AP Avery Bradley is with the Celtics, cleared to do workouts. He is doing his conditioning.
Which is a long way from contact or playing in games, but after two shoulder surgeries — one on each — that is to be expected. Still Doc Rivers is talking about having the Celtics starting two guard (unless Courtney Lee steals his job) back on the court by the middle of December.
Bradley sounded optimistic talking to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
“I didn’t think I would be feeling this good right now,” Bradley said. “Right now, I feel good. I started conditioning today, started lifting with the strength coach today. I feel like I’m moving forward the way I’m supposed to.”
Having him back, with Lee and Jason Terry coming off the bench, would give the Celtics a lot of depth on the wings. It would give them guys who can score and guys who can defend, allowing them to matchup with teams who are strong there. Like, hypothetically, that team in Miami.
On another Celtics note, Chris Wilcox remains out but it’s due to back spasms. Which means there is no timeline for his return. They could use him because keeping Kevin Garnett’s minutes in check is a regular season priority.
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Report: Michael Jordan will unveil plan today to change Bobcats into Hornets
May 21, 2013, 9:55 AM EDT
The Charlotte Hornets became the New Orleans Hornets, which became the New Orleans Pelicans, allowing the Charlotte Bobcats to become the Charlotte Hornets. Got it? A few days after news leaked, the plan will become official today. Steve Reed of the Associated Press: Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan is changing his team’s name to the…
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Stan Van Gundy says he will not coach anywhere next season
May 21, 2013, 9:32 AM EDT
Reuters
You can cross Stan Van Gundy off your coaching lists. The former Magic and Heat coach was on The David Baumann Show on 1080 The Team in Orlando and said he would not be coaching anywhere next season. He called it a family decision. He added that a few teams reached out to him but…
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Knicks Prigioni could return to Spain rather than another season in NY
May 21, 2013, 9:03 AM EDT
AP
Knicks GM Glen Grunwald wanted to sign Pablo Prigioni to a two-year deal, but the 35-year-old point guard and NBA rookie was only taking a one-year offer. That was practical — he signed for the veteran’s minimum and if he showed he belonged he could get a better deal. But it also may mean he…
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Spurs/Grizzlies preview: Game 2 will be closer, but will that be enough for Memphis?
May 21, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT
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Game 2 is not going to look like Game 1. Memphis is not going to get its doors blown off from the opening tip as happened in their Game 1 loss. You can expect better pick and roll defense out of Memphis. You can also expect better ball movement and more Zach Randolph. You can…
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Report: Dwight Howard told Lakers GM he was frustrated with D’Antoni
May 21, 2013, 2:02 AM EDT
AP
From the start, there was one thing most likely to keep Mike D’Antoni from returning as Lakers coach — free agent Dwight Howard. It may not have been that direct — and it may not change who is the Lakers coach next season — but apparently Howard let Lakers management know exactly how he feels…
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We need a game in this series so we can talk about basketball and not this ridiculous game of telephone. As we explained before, LeBron James took umbrage at something a reporter told him Pacers’ coach Frank Vogel said — except Vogel never said it. What Vogel said was, “They’re the next team that’s in…
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If you’re like me, you have been transfixed by the tragic events that have unfolded around Oklahoma City on Monday, where a monster tornado has left death and devastation in its wake. The pictures out of schools in that city are heart wrenching. The thoughts of all of us here at PBT are with the…
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Just three seasons ago, the Golden State Warriors were a 26-win team with Monta Ellis and Corey Maggette as their two leading scorers — this was a team in need of a radical overhaul. Enter new ownership willing to invest in winning, new players to go with then rookie Stephen Curry, a new coach in…
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Brothers allege entourage of Damian Lillard beat them for taking his picture
May 20, 2013, 6:55 PM EDT
AP
Let’s start out here by saying take this all with a grain of salt. People’s descriptions of fights after a bar closes often do not match reality. But a pair of brothers in Oregon told television station KGW that they snapped a picture of Blazers point guard Damian Lillard walking to his car outside a…
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Would the Nets wait to hire a coach until Memphis is eliminated from the playoffs just so they can make a run at Lionel Hollins, whose contract expires after the season? If Scott Skiles is a top alternative, patience could make sense. What’s there to lose? Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times: Some NBA officials…
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The Nets were surely dejected when Phil Jackson turned them down, so it seems they want at least one coaching candidate who’s extremely unlikely to reject them. Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times (hat tip: Matt Moore of Eye on Basketball): the Nets also have put Scott Skiles on their short list. Skiles was fired…
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The Nets are pretty hamstrung with their roster this summer. Billy King did put together an interesting team to open the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a team led by Deron Williams and Brook Lopez that was the fourth seed in the East. But he capped out the team to do it — they have $86…
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In the last three years and five of the last six, the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft has been a player who declared after only one year of college basketball (Blake Griffin being the exception). At one point, Shabazz Muhammad was rated as the the No. 1 incoming freshman, so it’s reasonable he…
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The NBA Summer League is about rookies and guys trying to make NBA rosters — basically it’s guys 10-15 on the NBA bench and a bunch of players who will be in Europe next season battling it out to impress scouts. But each year a handful of name players (often top drafted rookies) are there…
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Amar’e Stoudemire still thinks Knicks’ front court trio can work
May 20, 2013, 3:44 PM EDT
Amar’e Stoudemire just dealt with one of the more frustrating seasons of his career. A variety of injuries limited him to only 29 appearances and 23.5 minutes per game when he was healthy enough to suit up. And while he made a return to the Knicks’ lineup in the 2nd round against the Pacers, he…
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For the next five weeks PBT will be profiling likely first-round draft picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. Today we talk about Pitt’s star center. In today’s NBA player development matters a lot — draft a guy and for a few years bring him along slowly, develop his skills and mold him into a player…
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Fans of every lottery team have a simple solution for how to operate in a historically weak draft: Trade down. Of course, if you think this is a weak draft, other teams probably do too, and they’re not going to be so keen on trading up. But there might be one team interested in trading…
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Report: Dwight Howard not going to Clippers… did we need a report for that?
May 20, 2013, 1:25 PM EDT
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It’s Dwight Howard silly rumor season. Everyone knows the Lakers are still the front-runners in this race but the latest reports have the Rockets and Mavericks at least in a good stalking position to make a move once this race moves into the home stretch. Other teams may try to get into the mix as…
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The Bobcats would receive the Trail Blazer’s first-round draft pick this year – a remnant of the Gerald Wallace trade – in the .001 percent chance Portland lands the No. 13 pick in tomorrow’s draft lottery. But Charlotte is doing a lot of work based on just that .001 percent chance. Rick Bonnell of charlotteobserver.com:…
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Report: Raptors to move Colangelo to business side, get new GM
May 20, 2013, 12:28 PM EDT
Reuters
Bryan Colangelo is still going to be with the Toronto Raptors. But he is going to be on the other side of the building (at least metaphorically). By today the Raptors had to come to a decision on picking up Colangelo’s option as the franchise’s general manager and decision maker. And he is out in…
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Video: Good news for Sacramento, Kings stay
