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Celtics Notes: Brogdon, G. Williams, Stevens, Smart, R. Williams

December 23rd, 2022 at 9:14pm CST by Rory Maher

In an interview with Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon says he isn’t interested in the Sixth Man of the Year award (Twitter video link).

“I really don’t care about that award at all. I really want to win with this team — I came here to win a championship, to put up banner 18. And that accolade really means nothing. I want to win,” he said.

Brogdon, acquired in offseason trade with Indiana, has a strong case for the award, even if he doesn’t care about it. Through 27 games (24.1 MPG), he’s averaging 14.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 3.8 APG on an excellent .482/.451/.855 shooting slash line.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

The Celtics have hit some adversity for the first time in 2022/23, dropping five of their past seven games, including a lackluster performance on Wednesday against Indiana, when Boston trailed by 28 at halftime. As Jay King of The Athletic writes, the poor stretch seems like a “meaningful moment” to see how the team responds. Forward Grant Williams agrees. “We can let it derail our season,” Williams said, “or we can let it shift and make us understand where we’re trying to be and allow us to zone back in. Because in a month like this, where you’re approaching January in midseason, you can easily take your foot off the gas and step back. But for a team to be great, for a team to be special, for a team to do what we want to do, you can’t do that.” For what it’s worth, the Celtics beat Minnesota on Friday, recapturing the No. 1 seed in the East after the Bucks lost to the Nets.
President of basketball operations Brad Stevens says he will continue to evaluate the roster and make changes if needed ahead of the trade deadline, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscriber link). “Listen, we want to win, there’s no question about it. We have a really good team and hopefully we are playing great over the next couple of months, but we’ll evaluate that and we’ll make decisions, right or wrong, we think may give us the best chance at winning,” Stevens said.
Stevens also gave a strong endorsement for interim head coach Joe Mazzulla, Washburn adds in the same story. “It’s been really good,” Stevens said of Mazzulla’s job performance. “Looking at where we started from the start of training camp, the leadership, the organization, the way that everybody embraced him, he’s very open to people to the different ideas that they have, maybe too open sometimes, he’s been great.”
Guard Marcus Smart (non-COVID illness) returned to the lineup on Friday after missing Wednesday’s game, but big man Robert Williams was ill and ruled out, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Williams just made his season debut last week after offseason knee surgery, so having him out of the lineup again so soon obviously isn’t ideal. Still, there’s plenty of time left for him to get acclimated ahead of a playoff push.

Celtics Notes: Horford, Tatum, Williams

December 18th, 2022 at 11:12am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics center Al Horford has been fined $25K by the NBA for making “unnecessary and excessive” contact with Magic center Moritz Wagner, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link). Horford threw an elbow to Wagner’s groin during the third quarter of Orlando’s upset win in Boston on Friday night, resulting in a Flagrant 2 foul and Horford’s ejection.

Besides costing him the rest of Friday’s game, the incident has now taken a small chunk out of Horford’s pay check. However, he won’t face a suspension as a result of the play, which can be viewed right here.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been ruled out for the Celtics’ rematch vs. Orlando on Sunday due to personal reasons, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Prior to Robert Williams‘ season debut on Friday, his teammates spoke about how getting the big man back will benefit the club going forward, as Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston writes. “We got the No. 1 offense and we’re playing well on that end, obviously our defense has slacked a little bit, but we’re back up there, getting there,” Marcus Smart said. “With adding him, it’s only going to push us back over the top. We know the type of defender that Rob is, the type of player that Rob is, offensive player, the threat that he poses on defenses.”
Although the final score in Williams’ return wasn’t ideal, his reintegration into the rotation showed a path for the team to reach its full potential, Forsberg writes in another story for NBC Sports Boston. As Forsberg observes, besides helping improve Boston’s defense, Williams also gives the team its strongest finisher at the rim on offense — the Celtics ranked 29th in dunks entering Friday’s game, but Williams had four in 18 minutes in his first game back.

Atlantic Notes: Harden, Harris, Sixers, R. Williams, Raptors

December 17th, 2022 at 3:41pm CST by Rory Maher

James Harden says he was at a “low point” after the Sixers were eliminated in last season’s playoffs by the Heat. Being traded twice in two seasons, dealing with significant injuries, and a couple of tough playoff losses left him “drained and deflated,” according to Yaron Weitzman of FoxSports.com.

“The whole two years was a low point. I’ve never really had to deal with something like that,” Harden told Weitzman recently. “My body, mentally, physically … It was a lot going on. I mean, basketball is everything to me.”

The former MVP guard discussed a number of topics with Weitzman, including his reluctance to do interviews (“People will take the smallest thing that I say and basically screw it up and then it becomes a problem“), his desire to have his career be remembered in a positive light (“I’m one of the people that changed the game of basketball. Honestly, the only thing that I’m missing is a championship“), his offseason work to avoid future injuries, acclimating with the Sixers, adjusting his game as he gets older and plays alongside another ball-dominant star in Joel Embiid, and his relationship with the back-to-back MVP runner-up, among others.

When asked about his struggles in playoff elimination games, Harden admits his results have been mixed — but says it’s not entirely on him.

“I’ve had a few bad games in close-out games. Not all of them have been bad,” he said. “Quite frankly, a lot of the times our team wasn’t good enough to compete for championships, if you want to be honest. There’s only so much I can do.”

Weitzman’s feature is worth checking out in full if you’re interested in Harden’s career.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Sixers forward Tobias Harris was ruled out for Friday’s victory over the Warriors due to back pain, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. It was Harris’ third missed game of the season, and it’s unclear what his status is going forward.
In another story for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pompey writes that the city’s Chinatown residents continue to be adamantly opposed to the Sixers‘ arena proposal, and recently voiced their displeasure at a contentious meeting. “People are very frustrated about the developer continuing to promote their proposal without thinking about Chinatown people’s anger,” said Wei Chen, the civic engagement director of AAU.
Celtics big man Robert Williams made his 2022/23 season debut in Friday’s loss to Orlando. As Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe relays (via Twitter), Williams admits he was a little nervous before the game. “I felt great. The nerves were getting me pretty bad before the game. We (bleeping) lost. We gotta bounce back from that,” he said.
The Raptors have fallen to 13-16 after dropping Friday’s nail-biter to the Nets. According to Doug Smith of The Toronto Star, the team’s front office is displeased with the up-and-down start to the season, and are keeping a close eye on how players respond while evaluating the roster ahead of February’s trade deadline.

Robert Williams Expected To Make Season Debut On Friday

December 15th, 2022 at 4:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics big man Robert Williams is targeting Friday’s home game against Orlando for his 2022/23 season debut, according to reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links).

The 25-year-old had arthroscopic surgery in late September to remove loose bodies from his left knee and to address swelling in that knee. The decision was made for Williams to undergo the procedure when he began his ramp-up process and experienced some discomfort in the knee.

Williams initially underwent surgery on the knee in March after tearing his meniscus.

He was able to return to the court less than a month later and played a part in the Celtics’ run to the NBA Finals, though he wasn’t at 100% in the postseason. The forward/center sat out five games in the second and third rounds of the playoffs and reportedly required extensive treatment as he dealt with fluid build-up.

Williams enjoyed a breakout season in ’21/22, establishing new career highs in PPG (10.0), RPG (9.6), BPG (2.2), games played and started (61), field goal percentage (73.6%), and several other categories. He also helped anchor the NBA’s top defense and was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.

Even without one of their best interior players, the Celtics haven’t missed a beat in ’22/23, sporting the league’s best record (22-7), best net rating (+7.0), and the top offensive rating (118.1). However, their defense has fallen from No. 1 to No. 8, and Williams should help improve that figure.

As Jared Weiss of The Athletic notes (via Twitter), Williams and fellow big man Al Horford are both officially listed as questionable for Friday’s contest. Horford and his wife recently had a baby, which is why he has been inactive since clearing the health and safety protocols — he has missed the past five games.

Atlantic Notes: O. Porter, Achiuwa, R. Williams, Nets, Warren

December 10th, 2022 at 7:58am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors forward Otto Porter Jr. is scheduled to meet next week with a specialist about his dislocated toe, head coach Nick Nurse said on Friday (Twitter link via Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca). The hope is that the appointment will bring some good news on Porter’s potential return to action — he has been sidelined since November 14 due to the injury and still isn’t doing any on-court work.

Meanwhile, Raptors big man Precious Achiuwa is targeting late December for his return to the court, Grange adds. Achiuwa has been on the shelf since November 9 after sustaining partial ligament tears in his right ankle.

Here are a few more notes from around the Atlantic:

Despite some speculation that he could make his season debut on Saturday vs. Golden State, Celtics big man Robert Williams has been listed as out on the team’s official injury report, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Williams repeatedly referred to himself as “day-to-day” and didn’t rule out the possibility of returning from his knee injury during Boston’s current West Coast road trip, which continues in Los Angeles on Monday (vs. the Clippers) and Tuesday (vs. the Lakers).
Within a look at the Nets‘ rebounding struggles, Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber link) cites two sources – NBA analyst Stan Van Gundy and a veteran Eastern Conference executive – who believe the club needs to add another big man to address the issue. “They need help,” the Eastern Conference exec told Lewis. “They absolutely need another big.”
Kevin Durant has liked what he’s seen so far from teammate T.J. Warren, who scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting while chipping in three assists and a pair of steals on Friday in his best game since joining the Nets. “We’re over there on the bench saying like, man, he just finds his way to the basketball, to the rim a lot, cuts, he just feels like he’s in the right position on the offensive side of the ball. And defensively, he’s good at getting into the ball, creating turnovers,” Durant said, according to Lewis. “So yeah, I mean he looked good. It’s going to get even better as he gets more comfortable and gets his legs up under him.”

Injury Notes: Lakers, Conley, R. Williams, MPJ, Wesley, T. Davis

December 9th, 2022 at 3:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers should have their two superstars back on Friday night in Philadelphia. LeBron James missed Wednesday’s game in Toronto to rest his sore right ankle, but he’ll be available on Friday, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). Anthony Davis, who left Tuesday’s game in Cleveland with a non-COVID illness and remained out on Wednesday, is listed as probable to play on Friday, McMenamin adds.

Meanwhile, in Utah, Jazz guard Mike Conley has been cleared to return, as expected, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Sidelined since November 19 due to a knee injury, Conley said today that he had already been planning to return tonight, but felt more urgency to get back on the court with Collin Sexton now on the shelf (Twitter link via Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune).

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

Speaking today to reporters, Celtics big man Robert Williams declined to offer specifics when asked about when he might make his season debut, repeatedly stating that he’s “day to day.” However, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe and Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter links) believe Williams may be trending toward a Saturday return, noting that head coach Joe Muzzalla couldn’t hold back a smile when asked about the possibility of the center playing in Golden State.
There’s still no timeline for the return of Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., who has missed eight straight games with a left heel injury, head coach Michael Malone said on Thursday. According to Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link), a TNT report suggested Porter could be back within a week, but Malone said no target date has been conveyed to him.
Spurs rookie Blake Wesley, making his way back from an MCL tear, will likely have a stint with the Austin Spurs in the G League before he returns to the NBA team, head coach Gregg Popovich said on Thursday (Twitter link via Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News). Popovich added that Wesley is getting close.
Kings guard Terence Davis had hoped to return on Wednesday after missing just one game due to a lower back issue, but he aggravated the injury in practice on Tuesday and is now at risk of missing additional time, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “It’s frustrating because all I want to do is play basketball,” Davis said.

Injury Notes: R. Williams, Toppin, Toscano-Anderson, Tate

December 8th, 2022 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

We heard last month that Robert Williams hoped to return to the court by Christmas Day, but the latest word from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski suggests the Celtics big man could be back even earlier than that. Wojnarowski said during an appearance on NBA Today on Wednesday that Williams has made “great progress” and is getting close to making his season debut (Twitter video link via Dan Greenberg).

“The timeline right now is still potentially 10-to-12 days, but don’t rule out the possibility that Robert Williams wakes up one day and decides he’s ready to return,” Wojnarowski said. “I think we expect he’ll be back before Christmas.”

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the league:

Knicks forward Obi Toppin, who left Wednesday’s game in the second quarter with a sore right knee, is expected to undergo an MRI on Thursday to determine the extent of the injury, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Lakers wing Juan Toscano-Anderson will also be undergoing an MRI after spraining his right ankle in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s loss in Toronto, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Toscano-Anderson has been out of L.A.’s rotation for most of the season and played more minutes (16) on Wednesday than he had since October 23. “It sucks,” head coach Darvin Ham said of the 29-year-old getting hurt while getting a rare opportunity to play a role.
Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate, sidelined since October 30 due to a right ankle injury, began running earlier this week, but there’s still no timeline for his return, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Tate has appeared in just three games this season after signing a new three-year contract with the club in the offseason.

Atlantic Notes: Milton, Raptors, Williams, Smart

December 4th, 2022 at 4:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The recent performance of Sixers reserve guard Shake Milton has convinced head coach Doc Rivers that Milton deserves regular rotation minutes even when the team’s starting backcourt of James Harden and Tyrese Maxey returns to the floor, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“We’re deep,” Rivers said of his backcourt. “There’s always a competition going on, a competition for minutes… and Shake has proven that he should play. Hopefully that continues, you know? Can he play this role with shorter minutes? That’s what happens. “Guys get a lot of minutes and they can play. They get shorter minutes and sometimes they can’t. But he will be able to. Shake is just another guard. We know we can use him, so that’s really good.”

In his recent eight-game stint as a fill-in starter, the 26-year-old guard out of SMU has averaged 21.3 PPG on a .547/.455/.964 slash line. He is also notching 6.0 APG and 5.3 RPG.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Raptors rebounded from a lackluster Friday loss to the Nets with a 121-108 Saturday victory over the Magic thanks in large part to a postgame team meeting in Brooklyn, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. The Brooklyn game was the second consecutive time the Raptors allowed an opponent to score 40 or more points on at least 70% shooing in the first quarter. “Nobody really likes to be harping, yelling, cussing or fussing around here so I think some things just go unsaid [sometimes],” Toronto starting point guard Fred VanVleet told Lewenberg. “And there are times when you need to say it out loud, let people know what our standards are around here and just tighten the ship a little bit. We’re not going to win all the games, we know that, but there’s certain ways that you want to [play] every night and those two games were just unacceptable.”
Celtics starting center Robert Williams III is inching toward a return from his offseason knee surgery. Jared Weiss of The Athletic recently took an in-depth look at the All-Defensive Teamer’s rehabilitation. “He’s getting his legs back under him,” reserve big man Noah Vonleh said. “He’s running the floor hard. He’s a presence at the rim… I’m pretty sure you’ve seen in previous years what he’s capable of, and he’s just getting back accustomed to that. So he should be ready whenever the medical staff clears him.”
Celtics starting point guard Marcus Smart will be sidelined this evening against the Nets due to a left hip contusion, incurred in Friday night’s 120-116 overtime loss to the Heat, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).

Celtics Notes: Horford, Trade Market, R. Williams

December 2nd, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters on Friday for the first time since officially signing a two-year extension on Thursday, Celtics big man Al Horford expressed confidence in the team’s ability to contend for a title and explained that he valued the opportunity to gain some stability in Boston, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes.

“One of the things is, more than anything, you want to be in a place where you have a chance to contend, to win,” Horford said. “A place that’s, for me, more than basketball. Boston, I feel a real connection here with the people and with what the Celtics are all about, and it’s something that just really excited me. And the fact that I get that opportunity and (president of basketball operations) Brad (Stevens) believing in me and bringing me here, it’s something that’s special, and I’m really grateful for the opportunity.”

Horford would have become an unrestricted free agent in 2023 if he had played out the year without an extension in place. He said on Friday that he was happy he was able to work out an agreement with the Celtics so early in the season.

“There was really no urgency, per se,” Horford said, “but I wanted to make sure that this didn’t drag out until free agency and the summer and all those things and just once the time was right, to work this out and just focus on the season.”

Here’s more on Horford and the Celtics:

Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston makes the case for why Horford’s new deal is another win for Brad Stevens, while Jared Weiss of The Athletic shares some additional contract details. According to Weiss, Horford will make $10MM in 2023/24 and $9.5MM in 2024/25, with a trade kicker worth either 15% of his remaining salary or $500K (whichever is lesser). So the actual base value of the two-year deal is $19.5MM.
Multiple sources tell Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com that the Celtics aren’t very active in the trade market at the moment. Considering Boston has the NBA’s best offense, best net rating, and best record, it’s no surprise the team isn’t looking to shake things up.
One rival league executive who spoke to Bulpett likened the eventual return of Robert Williams to a “great in-season trade” for the Celtics. “We all know it, and we’re all dreading it,” the exec said. “They’re not playing the same defense without Williams there. They’ve been better than they were earlier, but they still go through stretches where you see the same commitment to that end of the floor isn’t there. It may take them a bit of time to get back into the flow when he returns… but he should solidify them and keep them out of some of those defensive lulls.”

Robert Williams Hopes To Return By Christmas

November 23rd, 2022 at 9:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics center Robert Williams expects to be back on the court by Christmas Day, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said tonight on the network’s pre-game show (video link), relaying a conversation with Williams’ agent.

Williams is “progressing well” with his rehab after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee in September, Woj adds, noting that it was the second knee operation for Williams this year. Williams was originally projected to miss eight to 12 weeks, and the Celtics have been cautious about his return. He began participating in three-on-three drills a few days ago.

Williams became a full-time starter last season and emerged as a defensive anchor during Boston’s run to the NBA Finals. The Celtics are off to a 14-4 start without him, but Wojnarowski believes they’ll be in the market for another center to provide insurance against further injuries.

“I think for Boston now as you start to look out to the February trade deadline, I think another big man, another center who could play minutes in the case of Rob Williams missing time or a 36-year-old Al Horford being out,” Wojnarowski said. “They are trying to close every hole they can to be a championship team. We can watch Boston as they get closer to the trade deadline, seeing if there are any frontcourt help off their bench they could acquire.”

The Celtics were already rumored to have interest in Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, notes Brian Robb of MassLive. He also points out that Noah Vonleh and Justin Jackson both have contracts that won’t be guaranteed until early January, making it easy to waive them if an open roster spot is needed. Boston also has two trade exceptions that could be used to acquire players earning between $5-7MM without sending out salary in return.