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Atlantic Notes: Williams, Siakam, Brown, Sims

April 7th, 2022 at 10:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

It would be a big surprise if Celtics center Robert Williams returned during the first round of the playoffs, but the door isn’t entirely closed on that possibility, Jay King of The Athletic tweets. Williams, who underwent left knee surgery on March 30, hasn’t technically been ruled out because players react differently to surgeries, according to coach Ime Udoka. However, the expectation is that Williams won’t be available, Udoka added.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam had another huge game on Thursday, piling up 37 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists against Philadelphia. Siakam has become an all-around force who deserves a spot on one of the All-NBA teams, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports writes. “I think I’m continuing to get better,” Siakam said. “It’s been a good long road for me and I just always believed all the work I have put in is going to pay off.”
Jaylen Brown had a triple-double against Milwaukee on Thursday. Just being on the court was enough to add to Brown’s bank account. The Celtics forward gained a $482,143 bonus for playing in his 65th game this season, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. The bonus was deemed likely heading into the season and does not impact Brown’s cap hit, Marks adds.
Knicks two-way player Jericho Sims notched 10 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks in 35 minutes against Brooklyn on Wednesday. Sims has a similar skill set to Mitchell Robinson, who is headed to free agency this summer, and could replace him in the rotation next season, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “Great feet, the athleticism is terrific,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of Sims. “We haven’t seen the playmaking in the paint he has. As time goes on, we’ll see that he’s a very good playmaker in the paint. You’ll see him kick out and find the open guy.’’

Atlantic Notes: Rivers, Embiid, Toppin, Durant, Brown

April 3rd, 2022 at 8:05pm CST by JD Shaw

Speaking to reporters this weekend, Sixers coach Doc Rivers made a case for Joel Embiid to win the Most Valuable Player award, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. Embiid is currently in the midst of his best season, averaging 30.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

“Listen, I don’t get on this, but I really believe he should be the MVP,” Rivers said.

In addition to his impressive averages, Embiid has led Philadelphia to a 47-30 record. He’ll face stiff competition for the award this year, which will include Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Memphis’ Ja Morant, Phoenix’s Devin Booker and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Here are some other notes from the Atlantic:

The Knicks have been eliminated from playoff contention, but second-year forward Obi Toppin is showing he still cares about the games, Neil Best of Newsday writes. Toppin most recently finished with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists in a loss to the Cavaliers on Saturday, showing potential at 24 years old.
The Nets dropped a 122-115 game to the Hawks on Saturday despite receiving a superstar performance from Kevin Durant, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Durant finished with a career-high 55 points on 19-of-28 shooting from the floor (68%), but it clearly wasn’t enough. Brooklyn forced just six Atlanta turnovers and allowed over 115 points for a fourth straight game.
Now that the Celtics have won 49 games, forward Jaylen Brown is halfway to meeting the criteria for a $482K bonus, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Brown will receive the bonus if Boston makes the second round of the playoffs. The incentive was deemed unlikely at the start of the season, Marks notes.

Jaylen Brown Refuses To Comment On Vaccination Status

April 3rd, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Rory Maher

In the wake of a report last week from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps indicating that the Celtics and Sixers might have unvaccinated players, Bontemps asked Jaylen Brown about his COVID-19 vaccination status and Brown refused to comment, saying he wouldn’t speak about his or anyone else’s status when it came to the vaccine (Twitter link via Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe).

Keith Smith of Spotrac and Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald have the full quote from Brown (Twitter links):

“Last year I missed the playoffs. This year, from a competitive standpoint, I’m excited and ready to play against anybody. As a vice president of the players association, it’s a part of my job description to protect our players’ rights and our medical privacy. So you won’t hear me commenting on my status or anybody else’s.”

This is notable because on January 15, Canada implemented a rule barring unvaccinated players from entering the country. If the Celtics face the Raptors in the playoffs, any Boston players who haven’t been vaccinated would be ineligible to cross the border to play in Toronto.

Last Monday, Boston kept four players out of action in its first game at Toronto since the new rule was implemented. It was the second night of a back-to-back, so their absences could have been unrelated to the border restrictions. The four were Robert Williams, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum and Brown.

Sources told Bontemps that Williams has received the vaccine, Horford later stated that he’d be “ready to play wherever,” and Tatum said on media day that he was vaccinated, but he defended people who chose not to be. Brown made a similar statement, saying the vaccine is a matter of choice.

The Celtics blew out the Wizards on Sunday afternoon by a score of 144-102, with Brown putting up 32 points (on 12-of-17 shooting), seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in 29 minutes. With Boston’s victory and Milwaukee falling to Dallas, the Celtics moved into second place in the East with a 49-30 record.

Boston closes its schedule with three road games against Chicago, Milwaukee and Memphis, so they won’t play in Toronto again unless the two teams meet in the playoffs. The Raptors are currently the fifth seed in the East with a 45-32 record.

Vaccination Status Could Affect Celtics, Sixers In Series With Raptors

March 30th, 2022 at 5:09pm CST by Arthur Hill

All the Eastern Conference playoff matchups are still to be determined, but COVID-19 vaccinations could be a factor for whomever winds up facing the Raptors, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

On January 15, Canada implemented a rule barring unvaccinated players from entering the country. Among the top four teams in the East, the Heat and Bucks both confirmed to Bontemps that all their players have been vaccinated, but the Celtics and Sixers refused to comment.

Boston kept four players out of action Monday in its first game at Toronto since the new rule was implemented. It was the second night of a back-to-back, so their absence may not be related to their vaccination status.

Robert Williams suffered a meniscus tear in Sunday’s game that will require surgery, and Al Horford was unavailable both Sunday and Monday for personal reasons. Jayson Tatum missed the game with right patella tendinopathy, and Jaylen Brown was held out because of soreness in his right knee.

Sources told Bontemps that Williams has received the vaccine, but there’s less clarity on the other three Celtics. Tatum said on media day that he was vaccinated, but he defended people who chose not to be. Brown made a similar statement, saying the vaccine is a matter of choice.

Brown and Horford both spent time in health and safety protocols in October, Bontemps notes, and Horford re-entered the protocols in December.

The Sixers haven’t played in Toronto since late December, but they’ll be there on April 7, which should provide some clarity on who will be eligible.

Any players who want to get vaccinated in advance of an upcoming series are running out of time, Bontemps adds. To qualify as fully vaccinated in Canada, people must be two weeks beyond either a single Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the second shot of the two-dose options. Games 3 and 4 of a playoff series are roughly three weeks away.

It’s also possible that the Raptors could host the Nets in the opener of the play-in tournament, which would affect Kyrie Irving, the league’s most noted non-vaccinated player. Irving was just cleared last week to begin playing home games, so he will be eligible at some point in the playoffs regardless of Brooklyn’s opponent.

Atlantic Notes: Drummond, Embiid, Tatum, Brown, R. Williams

March 29th, 2022 at 10:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Andre Drummond has been a valuable addition for the Nets since being acquired in the James Harden trade, but he understands the arrangement may be short-term, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. Drummond has taken over as Brooklyn’s starting center, averaging 12.2 points and 9.8 rebounds in 17 games. However, he’s playing on a veteran’s minimum contract that he signed with the Sixers and will be seeking a raise in free agency this summer.

That offer is unlikely to come from the Nets, who are already facing a salary cap crunch with the league’s second-highest payroll, Winfield adds. Considering the situation, Drummond acknowledged that Brooklyn was wise to hold onto young center Nic Claxton at the trade deadline.

“And if we’re all being honest, I’m only here til the rest of the season,” Drummond said. “So who knows what’s gonna happen in the offseason? So they need a guy like (Nic).”

Drummond clarified his comments at this morning’s shootaround, saying he wants to stay with the Nets but the situation is unpredictable, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

In an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Sixers center Joel Embiid said it was “draining” to have to deal with the Ben Simmons situation, but it forced him to become a better leader. Embiid was often vocal in the media about Simmons’ absence, saying in October that “our job is not to babysit somebody.” “It was a tough situation to navigate and go through (with Simmons),” Embiid told Amick. “Even to this day, I don’t have any hard feelings towards everything that happened. But being in my position, having to answer questions about that whole thing every single day, it was kind of draining. And I’m sure it was draining for my teammates.”
The Celtics never seriously considered breaking up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown before last month’s trade deadline, but there was talk around the league and among sources close to both players that Boston might pursue that path over the summer, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. There’s no chance of a split following the Celtics’ recent surge to the top of the Eastern Conference, but Fischer states that a few teams had their eyes on Brown in early February. The Sixers would have pursued him if they hadn’t found a taker for Simmons, and Fischer identifies the Hawks and Heat as other potential suitors.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka said some surgical options could enable injured center Robert Williams to return for the second or third round of the playoffs, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.

Celtics Sign Juwan Morgan To 10-Day Contract

March 28th, 2022 at 1:37pm CST by Luke Adams

1:37pm: Morgan’s 10-day deal with the Celtics is now official, the team announced in a press release. It’ll run through April 6, covering Boston’s next five games.

Morgan may have a chance to play right away, as Brown and Tatum have been ruled out for the Celtics’ game in Toronto on Monday.

10:30am: The Celtics have agreed to sign forward Juwan Morgan to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Morgan was in camp with the Celtics in the fall, but was waived before the regular season began and subsequently joined the team’s G League affiliate in Maine. He earned a 10-day call-up from the Raptors in December when Toronto was hit hard by COVID-related absences, but has otherwise spent the 2021/22 season in the G League.

Morgan has appeared in 20 regular season NBAGL games for the Maine Celtics this season, averaging 12.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .509/.340/.730 shooting in 25.9 minutes per contest.

A former Big Ten standout at Indiana, Morgan went undrafted in 2019 and caught on with the Jazz, first signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Utah and then agreeing to a multiyear deal with the team. In 51 total regular season games with Utah and Toronto across three seasons, the 24-year-old has averaged 1.5 PPG and 1.2 RPG on 52.5% shooting in just 6.0 MPG.

The Celtics have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required to sign Morgan, who will earn $95,930 on his 10-day deal. He’ll provide some forward depth in case the club wants to rest Jaylen Brown (right knee soreness) and/or Jayson Tatum (right patella tendinopathy) for a game or two.

Celtics Notes: Williams, Tatum, Brown, Seeding

March 28th, 2022 at 7:51am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics big man Robert Williams will undergo further testing on his left knee after spraining it in the second half of Sunday’s victory over Minnesota, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“Don’t know exactly what happened,” head coach Ime Udoka said after Sunday’s game. “He said it wasn’t even a specific play that he remembers, but came out of the game, had some pain, obviously went back to get checked out and was in quite a bit of pain, and he’ll get scanned in the morning and we’ll know then.”

The Celtics are in Toronto on Monday night for the second game of a back-to-back set and Williams didn’t make the trip, says Bontemps. While he’ll be out for that game, it’s unclear how much longer the 24-year-old may be sidelined. As Udoka indicated in his postgame comments, the team will know more after assessing the results of today’s scans.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

The Celtics, who now hold the top seed in the Eastern Conference, are 24-4 since being below .500 on January 21. During those 28 games, Jayson Tatum has averaged 29.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 5.0 APG on .505/.414/.892 shooting. “I wish I could start the season like this and then I’d be the MVP. But I guess it’s the most important time of the season,” Tatum said on Sunday, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “I guess just finding my rhythm, but it’s the best time to find your rhythm, when you’re playing your best going into the postseason. I don’t really have an exact answer.”
As dominant as the Celtics have been as of late, health problems could be a concern for the team. In addition to Williams’ knee injury, star wings Jaylen Brown (right knee soreness) and Tatum (right patella tendinopathy) are battling nagging issues of their own. As Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe writes, the club may have to decide in the season’s final two weeks whether it makes more sense to get Brown and Tatum a little rest or to push hard for the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage.
Addressing that dilemma on Sunday, Udoka offered insight on which way the team is leaning: “I’m not really worried about [seeding]. Our [concern] is winning, health and playing the best basketball at the right time. It’s too much closeness to try to maneuver and manipulate things to pick an opponent. As far as resting, that’s the main thing. We’ve got some guys who got some nicks now and we have to be smart about it. If we can get guys one [game off] is what we’re looking at now.”
Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston poses four questions that he believes the red-hot Celtics still have to answer down the stretch and in the postseason.

Atlantic Notes: Bullock, Brown, Nesmith, VanVleet, Nets

March 10th, 2022 at 8:34pm CST by Rory Maher

Losing Reggie Bullock in free agency last summer is yet another what-if for the Knicks, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Bullock received a three-year deal worth a little over $30MM from Dallas.

New York’s front office chose to utilize the team’s extensive cap space by signing veterans Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier. The Knicks also re-signed Derrick Rose, Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel to pricey deals.

Bullock was close with Julius Randle, and Bondy wonders if Bullock’s presence might have helped uplift Randle during his struggles this season. Coach Tom Thibodeau says Bullock’s skill set is valuable to any team in the league.

“Reggie’s gonna help any team,” Thibodeau said. “That’s who he is. He’s got a skill in shooting; he spaces the floor for your best players. He’s a great defender, and he’s got length. He’s a long wing. Wherever he’s been, he’s always helped the team. He’s a team-first guy, so he’s a good player. He’s been a good player for a long time in this league.”

It’s been reported multiple times that Thibodeau urged the front office to retain Bullock, but he denies being upset that the veteran wing wasn’t re-signed.

“I love Reggie. He’s a good player. When a guy earns the right to free agency, he has to do what he thinks is best for him and his family,” Thibodeau said, per Bondy. “I got great respect for him, so I wasn’t disappointed. I know that’s part of the business. For a guy who conducts himself the way he does, you’re always happy when they get good situations.

“So, I think he was a big part of what happened last year and a byproduct of when something good happens like that, everyone’s value goes up, so that’s the case. And then you have to decide what’s best for your organization. He’s gotta decide what’s best for him and his family. And hopefully, you can find something, but it doesn’t always work out that way. It’s part of the league.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Celtics coach Ime Udoka said Jaylen Brown has no more limitations relating to his sprained right ankle, but Aaron Nesmith will be out “a while” longer as he deals with his own ankle sprain, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). The second-year swingman is listed as day-to-day.
Fred VanVleet‘s shooting is much needed for the Raptors, but his value extends beyond that, Eric Koreen of the Athletic writes. “(VanVleet) makes it easier,” Scottie Barnes said. “It opens up a lot more space. He’s a general out there on the floor. So it helps us all when he’s out there on the floor with driving lanes being more open. When he’s there, his presence is just really big for our team.”
Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post wonders if the Big Two is all the Nets really need after the team’s 132-121 victory over Charlotte on Tuesday. “That,” coach Steve Nash said, “was about as well as we’ve played all year, both sides of the ball.” Kyrie Irving dominated the game, finishing with 50 points on just 19 shots. Brooklyn is currently 34-34, the No. 8 seed in the East.

Injury Notes: J. Brown, Edwards, Brooks, Iguodala

March 4th, 2022 at 7:18am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on the Toucher & Rich radio show in Boston on Thursday, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens confirmed that Jaylen Brown‘s sprained ankle, which sidelined him for Thursday’s game vs. Memphis, doesn’t look like a significant injury.

“I think he’s doing better than I originally thought when I saw him go down,” Stevens said, per Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston. “He’s going to be constantly reevaluated over the next couple days … but it doesn’t look like a long-term thing.”

The Celtics have two days off before facing Brooklyn on Sunday, and then another two days off before visiting Charlotte on Wednesday. It’s unclear at this point whether Brown will play in either of those games.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Timberwolves wing Anthony Edwards missed Tuesday’s game due to a left knee issue and has been ruled out for Friday’s contest too. Head coach Chris Finch stated earlier in the week that the club was considering giving Edwards multiple games off to try to get him right for the stretch run, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “Everything is on the table right now to try to get him where he needs to be,” Finch said.
Dillon Brooks (ankle) doesn’t yet have a specific return date lined up, but Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said the forward took a “huge step” in his recovery process this week, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “He’s been fully integrated,” Jenkins said. “We haven’t had a lot practices to get him out there. We’re not going live or contact. He’s doing contact in other settings, but he’s been fully involved in all of our team film sessions.”
Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala (back), who has played just once since January 20, is “making strides,” according to head coach Steve Kerr (Twitter link via Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Bay Area). The team still wants to have Iguodala participate in more scrimmages before he’s cleared to return, so he’s considered day-to-day for now.

And-Ones: Brown, Brogdon, Biyombo, Udoka, Snyder, Russia, Smith

March 3rd, 2022 at 11:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon and Bismack Biyombo have been re-elected as VPs on the National Basketball Players Association’s Executive Committee, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. They’ll serve new three-year terms, according to the players’ union.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The Celtics’ Ime Udoka and Jazz‘s Quin Snyder were named Coaches of the Month for February, NBA Communications tweets. Boston had a 9-2 record during the month, while Utah went 8-1.
In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the NBA has suspended all activities in Russia, Mark J. Burns of the Sports Business Journal tweets. According to Burns’ source, that includes activities related to content distribution such as digital and broadcast. There is no timeline on when business activities will resume in Russia.
Forward Roscoe Smith, who has appeared in 149 G League games, has signed in Palestine with Orthodoxi Beit Jala, agent Derek James of Global Pipeline Agency told JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).