Tag: nba buyout market

Celtics uninterested in buyout options (even IT), will keep monitoring

Boston Celtics team president Danny Ainge related the team is not interested in the available names on the buyout market, unfortunately including old friend Isaiah Thomas for those hoping for a reunion.

The Boston Celtics aren’t especially interested with the players they believe are available on the buyout market, according to team president Danny Ainge.

Appearing on the local sports radio talk show Toucher and Rich, Ainge revealed the Celtics don’t find any of the players available to be signed on the buyout market an especially good fit for the team right now.

This is a blow to those among us wishing for an Isaiah Thomas reunion. The former Celtic point guard was recently cut and made a free agent after being involved in a multi-team trade sending another former Celtic — Marcus Morris — to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Ainge noted (via Yahoo Sports’ Keith Smith) “there’s nothing [on the buyout market] that interests us now,” including Thomas, who the Celtics president praised while making it clear that his fit with Boston’s current direction was more the reason a reunion wasn’t in the cards.

“I love Isaiah, I’m just not sure he’s the right fit for us,” said Ainge via CBS Boston. “But I’m not sure that he’s not. We’re waiting to see who is available, maybe someone who is more of a need or more of a fit. But who knows, we’ll see.”

That target could be current Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson.

Former Celtic Paul Pierce recently made a point of trying to recruit the Cavalier to Boston despite the fact the Klutch Sports client is represented by an agency who has never had a player take a buyout.

It could also be no one in particular is of interest, given the unlikely nature of a Thompson buyout — or an option currently unknown outside of the Celtics’ front office.

Boston’s head honcho also made a point of noting long-waylaid center is expected to return to action on March 1st or so as long as everything goes well.

He also noted that he feels a little trepidation about fourth-year shooting guard Jaylen Brown playing thought multiple leg injuries.

The Cal-Berkeley product has sprained both ankle and was on the receiving end of a kick to his calf in the loss to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday.

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Marvin Williams to be bought out, could help Boston

15-year veteran Marvin Williams is to be bought out by the Charlotte Hornets to latch on to a contender; could Kemba Walker’s ex-teammate help Boston?

Charlotte Hornets veteran forward Marvin Williams is working on coming to terms with the Hornets on a buyout so that the 33-year-old can latch on to a contending team, reports ESPN senior writer Adrian Wojnarowski.

Williams is in his 15th season in the NBA, and could provide a team of his choosing veteran leadership and excellent defence from small forwards to centers while shooting 37.6 % from deep this season.

He’s putting up 6.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and an assist per game over 19.1 minutes per contest, and should be on the Boston Celtics radar if the team is serious about pursuing some shooting for the bench.

He was also a longtime teammate of All-Star Boston point guard Kemba Walker when the UConn product was at his last stop, with the Hornets.

The Celtics decided to stand pat at the trade deadline, and may again if no interested parties able to help out above the players most likely to be cut from Boston’s roster can.

Rookie center Vincent Poirier is most often floated in such a role, but given he is owed $2.5 million this season and $2.6 next.

The Celtics may instead turn to rookie wing Javonte Green, earning just under $900,000 guaranteed this season, with just $100,000 of next season’s $1.5 million contract guaranteed.

Green, however, has been an intermittently productive player, contributing 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds over just 9.3 minutes per game, and Williams is one of a handful of potential buyout options who might reliably help more.

Still, at age 33, Williams is unlikely to have a long future with the team should he be interested in signing with Boston, and Green and Poirier could still develop into quality rotation players at 26 years old each.

The front office will have to decide whether the risk of disrupting team chemistry is worth the boost in production any such player could provide, and they’ll have to have made that decision my March 1st, the latest date for a player to bought out in order to be playoff eligible.

Williams, however, is one of the better options likely to come available that could earnestly help any playoff team, and particularly Boston.

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After standing pat, what can the Celtics do for buyout options?

The Boston Celtics may have held steady at the 2020 NBA trade deadline, but they could still add talent from buyout candidates — who might realistically be available?

Having stood pat at the 2020 NBA trade deadline, the Boston Celtics still have a few tools at their disposal when it comes to making midseason roster moves.

They can still add unsigned players to an open roster spot, and they can sign players bought out from other NBA teams so long as the process is completed before the end of the day on March 1st.

At least, if they want to use that player in the postseason.

The Celtics currently have no open roster spots, but could conceivably waive a player if the right option comes along.

With an abundance of young talent on the roster and more destined to arrive this summer in the form of up to three first-round draft picks, it may make sense to bite the bullet now and sign a player to a short-term deal.

The most likely candidates will be among the lowest-paid players on the roster who are also among the least productive, narrowing the options to a small handful of players.

Chief of which is French big man Vincent Poirier, who has struggled to adapt to the NBA game in his debut season in the league at 26. earning $2.5 million.

That’s a bit more than most end-of-bench cuts tend to make, so it’d likely take an impressive prospect to make cutting Vinny Sexpants worth the squeeze, leaving reserve wing Javonte Green as the only other likely option for a potential cut.

Green’s actually been a productive-if-inconsistent player — though at 26 as well, isn’t likely to add much to his game. He’s on the books for just under $900,000, though, so while useful it may make sense to cut the Virginian if the right option appears.

The only other realistic — and we’re stretching that term here — option would be rookie guard Carsen Edwards or veteran floor general Brad Wanamaker, the former still worth hanging onto to see what develops and the latter a valuable depth player.

This brings us to the available options, and for now, the pickings are slim.

But as we inch closer to that buyout deadline on the first day of March, several options will likely shake free of their current situation, and at least a few might be worth opening up a roster spot to see.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Tristan Thompson could perhaps be the most intriguing option, but it’s a longshot that his current team will grant him a buyout. And players — such as Thompson — represented by Klutch Sports have yet to even accept one.

Forward Marvin Williams of the Charlotte Hornets would be another excellent candidate if bought out, able to shoot 37.6 % from beyond the arc and to cover bigger forwards and frontcourt players defensively when needed.

The Hornets could also seek to part ways with center Bismack Biyombo according to HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky, and while not an especially sexy option, could provide much-needed frontcourt depth above what Boston is seeing from Poirier.

Now-Detroit Piston John Henson should be kept tabs on, as he’s a decent shotblocker and rebounder now likely behind Christian Wood, Sekou Doumbouya and perhaps even Thon Maker.

Evan Turner is an interesting option who already knows the system head coach Brad Stevens uses. He’s put up awful numbers as an Atlanta Hawk, but was also relegated to a deep rotation role while the team tried to develop its young players (and improve its draft odds).

In keeping with ex-Celtics, there’s a chance Dallas Maverick Courtney Lee is bought out from his current situation, currently playing just under 11 minutes a game for his current team. A career 38.8 % 3-point shooter could always help a bit.

A more recent former Celtic could be waived as a result of his inclusion of a deal sending yet another ex-Celt to the Los Angeles Clippers, with the deal landing Marcus Morris on that west coast contender pulling IT out of the Washington Wizards roster.

There’s a world where his production and the narrative his return creates could be worth a cut, but it’d come at the expense of simply elevating two-way flor general Tremont Waters to the NBA level to see what they have ahead of all those picks coming this summer.

Even after missing out on all the trade deadline drama, Boston may elect to stand pat again on the buyout market, particularly if one of the better options noted above or some other impact player is not a very clear and obvious upgrade.

Whatever course the front office chooses, the players can at least breathe a collective sigh of relief in knowing — save perhaps a player or two — their roster status going into the summer.

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