According to sources around the NBA, Celtics executive Danny Ainge is still looking to make a major trade to improve the team’s roster, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald relays. Ainge understands that more talent needs to be acquired in order for Boston to become a contender, and with the early chatter calling the 2017 NBA draft one of the deepest and most talent-laden in many years, it will only serve to increase the value of the Nets’ first-rounder, which the Celtics have the right to swap for their own pick next June, Bulpett adds.
- Jonas Jerebko has played a major role in the Celtics‘ improved play as of late, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Jerebko, who had his $5MM salary for 2016/17 guaranteed by the team during the summer, is on track to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
David Lee‘s 15-point, 12-rebound effort in the Spurs’ win at Boston Friday gave the Celtics a glimpse of the performance they expected from him last season, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Boston acquired Lee in a trade with the Warriors in the summer of 2015, but started the season out of shape and was quickly pulled from the rotation. He played just 30 games for the Celtics before agreeing to a buyout in February. Lee signed with the Mavericks, then joined the Spurs over the summer on a minimum contract. “Everybody makes mistakes in their career and I think I came in not in the best shape and it wasn’t by design,” he said. “It was not laziness. I just didn’t do what I needed to do. I’ve been up front about acknowledging that. It’s easier to look at the coaching staff and say ‘Brad should have played me more.’ But I’ve been very open in saying I should have been in better shape and it takes that for me to be successful on the court. The staff did an unbelievable job of getting me in shape here but by that point I think it wasn’t coach’s wish to play me. We went our separate ways.”
There’s more news out of Boston:
- Jae Crowder is starting to get comfortable again after an eight-game absence with an ankle injury, according to Taylor C. Snow of NBA.com. After two difficult games, Crowder has scored 15 and 18 points in his last two outings, and his teammates are noticing the difference. “When you come back from an ankle injury you’re kind of second-guessing yourself,” said Isaiah Thomas. “You don’t want to jump. You don’t think you can cut and do the things that you’re normally used to doing. So I think he’s gaining confidence in that ankle and getting back to his old self.”
- The Spurs represent the kind of successful veteran team the Celtics believe they can become if they stay together, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. Friday’s game was in doubt until a late sequence where San Antonio hit a critical 3-pointer. “I was just talking with [Thomas] about how [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] knows what he wants to get, and those guys run it to a T,” Crowder said. “… That’s one of the best teams that I ever saw in the fourth quarter.”
- Veteran forward Gerald Green remains in the Celtics’ plans even though coach Brad Stevens held him out for the sixth time Friday, Forsberg tweeted. “The biggest thing is that you can’t play everyone,” Stevens said. “Gerald has been a great pro. Missing a lot of training camp was a really tough thing … but he’ll help us this year. I feel really good about that, and his attitude is really good. I’m glad he’s here.”
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE checks in on four players whose draft rights are owned by the Celtics. Abdel Nader is with the team’s D-League affiliate in Maine, while Marcus Thornton, Guerschon Yabusele and Ante Zizic are all overseas.
In a Wednesday edition of The Lowe Post podcast, ESPN’s Marc Stein and Zach Lowe discussed several teams who could make a trade at some point this season, and several players who are candidates to be moved. Both ESPN reporters agreed that the Trail Blazers are one of the most likely clubs to complete a deal within the next three months, with Lowe suggesting he’d be “blown away” if Portland doesn’t make at least one trade. Stein also identified the Kings, Suns, Nuggets, and Celtics as clubs to watch for potential deals.
- The Celtics appreciate Al Horford‘s leadership and the way he plays the game, A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sportsnet writes. “Al can score the ball. But it’s all the little things that he does and how he gets the ball moving; it’s so contagious,” teammate Avery Bradley said.“He’s a leader; he speaks up. Sometimes the ball sticks. For Al to say something and us actually go out and move the ball around and it starts with him, it means a lot.”
Here are Monday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
6:00pm
- The Celtics assigned guard Demetrius Jackson to the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. The 22-year-old has made just three appearances for Boston this season and is averaging 3.3 points and 1.0 rebound in 5.0 minutes per outing.
- The Sixers announced that they have assigned swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to the Delaware 87ers, their D-League affiliate.
- Forward Danuel House was recalled by the Wizards from Delaware, where he was sent via the league’s flexible assignment rule, the team announced.
12:27pm
- The Rockets have recalled rookies Chinanu Onuaku and Kyle Wiltjer from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today (via Twitter). As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle tweets, the duo likely won’t see any game action for Houston, but the Rockets’ D-League affiliate doesn’t play until Saturday, so it made sense to have them rejoin the NBA club.
- Rakeem Christmas has been recalled from the D-League, the Pacers announced today in a press release. Myles Turner and Kevin Seraphin are battling injuries, so Christmas could see some minutes for Indiana tonight against Golden State.
- The Jazz have assigned rookie forward Joel Bolomboy to the D-League, according to a team release. Bolomboy will suit up for the Salt Lake City Stars tonight in their game against the Oklahoma City Blue.
- Damian Jones has been assigned to Santa Cruz by the Warriors, according to Anthony Slater of The Bay Area News Group, who writes that the rookie center will continue his injury rehab in the D-League as he works toward his NBA debut.
- The Kings have sent first-round rookie Georgios Papagiannis back to the Reno Bighorns, tweets James Ham of CSNBayArea.com. Papagiannis has averaged 10.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 2.3 BPG in three D-League contests so far this year.
- Despite missing out on signing Kevin Durant this past offseason, the Celtics feel that the fact that the forward strongly considered joining the franchise speaks to the progress and growth of the team, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald relays. When asked what Durant’s willingness to consider Boston meant, coach Brad Stevens said, “Hopefully it spoke to the fact that the progress is obvious, especially to those who are in it and studying it and evaluating it every day. To be candid, I’d just kind of prefer not to rehash all the recruiting part of it. But what I enjoy is thinking about how people best fit into our situation and how to explain that. The thing that I’m excited about from a general standpoint is that people see the progress and it’s appealing. It doesn’t mean everybody’s going to choose to be here, but, like, Al chose to be here because he saw the progress and it was appealing — on top of the tradition, the fans and everything else. I think you’ve got to have all that. You’ve got to have all that for it to be appealing.”
Kevin Durant is baffled by the notion that Celtics fans are angry at him for not signing with their team, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reports.
Boston was one one of six clubs that had a meeting with Durant during free agency before the All-Star forward surprised nearly everyone by signing with the Warriors. The Celtics did land one of the biggest free agents on the market, power forward Al Horford, though he’s been sidelined this month by a concussion. Horford verbally agreed with the Celtics just before their brass met with Durant, giving them a chance to create their own ‘Super Team,’ according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.
The Warriors make their annual trip to Boston on Friday.
“What can they be mad about?” Durant told Haynes and other members of the media. “I never played there. I never said I was going there. … No matter who goes in there, they’re going to boo them. But I have no attachment to Boston at all.”
Himmelsbach declares that Celtics fans felt abandoned by Durant, despite his lack of history with the club.
Durant said he has no beef with Celtics forward Jae Crowder, one of the players who tried to recruit him. Crowder criticized Durant this summer for selecting the Warriors.
“Why am I going to be mad about a guy who has an opinion? I respect all these players,” Durant told Haynes. “If they don’t respect what I did, I can’t control that.”
Boston point guard Isaiah Thomas, who was part of the team’s meeting with Durant, said he exchanged text messages with Durant last season and into the summer until he chose the Warriors, Himmselbach continues. But Thomas holds no animosity toward Durant, Himmelsbach adds.
“For whatever reason, he picked the Warriors,” Thomas told Himmelsbach and other media members. “I know one thing: He wanted to have fun playing basketball, and he thought the style of play and the coaching staff we had, it was fun playing here. He loves the style of play that we played at, and we just came up short.”
In case there was still any lingering doubt, Warriors general manager Bob Myers confirmed on Wednesday during an appearance on 95.7 The Game that his team isn’t trading Klay Thompson, as Anthony Slater of The Bay Area News Group details. The Golden State GM added that he wasn’t thrilled by the way that idle trade speculation had ballooned into something that he had to address.
“I wish there was a little bit more discipline because you know what it causes: I gotta talk to Klay Thompson,” Myers said. “I gotta talk to his agent. And I get it, it’s part of the job. And there are times where rumors have weight to them and meaning, but I think it requires a little bit more diligence then just throwing stuff out there.”
The Thompson talk surfaced when current Celtics analyst Brian Scalabrine passed along trade speculation involving Thompson and the Celtics without noting that neither he nor anyone else was actually reporting any interest or talks between Golden State and Boston. Scalabrine tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe that he apologized to Myers and Celtics GM Danny Ainge, though the former Warriors assistant said he’ll continue to discuss potential trade scenarios on the radio going forward — hopefully, in the future, Scalabrine will draw a clearer line between reported rumors and mere speculation.
Here’s more out of Golden State:
- While there’s nothing to the Thompson/Celtics talk, one NBA GM is relieved that Golden State isn’t pushing for a trade along those lines.. “Please tell me [the] Klay to Boston rumors [are] not true,” the GM said to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net (Twitter link). “If they got [Avery] Bradley and [Jae] Crowder, it’s over. … Klay [is] not a good fit there anymore.”
- The Warriors were high on second-round pick Patrick McCaw coming into the season, and the rookie is already delivering on some of his promise, having played a career-high 21 minutes in Wednesday’s win against the Raptors. Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News takes a closer look at McCaw, who is expected to be a big part of the club’s future.
- During an appearance on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast at The Vertical, Seth Curry explained why he opted not to sign with the Warriors during the past couple summers, despite receiving offers from his brother’s club. CSN Bay Area has a breakdown of Curry’s comments on the subject.