Chris Babb

Eastern Notes: Wiggins, Celtics, Cole

With all the rumblings that he is going to be traded to the Wolves for Kevin Love as soon as the required 30 days from when he inked his contract pass, Andrew Wiggins’ days in Cleveland appear numbered, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. For his part, Wiggins is remaining upbeat, saying, “I just want to play for a team that wants me, so whichever team wants me I’ll play for.” When asked if he expected to be a teammate of LeBron James this season, Wiggins said, “I don’t really know what to say. When I’m in Cleveland I’m going to play as hard as I can, give it my all and I’ll play for whoever.”

Here’s more from the east:

  • The Celtics are working to clear roster space over the next few weeks in order to make room for Evan Turner in their rotation, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Washburn notes that Boston isn’t expected to officially announce the signing until those moves are made, although the sides have reached an agreement. The Celtics currently have 18 players on their roster, including the non-guaranteed deals of Keith Bogans, Chris Babb, and Chris Johnson, notes Washburn.
  • With the loss of Paul George for what is likely the entire 2014/15 season, the Pacers are unlikely to make the playoffs, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Winderman also opines that Indiana could have benefited from Danny Granger‘s presence and production in the wake of George’s loss.
  • Heat guard Norris Cole has changed agents and is now being represented by Klutch Sports’ Rich Paul, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Cole was previously represented by Joel Bell of Bell Management.

Atlantic Notes: Young, Babb, Johnson, Knicks

While Thaddeus Young is focused on finishing the Sixers dismal season on a high note, he admits to Christopher A. Vito of The Delaware County Daily Times that his player option for the 2015/16 season has crossed his mind. “It’s a lot of money to leave on the table. At the end of the day, I’m not a guy that spends a lot of money,” Young said Friday. “Obviously, I want to be winning on a championship team. At the end of the day, like I said, it’s a card that could be played.” Young added that coach Brett Brown and GM Sam Hinkie have done their best to include the power forward on board with the rebuilding process. Here’s more from the Atlantic:

  • Celtics coach Brad Stevens says that the recently signed duo of Chris Babb and Chris Johnson were brought in to add character to the locker room and enhance practices with their good attitudes, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Babb and Johnson both hooked onto Boston with multi-year deals after each seeing a pair of 10-day contracts.
  • Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com examines the likelihood that the Celtics re-sign Jerryd Bayless for next season. Bayless will need to work on his defense if he wants to be in Boston long-term, says Forsberg.
  • Steve Mills’ new role in the Knicks organization will likely turn out to be only ceremonial, writes Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Team president Phil Jackson will look to bring in a different GM to handle day-to-day operations for the club, and Lawrence lists Kurt RambisJim Cleamons, Ronnie Lester, and Mike Dunleavy as possible candidates for the job.
  • Crafting his front office team is only one of the tasks Jackson will face in the early stages of his new role for the Knicks. Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders discusses the other challenges the Zen Master will deal with in the early stages of his tenure in New York.
  • Harvery Araton of the New York Times thinks that the Knicks’ move to bring in Jackson has overshadowed the impressive recovery that the Nets have been able to make over the second half of the season. Brooklyn sits just one game back from third place in the East after an underwhelming start to the 2013/14 campaign.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

Celtics Re-Sign Chris Babb To Three-Year Deal

2:36pm: It’s a three-year contract that’s non-guaranteed next season and for 2015/16, reports Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. That means Babb received essentially the same deal that the Celtics gave Johnson, as I speculated. Murphy also confirms that it’s a minimum-salary arrangement.

FRIDAY, 9:54am: Boston has made the signing official, the team announced. The statement confirms that it’s a multiyear deal, but it doesn’t provide any further details.

THURSDAY, 1:00pm: The Celtics will re-sign Chris Babb to a deal that covers the rest of the season and beyond, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Babb is on the final day of his second 10-day contract with the team. Babb’s latest pact will likely be non-guaranteed for next season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it also covers 2015/16 with non-guaranteed salary, since that’s the very sort of deal that Chris Johnson got from the team this year following his 10-day contract.

Babb’s new deal will be the 15th guaranteed contract on the books for the Celtics this season, meaning Boston is likely done making moves for 2013/14. The 24-year-old former Iowa State shooting guard hasn’t dazzled in his limited playing time in Boston, averaging 2.2 points on 2.3 field goal attempts in 11.5 minutes per game. Still, coach Brad Stevens has called him a “perfect fit,” and Stevens seems particularly high on Babb’s defensive ability.

The Greg Lawrence client was initially with the Celtics in training camp this fall after going undrafted in June, though he saw time in summer league with the Suns. He failed to make Boston’s opening-night roster, but the Celtics kept his D-League rights and Babb wound up playing for the C’s D-League affiliate, posting 12.0 points and 35.4% three-point shooting in 37.5 minutes per game over 33 appearances. That led to his first 10-day contract, which he signed on the final day of February.

Celtics Sign Chris Babb To Second 10-Day

TUESDAY, 10:30am: The Celtics have formally announced the deal, via press release.

SUNDAY, 8:02pm: Chris Babb confirmed to reporters, including Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (on Twitter), that he has received a second 10-day deal from the Celtics.  Babb had averages of 3.7 PPG and 2.0 RPG while playing 13.3 MPG heading into today’s contest against the Pistons.

Coach Brad Stevens recently offered up high praise for Babb, who initially joined the C’s on February 28th.  “He’s a perfect fit for what we need as far as, he’s not going to play 38 minutes a game — he’s going to come in, get open shots, hopefully knock those open shots down, play off of other people, and then be a feisty defender for us. He really is an outstanding defender for a young guy,” Stevens said.

Babb went undrafted in 2013 but played in the summer league for the Suns afterwards.  Babb played in 32 games for the Red Claws this season, and averaged 11.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.3 APG, and 1.2 SPG, while logging 37.5 MPG.

Celtics Likely To Sign Babb To Second 10-Day

Today is the final day for Chris Babb’s 10-day contract and the team is expected to extend Babb with another 10-day deal, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Babb has appeared in three games for the Celtics and has averaged 3.7 PPG, and 2.0 RPG while playing 13.3 MPG.

Coach Brad Stevens said he hopes the club continues the relationship with another contract. Stevens also said, “He’s a perfect fit for what we need as far as, he’s not going to play 38 minutes a game — he’s going to come in, get open shots, hopefully knock those open shots down, play off of other people, and then be a feisty defender for us. He really is an outstanding defender for a young guy.

Babb went undrafted in 2013, but played in the summer league for the Suns. He then signed with the Celtics on September 30th, 2013, but was subsequently waived by the team on October 26th. He joined the Red Claws on October 31st. Babb played in 32 games for the Red claws this season, and averaged 11.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.3 APG, and 1.2 SPG, while logging 37.5 MPG. He signed his initial 10-day contract with the Celtics on February 28th.

Eastern Notes: Babb, Onuaku, LeBron

Chris Babb‘s 10-day contract ends on Monday, but the Celtics are high on him, writes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Coach Brad Stevens said, “He’s a perfect fit for what we need as far as, he’s not going to play 38 minutes a game — he’s going to come in, get open shots, hopefully knock those open shots down, play off of other people, and then be a feisty defender for us. He really is an outstanding defender for a young guy.” There has been no official word on if the Celtics plan to re-sign Babb.

More from around the east:

  • The Cavs have assigned Arinze Onuaku to the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League, tweets Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer. Onuaku hasn’t scored in 2 appearances for the Cavs and was re-signed for a second 10-day contract on Wednesday.
  • The Cavs were planning on using the ceremony to retire Zydrunas Ilgauskas‘ jersey as one means to recruit LeBron James back to Cleveland, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. But what little chance the team had to that possibility might have ended with the firing of former GM Chris Grant. Grant was one of the team executives who had the best relationship with James, according to Windhorst.
  • Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News also weighs in on how unlikely the chances are that James returns to Cleveland this summer. The team’s lack of a proven winner in the front office is the main deterrent to attracting James, writes Lawrence.
  • Michael Lee of The Washington Post takes a look at how the Wizards trade for Andre Miller is working out for him and for the team. So far, the pairing is paying dividends for both, opines Lee. The Wizards offer Miller a clean slate and a playoff opportunity, and Miller gives the team a proven veteran.

Celtics Sign Chris Babb To 10-Day Contract

FRIDAY, 11:15am: The Celtics have officially signed Babb, the team announced. The move brings Boston’s roster to 15 players.

THURSDAY, 7:22pm: The Celtics plan to sign guard Chris Babb to a 10-day contract on Friday or Saturday, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Babb has been playing with the Maine Red Claws in the D-League.

Babb went undrafted in 2013, but played in the summer league for the Suns. He then signed with the Celtics on September 30th, 2013, but was subsequently waived by the team on October 26th. He joined the Red Claws on October 31st.

Babb has played in 32 games for the Red claws this season, and has averaged 11.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.3 APG, and 1.2 SPG, while logging 37.5 MPG.

D-League Notes: Draft, Douby, Liggins, C’s

The NBA D-League has released the official list of players eligible to be selected in tomorrow’s draft, which is set to take place at 7:00 pm ET in New York. There are plenty of intriguing names among the 180+ players hoping to be drafted, including a couple 2013 NBA draftees whose NBA rights are still held by their respective teams — Pierre Jackson (Pelicans) and Grant Jerrett (Thunder). Here’s more on the 2013 D-League draft class:

  • Potential top-10 picks include James Johnson, DeAndre Liggins, and Quincy Douby, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Johnson and Liggins were recently released by the Hawks and Thunder, respectively, while Douby averaged 31.6 PPG in China last season, including one 75-point game.
  • There are a handful of international players eligible to be drafted, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s brother Athanasios Antetokounmpo, tweets Givony. Givony adds in another tweet that there are prospects from Croatia and Japan in the draft pool as well.
  • Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside notes that former NBA veterans Ricky Davis and Salim Stoudamire are among the draft hopefuls.
  • The Maine Red Claws, the Celtics‘ D-League affiliate, announced 11 players on their camp roster today, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). That list features Chris Babb, Damen Bell-Holter, and Kammron Taylor, who were in camp with Boston this month.

Celtics Rumors: Brooks, D-League, Osby

Jared Sullinger got some good news and bad news today, as Celtics GM Danny Ainge indicated that the team would pick up the forward’s third-year option for 2014/15. However, the team also announced that Sullinger would be suspended for a game to start the ’13/14 season. While Sullinger had domestic charges against him dismissed in court, the club elected to suspend him for one game for “failing to meet the high expectations we have for all Celtics employees.” As Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes, the former Buckeye understand and accepts the club’s decision.

Here’s more from out of Boston:

  • The Celtics don’t intend to exercise MarShon Brooks‘ fourth-year option, as we heard earlier today, and Forsberg has more details from Ainge on the team’s decision: “With MarShon, we haven’t enough chance to evaluate him in a fair way and so we probably won’t pick up his extension. But we will retain his Bird Rights and I’m sure he’ll get plenty of opportunities this year to see if he fits our system.”
  • According to Forsberg, Ainge would be open to all four Celtics camp invitees – Chris Babb, Damen Bell-Holter, DeShawn Sims and Kammron Taylor – joining the team’s D-League affiliate. NBA clubs are only allowed to retain the D-League rights for three players, but the Maine Red Claws already held Sims’ rights. Those players have yet to decide on whether to play in the D-League or pursue overseas jobs, so it’s not clear yet which ones will land in Maine.
  • The Red Claws are also trying to add another team’s camp invitee, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com, who reports that the Celtics’ D-League affiliate is attempting to obtain the rights to Romero Osby. Because Osby attended camp with Orlando, his rights belong to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, but the Magic share their D-League affiliate with five other NBA clubs, so their influence is limited. According to Charania, Osby is finalizing a D-League deal, and while the Celtics are in the lead to acquire his rights, the Warriors, Thunder, Spurs, and Nets have also expressed interest.
  • Ainge also suggested today that Jordan Crawford won’t be extended by Thursday, but a new deal for Avery Bradley is still a possibility.

Celtics To Waive Chris Babb

The Celtics will waive former Iowa state guard Chris Babb, sources told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (via Twitter).  Releasing Babb brings the C’s roster down to 14 and keeps them out of luxury tax territory.

Babb, 23, went undrafted this past June and hooked on with the Celtics in late August after playing for the Suns’ summer league squad.  In his senior year at Iowa State, the 6’5″ guard averaged 9.1 PPG to go along with 38.2% shooting from three-point range.  Babb was always viewed as a longshot to make the C’s but he managed to outlast fellow camp invitees DeShawn Sims, Kammron Taylor, and Damen Bell-Holter by a few days.