Celtics coach Brad Stevens said there is no disconnect between him and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge as the team fights for a playoff berth, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes. Stevens has not been asked by Ainge to use younger players at the expense of winning, according to Bulpett, who points out that rookie James Young has lost his spot in the rotation. Ainge made several trades this season with an eye to the future, including deals that shipped out veterans Rajon Rondo and Tayshaun Prince. “To me, there doesn’t need to be any separation. This is the focus we have,” Stevens said to the team’s beat reporters. “Obviously [Ainge] has got to look at everything from a roster standpoint and the development standpoint and everything else, but I think our progress as a team and the way we’re progressing, all that stuff goes hand in hand.”
In other news around the Eastern Conference:
Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy is unhappy about his team playing 22 back-to-backs this season, tying his team with the Hornets for the most in the league, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. Van Gundy believes the problem is due to the league’s contract with TNT which prevents teams from scheduling games on most Thursday nights, Langlois adds. “If you looked at the schedule and said, they’ve got 45 home games and they’ve only got 37, everybody would go crazy,” Van Gundy said to Langlois. “But on the back to backs, we don’t say anything. I think that is something to be addressed.”
Jarell Eddie will not receive a second 10-day contract from the Hawks, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals. Eddie, whose first 10-day contract expires on Saturday, did not appear in any games after he was signed away from the D-League’s Austin Spurs. He will likely return to Austin, Vivlamore continues.
January 31st, 2015 at 12:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito
Orlando Sanchez remains on the Knicks‘ radar as a player worth grooming for the future, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. The 26-year-old forward currently plays for New York’s D-League affiliate in Westchester, and the Knicks envision Sanchez making their roster out of training camp next season, Berman notes. Sanchez looks at the success that Langston Galloway has had turning a 10-day deal into a new contract as a source of inspiration, Berman adds.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
Despite Celtics coach Brad Stevens owning a career NBA record of 41-86, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge insists that Stevens’ job is secure, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald writes. “When I was going through things at Butler and we were having all kinds of success, I just kept learning how important it was to just keep coaching your team,” Stevens said. “Here we’re experiencing our fair share of growing pains and it’s the same answer. Here the biggest thing is our ownership and our leadership team. They’ve been very good with me and very supportive. As I said, at the end of the day you’re just coaching your team as best as you can every day.”
The Celtics‘ challenge of trying to field a playoff-caliber team while trying to acquire talent and draft picks for the future is one that Ainge embraces, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “I would love to see our team in the playoffs, but I don’t want to see us back into the playoffs with a really bad record and not even have a fighting chance,” Ainge said. “If our team can keep getting better by developing, if we can make some deals at the trade deadline that put us in position to actually get into the playoffs and have a chance to win a playoff series, I think that would be a lot of fun.“
The Knicks have spoken with Horace Grant regarding a position within the organization, Andy Adler of PIX 11 News reports (Twitter link). Adler adds that the former NBA player has met with coach Derek Fisher, and that the discussions could have been about a position on Fisher’s coaching staff. Grant has ties to team president Phil Jackson, who coached Grant in Chicago and with the Lakers, and he is familiar with the triangle offense as well.
January 10th, 2015 at 12:57pm CST by Eddie Scarito
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge understands that trading Rajon Rondo made coach Brad Stevens‘ job tougher, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald writes. Rondo’s departure has thrown Boston’s rotation for a loop, and Stevens has the difficult task of sorting out who the team should be playing, Murphy adds. “It’s difficult if there aren’t three or four guys who are the stabilizing force for your team,” Ainge said. “Sometimes the second team is capable of beating the first, and sometimes it’s the first that’s better than the second. Sometimes the third is better than both of them. You could see it [last Monday] against Charlotte. He used 13 guys, and the third unit looked hungrier than the other two.”
Here’s more out of Beantown:
Ainge doesn’t place the onus solely on Stevens to keep the Celtics’ locker room content, Murphy adds. “It’s hard to keep everybody happy,” Ainge said. “It’s not Brad’s job to keep everybody happy. It’s a player’s job to make the coach believe that he can’t win without him. This is just a very difficult roster to manage up and down.”
In light of Boston’s recent trades, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com ran down the plethora of draft picks the Celtics have accumulated through the 2019 NBA draft.
Despite the recently acquired Jameer Nelson spending time on the inactive list since arriving in Boston, Stevens has praised the veteran player’s professionalism, Murphy writes in a separate piece. “We talked. I don’t know that it’s a fixture,” Stevens said of whether the veteran guard has a long-term role on the inactive list. “Tonight, yes, but it’s hard for me to predict anything beyond one day right now. We had a talk and he’s been great. He’s a pro, he’s helpful. We had a film session and he was active in the film session helping the young guys. It’s a transition. He played 10 years in one place, and then he chose to go someplace else and gets traded. He’s never lived this before.“
Jeff Green, who is part of the proposed three-way deal with the Pelicans, Celtics, and Grizzlies, is expected to opt out of his contract after the season, Zach Lowe of Grantland reports (Twitter link). Green has a $9.2MM player option for 2015/16, which is the final year of his current deal.
December 21st, 2014 at 5:58pm CST by Zachary Links
We saw one notable point guard traded out of the Atlantic Division last week – could we see another shipped out soon? The Nets and Kings have reportedly had trade talks about Deron Williams with Darren Collison, Derrick Williams, and Jason Thompson mentioned as names from Sacramento’s side. However, a deal doesn’t sound imminent and the Nets do not want to part with Mason Plumlee in a deal, which could be a stumbling block. More from the Atlantic Division, where the Raptors hold a comfortable lead..
Even though the Celtics are in a transitional period, coach Brad Stevens tells Paul Flannery of SB Nation that he’s not interested in jumping ship for the University of Indiana. “I’ve committed to being here,” Stevens said. “I’ve already left a situation once and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to choose to do. This is something that as long as they want me to be here, this is what I want to be doing and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. I know it’s all specific to the rumor mills and the discussion of one spot. I think they’ve got a good coach who’s done a helluva job. He doesn’t deserve that speculation…I’m the head coach of the Boston Celtics. This is the job. This is where I am. This is what I want to do really well and I’m committed to being as good as I can every single day for the Celtics.”
Phil Jackson is responsible for nine of the 15 players on the Knicks roster, meaning that he is largely responsible for the team’s shortcomings, opines Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News. Knicks fans seem to be sold on Jackson but Lupica argues that if no one else in New York City gets a pass, neither should he.
Knicks guard Iman Shumpert won’t require surgery after suffering a painful shoulder injury, writes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. The Knicks staff will reevaluate Shump in two weeks to see how his dislocated left shoudler is doing.
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.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens is warning people not to read too much into early preseason lineups. However, the early readings indicate that rookie Marcus Smart has moved ahead of Evan Turner in the battle to serve as the team’s replacement point guard for the injured Rajon Rondo, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. More from the Eastern Conference..
One of the newest members of the Magic, Evan Fournier, is fitting in well with the team, writes Ken Hornack of Fox Sports Florida. Hornack also adds, while Fournier is unlikely to be named a starter, he will be a valuable contributor due to his ability to create with the ball in his hands.
After clashing as opposing point guards, Jose Calderon and Knicks coach Derek Fisher have seamlessly transitioned into their new roles as player and coach, writes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. Botte adds that Calderon has been impressed with how quickly Fisher has acclimated to being comfortable in his new coaching role.
Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck believes in the team’s plan to rebuild through the draft, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. Grousbeck said, “I’m not used to being out of the playoffs. I remember being back to the building phase back from ’03 to ’07, and we knew in ’03 that we didn’t have a team that was capable of winning. So we changed the coach and the general manager and really started over just building through the draft, with the goal eventually of maybe making a couple of transformative trades. And that’s really how it played out in ’07. So we really think we’re going to do the exact same thing. We’re going to draft and be patient and provide the payroll and support and steady hand necessary to bring this back, because I’m only interested in banners. I named my company ‘Banner 17’ – we got that one (championship in 2008). I might as well name it Banner 18, because that’s all we’re interested in.”
More from Boston:
In the same Amick article, when asked about his timetable for the team to contend, Grousbeck said, “Nothing would make me happier than to be contending next year. We went from basically worst to first in ’07-’08. Having said that, this is going to be a multi-year process. We’ve got a young core that we’re excited about. We’ve got picks (seven first-rounders in the next three drafts) and a GM and a coach that looks like a recipe for a lot of success in the future, but it doesn’t look like it’s an overnight success. So we’re prepared for the long haul, but we’d love to accelerate it if we could.”
If you ask Celtics coach Brad Stevens about the who the team might add in the draft, he’ll tell you developing the players already on the roster is just as important, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Stevens said, “I got asked just today, ‘What would you like to see us add’ with regard to positional need or shooting or whatever the case may be. We’ll get focused on some of those things but we also need to focus on the guys that are here and the guys that will be here — because they can all get better and they’ve all proven themselves to be really valuable.“
Brad Stevens’ college ties might make him the best talent evaluator in the organization heading into the draft, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Stevens had recruited many of this year’s draft entries while at Butler, plus has closer ties to high school and prep coaches than most NBA executives, writes Murphy.
As we approach the end of the NBA regular season, it’s the time of year when the annual coaching carousel begins to spin and a slew of faces will end up in brand new places. Heading into the 2013/14 season there were a total of 13 coaching changes, which if you’re keeping score at home, is the most ever in a single offseason.
We won’t know for sure just how many teams will be making a change on their bench until the playoffs are over. Normally you would think a playoff spot would ensure job security, but Lionel Hollins, Vinny Del Negro, and Larry Drew all weren’t retained after reaching the playoffs last year. So the exact number of vacancies are up in the air, but we know there will be some.
If your team is making a head coaching change, which would you prefer in your new hire? Do you want a veteran coach with years of experience to lead your team? One who has a proven track record, but also could be carrying baggage and bad habits picked up throughout the years. Or, would you prefer the energy and new ideas a first-time coach can provide? A new coach has more to prove, and might be more in touch with the pulse and culture of his players, but has no experience to rely on, and no track record to predict future performance.
Let’s look at how this year’s crop of new coaches fared as an example. First up, the ones with prior experience:
Doc Rivers (Clippers): The team is 55-24, first in the Pacific Division, and the third seed in the playoffs. Last year’s team went 56-26 under Vinny Del Negro, before Del Negro wasn’t retained and the team traded for Rivers.
Maurice Cheeks (Pistons): He was fired 50 games into the year with a record of 20-29. Detroit was 29-53 in 2012/13 under Lawrence Frank. After the team signed Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off season, owner Tom Gores expected a much better record and for the team to make the playoffs.
Mike Brown (Cavaliers): The team sits at 32-47, which is good for tenth in the eastern conference. Last year under Byron Scott the team had a record of 24-58 and ended up with the first overall selection in the draft.
Larry Drew (Bucks): The Bucks sit at 14-64. which is good for the worst record in the league. In 2012/13 under Scott Skiles and Jim Boylan the team went 38-44.
Now for how the first-time coaches performed:
Jason Kidd (Nets): The Nets are at 43-35, which is good for the fifth overall playoff seed. Kidd replaced interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, whose team finished 2012/13 with a record of 49-33.
Brad Stevens (Celtics): Stevens, taking over for Doc Rivers, has gone 23-55, but has the re-building team heading in a positive direction. Last year’s team went 41-40.
Mike Budenholzer (Hawks): The Hawks have gone 35-43 and currently hold the final playoff spot in the east. Last year’s Larry Drew led squad went 44-38.
Steve Clifford (Bobcats): Clifford has led the Bobcats to a 40-38 record and the sixth seed in the east. Under Mike Dunlap the team went 21-61 during last year’s campaign.
Brian Shaw (Nuggets): The Nuggets have been hampered by injuries all season, and sit at 35-44. Shaw replaced coach of the year winner George Karl, who led the team to a record of 57-25.
David Joerger (Grizzlies): Joerger replaced Lionel Hollins and has guided the team to a record of 46-32, and has the team is one game out of the final playoff spot. Last year the team went 56-26.
Brett Brown (Sixers): Under Brown the Sixers have the second worst record in the league at 17-61, including a record-tying 26 game losing streak. Last season under Doug Collins, the team went 34-48.
Jeff Hornacek (Suns): The Suns are one of the most improved teams in the league with a record of 47-31, and hold the seventh seed in the western conference. Last year under Lindsey Hunter and Alvin Gentry the team went 25-57.
Mike Malone (Kings): Under Malone the Kings have gone 27-52. During the 2012/13 season under Keith Smart the team ended up 28-54.
This means that in their first seasons with their new teams, experienced coaches went 121-164 (.424), and the first-timers went 313-391 (.444). There are many different factors outside a coach’s control that contribute to the team’s final record, but the nature of the NBA is that the coach is the first one to take the heat.
Now it’s time to vote. If your team makes a coaching change this off season, do you want an experienced person hired, or would you prefer the team brings in a brand new face? Cast your vote below and feel free to give your thoughts in the comments section below.
Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck sat down with Bob Neumeier of CSNNE at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics conference to discuss a handful of team-related topics. Although Grousbeck admitted some disappointment about the team’s struggles this season, he remains focused on the future: “I had hoped for a better record than this, I know Brad Stevens had hoped for a better record for sure, because he’s a guy that would light himself on fire to win even a quarter of the game much less the whole game…So we’re about winning around here. It’s not happening for us this year, but we’re going to take a long-term view.”
You can find more of Grousebeck’s notable comments below (link provided from a CSNNE Staff Report).
“… I can’t imagine the Celtics without him. It’s challenging. There’s a lot of interest in him. He’s going to come up in a year on his free agency. So we’re going to try to keep him. I hope it works out. If it doesn’t work out we’ll go to Plan B. But he’s been great for us, he’s got us a ring, and is now the captain of the team, and I love having him here.”
On Stevens:
“Now having Brad replace Doc, I wasn’t sure I was ready for Doc to go, but it seemed to be time when it all shook out. Brad is, I can’t think of a more fabulous coach and up-and-coming coach in the league. I think there’s 30 teams one way or the other that are envious of our coach right now.”
On attracting premier free agents to Boston:
“The more I hear about free agency in Boston and the more that I see all the money that’s … the money in the league has doubled just even since I’ve been here. Everything’s doubled and almost doubled again. There’s tons of money. What these guys don’t have is a ring. If we can get it to a place … we really attracted Kevin Garnett here with a chance to win a championship. You can say technically he wasn’t a free agent, but really technically he was. He didn’t have to come to Boston and he did. So in my opinion KG was a free agent who came to Boston and won a championship. And there are other guys out there that want to win rings, and if they want to win them, I think we have to be in the mix.”
Some Celtics fans may have been upset with their team’s the lack of activity around the trade deadline, but Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston opines that acquiring Jimmer Fredette (if he reaches a buyout agreement in Sacramento) would be the perfect mea culpa, especially with the city’s ‘love’ of reclamation projects. All in all, Forsberg suggests that Fredette would be better suited to join a contender at this point, where he’d have an opportunity to jump-start his career in an offense-focused role and the expectations would be minimal.
Here’s more out of his latest Celtics mailbag:
Forsberg wonders if the team would revisit efforts to acquire Omer Asik from the Rockets this summer, when they’ll have a $10.3MM trade exception as well as plenty of draft picks to offer.
As with many players on the roster, Jeff Green‘s future in Boston could be tied in part to the draft and whether the Celtics end up drafting a player at his position.
There’s always the chance that Kelly Olynyk becomes trade fodder, but Forsberg believes the more cap-effective route would be to nurture the young center and hope his game continues to evolve.
When asked who he thinks will definitely return next year, Forsberg says that with so much hinging on the Celtics’ draft position and who they add on draft night, it’s difficult to say with any certainty. The exceptions are head coach Brad Stevens and – unless they can find a taker by giving up some assets – Gerald Wallace.
Colton Iverson’s NBA future depends on how crowded Boston’s roster is and his development. The team currently owns his rights and has kept tabs on him overseas, and Forsberg notes that the 7’0 center can rejoin the team for summer league with a chance to compete for an official roster spot.
As for the lack of trades around the deadline, Forsberg says the team put a high price on their talent, and as evidenced with the lack of activity around the league, few teams were willing to give up draft picks to acquire players.