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Isaiah Thomas Injures Right Hip

May 19th, 2017 at 10:24pm CST by Austin Kent

The Celtics fell apart in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals clash with the Cavaliers but that may not be their only concern. As Chris Forsberg of ESPN details, All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas left the game with a hip strain after the first half and didn’t return.

The injury may not be a new one, however, and Chris Mannix of the Vertical tweets that, per Danny Ainge, Thomas even went to a hospital for tests on the same hip following Game 6 of the C’s Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup against the Wizards. Within the C’s organization, Mannix tweets, there were doubts that he would even play in Game 7 of that series.

The club will know more about Thomas’ prognosis ahead of Game 3 after the guard is evaluated on Saturday, Forsberg tweets.

Although the game was well out of reach when Thomas was ultimately shelved, the big question surrounding Boston now is whether or not they’ll have their leading scorer when the series shifts back to Cleveland.

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Thomas, Fultz Have Already Been In Touch

May 19th, 2017 at 8:28pm CST by Austin Kent
  • It didn’t take long for Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas to reach out to Markelle Fultz, the expected No. 1 draft pick that could suit up in green next season, Chris Forsberg of ESPN writes. The two players currently play the same position but Thomas thinks the pair could thrive together.
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Poll: Should Celtics Keep Or Trade No. 1 Pick?

May 19th, 2017 at 11:21am CST by Luke Adams

Few teams in NBA history have found themselves in the Celtics’ current position. Boston is not only one of the four teams still alive in the playoffs, but also has landed the No. 1 overall pick in what’s considered a very strong 2017 draft.

The Celtics’ showing this season, which included earning the first overall seed in the East, is proof that the team isn’t too far away from being a serious title contender. However, if Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals was any indication, the team may not just be one player away from seriously threatening LeBron James‘ Cavs.

That creates an interesting dilemma for the Celtics, who have stashed away three extra first-round picks beyond 2017, including the Nets’ unprotected 2018 selection. Boston has enough young players and future assets to continue taking its time in building a contender, perhaps waiting out LeBron’s peak. However, that stash of extra picks and assets, along with an already-talented roster, provides a unique opportunity — the C’s could move the No. 1 pick this year for a star, improve their roster immediately, and still be well-positioned to keep their window of contention open for years.

There’s no obvious answer for the Celtics, with some NBA observers arguing in favor of trading the pick and some insisting they need to keep it. The probable No. 1 pick, point guard Markelle Fultz, plays the same position as the team’s current MVP, Isaiah Thomas. What would it mean for Thomas’ long-term future if Fultz joins the mix in Boston?

Conversely, if the C’s were to trade the pick, what kind of player could they land? Jimmy Butler and Paul George have been frequently mentioned as targets, but are the Bulls ready to trade Butler? Would George, on track for 2018 free agency, be willing to commit to an extension with the Celtics? Is there another player – perhaps someone like Kristaps Porzingis – who might be available for the No. 1 pick, and who would appeal to Boston?

What do you think the Celtics should do with the first overall pick? Place your vote below, and then jump into the comments section to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Celtics To Prioritize Gordon Hayward In Free Agency

May 18th, 2017 at 11:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Celtics have the assets to pull off a trade for a star this summer, though the team is focusing its attention on the free agent market with the hopes landing Gordon Hayward, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (video link). Wojnarowski notes that Boston could have a better idea of where it stands with Hayward leading up to the draft.

Hayward didn’t make an All-NBA team, which means he won’t be eligible for the new designated player extension. That marginalizes the advantage that the Jazz have in re-signing the 27-year-old and it could open the door for another team to pry him from Utah. Celtics coach Brad Stevens recruited and coached Hayward at Butler University prior to making the jump to the professional ranks.

Boston has just under $62MM in guaranteed salary on the books next season against a projected $101MM salary cap. However, that total doesn’t include a $7MM+ cap hold for the No. 1 overall pick or a $7.7MM+ cap hold for restricted free agent Kelly Olynyk, so the team may have to get creative to open up space for a maximum salary contract.

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Draft Notes: Fall, Jones, Haas

May 18th, 2017 at 3:57pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Tacko Fall had a workout with the Magic today. He will work out for the Jazz and he may schedule one with the Rockets as well, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links). The University of Central Florida center has previously worked out for the Celtics.

Fall is testing the draft waters but has until May 24 to make a final decision. The 7’6″ big man is the 92nd best prospect in the upcoming draft, according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.

Here’s more on upcoming draft:

  • Andrew Jones is leaning toward staying at Texas for another season, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Givony has Jones as his 54th best prospect.
  • Isaac Haas will return to Purdue for his senior season, the university announced on its website. “After going through the NBA evaluations and workouts with multiple teams, I have had many long discussions with my family and the Purdue coaching staff. We came to the decision that it’s best that I come back to Purdue and help bring Purdue to a better place than last year for my senior year,” Haas said.
  • BYU’s Eric Mika will sign an agent and remain in the draft, according to the school’s Twitter feed. Givony has Mika as 79th best prospect in the field.
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No Paul George, Gordon Hayward On All-NBA Teams

May 18th, 2017 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced its All-NBA teams for the 2016/17 season, and neither Paul George nor Gordon Hayward is among the 15 players honored. That’s big news for both players and their teams, since they’ll be ineligible for the Designated Veteran Extension, reducing the amount of money the Pacers and Jazz – respectively – could offer their star forwards in contract extensions this offseason.

Here are this year’s All-NBA teams:

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

Based on this year’s All-NBA voting results, Wall is now eligible to sign a Designated Veteran Extension this summer, while Leonard is eligible to sign one next summer. Harden, Westbrook, and Curry are also eligible to sign DVEs this summer, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes (via Twitter).

Those Designated Veteran Extensions – which are dependent on a player making an All-NBA team in the year before he signs an extension, or in two of the previous three years – apply to players finishing up their rookie scale extensions. They allow a player re-signing with his own team to earn up to 35% of the salary cap, rather than just 30%. So, if we assume a $101MM salary cap for 2017/18, a player like Curry could sign a new Warriors contract with a starting salary of $35.35MM, instead of $30.3MM.

The Pacers and Jazz will still be able to offer George and Hayward larger and longer contracts than any other team, but the advantage won’t be as significant as it would have been if those players had earned All-NBA spots. Teams can offer their own Bird-rights free agents up to five years (instead of four) and 8% raises (instead of 5%).

Hayward figures to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, while George is expected to reach free agency in 2018. George could still become eligible for the DVE in ’18 if the Pacers hang onto him through next season and he earns All-NBA honors a year from now. However, there’s no guarantee that Indiana will be willing to take that risk.

As for the rest of the All-NBA votes, there weren’t any major surprises, particularly on the first two teams. Perhaps the biggest surprise, in a year which was dominated by four clear-cut MVP candidates, is that Harden was the only player who received 100 out of 100 possible First Team votes. Westbrook and James received 99 apiece, while Leonard received 96.

Note: Hoops Rumors readers voted last month on All-NBA teams, and our squads looked awfully close to the official ones, with a couple notable exceptions. You can check out the results of our voting right here.

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Celtics Worked Out Diallo, Will Work Out Burton

May 18th, 2017 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Iowa State’s Deonte Burton will work out for the Knicks on Wednesday and the Celtics next Friday, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com adds another Boston-related workout note, tweeting that the C’s auditioned Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo prior to the combine.
  • Earlier today, we rounded up a few Celtics-related items and examined the Sixers‘ salary cap situation for 2017/18.
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Celtics Notes: No. 1 Pick, Cap Room, G. Green

May 18th, 2017 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

A little over 36 hours after landing the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, the Celtics weren’t yet fielding trade calls regarding that selection, according to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. However, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets, Ainge expects the phone to start ringing by next week.

Ainge has indicated that he’s open to every option with that top pick, including a potential trade, but Celtics sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders that the most likely outcome is the team keeping and using the No. 1 selection. As Kyler notes, the C’s recognize that draft picks don’t come with any guarantees, but they also believe that the pick is very valuable from a financial perspective — getting a potential star on a rookie contract may be more appealing than trading for an established star who is already on a lucrative deal and will only get more expensive.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

  • The debate over whether the Celtics should keep or trade their pick is a lively one. Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider-only link) weigh the pros and cons of the two approaches, while Charles Curtis of USA Today argues in favor of trading it and Michael Pina of Vice Sports makes the case for keeping it.
  • Assuming the Celtics keep the first overall pick, Markelle Fultz is the obvious favorite to be selected, but expect the team to work out several of the top prospects before making a final decision, Steve Kyler writes in his piece linked above.
  • Boston is expected to be a major player for Gordon Hayward if the All-Star forward opts out of his contract with Utah, but as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders observes (via Twitter), the club may have to part with Kelly Olynyk in order to create enough cap room for a max contract.
  • Celtics swingman Gerald Green, who will be eligible for free agency this offseason, has signed with agent James Dunleavy of Independent Sports and Entertainment, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). Green was previously represented by BDA Sports.
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Hoops Links Vol. 5: Shirley Temple Lies, Milkshake Theft, More

May 18th, 2017 at 8:49am CST by Austin Kent

Welcome to the fifth installment of Hoops Links, where we round up our favorite content from around the NBA blogosphere and shine a light on it here. Every week we set out to feature entertaining, original content powered by the blogging community.

See your own piece plugged? Well done! Now share the love by spreading the word about Hoops Links – we’re talking favs, retweets, postcards to mom and everything in between. Help us build a bigger stage for your best work!

If you want to hit us up with a link in the future, make sure to drop me a line on Twitter (@AustinKent) or even just email HoopsRumorsTips@Sports.ws. Remember, we want to be intrigued and captivated. It also helps if the content is relatively fresh (considering we publish on Thursdays).

Without further ado…

With a roster full of young players and a negligible chance of winning a meaningful amount of ball games, the Suns made the decision with months remaining in the season to tank unabashedly. After Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery, in which Phoenix dropped from a projected No. 2 seed to the No. 4 seed, Adam Maynes of Valley of the Suns wrote a spirited column suggesting that the organization got what it deserved.

Rating: 9 out of 10 Angry Earl Watsons
Author: Adam Maynes – @Adam4America
Link: Phoenix Suns tank fail

Joel Embiid verticalWe’re all happy to buy into the quirky Joel Embiid narrative whenever the goofy big man does something like sip a Shirley Temple on live television. But what if we’re living a lie? Kyle Neubeck of Liberty Ballers revealed that the pink beverage at Embiid’s side during the Draft Lottery was little more than a prop.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Red Pills
Author: Kyle Neubeck – @KyleNeubeck
Link: Joel Embiid’s Shirley Temple prop

Are the Bulls less likely to deal Jimmy Butler to the Celtics now that Boston has landed the No. 1 pick in the draft? Vijay Vemu of Blog A Bull suggests as much, writing that Danny Ainge took a risk holding onto the pick at the deadline rather than going the safe route and dealing for an established star.

Rating: 7 out of 10 Fortunate Gambles
Author: Vijay Vemu – @VJVemu
Link: Jimmy Butler to Celtics less likely

The Hawks could have done more to involve Dwight Howard in their offense, Da’Vonte Hughes of Soaring Down South writes, suggesting that the big man had reason to be upset with how he was utilized during his first season Atlanta.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Neglected Supermen
Author: Da’Vonte Hughes – @CookieByNature
Link: Dwight Howard non-option for Hawks

Did you forget that Joel Anthony was still in the NBA? You aren’t alone. Dan Devine of Ball Don’t Lie noticed the big man’s name trending on Twitter and discovered that people all around the world were shocked to see the veteran big man suit up in the Spurs‘ blowout loss Wednesday.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Two-Time NBA Champions
Author: Dan Devine – @YourManDevine
Link: Joel Anthony trends on Twitter

There are similarities between Jimmy Butler and Stanley Johnson, including underwhelming freshman and sophomore seasons, says Luke Wolthuis of Piston Powered. Could Johnson, a well-built two-way forward, make a leap similar to that of Butler’s in Year 3?

Rating: 7 out of 10 Better Late Than Nevers
Author: Luke Wolthuis – @WolthuisLuke
Link: Stanley Johnson, Jimmy Butler comparison

Harrison Barnes verticalAlthough he may not win the award, Harrison Barnes deserves a spot in the Most Improved Player conversation, Sam Guertler of Mavs Moneyball suggests. The forward’s offensive game improved dramatically in his first year as a targeted weapon in Dallas, without any compromise in efficiency.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Additional Better Late Than Nevers
Author: Sam Guertler – @SamGuertler
Link: Harrison Barnes Most Improved Player

It takes a delicate balance of usefulness and expendability for a player to suit up for three different franchises in one season. This year, Ersan Ilyasova dressed for the Thunder, Sixers, and Hawks, and still managed to set a new career high for points in a season. Miles Wray of The Step Back took a good long look at how the season stands up historically.

Rating: 9 out of 10 Bonus Points For Playing For Two Altogether Different Teams Last Year
Author: Miles Wray – @MilesWray
Link: NBA players who play for three teams in one season

It was hard to evaluate the first season in the NBA for Jakob Poeltl, a lottery pick on a reigning Eastern Conference Finals squad, but Brian Boake set out to do so anyway for Raptors Rapture. In Poeltl, the Raptors have a cheap, malleable option to audition as their Stretch 5 of the Future.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Teenage Mutant Ninjas
Author: Brian Boake – @NewmarketBrian
Link: Jakob Poeltl’s future with Raptors

Over the years, Gregg Popovich has simply owned Mike D’Antoni in the NBA playoffs, so much so that the J.R. Wilco over at Pounding the Rock had a particularly specific video commissioned just to drive home the point.

Rating: 9 out of 10 Academy Award-Winning Method Actors
Author: J.R. Wilco – @JRWilco
Link: Gregg Popovich, Mike D’Antoni History

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Celtics Notes: Grousbeck, George, Butler, Ainge

May 17th, 2017 at 6:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics are getting plenty of advice after landing the top pick in this year’s draft, but managing partner Wyc Grousbeck sounds like his decision is already made. Speaking with Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti in a video on CSNNE, Grousbeck said Boston will hold onto the selection “unless someone blows us away with an offer.”

“I think these picks are very, very valuable,” he said. “If you’re going to trade these picks for an established star making max, you’ve got to send max money out the door as well, so you’ve got to send more guys along, so this guy coming back had better be the second coming. What’s more, he’s going to be halfway through his career, whoever he is, and he’s going to be paid a lot of money, which restricts you in other ways.

“So if you can get a really good guy with this pick, you’ve got him, you can build with him, you can coach him up. You get to max money eventually, five to six years down the road, but it’s a totally different thing.”

There’s more out of Boston as the city prepares for the Eastern Conference finals and the No. 1 pick:

  • Winning the lottery gives the Celtics more leverage if they decide to reopen trade talks with the Pacers or Bulls, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. When Boston inquired about Paul George before the trade deadline, the Pacers were asking for a package that included the pick, along with Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown. According to Greene, the Celtics refused to part with Crowder in any deal, which shut down the pursuit of George. Boston also had interest in Jimmy Butler, and there have been reports that those talks will resume this summer.
  • President of basketball operations Danny Ainge is enjoying the rewards of his patience, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. Ainge started the rebuilding process in 2013 by trading Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry to the Nets for a package of draft picks that produced the No. 3 selection last year [Brown], the No. 1 this season and Brooklyn’s unprotected first-rounder in 2018. Ainge has resisted the temptation to part with those picks and is in the process of building a group of talented young players around his veteran core.
  • Ainge plans to keep his options open between now and the draft, but he understands that his assets increased significantly Tuesday night, relays Kurt Helin of NBC Sports. “At the trade deadline we were trading away the possibility of the No. 1 pick, a 25 percent chance of the No. 1 pick, but that’s a 75 percent chance of not having that pick, and that’s how teams look at it, which is probably why we didn’t get a deal done,” Ainge said. “Now we have the No. 1 pick and we will explore the value of it.”
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