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Celtics Sign Coty Clarke To 10-Day Contract

March 7th, 2016 at 12:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have signed Coty Clarke to a 10-day contract, the team announced. The 6’7″ combo forward has been with Boston’s D-League affiliate and was on the NBA roster for training camp. The team was carrying an open roster spot, so no corresponding move is necessary. The contract, worth $30,888, will cover four games, against the Grizzlies, Rockets, Pacers and Thunder.

Clarke has averaged 16.1 points and 7.5 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game across 39 D-League appearances this season, only 11 of which have been starts. Still, the 23-year-old displayed an ability to stretch the floor, with 38.8% 3-point shooting. This season has represented a return stateside for the former University of Arkansas player who spent last season with Hapoel Kazrin in Israel after going undrafted in 2014. He put up 9.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game with 43.1% 3-point shooting as a senior at Arkansas in 2013/14.

Boston gave Clarke only a cameo appearance during the preseason, but he appears to fit what the team has been looking for more recently. Coach Brad Stevens pointed to shooting and versatility as key attributes he wanted in someone who would fill the roster vacancy, and Clarke looks like he can deliver on both fronts.

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NBA Teams Designate Affiliate Players

November 3rd, 2015 at 4:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA teams cut as much as 25% of their rosters at the end of the preseason, but franchises that have D-League affiliates have a way to maintain ties to many of the players they release from the NBA roster. An NBA team can claim the D-League rights to up to four of the players it waives, as long as the players clear waivers, consent to join the D-League, and don’t already have their D-League rights owned by another team. These are known as affiliate players, as our Hoops Rumors Glossary entry details.

NBA teams allocated 46 affiliate players to the D-League at the beginning of the season last year, and this year, that number has risen to 56, according to the list the D-League announced today. These players are going directly to the D-League affiliate of the NBA team that cut them and weren’t eligible for the D-League draft that took place Saturday. Teams that designated fewer than the maximum four affiliate players retain the ability to snag the D-League rights of players they waive during the regular season, but for now, this is the complete list:

Boston Celtics (Maine Red Claws)

Cleveland Cavaliers (Canton Charge)

Dallas Mavericks (Texas Legends)

Detroit Pistons (Grand Rapids Drive)

Golden State Warriors (Santa Cruz Warriors)

Houston Rockets (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)

Indiana Pacers (Fort Wayne Mad Ants)

Los Angeles Lakers (Los Angeles D-Fenders)

Memphis Grizzlies (Iowa Energy)

Miami Heat (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

New York Knicks (Westchester Knicks)

Oklahoma City Thunder (Oklahoma City Blue)

Orlando Magic (Erie BayHawks)

Philadelphia 76ers (Delaware 87ers)

Phoenix Suns (Bakersfield Jam)

Sacramento Kings (Reno Bighorns)

San Antonio Spurs (Austin Spurs)

Toronto Raptors (Raptors 905)

Utah Jazz (Idaho Stampede)

Also, several players who were on NBA preseason rosters are on D-League rosters through means other than the affiliate player rule. Most of them played under D-League contracts at some point within the last two years, meaning their D-League teams have returning player rights to them. Others entered through last weekend’s D-League draft, while others saw their D-League rights conveyed via trade. Most of these players aren’t with the D-League affiliate of the NBA team they were with last month, with a few exceptions.

Roster information from Adam Johnson of D-League Digest, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor and freelancer and Hoops Rumors contributor Mark Porcaro was used in the creation of this post.

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Atlantic Notes: Clarke, Fisher, Wood, Young

October 22nd, 2015 at 8:14pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Derek Fisher experienced a difficult rookie season as Knicks head coach, but he feels that 2014/15’s growing pains are merely part of the learning process, and Fisher, who defied expectations throughout his playing career, may end up doing the same as a coach, writes Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. “Just continuing to chip away at what my vision is for coaching and teaching and leading,” Fisher told Ding of his approach this season, “Last year, coming in, I was learning and trying to figure out the best leadership styles. How do you work with players? How do you criticize players in a constructive way? All these things were unknowns. Just really learning as I went along. Not that I know the world of basketball a year later, per se, but I’m just more confident in what it is I expect and better able to articulate that to our players. Being really clear about what I want and not so much me trying to find that vision.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Combo forward Coty Clarke, who was waived by the Celtics on Tuesday, will play this season for Boston’s D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, Adam Johnson of D-League Digest relays (via Twitter).
  • Being passed over in this year’s NBA Draft is what is driving Sixers power forward Christian Wood throughout the preseason, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Wood, who is signed to a partially guaranteed deal, believes that he has a solid shot to make the team’s regular season roster, Breen notes. “I want to show every team what they missed out on,” Wood said. “I’m hustling on every loose ball. Giving it my all and giving it my 100% on every possession. I’m lucky to have a shot with the 76ers.”
  • Celtics swingman James Young chalks up a hefty chunk of his rookie difficulties last season to growing pains and believes he’s now on the correct path as a player, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. “Last year, I just wasn’t thinking straight about the game,” Young said. “Now, I feel like I’m by that and I can just play my game.” When asked what was weighing on his mind last season, Young told Bulpett, “Hesitating, going back and forth to the D-League, off the court issues with my mom, family stuff. Everything’s caught up now, so I’m good.”
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Celtics Waive Clarke, Miller, Randolph

October 20th, 2015 at 4:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:12pm: All three players have officially been released, the Celtics announced.

3:07pm: The Celtics will waive Coty Clarke, Malcolm Miller and Levi Randolph today, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). Corey Walden, the team’s other camp invitee, will remain for the time being, but all are expected to end up signing with Boston’s D-League affiliate, Bulpett says. Miller, Randolph and Walden have matching $25K guarantees, while Clarke is on a non-guaranteed contract. The release of Clarke, Miller and Randolph will take Boston down to 17 players, 16 of whom have fully guaranteed deals, as our roster count shows.

Clarke, a 23-year-old combo forward, and Miller, a 22-year-old small forward, went scoreless in preseason cameos that encompassed less than a minute of playing time, while the 23-year-old Randolph, a shooting guard, managed three points in slightly more time on the court. The Celtics also got a look at Miller on their summer league team in July, when he averaged 4.0 points in 12.1 minutes across seven appearances.

More pressing for the Celtics is their decision regarding the final preseason cut, which will involve letting go of a full season’s salary unless they work a trade. Perry Jones III has appeared to be most at risk for a release among the 16 Celtics with full guarantees, as Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe said to Hoops Rumors last month, but Jones has drawn praise from Celtics coach Brad Stevens and others.

Who do you think should be the final cut for the Celtics? Leave a comment to let us know.

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Celtics Officially Sign Four For Camp

September 25th, 2015 at 9:39am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics confirmed the signings of Coty Clarke, Malcolm Miller, Levi Randolph and Corey Walden in an announcement today. All four had already put pen to paper, according to reports, but Boston had yet to acknowledge the deals. Each player has a partial guarantee of $25K on a rookie minimum salary, except for Clarke, whose contract is non-guaranteed, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported. Walden, who signed a two-year deal, is the only one of the quartet with more than a one-year pact, according to Pincus.

Clarke, 23, went undrafted out of Arkansas in 2014 and spent this past season playing for Hapoel Kazrin in Israel. Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia first reported the 6’7″ combo forward would join Celtics camp.

Miller is familiar with Boston, having gone undrafted out of Holy Cross this year, and he played on the Celtics summer league team. Kevin O’Connor of SB Nation’s CelticsBlog broke the story that the 22-year-old small forward would sign with the Celtics.

Multiple overseas teams came calling for Randolph, but he instead spurned them for the Celtics, according to Carchia, with Matt Zenitz of AL.com reporting the Boston deal. Randolph, a shooting guard who went undrafted out of Alabama this year, will have his 23rd birthday next month.

Teams also passed on Walden in the draft this year after he came out of Eastern Kentucky. The 23-year-old is 6’2″ and undersized as a shooting guard, but the Celtics were nonetheless interested in bringing him to camp on a deal that A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reported.

Boston already has 16 others on fully guaranteed contracts, one more than the 15-man regular season roster limit, so Clarke, Miller, Randolph and Walden face especially long odds to stick for opening night. It’s more likely they’ll end up with the Celtics D-League affiliate. Boston can retain the D-League rights to as many as four players it cuts.

Which Celtics camp signee has the most potential? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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Celtics Sign Coty Clarke For Camp

August 21st, 2015 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

AUGUST 21ST, 1:00pm: Clarke has signed a contract that’s worth the rookie minimum for one year and is non-guaranteed, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It contains limited injury protection, Pincus adds, indicating that it’s an Exhibit 9 contract. The Celtics have yet to make a formal announcement.

AUGUST 7TH, 11:02am: The Celtics will sign former University of Arkansas forward Coty Clarke for training camp, a source told Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Hoops Rumors that the 6’7″ 23-year-old will indeed be in Celtics camp. The sides are still working out details, the person said, but the one-year pro is Boston-bound.

Clarke will be a surprise addition to the Celtics preseason roster. He didn’t attend an NBA training camp last fall after going undrafted in June 2014, and he didn’t play NBA summer league ball this year or last. He spent this past season playing for Hapoel Kazrin in Israel, where he put up 19.4 points and 9.4 rebounds in 30.7 minutes per game. He averaged 9.4 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 22.3 MPG as a senior at Arkansas during the 2013/14 season.

The addition of Clarke will bring Boston to 20 players with either a signed contract or a verbal agreement. Teams can carry no more than 20 contracts in the offseason before cutting down to the 15-man regular season limit. The Celtics have 17 fully guaranteed deals, including Zoran Dragic, whom they reportedly intend to either waive or trade. Such a move would still leave the team with one more guaranteed contract than it can carry for opening night, so Clarke faces long odds to stick with the Celtics beyond the preseason. Still, Boston has the ability to retain the D-League rights to as many as four of the players it waives, so Clarke would appear to have a much stronger chance to end up with the Maine Red Claws, the D-League affiliate of the Celtics.

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