Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
He has yet to play a regular-season game as a Celtic, and most of the children seemed unfamiliar with him. But Rozier is determined to make a name for himself in this city, and determined to do it quickly.
“I just need to find ways to stay on the floor and play,” he said. “I want to push the pace and defensively step up. I like to play a fast tempo and just want to help this team go, make them go, be that spark plug.”
Rozier was widely projected to be taken near the end of the first round of the NBA Draft. When the Celtics selected him at No. 16, there were groans and boos at the team’s draft party for season-ticket holders.
But Celtics coaches and executives praised Rozier’s toughness, competitiveness, and defense, and during summer league play last month, he showed flashes of all three.
He averaged 12.2 points, 3.9 assists, and 3 rebounds, helping Boston win five of its last six games. In a July 16 matchup against the Blazers — with star guard Marcus Smart sidelined with a hand injury — Rozier scored 8 points in the final 52 seconds to lead a comeback win.
Boston Globe – Celtics’ Terry Rozier determined to make a name for himself
When the Celtics drafted Terry Rozier there was a lot of moaning and groaning but once fans saw him play in the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues, there were few unhappy fans left. Rozier wants to be a spark-plug for the C’s, and he certainly had such moments. Now that there’s nothing left between now and training camp to figure out who will be cut and what the roster configurations will look like, there is more confusion and head scratching. The reason for that is simple: with so many guards, how does Brad Stevens accurately divvy up the time?
The Celtics are banking on Marcus Smart becoming their next franchise player, and their best player (Isaiah Thomas) comes off the bench. Both of those guys figure to play heavy minutes and both are on cheap contracts for a few years. Rozier might just be a victim of numbers as a rookie, but he seems to have the skills and drive to somehow force Stevens to play him. He certainly doesn’t want to hear any of that “take-a-day-off-just-to-rest” business. The C’s offered that to him in the summer, but he opted out and apparently it flared up some knee tendinitis:
Many of the top summer league players sat out at least one game to rest. Smart, for example, missed two games before being injured. Celtics coaches offered Rozier a chance to sit out, but he made it clear that was not his preference, and so he played on.
But by the time the summer leagues concluded, Rozier said, the tendinitis in his knees, an issue since his time at Louisville, had flared up. So he took the next two weeks off, except for some brief workouts on exercise bikes. Although he feels fine now, the experience served as a teachable moment in a season that will be full of them.
“I probably let my competitiveness take over, and sometimes that can be a good thing and sometimes that can be a bad thing,” Rozier said. “In the next level, you see just how important it is every second to take care of your body. Of course I didn’t want to sit out those two weeks [after summer league]. I wanted to be in the gym working. But it was good for me.”
The above quote is from the same Globe article, and while it’s a small blip on the radar right now, it’s definitely worth making a mental note of. Coach Stevens has at least three solid guards that all have that fire. It’s not the worst problem to have, but it will make for an interesting camp.
On Page 2: Ainge tried to acquire Kelly Oubre
From Deveney’s story, an excellent feature on Oubre’s life:
Oubre was high on the board of several lottery teams, including the Hornets at No. 9 and Heat at No. 10, but when he slipped into the teens, there was a clamor from teams to move up and grab him.
Boston likely would have taken him at No. 16, a source said, and once the Celtics failed to get Charlotte’s pick, they tried to move up for Oubre. Several other teams had interest, and a source told Sporting News that the Rockets (with the 18th pick) were trying to move up, too. But it wasn’t until Oubre’s agent, Nima Namakian, got a text message from Wizards vice president Tommy Sheppard on draft night, telling him that the Hawks had agreed to a deal, that Oubre finally knew how his situation would pan out.
The Celtics tried extremely hard to move up to No. 9 in order to acquire Justise Winslow, ultimately coming up empty. Boston, according to reports, didn’t expect Winslow to be available at the No. 9 pick, which is part of the reason the team went so hard to try to get him. Oubre would have been a similar surprise at No. 15 — while some draft boards had him sliding into the mid-teens, his skill set and athleticism suggested he could be worth a much higher pick. If someone like Oubre pans out, a team acquires a long, bouncy small forward with smooth footwork and a feathery 3-point jumper. That’s a highly attractive option on draft night.
MassLive – Boston Celtics rumors 2015: Boston tried to acquire Kelly Oubre in 2015 NBA Draft, per report
So basically, Ainge tried to acquire every available player from the draft in June. First it was Justise Winslow, not it’s Kelly Oubre, which would have just been too weird to have two Kelly’s on the team. All joking aside, this proves that Ainge will offer just about anything to acquire a player he really likes. If he was willing to to this for unproven rookies like these guys, just think of what he’d offer if say, a DeMarcus Cousins were available? I hope you got to visit Fenway Park, the Freedom Trail, and the entire state of Maine, because I hear those are all on the table.
And, finally… there are so many draft picks, we can now rank them
1. Brooklyn’s future first-round picks.
1c) 2018 unprotected first-round pick
1b) Celtics’ right to swap first-round picks in 2017
1a) 2016 unprotected first-round pick
The crown jewels of the Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce blockbuster deal that Ainge landed in the summer of 2014 have yet to surface. However, the net worth of said picks is looking better than ever after a cost-cutting offseason by the Nets. Deron Williams was bought out, Mason Plumlee was traded, and key role players such as Mirza Teletovic found new homes in free agency.
Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young re-signed, but outside of Joe Johnson, the team’s remaining roster largely consists of lottery disappointments (Andrea Bargnani, Thomas Robinson) or young castoffs (Shane Larkin) since Brooklyn had no salary cap space to replace departed pieces.
In the midst of an improving Eastern Conference, Brooklyn arguably has the least amount of talent on the roster, top-to-bottom, outside of the 76ers. The team has no incentive to tank with its draft situation, but the odds are in favor of Brooklyn’s 2016 pick will be a lottery selection, potentially even an elite one, for Boston.
Boston.com – All of the Celtics’ (many) draft picks, ranked
Usually you’d see this type of list for past draft picks for a team. But Ainge has acquired so many picks that we can now have a ranking list based on estimated value. I’d say this list is pretty accurate, as everyone tends to agree that the Brooklyn picks still figure to be pretty high. We’ll get another sampling of that this year when we all get to actively root for the Nets to be horrible. Oh wait, we get to do that for the next three years!
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – Celtics Summer Forecast: Center of attention
WEEI – THE NEXT CELTIC NOT WALKING THROUGH THAT DOOR
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