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Atlantic Notes: Rose, Crowder, Nets, Thomas

November 4th, 2016 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

One former MVP faced his old team for the first time on Thursday night, as Kevin Durant led the Warriors to a win over the Thunder, and Friday’s schedule has another such reunion on tap, with Derrick Rose‘s Knicks set to face the Bulls for the first time this season. It will be a bittersweet return for Rose and Joakim Noah, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, who observes that the new-look Bulls are off to a much better start than the retooled Knicks.

Meanwhile, Rose spoke to Sam Smith of Bulls.com about not knowing what to expect upon his return to Chicago, adding that he’s anticipating a “couple of boos here and there.” According to the Knicks’ starting point guard, his primary regret stemming from his time with the Bulls is that he wasn’t able to lead the team to a title. “I had so many visions of winning a championship there,” Rose said.

As the Chicago native returns home, let’s check in on a few more items from around the Atlantic division…

Jae Crowder is now expected to be out for two weeks due to a sprained left ankle, per Celtics head coach Brad Stevens (link via Jay King of MassLive.com). Crowder’s absence likely won’t lead to a roster move for Boston, but it figures to result in increased roles for offseason additions like Jaylen Brown and Gerald Green for a couple weeks.
As we noted on Thursday, Nets point guard Jeremy Lin will be sidelined for at least two weeks with a strained hamstring. Fred Kerber of The New York Post takes a look at which players should be counted on to pick up the slack for Brooklyn during that time.
In a piece for ESPN.com, Chris Forsberg details the unlikely path Isaiah Thomas took to become a potential franchise player for the Celtics, including a look back at the 2015 trade deadline, when a trade from Phoenix caught the young guard by surprise. “My agent was like, ‘There might be something, but it’s like a 10% chance,'” Thomas said, referring to a conversation he had shortly before that 2015 deadline. “And he didn’t even bring up Boston.”

Atlantic Rumors: Raptors, Crowder, Embiid

September 29th, 2016 at 3:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Raptors coach Dwane Casey admits he will not be able to replace Bismack Biyombo with just one player, Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun reports. Biyombo signed a four-year, $72MM contract with the Magic, leaving the Raptors without an obvious backup to center Jonas Valanciunas. Potential candidates include Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam and Lucas Nogueira. Jared Sullinger could also see time there, Ganter adds. “Somebody in that group is going to step up and protect the paint,” Casey told Ganter. “It’s going to be not just on the bigs, but on the guards and wings to make sure they contain the ball and do a better job of not letting the ball get to the paint, so we don’t put as much pressure on our rim protection and our rim defense.”

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

Celtics small forward Jae Crowder believes the high right ankle sprain he suffered in March caused his shooting numbers to take a tumble late last season, Taylor C. Snow of Celtics.com reports. Crowder shots 45.3% from the field and 35.4& from 3-point range during the first 65 games and 32.9% and 24.0%, respectively, following his injury. “My ankle was more fatigued than I really realized,” Crowder told Snow. “The way the season ended really gave me a chip on my shoulder to get better and to get in the lab and work and get better at the things I needed to work on.”
Sixers coach Brett Brown is practically giddy over the play of oft-injured Joel Embiid in training camp, Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com writes. Embiid has missed the last two seasons with right foot injuries but the center has shown great desire to get out on the court even while battling flu-like symptoms, Seltzer adds. “You just continually see how much he loves basketball,” Brown said to Seltzer. “He really loves playing basketball. He doesn’t like being pulled out. He wants to play.”
Veteran power forward Luis Scola, who signed a one-year, $5.5MM contract with the Nets this offseason, has taken a leadership role during training camp, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports. New coach Kenny Atkinson offered high praise of Scola’s early impact. “I don’t think you can overstate it, everything he brings to the table, how he’s shown our young guys how to work, how to be professional, how to play the game, intelligence, composure,” Atkinson said. “I know it’s early, but he’s been everything, as advertised.”

Phil Jackson Regrets Not Acquiring Jae Crowder

August 26th, 2016 at 12:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks president Phil Jackson met with Charley Rosen of TodaysFastBreak.com throughout the 2015/16 season to discuss the state of his franchise, and Rosen has been passing along the Zen Master’s comments in a series called “The Phil Jackson Chronicles.” In the latest installment of the series, Jackson admitted that he passed up on acquiring Jae Crowder in a 2014 trade, and views that as the “biggest mistake” he has made since joining the Knicks.

“One of the first deals I engineered when I came back to New York was to trade Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to Dallas for Shane Larkin, Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, plus a second-round pick that the Mavs owed to the Celtics,” Jackson said. “In talking with Boston, I was given the option of taking that pick or else taking Jae Crowder.

“I liked Crowder but I thought he wouldn’t get much of a chance to play behind Carmelo [Anthony], so I took the pick which turned out to be Cleanthony Early. While Cleanthony has missed lots of time in the past two seasons with us, he still has the potential to be a valuable player. Even so, I should have taken Crowder.”

Either Jackson’s comments or Rosen’s transcript seem a little off here, since the Celtics should have had no involvement in the Knicks’ negotiations with the Mavericks. The second-round pick that ultimately became Early was sent to Dallas by Boston in 2013, and the Mavs traded Crowder to the Celtics a few months after the Chandler deal, but the C’s weren’t involved in that Knicks/Mavs trade at all.

In any case, the main point of Jackson’s anecdote – that the Knicks had a choice of taking the No. 34 overall pick or Crowder – appears accurate, and of course Jackson ultimately choice the pick, using it to select Early.

At the time of the trade, Crowder was coming off a season in which he averaged just 4.6 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 16.1 minutes per contest. He was a career 40.9% shooter at that point in his career and hadn’t been more than a part-time role player, so it’s hard to criticize Jackson too much for not seeing a breakout coming — or not thinking that he could potentially get a similar player early in the second round of the 2014 draft.

Since then, however, Crowder has developed into one of the Celtics’ most valuable pieces. In 2015/16, he set career highs with 14.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.7 SPG, and a shooting line of .443/.336/.820. He’s also locked up on an affordable long-term deal through the 2019/20 season.

It’s impossible to know if Crowder would have enjoyed the same success in New York, or if the team would have been able to lock him up long-term, or even how his presence would have affected the Knicks’ other roster moves. But it’s still an interesting “what if?” worth considering, particularly since it may have had a domino effect on the Rajon Rondo trade between Boston and Dallas.

Celtics Notes: Allen, Crowder, Thomas, Young

August 17th, 2016 at 8:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

A 41-year-old Ray Allen wouldn’t be a good fit on a young team like the Celtics, argues Josue Pavon of WEII 93.7 FM. The former Celtic has been considering a return to the NBA and has reportedly had discussions with Boston and Milwaukee. But with Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder already established and Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart and R.J. Hunter all needing more playing time to improve their games, Pavon believes Allen would be an unnecessary addition. The writer also suggests that Allen is using this move as a way to get back in the good graces of Celtics officials and fans and increase the chances of having his number retired. Allen has promised to make a decision before training camps open next month.

There’s more tonight out of Boston:

Crowder’s brief absence with a high ankle sprain last season underscored his importance to the Celtics, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE. Crowder posted career-best totals last season with 14.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals per night, and Blakely contends that Crowder has All-Star potential if he keeps improving. He’s also becoming one of the best bargains in the league after signing a five-year, $35MM deal last summer.
It may have worked out to Thomas’ benefit that the Celtics passed on him in the 2011 draft, Blakely writes in a separate story. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge had his eye on Thomas with the 55th pick, but opted for E’Twaun Moore. Thomas slid to the 60th pick and came into the NBA feeling like he had something to prove. Coming off his first All-Star appearance, Thomas may have to adjust his game with Al Horford in town, giving up a few shots for more assists.
The battle for the last roster spot may come down to Hunter and James Young, according to Brian Robb of CelticsHub. Commenting as part of an ESPN.com panel, Robb says they will both need to perform well in training camp to stand out from the Celtics’ large collection of draftees.

Eastern Notes: Ainge, Kuzminskas, George, Scola

July 24th, 2016 at 8:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

President of basketball operations Danny Ainge was able to quickly rebuild the Celtics by maximizing the return for his stars when the team got too old, writes Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders. Ainge sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets for a package of draft picks and traded Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks instead of letting him become a free agent. This summer’s signing of Al Horford accelerated the building process, and Hamilton believes it makes the Celtics legitimate contenders in the East. Boston is also set up well for the future, with only Horford, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas under contract for 2017/18. Even if the Celtics pick up their team option on Marcus Smart, they may have more than $50MM to spend on free agents next July.

There’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

Mindaugas Kuzminskas provides enough offense to become a rotation player for the Knicks, according to Trevor Magnotti of Upside and Motor. The 6’9″ Lithuanian forward signed with New York earlier this month after playing in Europe for the past five seasons. Knicks president Phil Jackson said the team wanted to find a mobile small forward who could shoot from distance. That describes Kuzminskas, who gets most of his points on cuts to the basket, but is also a streaky shooter from 3-point range. However, there are questions about his defense, which Magnotti warns might limit his playing time until he proves he can contribute on that end.
Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski says Paul George is playing the best basketball of his life two years after the broken leg that had many concerned about his career, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. The Pacers‘ star, who had 18 points in Friday’s exhibition win over Argentina, said he had to put that scary incident out of his mind to be effective again. “It’s behind me,” George said. “I don’t play the game expecting to get hurt. I know it’s a possibility. But there’s no thought in my mind I’m going to get hurt. I play this game because I love it. I just play hard.”
Newly signed Nets power forward Luis Scola will be Argentina’s flag bearer at the Summer Olympics, according to the Associated Press. “I had the chance to play four Olympics, to play 10 years in the NBA, to carry the flag for my country, win an Olympic gold medal,’’ Scola said. “I mean, different things that happened along those days that I couldn’t even dream of those because it would be too wild to dream.”

Pacific Notes: Durant, Lakers, Green

July 21st, 2016 at 9:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Jae Crowder, who participated in the Celtics‘ pitch to Kevin Durant earlier this month, isn’t thrilled that Durant ended up choosing the Warriors over Boston, or even over Oklahoma City. As Crowder tells Tom Westerholm of MassLive.com, the Celtics were the only team to beat both the Cavaliers and Warriors on the road last season, and the team’s presentation to Durant included an explanation of its strategies in those games.

“We played him clips from both games and told him basically the scouting report of how we guarded Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) — our entire game plan, basically,” Crowder said. “That’s what made me mad. We (expletive) told him everything we do to beat these guys, and we beat them, and he went and joined them. I mean, that’s part of the process, but I did not think he would go to those two teams.

“I felt like afterward, I was talking to Isaiah (Thomas), like maybe after you sit back, you shouldn’t have told him everything, but who the (expletive) thought he was going to Golden State, realistically?” Crowder continued. “It was like a slap in the face for us, basically.”

Here’s more on Durant, along with a couple more Pacific Division notes:

The Lakers have an “unnamed trade target” in mind, but the team would be willing to use its cap room to accommodate another Jose Calderon-esque salary dump, writes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Taking Calderon off the Bulls’ hands landed Los Angeles a pair of future draft picks.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com examines how Durant is adjusting to his new role as a villain, while Michael Lee of The Vertical explains why the newest Warriors star isn’t worried about his legacy.
Draymond Green‘s attorney, James Heos, tells Christopher Haxel of The Lansing State Journal that his client’s court case could be resolved at any time. However, if a trial is set, Heos will ask that it happen after the Olympics and before the NBA regular season begins. The Warriors forward faces a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery stemming from a July 10 incident in East Lansing.

Celtics Notes: Johnson, Horford, Durant, Butler

July 3rd, 2016 at 10:15am CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics have told Amir Johnson they will pick up his option unless they issue two maximum contracts, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Johnson, who signed with the Celtics last summer, would make $12MM next season if Boston does pick up his option. The Celtics have until Thursday to make a decision on the 29-year-old power forward, who started 76 games this season, averaging 7.3 points and 6.4 rebounds.

There’s more this morning out of Boston:

The commitment by Al Horford Saturday night has started dreams of a new Big Three in Boston, Deveney writes in the same piece. The Celtics are hoping Kevin Durant may be more inclined to join a franchise that now has two All-Stars on its roster in Horford and Isaiah Thomas, along with the stability of coach Brad Stevens and GM Danny Ainge, who both received contract extensions last month. The Celtics are coming off a 48-win season and have a collection of young players and draft picks that they can use to acquire more veteran help.
The Celtics contingent was on a plane Saturday night and ready to leave New York when it learned the news about Horford, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Horford agreed to a four-year, $113MM max offer, with the fourth year reportedly a player option. He will be able to sign when the moratorium ends on Thursday. “Ever since Boston, Danny Ainge and the whole organization began to show interest in him, that opened his eyes,” said Horford’s father, Tito, who said the decision came down to the Celtics or Hawks. “He always had a good feel about Boston.”
The Horford signing takes away the sting of not being able to complete a deal for Jimmy Butler on draft night, states Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Washburn writes that the Bulls wanted two first-round picks and a package of veterans to part with Butler. Both Thomas and Jae Crowder reached out to Horford during the recruiting process, selling him on the merits of living in Boston.

Eastern Notes: Noah, Butler, Beal

June 25th, 2016 at 9:00am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Wizards have interest in adding Joakim Noah in free agency and it was reported on Friday that the team may be willing to offer Noah a maximum-salary contract. However, a league source tells J.Michael of Comcast Sportsnet (Twitter links) that the team will not be offering him the max, calling the rumor “absolutely ridiculous.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Bradley Beal will not participate in the Olympic games this summer, as he explains on his Twitter Feed. Beal only appeared in 55 games for the Wizards this past season due to an injury to his right fibula.
The Bulls received several proposals for Jimmy Butler on draft night including the Celtics‘ package of Jae Crowder, the No. 3 pick and the No. 16 pick for the All-Star, sources tell K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
The Raptors had Jakob Poeltl higher on their draft board than roughly half of the prospects whom were selected ahead of him, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Toronto selected Poeltl with the No.9 pick in Thursday’s draft, meaning the team presumably had the center within its top-5.

Sixers Offering Noel, Covington, Picks For No. 3

June 23rd, 2016 at 6:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have put Nerlens Noel, Robert Covington, the No. 24 overall pick, and the No. 26 pick on the table in their talks with the Celtics for the third overall pick, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter). Stein reports (via Twitter) that Boston has been holding out for a better offer, with Jimmy Butler at or near the top of Danny Ainge‘s list of targets.

Philadelphia has already nabbed Ben Simmons with the first overall pick tonight, and is believed to be targeting Kris Dunn at No. 3. According to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter), the Sixers believed a few hours ago that the Celtics and Bulls were “far along” on a trade involving Butler, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

Still, the C’s and Bulls have had extensive discussions involving Butler. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets that, in addition to the No. 3 pick, Jae Crowder has been a part of those discussions. Avery Bradley is a potential piece as well, tweets Johnson.

Southwest Notes: Alexander, Gentry, Aldridge

April 16th, 2016 at 3:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander plans to be more active in the team’s offseason moves, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Alexander gave GM Daryl Morey a vote of confidence this week but said he will take a more hands-on role in overhauling a roster that produced a disappointing 41-41 record and the eighth seed in the West. “I think I will change a little bit,” Alexander said. “More scrutiny and what they’re doing. I was thinking about doing it anyway but after this season, definitely.” Among Houston’s decisions will be whether to retain interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who posted a 37-34 record after taking over for Kevin McHale in November. Alexander didn’t commit to keeping Bickerstaff, but did toss a compliment his way. “He’s got a winning record,” Alexander said, “which is good from where he started.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry is hoping for a fresh start next season after a disastrous first year in New Orleans, writes Justin Verrier of ESPN.com. Gentry was hired to take the next step with the Pelicans after they claimed the final playoff spot in 2014/15, but the team was slowed by a long string of misfortune. New Orleans players ended the season with 351 games missed due to injuries and illness, the second-highest total in the past decade. Looking ahead, Gentry has a vision for the type of player he wants to acquire in the offseason. “I think we need that 6’7″ athletic guy that can also be somewhat of a facilitator,” he said. “As to names, I have no idea who that is, but I know that he’s out there. And so that would be obviously a priority for us.”
The Spurs became a better defensive team after trading Tiago Splitter and signing LaMarcus Aldridge, according to Matthew Tynan of RealGM. Splitter is considered the better defender, but Aldridge has more range and mobility, Tynan notes, which gives Tim Duncan the more natural role of rim protector.
Jae Crowder, who has emerged as a star in Boston, couldn’t wait to get out of Dallas, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Before being included in the 2014 trade that brought Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks, Crowder was frustrated by a lack of playing time, two trips to the D-League and Dallas’ signings of Al-Farouq Aminu, Chandler Parsons and Richard Jefferson.