Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Rondo, Haywood, Lopez, Pacers

October 18th, 2014 at 4:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The jury is still out on whether or not Rajon Rondo will be in a Celtics uniform beyond this season. One thing that won’t factor negatively against Boston in Rondo’s eyes is the team’s head coach, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald writes. Rondo has nothing but good things to say about second-year coach Brad Stevens, notes Murphy. “He’s very positive — the most positive coach I’ve been around in my career, and it’s hard not to play for a guy like that,” Rondo said of Stevens. “That’s every day — not just in the locker room. He’s that way off the court, with his family. He’s a role model. He has all of the characteristics of a great leader. He’s great at what he does. He’s all about the team.”

Here’s more from the east:

The Cavs view veteran center Brendan Haywood as a part-time player who can help out when Cleveland faces teams with taller centers, Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer writes. Haywood is well ahead of schedule in returning from injury, and the Cavs didn’t expect him to return to the court until January, notes Pluto.
After Brook Lopez‘s latest injury scare involving his troubled feet, the Nets are ready to move on, with or without the seven-footer, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. “I think you have to look at it from the standpoint that the glass is always half-full. I never looked at anything when he did have other injuries that the sky was falling,” GM Billy King said. “That’s why you have a team sport. If it was golf and I was his caddie, I’d be a little more upset because you don’t have a chance to make money. But it’s a team sport.”
In his season preview for the Pacers, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio writes that it will be a trying season in Indiana without Paul George and Lance Stephenson. If the Pacers are to have any shot at the playoffs, this is the season that Roy Hibbert will need to elevate his game to an elite level, Amico opines.

Atlantic Notes: Rondo, Knicks, Celtics

October 18th, 2014 at 8:40am CST by Eddie Scarito

Sports Illustrated senior writer Ian Thomsen spoke with Kyle Draper and Bob Neumeier of CSNNE.com about the Celtics and the possibility that they deal Rajon Rondo this season. Thomsen believes it will be difficult for Boston to receive anything of value in return for their point guard. Thomsen said, “It all depends on Rondo or what he’s going to do, how well he’s going to play. I think he’s going to have a tremendous year looking forward to his free agency. I’m not sure how the Celtics get anything in a trade for Rondo because he wants to be a free agent and the Knicks and Lakers are going to be out there with max cap space [in the offseason]. How’s anyone going to keep him from going to one of those teams, including the Celtics?”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The battle for the final Knicks roster spot might just come down to Travis Wear versus Travis Outlaw, Keith Schlosser of SNY.tv opines. Wear is mastering the triangle offense quicker than Outlaw, but it is Outlaw’s expiring $3MM contract that might make him more valuable to retain on the regular season roster as a possible trade chip, notes Schlosser.
The Celtics got even smaller with the trade for Will Bynum, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. After adding the 6’0″ Bynum, this leaves the team with eight players 6’4″ or smaller, notes Blakely. Boston still has 16 fully guaranteed contracts on the books, so more dealing is very possible, according to Blakely.
The Knicks have a new look this season both on and off the court. The architect of this rebuild is new team president Phil Jackson, and Al Iannozzone, Mark LaMonica, and Anthony Carrozzo of Newsday take an in-depth look at all the changes that Jackson has brought to New York.

Eastern Notes: Butler, Marble, Celtics

October 17th, 2014 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jimmy Butler has been turning heads in Chicago with his play during training camp. The Bulls swingman is in better physical condition this year, but is also motivated by being eligible to sign a contract extension prior to the October 31st deadline, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. “My confidence is high and that’s the way you have to play this game,” Butler said. “All summer I worked on my game, the biggest thing is just confidence, taking shots I know I can make. I’m really happy on the way that I’m going right now, but I still got to keep going.” If Butler and the team don’t come to terms on an extension by the deadline he will become a restricted free agent next summer.

Here’s more from the east:

The Celtics made a minor trade earlier today with the Pistons, shipping Joel Anthony to Detroit for Will Bynum. Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com examines what the trade does to Boston’s salary cap situation and the team’s rotation.
After a difficult season under former coach Mike Woodson, J.R. Smith is starting fresh with a clean slate, Fred Kerber of The New York Post writes. Knicks head coach Derek Fisher said of Smith, “What I’ve tried to do with all of our guys, not just J.R., is kind of manage our relationship based on our relationship and not the relationships they have may have had with other people, other coaches. Jay’s been great, and I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t continue.”
In addition to fellow rookies Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton, Devyn Marble also hopes to make an impact for the Magic this season, Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders writes. Orlando signed Marble to a three year deal with the first year fully guaranteed, which went a long way towards giving Marble confidence, notes Taylor. “It’s good to have peace of mind,” Marble said. “It’s something that you don’t necessarily have to worry about. For me, I’m still going to come ready to play and still continue to work hard; nothing is guaranteed even though it technically is. I’m still going to find ways to help and I would want to be here for the rest of my career. I’m just doing anything I can in the time frame now to help the team out.”

Pistons Notes: Bynum, Anthony, Gray, Dinwiddie

October 17th, 2014 at 1:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

Today’s Pistons/Celtics trade allows the Celtics to create a rather diminutive $884,092 trade exception equal to the difference between the salaries for Joel Anthony and Will Bynum, but the Pistons can’t reap an exception, since Anthony has the larger salary of the two. It was difficult to immediately see just why the Pistons pulled off the deal, since it doesn’t alleviate their dilemma of 16 fully guaranteed contracts against a maximum 15 regular season roster spots, but reports in the hours since the swap help explain, as we detail:

The heart ailment that’s keeping Aaron Gray out indefinitely was a major catalyst for the trade, which gives the team an additional backup center, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “The decision that we needed to beef up our front line was the driving force behind it,” Pistons GM Jeff Bower said, as Langlois relays. “Joel is a player that we have familiarity with that we feel can and will be able to do what he does best. Those are needs for us.”
Bower said Spencer Dinwiddie, who’s almost fully recovered from tearing his ACL in January, was a factor in the trade, too, as Langlois observes in the same piece. Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy views Dinwiddie, whom the team selected 38th overall in this year’s draft, as a “pass-first point guard who can shoot,” Langlois notes, even though the 6’6″ 21-year-old is often listed as a shooting guard.
The Pistons plan to keep Anthony around for a while, sources indicate to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, suggesting that Anthony’s guaranteed contract won’t be one that the Pistons let go when they set their regular season roster (Twitter link).

Celtics, Pistons Swap Joel Anthony, Will Bynum

October 17th, 2014 at 12:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have officially sent Joel Anthony to the Pistons for Will Bynum, the teams announced in separate press releases. Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com originally reported the deal (Twitter link). It’s a money-saving arrangement for Boston, as Forsberg points out (on Twitter), since Bynum’s salary of slightly more than $2.9MM is less than Anthony’s $3.8MM take. Both are in the final seasons of their respective contracts. Detroit and Boston have 16 fully guaranteed contracts apiece, so they make odd trade partners as the October 27th deadline for teams to pare down to 15 players looms, and the salaries for Anthony and Bynum are both fully guaranteed.

The swap helps the Celtics forge some breathing room beneath the $76.829MM tax threshold, as Forsberg alludes to in his full story, since the guaranteed money they have on the books leaves them only about $1.2MM shy of that line. Substituting Bynum for Anthony gives Boston about $2MM in flexibility beneath that threshold. The Pistons are under the cap and are in no danger of paying the tax, but their motivation is less clear. It’s conceivable that the acquisition of Anthony is related to other moves the team is seeking, since Detroit is reportedly interested in trading for Wolves small forward Chase Budinger. Sending Bynum away leaves the Pistons with just two point guards in Brandon Jennings and D.J. Augustin unless they intend to keep Lorenzo Brown‘s non-guaranteed deal.

The 31-year-old Bynum averaged 18.8 minutes per game across 56 appearances last season, but he didn’t figure to receive that much playing time again this season after the Pistons added Augustin in the offseason. Still, the veteran who’s spent the past six seasons in Detroit expressed pleasure with Stan Van Gundy last month, so it doesn’t appear that he’s pushed his way out of the Motor City. Bynum doesn’t figure to find many minutes to go around in Boston, either, with Rajon Rondo, Marcus Smart and Phil Pressey at his position, though he’d probably be in line for significant playing time if the Celtics trade Rondo without bringing in another point guard in return.

Anthony unsurprisingly exercised his player option this past summer to stay under contract after a season in which he played fewer than 200 total minutes. Anthony was an important defender off the bench for the Heat when Miami signed him to his five-year, $18.25MM deal in 2010, and he started the majority of the regular season for the Heat’s 2011/12 championship team, but his role shrank as Miami moved to a small-ball attack. The Heat sought to rid themselves of his salary when they sent him to Boston in a January trade, and Celtics coach Brad Stevens largely kept Anthony planted to the bench. The 32-year-old will be no better than third on the center depth chart behind Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe in Detroit, but he will at least provide some insurance with Aaron Gray out indefinitely with heart trouble.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Eastern Notes: Bucks, Brown, Pressey

October 17th, 2014 at 10:33am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons have an agreement on a trade with the Celtics, while they join the Pacers and Rockets with interest in taking Chase Budinger off Minnesota’s hands. The trade market is heating up as the start of the regular season draws near, and here’s more on Detroit’s rivals from the Eastern Conference:

The Bucks quietly added hedge fund manager Jamie Dinan to their ownership team in July, reports Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Dinan is a “substantial investor” in the franchise, though it’s not clear if his stake is equal to that of controlling owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry. Seven additional new owners have bought shares of the Bucks, the team announced, and one of them is Jon Hammes, who was rumored to be in the running for a minority share this spring. Just how much of the team Hammes and the other new owners purchased is unknown.
Shannon Brown is indeed a favorite to make the Heat‘s opening-night roster in spite of his non-guaranteed deal, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Brown says team president Pat Riley has praised his athleticism, toughness and defense, as Jackson notes.
Phil Pressey is among a logjam of point guards in Boston with Will Bynum on the way, but Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge calls Pressey one of the team’s best perimeter defenders, as Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald relays.

Eastern Notes: Allen, Heat, Cavs

October 16th, 2014 at 9:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Many around the NBA believe Ray Allen will become a member of the Cavs this season and Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio is among the Cleveland optimists. “My gut tells me he’ll join the Cavs,” Amico said. Cleveland is among the many teams with interest in bringing the shooting guard aboard. Amico also notes that he believes Allen has already decided on whether or not he’ll play this season, and where.

Here’s more from Eastern Conference:

After he struggled last postseason there were doubts the Heat would re-sign Mario Chalmers, but head coach Eric Spoelstra is a firm believer in the point guard, writes Shandel Richardson of the Sun Sentinel. “He’s one of the all-time clutch players in this game,” Spoelstra said. “How many times does he have to prove himself?”
In a separate piece, Richardson documents how the environment around the Heat is changing post-LeBron James. Dwyane Wade couldn’t be happier about the changes. “It’s more relaxed, more chill, an opportunity we can get some work in,” Wade said. “We can actually make some mistakes and not do things as great and not really be talked about as much. We’re a team that needs time individually to get comfortable with whatever roles we’re going to be in. It’s good it’s quiet.”
Although Kevin Love‘s neck injury isn’t believed to be too serious, Jeff Caplan of NBA.com wonders if LeBron’s new teammates can stay healthy. Caplan points out the injury history of Love and Kyrie Irving and notes how crucial it is that the new big three get as much time on the court together as possible
There are Atlantic Division teams that have young players with the potential to improve such as Terrence Ross of the Raptors and Tyler Zeller of the Celtics, writes Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM.com. Mason Plumlee of the Nets, Iman Shumpert of the Knicks and Michael Carter-Williams of the Sixers are also among the players Tjarks lists as internal improvement candidates for the coming season.

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Celtics, Cavs

October 15th, 2014 at 9:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

One of the major storylines in New York this season will be how well the Knicks adapt to the triangle offense. Shaquille O’Neal, who played in the triangle during his time with the Lakers, told Mitch Lawrence of NBCNewYork.com, “For the triangle to work, you need to have two superstars. It’s been proven over time. Look at what Phil [Jackson] needed to win his championships in Chicago. Then look what he had in L.A., with me and Kobe. You have to have two superstars playing in the triangle to win championships.’’ Jackson hopes to add that second superstar during next summer’s free agent signing period when Andrea Bargnani‘s and Amar’e Stoudemire‘s contracts come off the books.

Here’s more from the east:

With the Celtics carrying 16 fully guaranteed contracts on their preseason roster, at least one of those players will need to be traded or waived prior to the beginning of the regular season. Brian Robb of Boston.com looks at the reasons why Boston shouldn’t waive Vitor Faverani despite his injury concerns.
Ben Rohrbach of WEEI 93.7 FM breaks down the numbers on Evan Turner and what the swingman brings to the Celtics franchise.
When asked what led him to sign with the Cavs, Shawn Marion said that LeBron James wasn’t enough to sway him, but LeBron and Kevin Love combined were, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. “LeBron coming here wasn’t enough. It was more so finalizing the deal with Love. That sold it,” Marion said. “That made it more realistic, like we do have a shot to win the championship this year.”

And-Ones: Raptors, Faverani, Kobe, Love

October 15th, 2014 at 1:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors, like many teams, have their sights set on chasing star free agents in the summer of 2016, but such plans will make it tough for the team to find room to grant extensions to both Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross when they’re eligible a year from now, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. GM Masai Ujiri did the perfunctory duty of exercising Toronto’s 2015/16 rookie scale team options on Valanciunas and Ross on Tuesday, but the team’s decisions regarding the pair won’t be so easy next fall, as Wolstat points out. Here’s more from around the league:

Danny Ainge on Tuesday dismissed the notion that the Celtics will waive injured center Vitor Faverani and his fully guaranteed contract, meaning the team is exploring other ways to alleviate its logjam of 16 fully guaranteed deals and 15 opening-night roster spots. Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald has the details. “We have things we can do before we waive someone,” Ainge said.
Kobe Bryant predicted the NBA will move for another lockout in 2017 and had some harsh words for owners around the league when he spoke to reporters Tuesday, including Bill Oram of the Orange County Register. Still, Bryant showered praise on the Lakers, who’ll again be paying him the league’s highest salary this season. “I think it speaks volumes,” he said. “Not only to me or this city but to other players around the league, as well. You look around at some of the other owners that try to milk their players or get rid of them or discard them, this organization doesn’t do that.”
The Lakers appeared to have the inside track for Kevin Love at times last season, but Love stressed to reporters Tuesday that playing on a contending team like the Cavs means more to him than playing in a large market, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.

Eastern Notes: Allen, Stevens, Celtics, Magic

October 14th, 2014 at 8:25pm CST by Charlie Adams

Here’s tonight’s look at the latest from the Eastern Conference, where we’ve rounded up a bit from each division out east:

Jason Kidd indicated that the team had sincere interest in bringing free agent Ray Allen to the Bucks, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel. “We did contact Ray,” Kidd admitted. “He’s weighing his options to see where he wants to go. But we did have interest.” Allen started his career in Milwaukee before getting traded for Gary Payton during his seventh season as a Buck.
Brad Stevens is making a conscious effort to more closely align the playbooks of the Celtics and their the D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, as the second-year coach explains to ESPNBoston.com’s Chris Forsberg. “We’re trying to make [the playbook synergy] even more of a priority this year,” Stevens said. “I didn’t do a great job of that as I was balancing everything [last season]. [Red Claws coach Morrison Scott] has been here now for, really, the better part of [two months]. He’s been able to learn what we’re doing and they’ll play very similar to us.”
The Magic‘s decision to trade away a pair of first-rounders just to move up two spots in June’s draft looked questionable at the time, but early returns from Elfrid Payton, the player Orlando selected with that pick, are making GM Rob Hennigan look brilliant, opines Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.