A mix of news and notes on the C's as a fairly busy month of August begins for the franchise.
Tacko Fall gets work in with Joel Embiid overseas.
The 23-year-old center has spent much of the past week in his home country of Senegal as the league throws a party to kick off the beginning of the Basketball Africa League this year. Fall made the trip with a number of likely Hall of Famers including Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Bosh for the event and some basketball clinics, but also managed to spend some time with other active players on the trip such as Joel Embiid. The two centers share a trainer in Drew Hanlen (who also works with Semi Ojeleye and Jayson Tatum), which allowed the big men to connect.
“We worked on pretty much a lot of work on the post, and every now and then he would stop and try to show me some things and try to tell me about the game in the NBA,” Fall told Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach
According to team sources, Fall has spent virtually the entire offseason prior to the trip putting in lots of work at the team's practice facility. He should be back in Boston later this month to get ready for the start of training camp in September.
Celtics get ready for Team USA as camp invites get finalized
Some actual basketball will be taking place again next week as Team USA kicks off their training camp for the FIBA World Cup in Las Vegas starting on Monday August 5th through Thursday August 8th. There will be a scrimmage between the training camp players and the Select Team on Friday August 9th before final cuts are eventually made down to a 12-man roster. Andre Drummond became the latest player to pull out tonight, which leaves the Greg Popovich with this training camp roster heading into next week. Brad Stevens will also be attending part of camp, according to a team source.
- Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
- Mason Plumlee (Denver Nuggets)
- Julius Randle (New York Knicks)
- Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics)
- Thaddeus Young (Chicago Bulls)
- Harrison Barnes (Sacramento Kings)
- Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Brook Lopez (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors)
- Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz)
- Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)
- P.J. Tucker (Houston Rockets)
- Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers)
- Kemba Walker (Boston Celtics)
- Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat)
- Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards)
- Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Eric Gordon (Houston Rockets)
- James Harden (Houston Rockets)
- Tobias Harris (Philadelphia 76ers)
- Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
- Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- CJ McCollum (Portland Trail Blazers)
- Paul Millsap (Denver Nuggets)
- Montrezl Harrell (Los Angeles Clippers)
- JJ Redick (New Orleans Pelicans)
- Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons)
- Jarrett Allen (Brooklyn Nets)
- Marvin Bagley III (Sacramento Kings)
- Mikal Bridges (Phoenix Suns)
- Jalen Brunson (Dallas Mavericks)
- John Collins (Atlanta Hawks)
- Pat Connaughton (Milwaukee Bucks)
- De'Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings)
- Joe Harris (Brooklyn Nets)
- Jonathan Isaac (Orlando Magic)
- Mitchell Robinson (New York Knicks)
- Landry Shamet (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Derrick White (San Antonio Spurs)
- Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks)
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies)
“I haven’t done any contact still, but I’m going against coaches and stuff like that,” Langford said. “But I haven’t gone live against defenders."
There is a lot of mystery still over what type of role Langford will play on the 15-man roster next year after missing out on Summer League due to injury. Langford hasn't received much direction yet on that from the C's brass since a lot of that will be decided during a competitive training camp next month.
“I’ve talked to (Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens), but not really focusing on who’s role is which,” Langford said. “It’s really just about getting better right now, learning the concepts and schemes and the offense (Stevens) likes to run, and just getting back to 100 percent is the main thing. ... I’m learning concepts and stuff like that, but I’m just really working out, working where the coaches see me, what position I’ll play, and working on different things out of that spot.”
Other News and Notes
- Keith Smith of Real GM reports that just $100,000 of Javonte Green's minimum contract is guaranteed by the Celtics heading into the season. The 26-year-old swingman will have a chance to make Boston's final 15-man roster with a strong showing in the preseason.
- Former Celtic Jonas Jerebko will play next year in Russia after nine seasons in the NBA.
- Two dates are now known for the C's preseason so far. They will play the Hornets at home on October 6th and travel to Orlando to battle the Magic on October 11th. The final schedule (4-6 games) should be released in the next week.