Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Celtics Media Day Recap

On what seemed liked a rather loose and relaxed three-hours in Waltham, MA, Brad Stevens had survived his second straight Celtics Media Day. A new NBA season was underway on Monday, and despite most of the focus being on a certain broken left hand, there seems to be a lot to look forward to. After hundreds of questions being asked by radio, TV and all other outlets, C's fans can't help but be intrigued about this team's possibilities after only 25 wins last year.

Here's a look at some highlights from yesterday:

Monday, September 29, 2014

C's Get Set For Media Day

Today the 2014-15 season will officially begin for the Boston Celtics. The entire team will meet at their practice facility in Waltham, MA for what is known as Media Day.

After an interesting offseason full of rumors of a possible arrival of another all-star and of course stock piling draft picks, ready or not the C's will have plenty of questions to answer in a few hours.

At 2 PM EST, the Celtics will be wearing their home white uniforms and they'll not only be asked a plethora of questions by mass media outlets that will be on hand today, but expect players to read promos, and also take pictures during the three-hour event.

Here are some of key topics that will be brought up today:

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Training Camp Roster & Injury Updates

If you haven't heard by now; Rajon Rondo will be out 6-8 weeks due to a broken left hand. This means he will miss all of training camp and at least the first few weeks of the regular season. But not to worry, the Celtics have a few options at point guard which include this year's sixth overall draft pick Marcus Smart. An opportunity has presented itself for the rookie to showcase his talents beyond the recent pickup games at the team's practice facility in Waltham, MA.

In the past few weeks before Rondo's injury, Smart had been matching up against the veteran in a series of practice runs in preparation for camp. He talked about his experience in working with the C's captain one-on-one.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Rondo Breaks Hand At Home

Celtics captain Rajon Rondo has underwent surgery to repair a broken left hand. According to ESPNBoston.com, the guard informed the team he had slipped in the shower Thursday night. He will reportedly miss 6-8 weeks including the start of the season.

The C's announced that on Friday morning Rondo had a successful surgical procedure done to repair a left metacarpal fracture at New England Baptist Hospital after suffering the injury at his home last night.

C's Deal Bogans to the Cavs, Waive Babb & Johnson

After more than a year of speculating and wondering of  what was going to happen with the non-guaranteed contract of Keith Bogans, Danny Ainge finally made a move. On Thursday, just days before the start of training camp, the Boston Celtics shipped the veteran to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the wake of the trade, the C's also announced they had waived Chris Johnson and Chris Babb.

The move allowed Ainge to finally put Bogans' $5.3 million non-guaranteed contract to good use, and also parting ways with two second-round draft picks the Celtics were not likely to see (top-55 protected from the Kings in 2015 and 2017). In return the Cavs sent Dwight Powell, Erick Murphy, John Lucas III, Malcolm Thomas and two second-round draft picks in 2016 and 2017 to Boston. Essentially the C's are absorbing minimum salary and non-guaranteed contracts, plus a $5.3 million trade exception was also created. It was reported that the Celtics used a $2.1 million trade exception (when Courtney Lee was traded last season) to make the deal go through.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Wyc & Ainge Want Rondo to Stay

With training camp less than a week away, the C's are gearing up for another rebuilding season. Rajon Rondo is in the last year of his current contract, and if you believe the rumors from all around the league, it looks like the point guard will likely be traded sometime during the next five months or he won't be re-signed. Either way, the future still seems up in air for the eight-year veteran.

On Tuesday during the Shamrock Foundation's annual golf charity event, the Celtics brass was on hand answering questions about what else? Their captain and whether they want him to remain in Boston for the long haul.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

C's Still Have Moves to Make

It's been nearly two months since the Celtics and unrestricted free agent; Evan Turner came to an agreement on a one-year deal. If anyone hasn't noticed, the swingman has still not been signed yet. Don't think it has to do with Turner changing his mind or anything like that, it actually has to do with Danny Ainge still trying to free up some cap room before making an official announcement.

As it stands the C's currently have 21 players on their roster (including three undrafted rookies). With training camp just two weeks away and the first preseason game on October 6, Ainge still has plenty of work to do on trimming some bodies whether be by waving or trading some players.


Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Brad Stevens: '[Rondo] a big part of what we're doing'

Despite rumors about Rajon Rondo wanting out of Boston, the Celtics organization has been adamant about including their starting point guard in their future plans.

Brad Stevens recently had a conversation with the Berkshire Eagle, and said that he envisions Rondo being a key piece for the Celtics rebuild.

"I love him. I really think he's a big part of what we're doing," Stevens said. "Hopefully, he can have a great year right from the get-go. I thought last year was tough from the standpoint that he never didn't have a chance to do any drill work or to rebuild habits. He just had to be thrown into the fire." [Berkshire Eagle]

Monday, September 1, 2014

Has Rondo Demanded a Trade?


Celtics captain Rajon Rondo has been the topic of discussion over the last 24 hours, on whether he has truly asked to be traded or not. According to ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, the guard “wants out” of Boston after a behind the scene clip from her August 27 appearance on Around the Horn went viral on Sunday. The hall of fame sportswriter, NBA analyst Frank Isola and J.A. Adande began having a conversation on who’s the next big name to be traded now that Kevin Love is in Cleveland.

The 1:47 minute “Behind the Horn” video has since been taken down off of YouTube by ESPN, but it has caused quite the stir of emotions for Celtics nation. MacMullan usually has good sources behind powerful statements, so when she speaks, people usually listen. While this offseason has not been the ‘firework’ filled summer as most C’s fans thought it would be, Mrs. MacMullan believes or has been told that Rondo wants to leave the Celtics.

“It will happen because he’s told them he wants out, and no one believes me but it’s the truth,” MacMullan said. “And I don’t see how you get 80 cents on the dollar for him. Tell me where.” [Deadspin.com]