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Atlantic Notes: Stevens, Feaster, Donaldson, Ainge

September 8th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by clarkcrum

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens will have a new-look roster to work with this season, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, and while replacing All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving with fellow All-Star Kemba Walker will be the easy part, replacing defensive stalwarts Al Horford and Aron Baynes should prove a bit more challenging.

Another question is who starts — Gordon Hayward or Jaylen Brown? Do both of them start, with Marcus Smart back on the bench? According to Stevens, it really doesn’t matter, as long as the lineups mesh together.

“We’re obviously going to have to figure out lineups that work best together,” Stevens said. “Everybody is going to make a big deal over who starts, but we all know who the five guys are that are going to play the very most on our team, and everybody can probably write that down right now, and then it’s a matter of who fits best. They’re not all in the same position, but we’ve got to figure out who’s going to play the big spot and with which groups.”

Enes Kanter figures to get most minutes at center starting out, but young big Robert Williams could push for more playing time as the season progresses. The Celtics will also rely on Daniel Theis and Vincent Poirier for frontcourt depth.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

According to A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston, the Celtics have hired Allison Feaster as director of player development. Feaster is a former WNBA player and Harvard graduate who also worked in the G League.
Raptors data analyst Brittni Donaldson has been promoted to an assistant coach on the staff of head coach Nick Nurse, per a tweet from Stadium (Twitter link).
In a piece for NBC Sports Boston, Blakely writes that Danny Ainge is concerned with Stevens happiness this season, saying “My biggest concern through all of this was, I want my coach to be happy who he’s coaching and that’s the hardest job. I’ve been at this business a long time. It’s…you gotta have fun. You really have to have joy. That doesn’t mean every minute is going to be happy. Everybody is going to face adversity and challenges and trials through the course of a season. But, it still has to be fun.”

Thanasis Antetokounmpo Draws Team USA’s Ire

September 7th, 2019 at 3:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The FIBA World Cup was bound to create some awkward moments among NBA players. One of those occurred at the end of Team USA’s 69-53 victory over Greece on Saturday, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst details.

Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the older brother of reigning Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, drew Team USA’s ire when he fouled Harrison Barnes from behind late in the game as Barnes went up for a dunk. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown and Giannis had to be separated afterward after exchanging words as Brown pointed toward Thanasis, according to Windhorst.

Bucks teammates Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez are on Team USA’s roster.

The teams didn’t hold a postgame handshake in order to avoid another confrontation. Team USA was upset that Thanasis, who signed a two-year contract with Milwaukee in July, didn’t immediately apologize to Barnes, who was uninjured.

“The [lack of apology] escalated it,” Marcus Smart said to Windhorst and other media members. “At that moment, you’ve got to take it for what it is. Regardless of whether you feel like it was wrong or right, it was wrong.”

Giannis scored 15 points but sat out the fourth quarter. Greek officials said he was rested as the team tries to qualify for the quarterfinals on Monday. He was too upset to talk to the media afterward, according to an Associated Press report.

Team USA advanced to the quarterfinals with the victory.

Jaylen Brown’s Stock On The Rise

August 26th, 2019 at 7:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Recent developments have boosted the stock of Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown, as Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston points out.

An already watered down free agent class for next summer took another hit when the Nets signed Caris LeVert to an extension on Monday. Brown will be a restricted free agent if, as anticipated, the Celtics extend a $8,573,696 qualifying offer after the upcoming season.

They can try to reach a rookie scale extension agreement with Brown prior to 2019/20’s opening night, though the price tag would likely be significantly higher than the three-year, $52.5MM offer that LeVert accepted. As Forsberg notes, Brown is two years younger and doesn’t have an injury history, unlike LeVert.

Brown has also excelled with Team USA during exhibitions prior to the FIBA World Cup. He’s averaging nearly 12 points a game while shooting 71.4% from the field. He’s third on the team in scoring behind Kemba Walker and Donovan Mitchell.

Brown had already shown a knack for increasing his production when the stakes are high. In the NBA playoffs the past two seasons, Brown averaged 18.0 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 2017/18 and 13.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 2018/19.

If Brown has a solid season in 2019/20, he might get a giant offer sheet from a team that views him as a major piece to their puzzle. The Celtics would then have to decide whether to match it, having already invested heavily in Walker and knowing Jayson Tatum‘s potential free agency is just around the corner.

Since the price tag on Brown is probably already high, there isn’t much risk for the Celtics to allow Brown to test restricted free agency, Forsberg adds.

World Cup Notes: Walker, Team USA, Star Power, Celtics

August 25th, 2019 at 5:30pm CST by JD Shaw

While fans have certainly (and understandably) reacted harshly to Team USA losing its exhibition game 98-94 to Australia, players and staffers alike haven’t been overreacting to the upset.

“They say Team USA doesn’t lose, I get it, they haven’t lost in a very long time, which I understand, but it happens,” Kemba Walker said, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Teams lose. We are just going to take this loss and build from it, that’s all we can do is continue to try our best to get better.

“The real thing doesn’t start until China, so we’ve got one more game. We’re going to head to Sydney and focus on Canada and from that point out the real thing starts. That’s all we are worried about, just continuing to get better, continuing to learn each other.”

Australia stunned Team USA behind Patty Mills‘ 30 points, Joe Ingles‘ 15 points and Andrew Bogut‘s 16 points off the bench. The team sported a starting five of Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Ingles, Jock Landale and Aron Baynes.

Walker led the way for the United States, finishing with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting in the losing effort. The Australians broke a 78-game winning streak for Team USA, their first ever victory against the Americans.

Here are some other notes from the FIBA World Cup today:

This year’s World Cup will have dominance in an international sense, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press writes. The depleted Team USA could be tasked with playing the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and other NBA stars throughout the tournament.
Competing in the World Cup is a preseason bonus for Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, with each player set to enter the fall together on the Celtics, as published in an article by the Associated Press. “It’s pretty cool,” Brown said. “It’s a blessing, of course. I take it very seriously to be able to represent not only your family and Boston but the country. We take it serious, and we come to play basketball.”
Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated examines why members of Team USA have chips on their shoulders, embracing the disrespectful message from fans around the world. The absences of several players who withdrew from the team has led many to believe the Americans could be upset by another team in the tournament. “We are embracing it as much as we can,” Walker said. “It’s adding fuel to the fire. A lot of us, it’s where we come from. We come from being underdogs, most of us. We’re hungry.”

Celtics Notes: Fall, Irving, Brown, Wanamaker

August 23rd, 2019 at 12:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heading into his first NBA training camp, Celtics center Tacko Fall wants to prove that he has more to offer than just his 7’7″ frame, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. Fall signed an Exhibit 10 contract after being passed over in this year’s draft. It carries a small signing bonus, but no guarantees beyond that.

Having to prove himself is a familiar situation for Fall, who wasn’t heavily recruited by colleges and had to go through the NBA G League Elite camp to get an invitation to this year’s draft combine. He made an impression there, setting records for tallest height in shoes (7-7), wingspan (8-2 ¼) and standing reach (10-2 ½), but it wasn’t enough to get drafted.

“I know what I am fighting for,” Fall said. “That hasn’t changed since I got here. I know what I am capable of and where I want to be and where I need to be. I’m gonna fight every day to be in that position and stay there. I love the game of basketball and there’s no better place to do it than the NBA. Night in, night out, play against the best players in the world. For me, that’s fun.”

There’s more today from Boston:

Two years have passed since the deal that brought Kyrie Irving from Cleveland, and the Celtics are still the clear winners of that trade, Blakely writes in a separate story. Even though Irving signed with the Nets last month, Blakely believes it was a good gamble to take. Isaiah Thomas, who was one of the centerpieces of the deal, was injured more severely than anyone realized at the time, while moving Jae Crowder cleared playing time for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
After a season filled with locker room tension, Brown is looking forward to a fresh start that’s free from “politics,” tweets Michael Lee of The Athletic. Brown was among the players who were asked to adjust their roles last year as Irving and Gordon Hayward returned from injuries. “My whole mantra for this year is, ‘Just hoop,’” Brown said. “I’m just going to come out and try to play, be myself and hopefully I’m allowed to do that. I don’t want to put no expectations on it. I don’t want no politics. I just want to play basketball.”
Brad Wanamaker opted to re-sign with the Celtics last month because he believes the roster turnover will provide more opportunities, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. The point guard got into just 36 games during his rookie season. “Everything was pretty much set in stone (last year), and I was really working myself in,” he said. “Now it’s kind of an open window for some minutes in certain places.”

Atlantic Notes: Miller, Prokhorov, Celtics, Scott

August 21st, 2019 at 1:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks have hired Mike Miller as an assistant on David Fizdale’s staff after he served as their G League coach since the 2015/16 season, according to a team press release. Miller, not to be confused with the longtime NBA player, compiled a 108-92 record with the Westchester Knicks. Derrick Alston, who served as an assistant to Miller, has been promoted to head coach of the G league team, Steve Popper of Newsday tweets.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Mikhail Prokhorov, who recently sold his interest in the Nets, inquired about other NBA franchises — including the Knicks — before he was approved as the majority owner of the Brooklyn franchise. His top basketball adviser, Sergei Kushchenko, revealed that to TASS in a story relayed by NetsDaily.com. ”We were looking over various options at that time,” Kushchenko said. “Among them were the New York Knicks, who asked for a bizarre sum, the Phoenix Suns and the New Jersey Nets. We decided to focus on the New Jersey Nets since it was a completely different market then in addition to the prospect of the new arena’s construction along with a full-fledged business framework.” Prokhorov was also scared away by the Knicks’ debt load, according to NetsDaily.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens will have a dilemma if he wants to get all of his best players on the court during crunch time, Matt John of Basketball Insiders notes. The team’s top five include Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, which would leave them without a true power forward or center in those situations.
Sixers forward Mike Scott said some advice from Clippers coach Doc Rivers helped him after he was dealt to Philadelphia last season, Kevin Murphy of The Athletic writes. Scott emerged as a key reserve after he was included in the Tobias Harris blockbuster and earned a two-year, $9.8MM contract in free agency. “I feel I didn’t play well in L.A., and I think for the most part it was on me,” Scott said. “I was still trying to figure it out. When I got here, I said, ‘[The heck with it], I am going to ball-out and try to do what Doc says.’ Do the little things and see what happens.”

Celtics Notes: Tatum, Brown, Fall, Chemistry, Smart

August 19th, 2019 at 7:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Celtics center Aron Baynes believes Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are poised to reach star status, ESPN’s Niall Seewang reports. Baynes, who was traded to the Suns during the offseason, is particularly enamored with Tatum’s skill set.

“He’s so talented – even from the first day I played with him when he was a rookie in his first preseason, you could see how talented he was offensively and he also wants to work on the defensive end which isn’t common in the NBA – some guys live on that offensive talent but he wants to develop his all-round game,” Baynes said. He added about the young duo, “Those guys are still in their rookie contracts and they’re looking to prove themselves over the next couple of years and they definitely have all the tools to do it.”

We have more on the Celtics:

Tacko Fall’s agent is confident his client will get claimed off waivers if the Celtics don’t retain him, he told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. Fall was signed an Exhibit 10 contract and there’s no guarantee he’d make the 15-man roster. Both two-way slots are also currently filled. “If the Celtics release him, I don’t think he goes unclaimed,” the agent, Justin Haynes, said of the 7’6” Fall. “I think somebody will take a shot on him because he’s done enough to show he can find a place in the NBA. I’m really hopeful that it’s Boston. I hope they find a way, and they do have a vision for him.”
Co-owner Steve Pagliuca already sees signs that the team’s chemistry will be better this upcoming season, according to Nicole Yang of the Boston Globe. A dysfunctional locker room was one of the big reasons the team underachieved last season. “There’s just really a positive attitude from everybody this year,” he said. “We’ve got a bunch of hard-working players that really want to achieve. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The team hasn’t had a captain since Rajon Rondo in 2014 and A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston believes that should change. Marcus Smart has the respect among his teammates and leadership skills that would make him an ideal fit for that role, as Blakely details.

Atlantic Notes: Lowry, Tsai, Sixers, J. Brown

August 16th, 2019 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, who is entering the final year of his contract, suggested last week that he’d love to remain in Toronto beyond the 2019/20 season and would have interest in signing an extension with the team. However, Eric Koreen of The Athletic believes it’s unlikely that Lowry and the Raptors will find common ground on a new deal before he reaches free agency next summer.

As Koreen explains, Lowry projects to be one of the very best free agents on the market next offseason, particularly if Anthony Davis re-ups with the Lakers. He’s also a five-time All-Star who just helped lead the Raptors to a championship. In other words, he’ll likely be expecting another big payday.

On the other hand, the Raptors are entering a transition year and are still trying to figure out what their post-Kawhi Leonard future might look like. With barely any guaranteed money on the books for next season, Toronto may prefer to maintain its flexibility rather than entering into a new agreement with Lowry right away.

Plus, with Lowry set to turn 34 during the 2019/20 season, it’s not clear how heavily the Raptors would be willing to invest in him going forward. While a contract extension is still a possibility, Koreen wouldn’t be surprised if those discussions are “put on hold for a while.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

With the Nets swapping one wealthy foreign owner for another, Brian Lewis of The New York Post suggests that the team’s willingness to spend won’t change much as Joseph Tsai takes the reins from Mikhail Prokhorov. However, Lewis expects Tsai to be far more visible around the Nets and the NBA than Prokhorov had been in recent years.
In his latest mailbag for The Athletic, Derek Bodner explores the likelihood of the Sixers bringing draft-and-stash prospect Vasilije Micic stateside at some point, weighs the team’s ability to make another big splash on the trade market, and addresses a handful of other 76ers-related topics.
After being a full-time starter for the Celtics in 2017/18, Jaylen Brown started just 25 of his 74 contests last season and saw his playing time reduced by nearly five minutes per game. Appearing on this week’s episode of The Michael Holley Podcast, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge praised Brown for the way he responded. “He might have handled a difficult situation better than anybody on our team last year,” Ainge said (per Dave Green of NBC Sports Boston). “Very mature kid, wants to be great, knows that his time is coming.”

And-Ones: Extension Deadlines, Team USA Scrimmages, James

August 12th, 2019 at 8:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The deadline for players to sign rookie extensions prior to opening night this upcoming season is Monday, October 21 at 6 p.m. ET, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN. That group of 18 eligible players includes Pascal Siakam, Brandon Ingram and Jaylen Brown.

The extension deadline is the same for a veteran with multiple years remaining on his contract who has met certain criteria, including All-Star guard Bradley Beal. Players with one year left (including a player option) have until June 30, 2020 to sign an extension.

Regular season rosters will also be set on October 21, while Saturday, October 19 will be the last day a team can waive a player with a non-guaranteed contract and not incur a cap hit, Marks adds (Twitter links here).

We have more from the basketball world:

The USA Basketball World Cup team will scrimmage against a collection of G League and fringe NBA players over the next three days, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. There are 15 players remaining on the USA roster with Monday’s withdrawal by Kyle Lowry and 12 will make the final roster that will compete in the FIBA tournament in China. The group they’ll scrimmage will be called the L.A. Select Team and be coached by Jeff Van Gundy. That team will include players who participated in FIBA qualifiers, including Scotty Hopson, Chasson Randle and Ben Moore, Givony adds in another tweet.
Former Suns and Pelicans guard Mike James has signed with CSKA Moscow, according to a tweet from the team. James played a total of 36 NBA games in 2017/18, averaging 9.3 PPG and 3.5 APG in 19.1 MPG. James appeared in 30 Euro League games with Olimpia Milano last season, averaging a league-high 19.8 PPG and 6.8 APG. James and the Italian team mutually parted ways late last month.
The NBA released 2019/20 season schedules for every team on Monday. You can find them here.

Celtics Notes: Walker, Smart, Stevens

August 8th, 2019 at 5:45pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kemba Walker has gotten a chance to bond with some of his new Celtics teammates at Team USA’s training camp in Las Vegas, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com relays.

“I’m the new guy; they already know each other,” Walker said. “They are just kind of reeling me in and getting me acclimated to how things go. With four of us here now, it gives us an opportunity to play with each other and learn each other’s tendencies.”

Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown are all attending the camp. Coach Brad Stevens also made an appearance. Boston had some chemistry concerns last season, but the team is excited about turning to a new chapter.

“It can only be positive for us because it’s chemistry added,” Brown said about the four players’ experience at Team USA’s camp. “I just want to hoop. I don’t want any politics. We’re artists and this season is a new canvas.”

Here’s more from Boston:

Walker is a lock to make Team USA’s roster and Tatum has a strong chance to make the squad as well, Windhorst adds in the same piece. Smart and Brown each making the team is not as much of a sure thing. “We’re all grateful to be here,” Tatum said. “Hopefully, all four of us make it; that would be amazing. Me and [Brown] play one-on-one all the time, and we’ve always tried to push each other and it’s been that way since day one. Ultimately, we have the same goal with our teams and here.”
Smart has missed several days of practice with a left calf injury and he’ll be re-evaluated next week, as the AP’s Tim Reynolds tweets. “Right now, for me, I’m trying to grow as a player… taking those precautions,” said Smart (via Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports). “Last year, or two or three years ago, I probably would have still been out there trying to fight through it. It’s nothing serious so we just want to make sure it doesn’t turn into anything serious.”
Stevens said the Celtics have moved past their issues from last season, as Forsberg passes along in a separate piece. “We turned that page a long time ago. That’s what you should do after a season. I think, whether you had success or it wasn’t as good as you want, you learn from it and move on,” Stevens said.