playing for the upcoming season. As our tracker for draft pick signings shows, we’re only waiting for resolution on a small group of players.
Twenty-nine of 30 first-round picks have signed their first NBA contracts, and the 30th – Sixers big man Anzejs Pasecniks – will remain overseas for at least one more year. Meanwhile, in the second round, about half of this year’s picks have signed NBA contracts, a handful of others have agreed to two-way deals, and some will continue to play international ball.
There’s no rush at this point for teams to finalize plans for the last few unsigned draft picks from this year’s class, but it’s still worth checking in to see where things stand for those players. Here are the 2017 draftees whose statuses for ’17/18 appear to be up in the air:
- Ivan Rabb (Memphis Grizzlies, No. 35): The Grizzlies signed 45th overall pick Dillon Brooks, but have yet to lock up Rabb, who now finds himself in an interesting spot. Memphis already has 15 players on guaranteed contracts for 2017/18, and that total doesn’t even include RFA JaMychal Green, who seems likely to return. Even though there’s no current opening for Rabb, he was probably too high a draft pick to accept a two-way contract, so perhaps the Grizzlies ultimately intend to trade or waive a player (or two) to make room. Otherwise, it’s not clear what the plan is for Rabb.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (Houston Rockets, No. 43): International basketball reporter David Pick provided an update on Hartenstein today, tweeting that Houston will likely have him start with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League. So far, no player drafted earlier than No. 51 has signed a two-way contract, and typically only players selected at the very end of the draft accept straight G League contracts. If Hartenstein is willing to go to the G League, it would be a great value move for the Rockets.
- Nigel Williams-Goss (Utah Jazz, No. 55): Two weeks ago, we heard that Williams-Goss was a candidate for Utah’s second two-way contract opening. The Jazz haven’t made a move to fill that slot since then, so I’d expect Williams-Goss remains the leading candidate.
- Jabari Bird (Boston Celtics, No. 56): Like Williams-Goss in Utah, Bird appears to be the top candidate for the final two-way contract opening in Boston. Such a move would make a lot of sense. There isn’t enough room on the Celtics’ regular-season roster for Bird, and the four players selected with the picks from 51 through 54 in this year’s draft all got two-way deals — it’s logical that the 55th and 56th picks would too.
JULY 31, 11:15am: The Celtics have officially signed Larkin, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 20, 12:35pm: Larkin’s deal will be for one year, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. Larkin’s one-year deal with the Celtics will be fully guaranteed, a source tells Jay King of MassLive.com.
JULY 20, 10:10am: The Celtics have reached an agreement with Shane Larkin that will bring the point guard back to the NBA, reports international basketball journalist David Pick (via Twitter). Terms of the deal aren’t known, but Larkin and the C’s have agreed to terms, according to Pick, who suggests that the point guard is leaving $6MM+ on the table by returning stateside (Twitter link).
Larkin, the 18th overall pick in the 2013 draft, spent time with the Mavericks, Knicks, and Nets before heading overseas last season. Having signed with Spanish team Baskonia for the 2016/17 campaign, Larkin was one of the most productive point guards in Europe, averaging a team-high 14.1 PPG and 4.9 APG in 37 Spanish League games for Baskonia. He also led the club in PPG (13.1) and APG (5.7) in 33 Euroleague games.
Larkin didn’t exactly turn heads during his first stint in the NBA, averaging a modest 5.8 PPG and 3.2 APG in 202 regular season games. However, he’s still just 24 years old, and Pick suggests that Larkin was widely viewed as the top Euroleague free agent point guard after Milos Teodosic signed with the Clippers.
While Boston appears willing to roll the dice on Larkin, it’s not clear if the Miami alum will be guaranteed a spot on the regular season roster. With Avery Bradley and Demetrius Jackson no longer on the team, I’d expect Larkin to have an inside track on a 15-man roster spot to provide backcourt depth, particularly since he reportedly turned down a far more lucrative offer from Barcelona in order to join the C’s. Still, the back of the roster could get a little crowded, given the arrivals of players like Abdel Nader, Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis, and possibly Guerschon Yabusele.
The Celtics are virtually out of cap room and have used the room exception on Aron Baynes, so Larkin appears likely to receive a minimum salary deal.
10:37am: The Heat have made no offer to the Cavs for Irving, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link). Wojnarowski is as reliable as NBA reporters come, so this may simply be a question of semantics — perhaps the Heat conveyed to Cleveland what they’d be willing to give up for Kyrie without officially putting an offer on the table. Either way, Miami looks like a long shot.
8:37am: The Spurs, Clippers, Heat, Knicks, Suns, and Timberwolves are among the teams that have made trade offers to the Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Wojnarowski, about 20 teams have inquired with the Cavs about Irving, but far fewer have made legit proposals — some clubs are just monitoring the proceedings, while others don’t have the assets necessary to make a deal happen.
As Wojnarowski explains, there’s a discrepancy between the sort of package the Cavaliers are seeking and what Irving’s potential suitors are currently willing to offer. New GM Koby Altman is looking at the package Denver received in 2011 for Carmelo Anthony as a point of reference. The Nuggets acquired young players, win-now veterans, and draft picks in that swap. However, Cleveland’s potential trade partners prefer a “scaled-down” version of that structure, with fewer players and picks, like what the Bulls received for Jimmy Butler.
Here’s more from Woj:
- According to Wojnarowski, the Cavaliers haven’t ruled out the possibility of bringing Irving to training camp, or even extending the process beyond December 15, when most free agent signees become trade-eligible. However, other clubs are skeptical that the Cavs will let the Irving saga continue well into the fall.
- Teams around the league view the Suns and Celtics as the teams best equipped to make a deal for Irving. However, Phoenix hasn’t been willing to include Josh Jackson, and it’s not clear how aggressive Boston would be with its assets.
- The Heat are open to parting with Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow in an offer for Irving, sources tell Wojnarowski. Still, Miami would likely have to make an “overwhelming” offer to get something done, given the history between the two franchises, Woj adds.
- The Pacers had Irving as the No. 1 target on their trade board when they were shopping Paul George, and would have done a one-for-one deal, but the Cavaliers declined that option multiple times, sources tell Woj. The ESPN scribe also notes that a separate deal for George – involving Kevin Love instead of Irving – fell apart when the Cavs insisted on including lottery protection on a first-round pick they’d send to the Pacers. Indiana wanted the pick unprotected.
- Team executives around the NBA are doing a ton of homework on Irving, and have been encouraged by what they’ve found — there’s a consensus that Irving has a history of late nights and partying, but it never affected his play and he has curbed those tendencies into his mid-20s, says Wojnarowski.
The Celtics and second-round pick Jabari Bird are working on a two-way contract, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
The 6’6″ shooting guard out of California reportedly impressed team team officials with his summer league play. He was the 56th player taken in this year’s draft after averaging 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds as a senior with the Golden Bears.
It appears as though the Celtics will have 16 players in camp with guaranteed contracts, so a two-way deal may be Bird’s best path to a future with the team. Boston has already signed Kadeem Allen to one of its two-way contracts.
Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas won’t need surgery to fix the right hip injury that forced him out of the playoffs, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Several hip specialists evaluated Thomas, but no course of action could be determined until the swelling lessened. The injury first struck Thomas in mid-March, then was aggravated in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Wizards. “Isaiah is making good progress,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “He’s out on the court, he’s shooting. He’s full speed ahead on the stationary bike and working in the swimming pool. He’s progressing nicely.” As long as there are no setbacks, Thomas is expected to be ready for training camp.
- For the second straight season, the Celtics appear headed to camp with more than 15 guaranteed contracts, Himmelsbach writes in a separate story. Shane Larkin reached an agreement with Boston last week on a fully guaranteed deal, which brings the total to 16. The roster will have to be trimmed to 15 by the start of the season, not counting a pair of two-way contracts, so the Celtics will either have to make a trade or waive a player with guaranteed money. In the same situation last fall, Boston waived R.J. Hunter and his $1.2MM deal.
Gordon Hayward narrowed his choices down to the Jazz, Celtics, and Heat before deciding to come to Boston. He joined ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on The Woj Pod to discuss some of the factors that went into his decision. Here are the highlights from the interview:
On Miami’s recruiting pitch:
I think the text I sent to [agent] Mark [Bartelstein] was, ‘Wow, that’s going to be really tough to beat.’ … I asked [my wife] Robyn, and she said something like she could see herself living there and that would be a really great place for us to be. ‘I really liked such and such of the wives and I could have a good relationship with them.’ It was all positive stuff. It was something where it was like ‘OK, now let’s try to just put that aside and go into Boston with a clean slate.’
On the Ricky Rubio trade:
It kind of was a difficult situation because I don’t want to be somebody that says, ‘You go get this player and I’m 100 percent in. If you trade for so and so, you get rid of this guy, you go get him.’ … I didn’t want to make demands because I didn’t know if I was going to end up there. It wasn’t a sure thing. I had told them I wanted to check out these other teams, and that being said, they asked me, ‘How do you feel about these guys?’ and I would tell them and Ricky was a guy that was high on my list.
On his relationship with Brad Stevens:
It’s been seven years since he coached me [at Butler], and immediately, though, he called me July 1, and after that phone call I thought like this isn’t going to be any different. With him, it was one of those things where he made me feel like even if I don’t go to Boston, it’ll be fine and we’ll still have that great relationship and he’ll still be in my corner and he’ll still be rooting for me and supporting me. So I got that feeling, too. We didn’t have a driver. He’s the one that picked me up and the one that drove me to the hotel and we got lost a couple times on the way. All those thoughts were put to bed.
There’s little chance that the Cavaliers will salvage their relationship with Kyrie Irving, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who says the team is “acting as if a trade is almost inevitable.” Per Lowe, the Cavs also seem confident that they’ll be able to land a significant haul for Irving, despite the fact that stars like DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, and Jimmy Butler have returned underwhelming hauls so far this year.
Lowe’s latest piece on Irving explores possible trade scenarios involving the Suns, Celtics, Heat, Knicks, Hawks, Bucks, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and more. While many of those proposed scenarios appear to be speculation on Lowe’s part, they give the impression that the Cavs certainly won’t be limiting themselves to Irving’s reported wish list of four teams as they seek out the best possible deal.
Here’s more from Lowe, along with other updates on Irving:
- The Cavaliers‘ highest priority in an Irving trade is to get a “blue-chip” young player in return, sources tell Lowe. Cleveland’s ideal scenario would be a deal that nets the club that blue-chip player, plus a veteran or two, plus draft picks. In other words, the Cavs are aiming for a trade package that provides the best of both worlds — players that can help the team contend for a championship in the short term, and valuable long-term assets.
- Since Irving made his trade request, the Cavaliers‘ front office has studied every trade involving a star player over the last decade, per Lowe. One particular deal that caught the club’s eye was the one that sent Goran Dragic from Phoenix to Miami for a package that included multiple first-round picks.
- Many teams, including the Celtics, have called the Cavaliers to let them know they want to be kept in the loop as trade talks progress, writes Lowe.
- The Nets still have a chunk of salary cap room remaining and could be an interesting trade partner in a multi-team scenario, but there have been no rumblings yet about their potential participation, according to Lowe.
- The Kings have no interest in moving De’Aaron Fox in a deal for Irving, reports James Ham of CSNBayArea.com.
- One Western Conference team executive tells Chris Mannix of The Vertical that he thinks the Cavaliers may end up having to wait until after December 15 to make a deal, after this year’s free agent signees become trade-eligible. If that happens, it might create an awkward few months in Cleveland, with Irving still on the roster when the season begins.
- As long as Kyrie Irving doesn’t go to the Warriors, Celtics forward Marcus Morris is happy. Per CSN New England, the recently acquired forward tweeted “Just don’t go to Golden State” shortly after news broke the the guard was looking to be traded.
- For the third year in a row the Celtics may have a battle for their final roster spot, 16 players have guaranteed rosters for the 2017/18 season. A. Sherrod Blakely of CSN New England breaks down how the roster looks after the addition of point guard Shane Larkin.