- The Celtics, Kings, Bucks, and Jazz appear to be the lottery teams most likely to trade their picks, tweets Ford.
- The odds of Kevin Durant joining the Celtics in free agency this offseason are long, but New England Patriots defensive lineman Terrance Knighton, who is friends with the Thunder star, says he’ll be “in [Durant’s] ear a lot” once the season ends, trying to encourage him to come to Boston. Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com has the quotes and the details on Knighton’s recruiting efforts.
- Celtics personnel, including president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, took a recent trip to Israel to scout potential top three pick Dragan Bender, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter). In a recent poll, Hoops Rumors readers predicted that Boston would select Bender with the No. 3 overall pick.
The Celtics are armed with a wealth of picks in this June’s draft, but the team also remains high on last season’s crop of rookies, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. Team executive Danny Ainge believes that a number of Boston’s young players could blossom if given more playing time, Forsberg relays. Ainge also noted that he has received trade inquiries from other teams regarding power forward Jordan Mickey and point guard Terry Rozier, the scribe adds.
“I really believe it’s an opportunity league. There are many players that are sitting on benches on other teams that are stacked with talent that just don’t get an opportunity. We have some on our team,” Ainge said. “We think [2015 second-round pick] Jordan Mickey has a bright future and [2015 first-round pick] Terry Rozier has a bright future and we’ve gotten calls from other teams about them that say, ‘Those guys aren’t getting an opportunity in Boston, we want to get those guys to come play for us.’ But we’re going to try to be patient with them as well, and other young guys.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Brad Stevens said he doesn’t regret sitting the younger members of the team, with the coach adding that playing time needs to be earned in the NBA, Forsberg relays in the same piece. “No, because it’s earned. I mean, who are you sitting?” Stevens responded when asked if he had any regrets about his rotation. “This is professional basketball and I think that we had five good [guards/small forwards]. Marcus Smart is obviously young, but otherwise guys that have been in the league for a while and earned that time at those spots, when you start talking about the 1 through 3. … Usually we stayed with those five guys when we were healthy.“
- The team also intends to scour the market for undervalued players, an approach that has served the team well in recent seasons, Forsberg also notes. “It really is an opportunity league and I think the last couple of years — the Jae Crowders of the world, Isaiah Thomas, guys that we’ve acquired via trade like Jonas Jerebko — they love the fact that they’re getting an opportunity to play and with that opportunity they’ve shined,” Ainge told reporters.
- Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Dragan Bender told the Celtics that he would come to Boston for a workout after the Israeli season ends, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe relays (via Twitter). Bender is the No. 3 overall prospect according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
- The Celtics will work out Weber State’s Joel Bolomboy a week from Wednesday, sources tell A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).
- Appearing on WBZ-TV’s Sports Final on Sunday night, Celtics GM Danny Ainge said he wants to improve his team this summer “without selling out,” per Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com. In other words, Boston isn’t about to surrender a ton of draft assets to improve right away — the focus will be on improving the Celtics’ current roster while continuing to build a team capable of sustained success. Determining the best way to carry out that plan will be similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle for Ainge and the C’s, according to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald.
Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge recently sat down with Dan Roche of WBZ-TV on his radio show to discuss the team’s offseason plans. The entire transcript is a must-read, and we’ll pass along a few highlights:
On the Celtics’ overall philosophy this offseason:
“Ownership would like to see something happen faster and I know my coaches and players want to see something faster. I’ve been in their positions and I get it, I want to see something faster too. But I have to protect us from doing something irrational from doing something that gets us a little bit better.”
On the No.3 overall pick:
“I can’t talk about any players in particular, but a player that is going to take time to develop or a player who may not come to the NBA for a year or two, if we feel he’s the best player we have to take him. We can’t let a player slip by us just because it doesn’t fulfill our immediate satisfaction, or the objective for the fans to see someone exciting. We have to pick the best player under any circumstance. There are too many examples of really good players that fans haven’t been excited about. When Kristaps Porzingis was drafted by New York, fans were booing all over the place and we didn’t understand. When I was in Phoenix and we drafted Steve Nash, we were booed.”
On adding a rim protector:
“I’m always leery of saying what we need because you don’t just go find a good rim protector, because you lose something. We were the fourth-best defense in the NBA without a rim protector. Sometimes you get a rim protector and it hurts your offense. We have some good players, but I think we have to add a few more.”
One league executive told Chad Ford of ESPN.com that Brandon Ingram’s future in the NBA will be at the shooting guard position. “Back when the Pacers used to play Paul George at the 2, I felt like that was his best position,” the executive told Ford. “I feel the same way about Ingram. That’s where he can be devastating and his lack of strength won’t come back to haunt him. If he becomes a superstar, I think it will be because he developed the ability to play that spot.” Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors profiled Ingram earlier today.
- Thon Maker will play the five spot as he develops in the league, one anonymous GM tells Ford, as he writes in the same piece. Ford speculates that the Celtics, Nuggets, Sixers and Suns may look to draft the Australian. All four of those teams have multiple first round picks.
- Most scouts aren’t optimistic about Perry Ellis’ chances of hearing his name called on draft night, though some have him going in the second round, Ford adds in the same piece.
- Isaiah Briscoe has worked out for the Wolves today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Briscoe will also work out for the Hawks on Tuesday, Zagoria adds.
- All the focus is on the Celtics’ third overall pick, but the team has two more selections in the first round, notes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE. Boston owns the rights to Dallas’ pick at No. 16, along with its own choice at No. 23, giving team officials a wide range of players to scout for draft night. “The higher the draft pick, you just have a better chance,” said Austin Ainge, Boston’s director of player personnel. “There’s going to be really good players available at 16. There’s going to be really good players available at 23. It’s just harder to identify in that range.”
- Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas intends to help the team recruit free agents this summer and admits that Boston needs to add another star if it is to move forward, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com writes. “We’re a step away. We’re a couple pieces away, I think, from being contenders in the Eastern Conference,” Thomas said. “We won 48 games this year with a team that people didn’t think could do that. That says a lot about the direction we’re going in, and I know [team executive] Danny [Ainge] and those guys in the front office are going to do whatever they can to make this team the best possible team it can be. I do think we need that next star and that guy that can we depend on. Not to sound cocky, but not just myself. We need another option. Like I said, I go to the war with the fellas I have in that [Celtics] locker room right now and I love all those guys, but we do need a little more.“
- Restricted free agent Jared Sullinger proclaimed his loyalty to the Celtics and said he wants to re-sign with the team, but acknowledged a great deal of uncertainty surrounds the upcoming offseason, Kevin O’Connor of CSNNE.com writes.