Avery Bradley Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Silver, Howard, Bradley

December 21st, 2015 at 10:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The controversial rules regarding intentional fouls will not be changed this season, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post via email. Silver said he wouldn’t take action in midseason to prevent teams from employing “Hack-A” strategies, in which poor free throw shooters are fouled before the two-minute mark of a quarter. But the issue will be revisited when the competition committee meets in July, Silver added to Bontemps, who also conducted a phone interview with the commissioner and touched on a variety of topics.

In other news around the league:

The Mavericks shouldn’t even consider a trade for Dwight Howard, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News opines. Howard’s drama queen act and reputation as a coach killer isn’t worth the risk of bringing him aboard, Sefko continues. The Rockets center is also getting more brittle by the season, so the Mavs should not waste their cap space and trade assets on him, Sefko concludes.
Celtics shooting guard Avery Bradley is currently 20th in steals at 1.6 per game but Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy says that doesn’t measure Bradley’s true impact as a defender. The Celtics force a league-best 17.9 turnovers per game and Van Gundy credits Bradley for making that happen. “It’s a very, very aggressive defensive team,” Van Gundy said. “Bradley and [Jae] Crowder in particular are really aggressive defenders and when they have [Marcus] Smart, that gives them another guy that can really get after you on the defensive end of the floor. Bradley is one of the best pressure defenders in the league and sort of spearheads the whole thing.”
Bulls shooting guard Jimmy Butler does not regret the critical comments he made about first-year coach Fred Hoiberg, John Jackson of the Associated Press reports. Butler ripped Hoiberg for being too soft on his players over the weekend, then met with his coach to discuss his concerns. Butler believes he needs to be more of a team leader, Jackson adds. “[I was] a little frustrated after a loss, yeah, but then again, I put a lot of it on myself now because I have to lead better,” he said. Center Pau Gasol said he doesn’t mind Butler’s comments, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. “I think it’s good that certain guys want to take ownership and say, ‘Hey, let’s go,’” he told Johnson.

Atlantic Notes: Rondo, Lopez, Joseph, Williams

December 7th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The breakfast meeting between Rajon Rondo and Kobe Bryant that took place a year ago hastened the trade that took Rondo out of Boston, the point guard believes, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge didn’t indicate that was the case, Rondo concedes, and he wound up signing in the summer with the Kings instead of the Lakers, but Rondo still connects the breakfast and the trade, which happened two weeks apart, Forsberg notes.

“No, Danny never said anything, but I’m pretty sure that, after that, Danny thought he’d lose me for nothing at the end of the year so he made a decision and I understand that,” Rondo said.

People in the Celtics organization, including coach Brad Stevens, are glad to see Rondo playing well again, and Avery Bradley and Jared Sullinger both say their former teammate is like a brother to them, as Forsberg details. Rondo is reportedly back in play for a max deal in the summer ahead. See more from the Atlantic Division:

One reason why Kristaps Porzingis is rebounding so well, to the tune of 12.0 per 36 minutes, is the presence of Knicks offseason signee Robin Lopez, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. “When you take a look at Robin in Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge’s rebounding numbers next to Robin were really good,” Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. “Robin does a really good job impacting his guy, boxing out and holding guys away from the basket so other players can get rebounds.’’
Cory Joseph‘s scoring has been a positive revelation for the Raptors, observes Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, who looks at the highlights and trouble spots for the team so far. The inability of fellow free agent acquisition Bismack Biyombo to provide a reasonable facsimile for what the injured Jonas Valanciunas can do on offense helps lead to the lack of ball movement that has plagued Toronto, Smith adds.
Deron Williams‘ shooting percentage and scoring are up, and Lionel Hollins, his former coach, attributes that to his escape from the spotlight of the New York metropolitan area, notes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Williams gave up nearly $16MM in salary as part of a buyout of the final two years of his contract with the Nets before signing a two-year, $11MM deal with the Mavs this past offseason. “He’s played well. I said he’d play well, he’d be more comfortable out of New York,’’ Hollins said. “I said that he’d go down and play in a little different system, but mainly be out of New York and be away from the New York spotlight and expectations that were really unnatural. So I expected him to play better.’’

Atlantic Notes: Nets-Celtics Deal, Bradley, Caboclo

November 22nd, 2015 at 10:02am CST by Arthur Hill

The future looks vastly different for the Nets and Celtics two years after the eight-player deal that brought Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn, according to Chris Forsberg and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. The key to the trade for Boston was a parcel of draft picks that included the Nets’ unprotected first-rounders in 2014, 2016 and 2018, along with the option to swap first-round picks in 2017. As a result, the 7-5 Celtics are looking at a draft bonanza over the next three seasons, while the 2-11 Nets must focus on free agency to have any shot at rebuilding. Mazzeo notes that Brooklyn GM Billy King is in the final year of his contract, and Nets fans are worried that if he stays with the team next summer, he will spend a possible $40MM in cap space on lesser free agents if he doesn’t land Kevin Durant or Mike Conley. Forsberg speculates that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge may be willing to trade the Nets’ 2016 pick to acquire an impact player for this season.

There’s more news from the Atlantic Division:

Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins told Brian Robb of CBSBoston.com that he doesn’t dwell on the traded picks and believes the Nets can be successful without them. “I think more importantly it’s what we do daily, the foundation that we lay,” Hollins said. “There’s always second-round picks that are bought. There’s always second-round picks that are traded.”
Four productive games off the bench have the Celtics thinking about keeping Avery Bradley in that role, Forsberg writes in a separate story. Bradley has been a starter in Boston for the past three seasons, but switched to a reserve role earlier this month while returning from a calf injury. “I’m not thinking,” Bradley said about the difference in coming off the bench. “Even if I did happen to go back to the starting lineup or whatever, I just need to continue to just play hard. That’s the most important thing for all of us. I feel like the best way to play basketball is without thinking. That’s when we are all at our best.”
Bruno Caboclo, whom Toronto took with the 20th pick in the 2014 NBA draft, is considered a franchise player for the Raptors‘ new D-League squad, according to Michael Grange of SportsNet. The 20-year-old Brazilian appeared in just eight games for Toronto last season but is getting attention with his play for Raptors 905.

Celtics Likely To Seek DeMarcus Cousins

May 1st, 2015 at 2:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:21pm: The Celtics have been enamored with Cousins for years, but Ranadive almost certainly wouldn’t approve a trade that sends him out, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.

8:23am: The “early word” indicates that the Celtics will try to trade for DeMarcus Cousins this summer, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Indeed, the Celtics will likely be in the hunt for just about every marquee player who might become available in the months ahead, Stein writes, echoing comments that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge made Thursday. LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Monroe, Paul Millsap and Omer Asik are among the many free agents whom Boston is expected to make a run at, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com details. Reports conflicted about whether Boston made a run at trading for Cousins before the deadline.

A person familiar with Kings coach George Karl‘s thinking told Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck in February that the Kings didn’t rule out trading their All-Star center at the deadline, and Karl said last month that there were no untouchables on the roster. However, Vlade Divac, whom the Kings installed in March as the head of their basketball operations, is enamored with Cousins and wants the 24-year-old’s time in Sacramento to continue, and owner Vivek Ranadive has bristled at the assertion that Cousins is a trade candidate.

The Celtics have about $40MM in guaranteed salary for next season against a projected $67.1MM cap, but opening cap space would force the team to renounce its unmatched reserve of trade exceptions. None of them, even the one worth nearly $13MM left over from the Rajon Rondo trade, would be large enough to acquire Cousins and his max deal, though the exceptions could help the Celtics structure a larger-scale multiplayer deal involving Cousins or another star. Boston’s store of draft picks loom as significant trade assets, too, as Stein points out, and those won’t disappear if the Celtics decide to use cap space in July, unlike the trade exceptions.

The Celtics don’t have any player who’s truly off-limits for a trade either, according to Stein, though among the C’s under contract, Ainge has a particular soft spot for Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley, the ESPN scribe points out. Sources told Blakely that Smart and Tyler Zeller are the least likely players to leave Boston via trade, as we noted earlier. Ainge is also high on soon-to-be free agents Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko, Stein writes, as previous reports have indicated.

Atlantic Notes: Bradley, Thomas, Ish Smith

March 31st, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Multiple executives from other teams around the league are impressed with all of the trades that the Celtics have made the last two years, but there’s no grand design behind it, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe.

“We don’t have any master plan,” Ainge says. “You just hope you have the assets when a deal comes along.”

Ainge pledges an active run in free agency this summer, though he believes some of the team’s existing players could grow into the sort of star-level performers who usually are among the top three players on a contender, as Lowe details. The Celtics love Marcus Smart, last year’s No. 6 overall pick, Lowe writes, and while multiple teams offered expiring deals and picks toward the back end of the first round for Avery Bradley, Ainge turned them away, several league sources tell Lowe. There’s more on the Celtics amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics think Isaiah Thomas is a better asset to trade than the protected 2016 first-round pick from Cleveland that they gave up to get him from the Suns at the deadline, according to Lowe. The C’s talked about waiting to do the Thomas deal to avoid winning too many games down the stretch this year, but decided against that, with Ainge informing coach Brad Stevens, whom he normally keeps in the loop, of the deal just an hour before it happened, as Lowe examines. “Ideally, he might have been someone you pick up in the summer,” Ainge said. “But someone else might trade for him. You might be in a bidding war. You have to move while the iron is hot.”
Nerlens Noel on Monday called Ish Smith “the first real point guard I’ve ever played with” and expressed a desire that Smith, a free agent at season’s end, return to the Sixers, notes Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Of course, Noel spent the first half of the season with reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams at the point. In any case, Noel’s development has taken off since Smith arrived shortly after the deadline trade that sent Carter-Williams out, notes Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Daily News, who refers to the big man’s growth as the team’s most important mission this season.
Marc Berman of the New York Post wonders just what the Knicks‘ D-League coaching change Monday means for the future of assistant GM Allan Houston, once seemingly a GM-in-training. Houston’s duties with the NBA team had already been curtailed under Phil Jackson, Berman writes.

Celtics Notes: Pierce, Bradley, Young

December 29th, 2014 at 12:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics already made one major trade this season, finally parting ways with Rajon Rondo, and they seem ripe for more moves. They’ve reportedly been in talks with the Cavs about three-team trade ideas, and they have as many as 11 extra draft picks coming their way between now and 2018. The C’s also possess veterans like Jeff Green, whose trade candidacy I examined this weekend, and Brandon Bass who appear fit to play key roles for contending teams, so president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has some ammunition at his disposal. While we wait to see if he and the Celtics can launch any fireworks in time for the New Year, here’s the latest from Boston:

Paul Pierce will probably speak with Ainge and Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck this summer about a role with the organization after his playing career is done, as Pierce tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The 37-year-old, who has a player option worth nearly $5.544MM with the Wizards for next year, didn’t allude to the notion of rejoining the Celtics as a player as he did in March when he indicated that he was open to the idea.
Avery Bradley probably took the news of the Rondo trade the hardest among his teammates, writes Michael Lee of The Washington Post. “Me, personally, I was a little down. We had a relationship with each other. He’s like a brother to me,” Bradley said to Lee about Rondo. “All I could do was wish the best for him and hope that he does well in Dallas. It was hard on us, but that’s part of this game.” Bradley, who re-signed with Boston on a four-year, $32MM contract this summer, is nonetheless confident about the C’s playoff chances this year.
The Celtics have recalled James Young from the D-League, the team announced (on Twitter). This year’s 17th overall pick had 15 points in 32 minutes Sunday for the Maine Red Claws while on his one-day assignment, the sixth time the C’s sent him to the D-League.

Eastern Notes: Bradley, Celtics, Harkless

October 19th, 2014 at 12:31pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Avery Bradley credits the D-League as a huge factor in his success playing for the Celtics, explains Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. “I was able to learn a lot up [in Maine],” says Bradley. “I didn’t take it as punishment at all. That’s one thing I do remember. At first I was disappointed, and being a young guy, it’s kinda overwhelming at first [in the NBA] seeing all the superstars, all the guys you watch watch on TV, and now you’re practicing and I had the injury. I got down on myself a lot, but the D-League gave me a chance to get that confidence back.” Bradley hopes to take his game to new heights after signing a new four year, $32MM deal this offseason.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

While many experts have picked the Celtics to finish near the cellar of the Eastern Conference, Jeremy Gottlieb of Boston.com sheds some optimism on Boston’s upcoming season. While Gottlieb admits that the idea of the Celtics contending for a playoff berth is far-fetched, he cites the presence of coach Brad Stevens, the potential financial motivations of some of the players on the roster, such as Rajon Rondo and Evan Turner, and the weakness of the Eastern Conference as reasons not to underestimate this team.
Although the Celtics were never in contention to acquire Kevin Love due to a lack of an ability to create a package that Minnesota coveted, co-owner Wyc Grousbeck is confident that GM Danny Ainge will turn the franchise’s assets into a winning team, writes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. “I’ve got confidence that with all these picks and these young guys and our willingness to spend money that we can get there,” said Grousbeck. “We’re a patient group. We will take a multiyear plan if that’s what it takes. But I think this June there could be some fireworks. I think this June we’ve got so many pieces to this puzzle that we might be able to shake loose a real piece or two for this team going forward. So, I’m hoping it’s sooner rather than later.”
Magic forward Maurice Harkless is playing with more confidence this year, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Coach Jacque Vaughn has praised Harkless for his continued development. “There’s some areas that he’s improving, and he still can improve some more. But overall his confidence and feel on the floor has definitely grown,” said Vaughn.

Atlantic Notes: Antetokounmpo, Bradley, Leiweke

August 21st, 2014 at 11:04am CST by Chuck Myron

Hoops Rumors readers so far believe the Wizards are the best team outside of the Cavs and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference, but the Raptors aren’t far behind in the voting. Still, there’s change afoot in Toronto, where Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment company that’s in charge of the franchise, is set to step down within the next several months. Here’s more on Canada’s team and the rest of the Atlantic Division:

Thanasis Antetokounmpo has reportedly agreed to join the Knicks D-League affiliate in Westchester, but before that can happen, the team would have to acquire his D-League rights from the Sixers affiliate in Delaware, as Gino Pilato of the D-League Digest points out. Delaware still possesses Antetokounmpo’s D-League rights because he played there last season, and that holds even though new rules allow NBA teams to otherwise possess the D-League rights of their draft picks.
The Sixers apparently reached out to Avery Bradley within the first hour of free agency this summer, but it seems the Celtics still beat them to the punch, as the guard indicates to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). “They were the first team that called and — we had other calls — but Boston, I knew I was coming back here,” said Bradley, who re-signed with the C’s to a four-year, $32MM deal.
Leiweke’s upcoming departure is a blow to the Raptors, given the team’s progress during his brief time in charge of the team, opines Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter links). Wolstat credits Leiweke for doggedly pursuing Masai Ujiri to serve as GM and staying out of Ujiri’s way once he hired him.

Celtics Re-Sign Avery Bradley

July 15th, 2014 at 6:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 15TH, 6:40pm: The deal is now official, according to a team press release.

“We see Avery as a key part of our chase of Banner 18,” said Celtics president Danny Ainge in a statement. “He keeps getting better and is still far from reaching his ceiling. We’re ecstatic to have him back.”

JULY 2ND, 9:28am: It’ll be a fully guaranteed contract with no option clauses, Butler tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

8:47am: The deal is worth $32MM over four years, tweets Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe.

8:20am: The Celtics will re-sign restricted free agent Avery Bradley, reports Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). The terms of the deal for the Mitchell Butler client aren’t immediately clear.

The C’s had been telling other free agents that Bradley would be a part of the club going forward, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), so it appears they were confident all along that the guard would re-sign. Still, the Sixers, armed with tons of cap flexibility, made contact with the 23-year-old Bradley shortly after free agency began. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge nonetheless made reference within the past week to the former 19th overall pick as a major part of the franchise’s future, and stated his belief in the ability of Bradley, Rajon Rondo, and the newly drafted Marcus Smart to co-exist on the team.

Executives who spoke recently to Chris Mannix of SI.com believed Bradley would end up with annual salaries between $7MM and $9MM. That’s after he reportedly turned down a four-year, $24MM extension offer from the Celtics last fall. He proceeded to put up a career year, scoring 14.9 points per game and draining 39.5% of his three-point attempts, proving he’s more than just a defensive specialist. The C’s and Bradley have had a mutual interest in his return, and Bradley has spoken of his affection for playing with Rondo. Perhaps Bradley’s willingness to re-sign so quickly indicates that Rondo, a free agent next year, is likely to remain in Boston, too, though that’s just my speculation.

Eastern Notes: Boozer, Garnett, Bradley

July 13th, 2014 at 9:24am CST by Eddie Scarito

With the reported agreement to sign Pau Gasol and the potential stateside arrival of their 2011 draft pick Nikola Mirotic, the Bulls will likely amnesty Carlos Boozer, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago has until the July 16th amnesty deadline to decide on Boozer’s fate. Johnson also notes that the team is still in talks to re-sign veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich.