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Celtics Notes: Green, Young, Rozier, Brown

September 30th, 2016 at 8:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

One of the main reasons Gerald Green decided to sign with the Celtics this offseason was the impression that Isaiah Thomas left on him when the two were teammates with the Suns, Mike Petraglia of WEEI 93.7 FM notes. “It kind of began in Phoenix,” Green said. “He was a genuine guy, came in really humble. I see the talent was there I knew he could be one of the best point guards in the league, and right away when we both stepped on the court we both had the same mentality. By any means necessary, go get a bucket and go get stops. We both had the same mentality, just try to push the first team because we were both coming off the bench. Just try to make the first team better and that’s what we did every day. We were able to finish games as a unit at both ends of the floor. Now, me teaming up with him here, we’re gonna try to do the same thing.”

Thomas is also a fan of Green’s, noting that he had no doubts about the swingman’s value to the franchise, Petraglia adds. “We needed someone like him,” Thomas said. “A guy that can shoot the ball, a guy that can space the floor, and he’s just an instant scorer — whether he starts, whether he comes off the bench, that’s what he’s going to do. And he’s explosive. We needed somebody like him and, when we played in Phoenix, it was like we played together for years because we clicked so easy. I know where he likes the ball, I know where his hot spots are. He’s just somebody that’s very excited and something we need. I just put my magic on it and usually it works. I can’t tell you my secrets.”

Here’s more out of Beantown:

James Young is entering his third year in the league and will need to impress the Celtics’ coaching staff in order to land a roster spot for 2016/17. The swingman feels that he’s off to a solid start in training camp and isn’t focusing on what may happen if he doesn’t make the team, Marc D’Amico of NBA.com relays. “I’m playing well so far, so I’m not worrying about [the final roster spot]. Just going out here and playing my game,” Young told D’Amico. “I’m grabbing boards, I’m making the right plays and I’m just knocking down shots. Those are the main things, and things have been clicking so far.”
Another player who’s on the bubble for a regular season roster spot is Terry Rozier, but the point guard has impressed coach Brad Stevens thus far with how his game has improved from a season ago, Logan Mullen of WEEI 93.7 FM writes. “You can see Terry’s a different guy year two than he was in the first couple of days of year one, he just stands out right now,” Stevens said. “And I think that’s probably pretty typical because of the comfort level of going through camp again, for the first time versus again.”
Jaylen Brown is trying to manage the expectations that come along with being the No. 3 overall pick on a team that is expected to compete for an NBA title, Mullen relays in a separate piece. “There’s going to be highs, there’s going to be lows. Just the peaks and valleys,” Brown told Mullen. “But, just to stay with the process, just to keep confidence and keep working. Just stay with the process. Defensively I think I add it right way. I think I talked to Brad [Stevens] a lot about that. Just being able to get on the floor, defending at a high level. It would be one thing, and just hitting open shots would be another. Those are two key things to get me on the floor and that will help me add to this team.”

Crowder: Ankle Caused Shooting Woes

September 29th, 2016 at 3:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics small forward Jae Crowder believes the high right ankle sprain he suffered in March caused his shooting numbers to take a tumble late last season, Taylor C. Snow of Celtics.com reports. Crowder shots 45.3% from the field and 35.4& from 3-point range during the first 65 games and 32.9% and 24.0%, respectively, following his injury. “My ankle was more fatigued than I really realized,” Crowder told Snow. “The way the season ended really gave me a chip on my shoulder to get better and to get in the lab and work and get better at the things I needed to work on.”

Horford: "Feels Right" Playing For Celtics

September 28th, 2016 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com, new big man Al Horford said that it “feels right” to be playing for the Celtics, adding that he feels like the club is capable of winning a championship.

Contract Details For Damion Lee, Jalen Jones

September 27th, 2016 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics signed Damion Lee to a two-year, minimum-salary contract that features $50K in guaranteed money, while Jalen Jones got a one-year deal with a $25K guarantee, per Pincus (Twitter link).

Nerlens Noel: Sixers’ Center Logjam Is “Silly”

September 26th, 2016 at 1:12pm CST by Luke Adams

1:12pm: Responding today to Noel’s comments, Colangelo reiterated that he’s not shopping any specific players, suggesting that – as a new GM – he was simply gauging league-wide interest in his players (Twitter link via Derek Bodner of PhillyMag.com). Colangelo added that the situation shouldn’t be affected by Noel’s comments, and that Embiid’s health will be a major factor in the Sixers’ plans (Twitter links via Bodner and Pompey). The team isn’t in a rush to make any moves, per Colangelo (Twitter link via Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com).

Meanwhile, Noel doubled down on his earlier comments this afternoon. While he stressed he isn’t unhappy in Philadelphia, the big man said he doesn’t see “any way of it working” when asked again about the center logjam (Twitter link via Bodner).

8:37am: With Joel Embiid poised to make his NBA debut this season, the Sixers are stacked at the center position, as Embiid joins Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor in the rotation. The logjam at the position has resulted in plenty of trade rumors involving Noel and Okafor this offseason, but the team has yet to make a move. And as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Noel is starting to publicly question when a move will happen.

“I think it’s just silly… this situation that we are in now with three starting centers,” Noel said. “With the departure of [former GM] Sam Hinkie, I would have figured that management would be able to get something done this summer. … I think something needs to happen.”

According to Noel, he’s not asking to be traded himself, or demanding that the Sixers make a move immediately. However, it sounds as if he views a deal as inevitable, since it doesn’t make sense for the club to play out the season with all three players, assuming they all stay healthy. According to Noel, it’s the equivalent of having “three starting quarterbacks.”

“I feel like it definitely needs to be figured out,” Noel said. “I think at the end of the day, again, you have three starting-caliber centers. And it’s just not going to work to anybody’s advantage having that on the same team. That’s how I’m looking at it. I’m not opposed to anything, but things need to be situated.”

Although GM Bryan Colangelo has suggested in the past that heading into the season with Okafor, Noel, and Embiid all on the roster isn’t necessarily ideal, the Sixers also like all three players and don’t want to sell one of them for below market value. Appearing on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast last week, Colangelo denied aggressively shopping Okafor and Noel, adding that the team’s desire to make a deal has been overstated and calling it a “high-class problem” to have three promising young centers.

Noel tells Pompey that he knows he “was shopped,” though that could be a question of semantics — it’s not clear whether the Sixers were instigating trade discussions or simply talking to teams that called to ask about their bigs. According to Pompey, Noel’s name has come up in trade talks with the Celtics, Suns, Hawks, and Rockets, but Philadelphia turned down multiple offers for the 22-year-old. Another source tells Pompey that the Sixers have also spoken to the Raptors and Spurs.

While it remains possible that the Sixers will make a move prior to the regular season, the club had been hoping to make it until at least December 15, per Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). That would give Okafor and Embiid time to prove they’re fully healthy, and it would allow players who signed new deals this offseason to become trade-eligible, opening the door for more possible scenarios.

Young Ready To Fight For Roster Spot

September 25th, 2016 at 9:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

James Young is ready to battle for a roster spot as the Celtics open camp, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Boston has 16 players with guaranteed contracts, and the competition for the final slot is expected to come down to Young, second-year guard R.J. Hunter and rookie forward Ben Bentil. Young, a 6’6″ shooting guard, has been with the Celtics for two seasons but has played in just a combined 60 games. He will make more than $1.8MM this season, but may be in the organization’s dog house after being benched during summer league for his poor play. “I’m not thinking about contracts or the next year,” Young said. “I’m just staying in the present right now, gotten a lot better, still getting better. And there’s a lot better for me to come, so I’m not even thinking about the future, who they got coming up or what’s going on. I’m staying right here in the present.”

Dudley Hoped For Call From Celtics

September 25th, 2016 at 10:57am CST by Arthur Hill

Jared Dudley was interested in joining the Celtics in free agency this summer, but the team didn’t reach out to him, relays Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Dudley, who averaged 7.9 points per game and shot 42% from 3-point range last season with the Wizards, has ties to the area as a Boston College alumnus. Instead, he accepted a three-year, $30MM offer from Phoenix. “Boston never contacted me, but I made it known I was interested in them,” Dudley said. He added that the Celtics may not have believed they had a role for him because they want to give playing time to first-round pick Jaylen Brown.

Predicting The Celtics' 2016/17 Season

September 24th, 2016 at 2:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The crew over at Basketball Insiders previewed the Celtics‘ upcoming season, with the general opinion being that Boston will finish first or second in the Atlantic Division in 2016/17.

Matt Bonner Will “Fight To Play One More Year”

September 20th, 2016 at 8:50am CST by Luke Adams

Nearly a month and a half ago, Matt Bonner expressed a desire to continue his NBA playing career, despite the fact that it didn’t look like the Spurs had interest in bringing him back. With training camps right around the corner, Bonner still hasn’t given up on the idea of playing another NBA season, as he tells Ray Duckler of The Concord Monitor.

“I’m going to fight to get into the league,” Bonner said. “I’m going to fight to play one more year. … There’s been interest, but nothing concrete. A lot of teams are like, ‘We like Matt, we just don’t have a roster space right now, but if anything changes, he’s in the mix.’ There’s a long way to go until opening night, so I’m remaining optimistic.”

Bonner, 36, has been a Spur for the last decade, appearing in 726 total regular-season and playoff games with the team during those 10 years. While his PPG average has been mostly on the decline since 2008/09, he’s still extremely accurate from long range — he made 44.1% of his three-point attempts last season, to improve his career mark to 41.4%.

Still, the Spurs don’t appear to have interest in bringing back Bonner, and the veteran big man tells Duckler that the local Celtics aren’t interested either. Bonner is determined to play for as long as he possibly can before calling it a career, but he isn’t sure whether he’d consider playing in a league besides the NBA for the 2016/17 season.

“Wow, you’re asking tough questions,” Bonner said, when Duckler asked if he’d consider playing in Europe. “That’s one of those where I would cross that bridge when I came to it.”

Blakely: Terry Rozier A Player To Watch In Camp

September 19th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com identifies Terry Rozier as a Celtics player worth keeping an eye on in camp. Rozier is one of 16 players with guaranteed contracts heading into camp, and Blakely thinks Rozier may be a potential trade candidate if the C’s don’t plan on having him get regular playing time this season.