Charlotte’s decision toreleaseSpencer Dinwiddie — after signing the veteran guard to a guaranteed minimum-salary contract over the summer — surprised some people around the NBA, according toMarc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
There was some speculation that theHornets might waivePat Connaughton instead, but Stein hears the team decided to keep the veteran wing because he’s popular in the locker room and has championship experience. Another key factor: the Hornets remain cautiously optimistic they might be able to use Connaughton’s $9.4MM expiring contract in a trade before February’s deadline, Stein writes.
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Celtics forwardJayson Tatum remains hopeful about his chances of returning from his torn right Achilles before the 2025/26 season ends, but he tellsDJ Siddiqi of PokerStrategy.com that there’s no specific timeline or target date in place at this point.
“Nobody’s pressuring me,”Tatum said.“The team, the doctor, the organization, everybody is just like, ‘We want you to be 100% before you come back.'”
While many players who suffer Achilles tears are sidelined for at least a full calendar year, Tatum made it clear that the recovery process isn’t “time-based” and is confident there would be little risk of aggravating the injury if he’s cleared to come back before the one-year mark.
“Time is obviously important, but you have to hit certain benchmarks,” he explained to Siddiqi.“The most important thing is all these tests of your strength, the strength in your calf, the strength in your leg. Getting into the same strength as your left calf or even stronger. For some guys, that takes six, nine, 12 months. Everybody’s just different. But the surgery that I got, the things that we’ve been doing, I feel very, very confident in that surgical site. We won’t have that problem again.”
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Jayson Tatum‘s injury and the departure of several veteran players forcedCeltics starJaylen Brown to take on a larger leadership role, writesGary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Brown typically travels during the summer, Washburn notes, but he spent more time in Boston this year in an effort to bond with his new teammates.
“It’s a little bit sad, a lot of the guys I spent a lot of time with, we had such a great group over the last couple of years,”he said.“To see them not be around anymore obviously is going to have an effect on our team, but we have five new players we’ve got to get on board and acclimated into the system. And I’m trying to expedite that chemistry building, that trust building so you guys can see a good product when we get to the floor. But some of that stuff takes time — it doesn’t happen overnight — but I’m looking forward to it.”
Mentoring may not seem like a natural role to anyone who watched Brown closely during his first nine NBA seasons, Washburn adds. Brown often projected a hard exterior, but he said he’s found “a different level of peace” at this point in his career, and Washburn observes that he seems to be smiling and enjoying himself more than in the past.
“I would say a lot of times I felt like I had to operate a certain way to protect myself, and it was kind of the way I felt like I had to be in order not to lose my mind a little bit,” Brown said. “But I feel like I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I’m at peace, and I feel like I can express more of myself to the world in a sense where I just haven’t opened up in the last (several) years. More so showing the world who Jaylen Brown is.”
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After theCelticsannounced their new ownership structure on Tuesday, majority owner and team governorWilliam Chisholm and alternate governorWyc Grousbeck talked toAdam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe about their plans for the future.
Chisholm, who headed up the group that purchased the franchise from the Grousbeck family at a valuation of $6.1 billion, said he understands the immediate need to cut costs to escape the second apron and get control of the team’s salary structure. However, he promised that won’t affect his overall vision for the franchise.
“We’re not playing for second; we’re playing for championships and banners,” Chisholm said.“We’re playing for them in the near term, although we obviously had to do some things to get below the second apron. But we’re also playing for them in the medium and long term.The second apron means you can’t do it by just throwing money at the problem. You have to do it with talent, you have to do it with leadership, and with Wyc and with (president of basketball operationsBrad Stevens) and (presidentRich Gotham) and (coachJoe Mazzulla), I feel like we have the best leaders in the league.”
Chisholm also expressed optimism that the Celtics can exceed expectations this season withJaylen Brown,Derrick White andPayton Pritchard leading the way. He added that there’s “real talent” on the roster “that hasn’t been fully realized.”
Chisholm also emphasized that his plan to run the team in a close partnership with Grousbeck hasn’t changed. League rules prevented Grousbeck from retaining his position as governor because he owns less than 15% of the franchise, but both men insist that’s a technicality that won’t affect day-to-day operations.
“When it became clear the governor title was not going to be available because of technical reasons, because of math, Bill said, ‘Well, then we’re just not going to use that word around the office.’ So that says a lot about Bill, that he doesn’t care,”Grousbeck said. “He just wants to do the right thing for the team, and I feel the exact same way. We’re shoulder to shoulder.”
They also addressed the decision to give Mazzulla amultiyear extension ahead of what should be his most challenging season as head coach. Grousbeck said they want him “happy and empowered” as he leads a team that’s suddenly in the middle of the pack in the East.
“I’m really excited to see what he does in this kind of environment,” Chisholm added.“I think people will really appreciate what he’s all about. When he doesn’t have the loaded team, what can he do? And I think that’s going to be really interesting, and I have every confidence he’s going to crush it.”
Joe Mazzulla has the security of anew contract extension, but he’ll be facing the toughest coaching job of his career when the upcoming season tips off, writesChristopher L. Gasper of The Boston Globe.
Since taking over as head coach shortly before the start of the 2022/23 season, Mazzulla has been able to rely on one of the most talented rosters in the league. That’s changed due to an Achilles injury that might sidelineJayson Tatum for the entire season, along with cost-cutting trades that sent outJrue Holiday andKristaps Porzingis and the loss ofLuke Kornet and probablyAl Horford in free agency.
The current version of the Celtics isn’t nearly as well equipped for Mazzulla’s preferred approach to the game, which includes a heavy reliance on three-point shots. Gasper states that Mazzulla will have to be flexible and show a willingness to adapt the offense to get the most out of his players.
Former Celtics player and longtime radio analyst Cedric Maxwell tellsGary Washburn of The Boston Globe that Mazzulla’s natural competitiveness will be an asset for the depleted roster.
“Here’s the beauty about all that,” Maxwell said.“Joe Mazzulla’s not going to let them take a step back. Joe Mazzulla is going to use that as fuel to have these guys compete on a nightly basis. We’ve seen teams in the NBA, perhaps not as talented as other teams but at the end, because they played hard every single night, you get your opportunities to win.”
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There’s no official injury update onJayson Tatum, but it was encouraging to see theCeltics star moving around freely during two public appearances this week, writesMatty Wasserman of The Boston Globe. Tatum made a visit to Patriots training camp on Wednesday and followed that by joining coachJoe Mazzulla at the groundbreaking for a new early education center a day later.
Tatum, whounderwent surgery after tearing his Achilles in a May 12 playoff game, didn’t take any questions or address his condition, but team presidentRich Gotham seemed delighted with his progress.
“He’s gone from walking around in a boot and just kind of wiggling his toes to, as you see him today, he’s walking around a little more freely,”Gotham told reporters.“That’s obviously very encouraging to all of us at the Celtics … These are all little milestones in what has been a pretty grueling process for him. But it’s great to see him out at something like this.”
Gotham refused to speculate on whether Tatum would return to action if he receives medical clearance before the end of the upcoming season. However, he added, “What I know about JT is that he’s going to do everything he can to put us in the position to make a decision.”
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TheCeltics have extended their head coach’s contract,announcing today in a press release thatJoe Mazzulla has officially signed a new multiyear deal with the club.
“We are very excited that Joe has agreed to extend with the Celtics,”president of basketball operationsBrad Stevens said in a statement.“He understands the job and has a passion for the Celtics that is only rivaled by our most die-hard fans. He’s worked hard and accomplished amazing things in his first three years as a head coach – including averaging over 60 wins per season and winning the 2024 NBA Championship.
“Joe is a gifted leader who brings a consistent commitment to learning, improving, and maximizing each day we get to compete for the Boston Celtics.”
Mazzulla, who joined the Celtics’ coaching staff in 2019 as an assistant, was unexpectedly thrust into the head coaching role ahead of the 2022/23 season whenIme Udoka wassuspended by the club. Udoka never returned to the team, resulting in Mazzulla earning the position on a permanent basis.
Mazzulla has acquitted himself very well in his first three years as the Celtics’ head coach, winning 57, 64, and 61 regular season games for an overall record of 182-64 (.740). He has also guided Boston to a 33-17 record in the playoffs, as well as a 2024 championship.
Mazzulla finished third in Coach of the Year voting in his first year on the job in 2022/23, then ranked fourth a year later.
He’ll face a new challenge in his fourth year in the role, as the Celtics have spent the offseason retooling their roster to cut costs after operating above the second tax apron last season. WithJrue Holiday andKristaps Porzingis no longer on the roster andJayson Tatum expected to miss most or all of 2025/26 while he recovers from a torn Achilles, Mazzulla will have to find a way to maximize a group that features less talent than his previous rosters.
Celtics president of basketball operationsBrad Stevens had a new first-round pick to discuss inHugo Gonzalez, but there were more pressing issues to address as he met with the media following Wednesday’s draft, writesGary Washburn of The Boston Globe. After agreeing toseparatetrades this week involvingJrue Holiday andKristaps Porzingis, Stevens talked about their contributions to the franchise and whether any more cost-cutting measures might be on the way.
“The biggest thing is there clearly is a need to prioritize regaining our flexibility,”Stevens said.“Maximizing from an assets standpoint what we can. As far as whatever moves those are a part of, those are all separate, hard, and things that you’re going to have to do your best to make sure you’re in the right position.We knew this was coming. We’ve got to prioritize flexibility.”
Parting with Holiday and Porzingis enabled the Celtics to move below the second apron, freeing them up to aggregate salaries in future trades, send out cash in deals and use trade exceptions. They’re projected to save nearly $200MM in luxury tax penalties, but Stevens emphasized that flexibility rather than frugality was the main motivation for trimming salary.
“Our owners are committed to spending,”Stevens said. “There’s a lot of things that go into these moves and a lot of things that are really important. The second apron basketball penalties are real and I’m not sure I understood how real until they were staring me in the face in the last month. I do think that can’t be overstated.”
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ThePacers were on their way to taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals Friday night when their offense inexplicably hit a wall, writesJames Boyd of The Athletic. The crisp passing and constant motion they’ve displayed throughout the series disappeared in the fourth quarter, allowing Oklahoma City to rally for a 111-104 victory and head back home with the series tied.
“We just got too stagnant,”coachRick Carlisle said. “The ball was not being advanced quickly enough. We weren’t creating problems, and we were up against the clock a lot. So things got very difficult, but you gotta give Oklahoma (City) credit. They made it very difficult.”
The numbers tell an ugly story as Indiana was outscored 31-17 during the final 12 minutes.Tyrese Haliburton, who went 3-of-7, was the only Pacers player to make more than one shot during the fourth quarter as they registered just one assist and committed three turnovers. Ten of their 27 fouls came in the fourth quarter, and they shot just 5-of-18 as a team while missing all eight of their three-point attempts.
“I gotta do a better job of keeping pace in the game,”Haliburton said. “I thought I did a much better job of that last game, especially down the stretch. Keeping pace, getting rebounds and really pushing (the ball). I think we gotta do a better job of when we do get stops, getting out and running. A lot of times in that fourth (quarter), we were fouling too much, taking the ball out, having to kind of run (a set play) versus just random basketball.”
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Former NBA guardPhil Pressey will be named the head coach of the MaineCeltics, Boston’s G League affiliate, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Pressey, 34, played college ball at Missouri from 2010-13 and then signed with the Celtics after going undrafted. He appeared in 125 regular season games across two seasons for Boston before spending time with the Sixers and Suns in 2015/16. From 2016-22, he competed in the G League and in various leagues in Spain, Turkey, and Germany.
Pressey averaged 3.2 points and 2.9 assists in 13.6 minutes per game across 148 total NBA appearances, with a .341/.254/.630 shooting line.
A year after ending his playing career, Pressey rejoined the Celtics in 2023 as a player enhancement coach underJoe Mazzulla. He has spent the past two seasons in that role.
Pressey will be replacingTyler Lashbrook, who was Maine’s head coach in 2024/25 after spending the previous season in Boston as a player development coach. It’s unclear whether Lashbrook will be rejoining the Celtics’ NBA staff or leaving the team for a new opportunity, but he did well in Maine this past season, leading the G League squad to a 21-13 regular season record and an appearance in the NBAGL’s Eastern Conference Finals.
