- Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue admits he wasn’t paying much attention during the free agency period, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports. Lue was impressed when he found out about the Celtics’ signing of Al Horford, making Boston of one the main threats to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference, Fedor adds. “Whenever you are able to acquire another All-Star automatically you are going to get better,” Lue told Fedor. “That’s a great piece in going in the right direction.”
Throughout the offseason, and in the weeks leading up to the start of the regular season, NBA teams are permitted to carry 20 players, but that total must be cut down to 15 in advance of opening night. However, up to four players waived by teams before the season can be designated as affiliate players and assigned to their D-League squads.
The players have some say in the decision — if they’d prefer to sign with a team overseas, or if they get an opportunity with another NBA club, they’re free to turn down their team’s request to have them play in the D-League. Most NBA and international teams have fairly set rosters by late October though, so having the opportunity to continue playing in the same system is appealing to many of those preseason cuts. Especially since they’ll maintain NBA free agency while they play in the D-League.
There are a few other rules related to D-League affiliate players. A player whose returning rights are held by a D-League team can’t be an affiliate player for another club, which is why undrafted free agents from the current year are commonly signed and assigned. Additionally, an affiliate player must have signed with his team during the current league year, which explains why we often see players signed and quickly waived in the days leading up to the regular season. And, of course, not every NBA team has a D-League affiliate, so clubs like the Hawks, Nuggets, or Clippers have no place to send affiliate players.
With all that in mind, here are the NBA D-League affiliate players to start the 2016/17 season:
Austin Spurs (San Antonio Spurs)
Canton Charge (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Delaware 87ers (Philadelphia 76ers)
The Celtics made a pair of interesting decisions on October 31, opting not to exercise James Young‘s fourth-year option for 2017/18, and letting Kelly Olynyk‘s extension deadline pass without a new deal. The moves will put Young on track for unrestricted free agency in 2017 and Olynyk on track for restricted free agency. As general manager Danny Ainge explains, per Adam Himmselbach of The Boston Globe, retaining future cap flexibility was a factor in the Olynyk decision.
“If we didn’t have max cap flexibility next summer and the possibility to land a superstar-type player, an All-Star-caliber player, it might have been different in our negotiations,” the Celtics GM said. “But because we still are there, with where we are in cap management, there was no reason to rush into it.”
As for Young, Ainge suggested that the Celtics really like where he is at the moment, but want to wait to see “how he progresses” this season. The GM also observed that the third-year veteran can take solace in the fact that it has been a “great blessing” for a handful of players to have that option declined. Solomon Hill is one recent example — he inked a four-year, $48MM contract this past summer with the Pelicans after the Pacers declined his fourth-year option a year ago.
Celtics center Kelly Olynyk will be out of action a while longer as he makes his way back from offseason shoulder surgery, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald relays. “I think we’re going to have to give it a few more weeks, get it as strong as you can and feel like you’re comfortable and ready to play and can take anything that’s thrown at you,” said Olynyk, who underwent the procedure on his shoulder May 16th. “I think that’s probably what it’ll be. It’s when you feel ready to play, man. When you feel strong, feel confident, feel like you’re coming in to help the team.”
After exercising their 2017/18 team options on Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier, the Celtics won’t pick up their option on James Young, reports Bobby Marks of The Vertical (via Twitter). The move will put Young on track to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2017.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2017/18 Rookie-Scale Team Options]
Young, 21, has played sparingly for the Celtics since being selected with the No. 17 pick in the 2014 draft. The Kentucky product has averaged just 8.9 minutes per game in 60 total regular-season appearances, putting up 2.2 PPG and 1.1 RPG in those games. Still, Boston saw enough promise to keep him on its 15-man roster heading into this season, parting ways with 2015 first-rounder R.J. Hunter in order to make room for Young.
By turning down Young’s 2017/18 option, the Celtics will no longer be on the hook for a $2.804MM salary for him next year.
The Celtics have exercised their 2017/18 team options on Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The team’s decision on Rozier had been previously reported, while there was never a question that Smart’s option would be picked up.
Smart, 22, continues to battle a sprained ankle and has yet to make his 2016/17 regular-season debut. In his first two seasons with the Celtics, he averaged 8.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.1 APG, and 1.5 SPG, shooting just 35.7% from the field but providing solid perimeter defense.
Smart will earn about $3.579MM this season, and his $4.538MM salary for 2017/18 will now be fully guaranteed, since the Celtics have picked up his fourth-year option. Assuming Smart remains in Boston, the C’s will have the opportunity to sign him to a rookie-scale extension next offseason. If he doesn’t sign an extension, the former OSU guard will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2018.
With the options for Smart and Rozier exercised, the Celtics still have one decision to make on James Young. The former first-rounder beat out R.J. Hunter to earn the Celtics’ final roster spot, but according to Blakely (via Twitter), he has yet to be informed one way or the other if the club is picking up his fourth-year option. If the C’s decide not to exercise Young’s option, he’ll hit unrestricted free agency in July.
- Kelly Olynyk is hoping to be cleared for practice without restrictions this week in his return from offseason surgery on his right shoulder, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. The Celtics‘ fourth-year center plans to be ready for game action within two weeks.
When the Celtics waived former first-round pick R.J. Hunter on Monday, they lost their compensation for allowing Doc Rivers to join the Clippers, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. While only Josh Richardson might have been a better choice among available players at No. 28 in last year’s draft, Hunter is still part of an uneven draft record that Boston has produced with its recent wealth of picks. While the Celtics have brought in Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley and Jaylen Brown, they have misfired with Hunter, Fab Melo, and the trade for JaJuan Johnson. They are also haunted by the 2008 selection of J.R. Giddens ahead of DeAndre Jordan, Mario Chalmers and Goran Dragic.
“Right now, the hardest thing is I like R.J. and we’ve invested time in him,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “I see Jaylen and Terry [Rozier] and Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson and Abdel Nader, who had a terrific summer with us, and the two kids over in Europe that are playing fantastic right now. The draft is the draft, as we all know. You have some good selections and some that don’t fit and don’t work for you. So I’m not disappointed in that regard at all. I’m glad that we have another [Nets] pick next year and we’ll keep taking our swings and trying to find the right guys.”
There’s more today out of Boston:
- ABC/ESPN analyst Mark Jackson believes the Celtics will benefit greatly from the free agent signing of Al Horford, Washburn adds in the same piece. “They did a great job of adding Horford, a big that brought to the table what they did not have — a defensive, tough, hard-nosed leader — and you can see that … already,” Jackson said.
- Celtics coach Brad Stevens was happy to see Hunter find a new team so quickly, relays Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. Hunter signed with the Bulls on Wednesday, shortly after clearing waivers. “I think he’s a really good player,” Stevens said. “His ability to shoot the ball and his ability to pass the ball are two great strengths … I don’t know how he fits from a rotation standpoint; that would be a [Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg] question. But he’s certainly a good player that can help any team.”
- The Celtics are taking their time with decisions about extensions for Smart, Rozier and James Young, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. The deadline is Monday to pick up the fourth-year guaranteed options for Smart and Young and the third-year option for Rozier. Bulpett believes the team is certain to pick up the $4,438,020 for Smart and the $1,988,520 for Rozier. However, the team is still examining trade options for Young, who would be owed $2,803,507 for 2017/18, and may save that decision until the last minute.
7:30pm: Hunter and the Bulls have reached agreement on a one-year deal, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.
WEDNESDAY, 7:15p.m: R.J. Hunter, who was waived Monday by the Celtics, is in “serious discussions” with the Bulls, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. A deal could be finalized by Thursday.
Chicago is the only team with a roster spot open after releasing Spencer Dinwiddie on Friday. Rookie Denzel Valentine is the backup shooting guard to Dwyane Wade right now, so the 6’5″ Hunter could find playing time with the Bulls.
Hunter was a bit of a surprise cut for the Celtics as he was thought to have a good shot at beating out James Young for the final spot on the roster. Hunter’s contract for this season is fully guaranteed, so he will still receive a $1.2MM salary from Boston. The 23-year-old appeared in 36 games for the Celtics last year and made frequent trips to the D-League.
- Celtics executive Danny Ainge confirmed that Ryan Kelly, who was waived by the team on Saturday, will be joining the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s D-League affiliate, Goodman tweets.
- Ainge also weighed in on James Young, who barely made the Celtics‘ regular season roster this season by edging out R.J. Hunter for the 15th and final spot. The executive told Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com, “I told him [Young] this morning that I think this is the first time he’s earned anything in his life. He earned this by his play, day in and day out, and he just has to keep earning it. He was given a lot as a young kid, with a lot of promise and a lot of potential and … he had to come out and win a spot with some good competition, and he did. So he just needs to keep doing what he’s been doing.“