Rob Kurz Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Waive Rob Kurz, Micah Downs

October 26th, 2012 at 4:32pm CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 4:32pm: The Celtics have officially waived Kurz and Downs, the team announced today in a press release.

TUESDAY, 3:00pm: The Celtics are set to waive camp invitees Rob Kurz and Micah Downs, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), who says an announcement will come soon. When the cuts become official, Boston will have 15 players remaining under contract.

We heard earlier this week that Kurz and Downs were likely to be released, which came as no surprise. Along with the 13 guaranteed contracts they carried into camp, the Celtics added Leandro Barbosa as a 14th man, and were expected to keep Kris Joseph using their 15th and final roster spot.

The Celtics had added Kurz and Downs to their camp roster in late September, and both players appeared in most of the team's preseason contests, though neither one made a particularly strong impression. In limited minutes, Downs averaged 3.0 PPG and Kurz posted 1.7 PPG.

Celtics Notes: Offseason, Allen, Barbosa, Bradley

October 21st, 2012 at 10:25pm CST by Alex Lee

It seems hard to steal the NBA's offseason headlines without landing a star these days. While the Celtics didn't do that, the team had an extremely effective offseason, adding Jeff Green, Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Leandro Barbosa and drafting Jared Sullinger, Fab Melo and Kris Joseph. Chuck Myron posted some Celtic-specific links this morning, and here are a couple more:

Doc Rivers said the Celtics will carry 15 players and that the team will announce the final cuts soon, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely. Blakely also says that Kris Joseph will get the 15th spot, meaning Rob Kurz and Micah Downs will be cut. We will keep an eye out for official word from the C's in the coming days.
Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald tweets that he doesn't think that Kurz and Downs will be on the Celtics roster for much longer. The signing of Leandro Barbosa seems to have closed the door on their roster hopes.
In this CSN New England video, former NBAer turned
Celtics analyst Donny Marshall addresses Ray Allen's comments over the weekend
that the Celtics put him in a position where he had to leave.
Marshall, who played 119 games for the Cavs and Nets, said it is easy to blame
the player, but many times the teams are just as much at fault in situations like this one.
We heard earlier that Barbosa talked to the
Lakers before joining the Celtics. While the newly-signed Barbosa won't be
playing for the team until his visa issues are resolved, the veteran guard has said all the right things since arriving in
Boston, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston.
Jimmy Toscano of CSN New England caught up with Avery Bradley, who is now shooting every other day to work his way back from two offseason shoulder surgeries. Bradley is on track to come back in mid-December and while the team is deeper than they were last year, Bradley is hoping to come back stronger than ever: "I just have to be ready for my team. If I'm starting, I'm starting. If I'm not, I'm not. I just have to be prepared for what Doc wants me to do, and I'm going to. Like I tell everybody, I'm going to come back stronger than last year."

Celtics Sign Micah Downs

September 28th, 2012 at 10:14am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 28TH: The Celtics have officially signed Downs, according to a team release. The team also officially announced the signing of Rob Kurz, within the same press release.

SEPTEMBER 20TH: Micah Downs will sign with the Celtics and will be present at the team's training camp next month, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. After agreeing to sign Darko Milicic earlier today, the Celtics have now reached agreements with 19 players, giving them space to sign one more player in addition to Downs and Milicic, if they so choose.

Downs, 26, played his college ball for Kansas and Gonzaga before going undrafted in 2009. He has spent his playing career primarily overseas since then, playing last season for Assignia Manresa in Spain. The 6'8" swingman appeared to be headed to Russia for the coming season, but he and Nizhny Novgorod broke off their contract agreement earlier this month.

While terms of Downs' deal aren't known, it's almost certainly a non-guaranteed pact, making it very unlikely he'll earn a spot on the Celtics. He could be a candidate to play for the team's D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

Celtics Sign Rob Kurz

September 13th, 2012 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have signed Rob Kurz to a non-guaranteed deal with a camp invite, according to SI.com's Sam Amick (via Twitter). The move brings the Celtics' roster to 17 players, including four on non-guaranteed contracts.

Kurz, a Notre Dame product, went undrafted in 2008 and appeared in 40 games for the Warriors in the 2008/09 season. The 27-year-old has spent the last few seasons overseas before joining the Kings' summer league squad in July.

Even with two roster spots potentially open, Kurz appears to be an extreme long shot to make the Celtics' roster, with Kris Joseph, Dionte Christmas, and Jamar Smith also competing for those open spots. If the 6'9" forward doesn't make the Celtics' regular-season roster, he could end up on the team's D-League affiliate in Maine.