NBA News 2013: Celtics Trade For Jordan Crawford

Boston Celtics v/s Washington Wizards April 11, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Boston Celtics ended up completing a trade a few hours before Thursday’s deadline, but no member of the Big Three was involved. Boston sent Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Crawford.

Barbosa, who tore his right ACL earlier this month, proved to be a nice trade chip with an affordable, expiring contract. There were whispers that the Celtics were floating Fab Melo in talks, but it was clear that Ernie Grunfeld didn’t want any future salary commitment.

Collins also has an expiring contract, while Crawford carries a $2.16 million salary for 2013-14 and can be issued a qualifying offer of $3.2 million in 14-15. It was expected that the Celtics would re-sign the Brazilian Blur, but Danny Ainge now will have some work to do with close to $72 million already committed for next season.

The Wizards essentially dealt Crawford for two bodies and a small amount of cap savings. Barbosa is still waiting for his MCL to calm down before undergoing surgery on his ACL and Collins will have Emeka Okafor, Nene and Kevin Seraphin ahead of him on the depth chart. The move accomplished two things for Grunfeld -- ridding himself of the somewhat enigmatic Crawford and saving more than $2 million next season. Washington now has a little more than $65 million committed to 11 players (including Trevor Ariza’s $7.7 million player option and the $7.8 million amnestied deal of Andray Blatche).

There may have been underlying issues between Crawford and Washington, but it’s somewhat surprising that they couldn’t turn him into some sort of tangible future asset. However, the Wizards have relied on better ball movement since John Wall returned from injury and a one-on-one player like Crawford simply doesn’t fit with that scheme. That made it clear the 24-year-old wasn’t a fit now or going forward.

Grunfeld himself mused that he couldn’t get much in return for Crawford, but in actuality he should have been able to land at least a late second-round pick. I mean, wouldn’t Melo (a project big man due $1.3 million next year) be at least something? Crawford has been an average NBA player over the last two seasons (at the very least in terms of PER).

http://basketball.realgm.com/article/226292/Grading-The-Deal-Celtics-Trade-For-Jordan-Crawford

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NBA News 2012: Rondo Accepts Responsibility For Celtics' Struggles

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 15: Rajon Rondo #9 of the Boston Celtics wins the jump ball against Greg Monroe #10 of the Detroit Pistons on February 15, 2012 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Detroit Pistons defeated the Boston Celtics 98-88. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Rajon Rondo accepted responsibility for the Boston Celtics’ 0-2 start to the season.

“We have to trust one another defensively,” Rondo said after allowing 21 points and 13 assists to Brandon Jennings in a 99-88 loss to the Bucks on Friday. “It starts with me. I have to do a better job on the ball. We can say we [trust each other], but on the court it shows we’re not pulling in weakside [help]. There’s a lot of things.

“We’ve just got to start somewhere, and that’s the good thing about the league — we can start tomorrow.”

In two games, opponents have shot 50.3 percent against Boston, including 47.1 percent from beyond the arc.

“I’m going to try to come out and set the tone defensively [Saturday night against the Wizards],” Rondo said. “That’s all I can do. We’ve got to each look ourselves in the mirror and find a way to dig down and bring something to what we’ve been doing. Bring a little bit more to the game. I’m the point guard, I’m the first line of defense, I initiate the offense. I’ve got to be better.”

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/224302/Rondo_Accepts_Responsibility_For_Celtics_Struggles

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NBA News 2012: Kevin Garnett returns to Boston

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 06: Kevin Garnett #5, Ray Allen #20 and Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics react in the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers on January 6, 2012 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Indiana Pacers defeated the Boston Celtics 87-74. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
NBA players that have no contracts for the 2012-13 season are set to become free agents just after midnight on Sunday, setting off a frenzy of agreements (but not signings, as the teams and players can't official put pen to paper until July 11) even in the early hours of Sunday. Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett decided to bypass on the whole early morning thing altogether, agreeing on a three-year, $34 million contract on Saturday, one that more or less ensures Kevin Garnett will never be an active unrestricted free agent a single time in what could be a 20-year career.

Think about it. Garnett signed an extension during the summer of 1997 to avoid a free-agent recruitment in what turned out to be a truncated offseason in January 1999. He signed another extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2003 to avoid 2004's free agency, and a three-year extension in 2007 after being traded to the Boston Celtics to avoid 2010 free agency. This time around, K.G. snuck it in with just hours to spare. And in doing so, signed off on what will probably be the last three years of his storied career.

And, in concert, the Boston Celtics signed off on just about more of the same — the veteran-y same — along the way.

This isn't a bad thing, mind you. Observers might think that by agreeing to pay KG double figures from now until 2015 that the Celtics were committing themselves to another year of limping with aged legs into the playoffs and hoping for the best, but I take issue with that. For one, they'd be limping in on the legs of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, with sprightly guard Rajon Rondo chucking behind the back bottles of ibuprofen at them along the way.

Secondly, the Celtics were going down that route anyway. They had been since signing Paul Pierce to a four-year contract extension in 2010.

The last year of Pierce's deal, in 2013-14, is only partially guaranteed. But while this may have felt like an easy out for Celtics GM Danny Ainge back in 2010, the idea of asking a Celtic legend like Pierce to move on while Boston declines its team option is easier assumed than actually accomplished. Especially if Pierce still wants to play in 2013-14, which is very likely even considering his nagging injury woes. So while Ainge probably had every intention of starting up a rebuilding plan in 2013 when he extended Pierce's time in Boston back in 2010, the likelihood of that diminished year to year. Nobody wants to be the guy to tell Paul Pierce that he's had enough in Boston.

This is why we shouldn't be surprised if two or even three years of Garnett's deal are fully guaranteed. Two is far more likely, which would give the chance for Ainge to start over once Pierce's deal ends for real in 2014. But even fully committing to Garnett in 2014-15 (via a fully guaranteed three-year deal now, or picking up his team option that season) is far from the worst thing in the world. A lot can change between now and the summer of 2014 to make me look a fool for writing that — especially as Garnett enters 2012-13 with exactly 50,600 career minutes to his regular and postseason credit — but K.G. making close to eight figures on a rebuilding or brand new-ish C's club in 2014-15 doesn't look too prohibitive right now.

Garnett's per-minute offensive production has held steady over the last four seasons. His defense, once the NBA's best, now merely places him in the discussion for the NBA's best. He doesn't rely on slapping the top of the backboard or throwing down huge dunks, he's smarter than all of us and he gets away with more in a first quarter with the referees than some centers do in a career. He's Kevin Garnett, and he'll be fine.

This deal allows the Celtics to move forward in their own yearly roster shakeup. You're correct in pointing out that if Boston lets Ray Allen (who was not happy with his team last year) move off to Miami or Phoenix, the Celtics would technically have double-figure cap space to work with, but things don't work that way in the NBA.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/kevin-garnett-returns-boston-celtics-return-being-celtics-174757820--nba.html;_ylt=AuDGxP_X1Zqpx0WyHaTBQ6O8vLYF

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NBA News 2012: Ainge says Garnett considering retirement

Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge spoke with free-agent center center Kevin Garnett last week, though Ainge said Garnett hasn't made a decision on his future.

Garnett, 36, is pondering retirement despite finishing strongly in his 17th season. He needs time to reflect, putting Boston's offseason plans in an uncertain state.

"Kevin and I had a good conversation last week and the conversation was mostly on how he needs time before he makes that decision," Ainge told Boston sports radio station WEEI-93.7 FM. "I think we'll talk within the next week, but I'm not so sure that's a decision day for him. He may want to wait and see what sort of team we have. I'm not sure.

"I know that he wants to come back. I know he likes Boston, and I know he loves playing for (coach) Doc (Rivers). He loves everything about the team and the city and so forth. I think that his decision will be, 'Do I really want to play? Or do I not want to play.'"

The longer Garnett delays, the more difficult Boston's situation becomes, with the NBA draft later this month and cap space allocated in holds for Garnett and Ray Allen when free agency opens in early July.

"It is complicated and the timing is complicated. Juggling all these different scenarios is difficult," Ainge said. "But the reality is that, on July 1, Kevin Garnett is on our books for $21 million until we either sign him to a new contract, or renounce him, which means we can't re-sign him. Otherwise, it really limits our cap space."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-roundup-ainge-says-garnett-225009321--nba.html

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NBA News 2012: Rajon Rondo, cameraman clash over post-Game 5 filming

BOSTON, MA - MAY 06: Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics has a word with Rajon Rondo #9 of the Boston Celtics in the second half during a game against Atlanta Hawks in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2012 NBA Playoffs on May 6, 2012 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
The Boston Celtics missed an opportunity to close out the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, dropping an 87-86 road affair that gives Atlanta the chance to knot their first-round series in Boston on Thursday night. Near misses like the one Boston had at Philips Arena tend to stick in a player's craw, especially when the player singlehandedly got his flagging team back into the game and conjured a chance to win it out of thin air, only to see it end in a trap, a turnover and a loss, extending a series that player felt his team already had won.

So, yeah, Rajon Rondo — whom NBA fans know to be a quiet, reserved and occasionally volatile sort as it is — was a little bit salty when he spotted a cameraman filming him after Boston's Tuesday night loss:


While waiting to take the podium for his postgame media session, Rondo noticed a cameraman filming his idle chatter. The point guard pointed at the cameraman (which, if I was the cameraman, would probably have me thinking, "Oh, crap") before walking over to voice his displeasure.

"Listen — how many times I'mma tell you?" Rondo asks. "You are not filming me. I told you to quit filming. Do not film me. I'm not doing an interview right now. I just told you."

The progression is simple — Emotional Dude fresh off a tough loss wants to have a couple of moments with some people close to him before he steps up to the podium and talks about not having his best performance and his team dropping a winnable playoff game; Emotional Dude sees a camera encroaching on those moments; Emotional Dude responds in an emotional fashion; Emotional Dude comes off looking like kind of a jerk, especially after "Inside the NBA" host Ernie Johnson tags the encounter with a terse "Whatever."

You can understand Rondo's frustration, and he didn't escalate the hostilities beyond a reasonable level — any reasonable person sees the difference between this and stuff like the run-ins that guys like Randy Johnson and Kenny Rogers had with cameramen — but he's pretty clearly in the wrong here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/rajon-rondo-cameraman-clash-over-post-game-5-161311234.html;_ylt=AhDy.3OoO_DUWzJqNCAcCOu8vLYF

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NBA News 2011: Boston Celtics May Own the East for Now

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Still, the age and unpredictable nature of the Celtics isn't the only concern, as a much bigger threat looms in the rapidly growing conference known as the East.

Take the Chicago Bulls for example, a team Charles Barkley loves enormously.

"The best Eastern Conference team that I've seen this year, I think the Chicago Bulls are going to win the East," Barkley said in December. "I love what they're doing in Chicago".

That same thought is a mutual feeling throughout the NBA.  The Bulls are 42-18, second behind the Celtics.  Not only that, Chicago also features MVP front runner Derrick Rose, along with a player who is averaging 13.1 points per game, and also reaching superstar status, center Joakim Noah.

Next is the Miami Heat, Boston's new favorite opponent.

The Celtics have had LeBron James' number in the past three meetings, but sooner or later (perhaps not this season) the Heat will come together, and move past this era of brick shots and laughable losses at the hands of the NBA's giants.

Third on the list is the Magic, another one of Boston's mules.

Dwight Howard was shutdown during last year's postseason when Orlando faced Boston, but Stan Van Gundy's team is much more improved since then, especially in three point land.

Jameer Nelson has come up big in 2011, and the threats of J.J Reddick and Jason Richardson require much more attention than Vince Carter did a year ago.

The Knicks are a problem as well.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/627709-boston-celtics-may-own-the-east-for-now-but-serious-contenders-are-on-their-way

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NBA News 2011: Lakers talk freely about what went wrong in loss to Kings

Image via Wikipedia
Let's get this straight.

The Lakers lose to the lowly Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on Friday night and the media get blamed for the loss?

"Yeah, I'm blaming this on you guys," Lamar Odom said after the Lakers dropped a 100-95 decision to the Kings. "You guys are jumping to the Boston game."

Odom was joking.

But the media did begin asking about the Lakers playing the Boston Celtics on Sunday, many ignoring the Kings (11-33) in the process.

Still, the Lakers had put a gag order in place, saying no one was allowed to talk about the Celtics until after the Lakers finished off the Kings.

Lakers co-captain Derek Fisher was the one who said no one could talk about the Celtics.

All the good it did.

Again, Odom was asked if he really was going to lay blame for the Lakers' inexplicable loss to the Kings on the media.

"Yep," Odom said, half-smiling. "I'm blaming it on you."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-web-20110130,0,6476639.story

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NBA News 2011: Lakers, Celtics rekindle rivalry

Image via Wikipedia
After winning the last two championships, the Lakers have been casting about for inspiration all season. West gave it to them -- prove me wrong, he was saying -- and he did so as the Celtics were on their way to Los Angeles for the first rematch since Game 7 last June.

It's hard to define the importance of regular-season meetings among title contenders. "Once they get between the lines, the outcome of that game makes all the difference in the world to those players," an NBA advance scout said this week, looking ahead to Boston's visit to L.A. on Sunday afternoon. "But two nights later, if the Lakers are playing Minnesota or whoever, they're realizing that game means as much in the standings as the game against the Celtics."

The Lakers and Celtics have met in the Finals five times since 1984, and the outcomes of their regular-season meetings haven't always been helpful:

2009-10: Split regular-season series, L.A. won Finals 4-3
2007-08: Boston swept 2-0, Boston won Finals 4-2
1986-87: L.A. swept 2-0, L.A. won Finals 4-2
1984-85: Split series, L.A. won Finals 4-2
1983-84: L.A. swept 2-0, Boston won Finals 4-3

In the NBA's most important rivalry, each team is most concerned by its own prospects. The Celtics are beginning to work center Kendrick Perkins back into their rotation after losing him to a major knee injury in Game 6 in L.A. They've earned the East's best record despite injuries that have sidelined a half-dozen members of their rotation for at least nine games each. Their focus has been remarkable even as coach Doc Rivers complains of "slippage" in their execution because he has been making do with a different mixture week after week.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/ian_thomsen/01/28/lakers.celtics/

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NBA News 2010: For Smith, trade is a dream come true

Image via Wikipedia
The text message was short and to the point.

"Call me ASAP," Joe Smith's agent wrote.

The news was better than expected.

"You've been traded to the Lakers," Smith's agent told him.

Smith has been smiling since he got the news the Lakers agreed to acquire him from the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday. The trade became official Wednesday and Smith took his physical and joined his new teammates Thursday.

"At this point in my career, this is probably a great move because this team has won two in a row and has a chance to win a third one," he said. "Hopefully, I can be a part of it and try to bring whatever I can to the table to help us succeed."

The Lakers will be Smith's 12th team in an NBA career that's in its 16th season. He didn't even try to name his former clubs and said, "I've lost count." The 35-year-old forward is a former No. 1 overall pick by Golden State in 1995.

Despite his vast NBA experience, Smith has not played deep into the playoffs. He was with Cleveland when it lost to Boston in the second round in 2008, but that's as far as he has gone.

He has never been with a team like the Lakers, who are trying for a three-peat. He admitted he had all but given up the idea of playing for a championship contender, "but I was still hopeful that something could happen where I could end up in a place like this."

Mission accomplished.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_16880820

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NBA News 2010: Who Are the Best Pairing of Players?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol may not like those rankings, and for good reason; they're the No. 2 duo in the NBA behind D-Wade/LBJ, evidenced by their back-to-back NBA championships. The original Big Three in Boston proved they had some magic left inside of them last year, although there's no telling whether they can keep the momentum rolling through this year. 

For a sleeper pick here, look towards Deron Williams and Al Jefferson, two All-Star caliber players who could add new dimensions to Jerry Sloan's flex offense. While the Williams-Carlos Boozer combo was always potent, Jefferson's two years removed from averaging a 24/10, and could be the type of young, All-Star low-post talent the Jazz need to lock up Williams long-term.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/441970-nba-2010-11-the-100-biggest-questions-facing-the-nba-this-season#page/46

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NBA News 2010: Chris Bosh says loyalty is for suckers

Image via WikipediaChris Bosh clearly went to school on Kevin Garnett.
KG stayed loyal for years to Minnesota while the quality of players around him disintegrated. Until the losing got to be too much. Eventually he forced his way out, landed in Boston with other superstars, won a title and now goes on the record saying he should have done it all earlier.
Bosh didn't wait. (Neither did LeBron, although there were other factors in play there.) Sports Illustrated asked him what role loyalty should have in free agency and the answer was cold.
It should have none. Loyalty is an added bonus. It's great that some guys want to be loyal, but you can be unhappy trying to be loyal, and there's no reason to bring loyalty into the business room. ... People have to look at it as a business. Fans get very wrapped around it because it's a sport. And sports are a little different but they're businesses first and that's how we have to choose sometimes. Sometimes people understand, sometimes people don't.
What fans expect is their loyalty to be respected, and returned in some degree. That means sticking through some tough times, like the fans did in Toronto with Bosh -- only to be told their loyalty doesn't really matter. That's not how Bosh meant it, but it is how it can be perceived.
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/08/chris-bosh-says-loyalty-is-for-suckers.php

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NBA News 2010: Lakers 'still haven't beaten our starting 5,' Doc says

Image via WikipediaDoc Rivers came back to the Celtics because he wanted to make one more run at it with this group, he believed that this unit had one more title in it.
Of course, there are a couple obstacles to that. For one, there's that Laker team that just beat the Celtics in the finals.
But Rivers still believes Boston was the better team when healthy, as he told John Thompson when he was on ESPN 980 in Washington D.C.
They still have not beaten our starting five. Our starting five against the Lakers starting five has a ring. Tell him don't forget that. We will be back strong and Perk (Kendrick Perkins) will be there next year if there's a game seven."
I hate the "what if" injury game. Doc, I'll counter your "what if Perkins was healthy for Game 7?" with a "What if Andrew Bynum had been healthy the entire series?" The what if game is circular.
But before Boston can worry about the Lakers, the Celtics have to get out of the East. And we all know that Miami is going to be good, including Rivers, but he wonders about their defense.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38821667/ns/sports/

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