LAS VEGAS -- Tremont Waters appeared late in the week at NBA Summer League in a Houston Rockets uniform after rookie standout Jalen Green sat down for the rest of the team's schedule . Waters hopped into Houston's starting lineup at point guard immediately, a situation he became familiar with playing for the Boston Celtics for two seasons at the end of the roster on a two-way contract. The performance looked reminiscent of the kind Brad Stevens and his staff came to expect from the 23-year-old. He connected with teammates, pushed the pace in transition, struggled to shoot and flashed great hands on the defensive side of the ball even at 5'10".
Waters gave insight on interacting with Stevens the general manager and more to Boston Sports Journal after grabbing nine rebounds to go with five assists on 1-of-9 shooting in the Rockets loss. He added five steals and five turnovers playing alongside other top Rockets selections from this year's draft, including Alperen Sengun (drafted by Houston with Boston's first-round pick by way of Oklahoma City) and Josh Christopher. Waters pulled Christopher aside shortly before halftime to break down the previous play, all while seeking his own shot toward his next NBA opportunity.
The Celtics declined to extend third-year qualifying offers to bring Tacko Fall and Waters back on two-way commitments. The pair filled those slots bouncing between Portland and Boston 2019-20 -- posting TikToks as roommates -- before Boston's affiliate then known as the Red Claws shut down between the NBA Bubble and 2020-21, leaving Fall and Waters more akin to fully contracted 16th and 17th men. Fall factored heavily into a win over the Wizards this past season, while a flurry of Celtics sat on the COVID list early in the season. Waters earned three spot starts while Kemba Walker managed knee soreness, Marcus Smart sat out with a calf injury and Payton Pritchard adjusted to the league as a rookie.
Two-way contracts evolved during the two long seasons Fall and Waters spent on the deals. Teams originally could only have those players with the professional club for 45 days, needing to quickly usher them out of sight at practice to avoid losing another day after calling them up for a game. They'd earn a $77,000 flat rate for the season, in line with G-League contracts, with prorated game checks for each appearance in the NBA potentially pushing that total closer to half of the league minimum.
The NBA scrapped many of those restrictions as COVID overwhelmed rosters during the 2020-21 season, allowing two-way players to appear in the playoffs, which they could not before. In 2021-22, two-way players can appear in up to 50 games with no limit on their time with the team. They'll make $462,629, no matter how many NBA games they play, and once again cannot participate in the playoffs unless they transition to a full contract. The changes will limit the tumult of the two-way experience, as rookie Kyle Guy told The Ringer in 2019: "I’m as broke as I was before.”
Boston invested in the development of Fall and Waters, a pair as different height-wise as you'll find in the NBA, but players can only stay on those deals for three years. This season would've marked the third for both, and without the prospect of eventually joining the team on full contracts the Celtics moved on. Rookie Sam Hauser filled the first of those two spots, while Brad Stevens said earlier this month that the team won't rush to fill the second until the flood of training camp cuts come into October. The C's, too, need to downsize their roster from 16 to 15 before opening night.
Waters, a Connecticut native and 2019 second-round pick, remained jovial over the past two weeks on Instagram even without another contract officially lined up following his two-game stint with the Rockets. Efficiency and size remain his biggest hurdles from maintaining a concrete role in the NBA, as he reportedly searches for a bigger role.
He jogged down the tunnel alone toward the main NBA Summer League court bound for where he'd receive his COVID test, while younger stars like Jalen Suggs and Green who had been around the whole week chatted with teammates in the arena's bowels. Waters returned a short time later to look back at his time in Boston. He's grateful for the coaching staff, teammates who became mentors and said the Celtics alerted him ahead of free agent that they would move on from him, as indicated by the team declining to extend his two-way deal another year.
BSJ: How did you spend your offseason?
WATERS: "I was in Miami training, where I normally train, and I guess the day before free agency Brad (Stevens) called me and said that they were going in different directions, so I had to call my agent. Obviously, my agent knew already, but we had to make some other changes."
What's it like joining the Rockets on the fly?
"It's tough, but it's obviously a part of basketball. Just being able to go out there and play, this is my first time playing open basketball with refs and everybody, so I felt good to be out there and got to just keep pushing forward. Hopefully we can win the next one, but overall it felt good to be out there again."
What's your lasting memory of playing for the Celtics?
"It was a learning experience. I definitely enjoyed my time. The coaching staff, they helped me out. Jerome Allen, he definitely helped me, pushed me in the right direction, just overall with the flow of the game, watching it, watching Kemba play. I definitely picked up a lot of little things, time and score, little things like that. Overall, it was definitely a good experience."
Was there any discussion of the Celtics bringing you back?
"Brad called me literally the night going into free agency, I had no say in it obviously, and what happened happened."
Have you talked with any of your former Celtics teammates since leaving?
"I spoke with Semi (Ojeleye). Daniel Theis is actually with Houston, so I spoke to him. Other than that, reached out to Kemba (Walker), Kemba's been in contact. Other than that, it's a message here or there from everybody else."
Do you expect to ultimately land with the Rockets or elsewhere?
"Hopefully it springboards into being able to be with the big team and being able to have good minutes with them so I can help them out, overall I take it day by day and let God handle the rest."
I saw you discussing something with Josh Christopher on the court during the game, how are you trying to connect with new teammates?
"It's going well, we're all young, so we're still learning. Obviously, Josh Christopher, he just got drafted and entered the NBA, so I'm just trying to help him through some of the things like time and score. We had a two-for-one in the first quarter, second quarter, we came down and scored obviously, just trying to teach those little things. What Kemba taught me and all the older guys taught me, taking it day-by-day, trying to help them and also learn from them. I'm open-minded, I like to learn."
What are the biggest lessons you take from your time in Boston?
"Stay ready. Stay in the moment, enjoy every moment ... everything's going to be fine in the end."
...
Josh Richardson joins the extended in Boston
The Celtics tacked on an extra year to Josh Richardson's previously expiring $11.6-million deal, keeping the veteran guard in Boston through the 2022-23 season when he'll make $12.2-million. Boston's commitment to a player yet to take the court in a Celtics uniform continues to signal the team's intent to build a base of medium-sized salaries that allow a variety of different trade scenarios to emerge in the future. Coincidentally, adding the first-year salaries of Marcus Smart, Robert Williams III and Richardson in their new contracts amounts to roughly $42-million. If Bradley Beal signs a new max contract with the Wizards next summer, his 2022-23 salary would be 35% of the cap, or roughly $41.7-million.
Aside from the trade considerations, the Celtics like Richardson's defensive versatility and his former assistant in Philadelphia and new head coach in Boston Ime Udoka believes he can return to steady shooting he showcased with the Miami Heat in 2018-19, when he shot 37.8% from three. Boston acquired Richardson using the remainder of the Gordon Hayward trade exception last month from Dallas in exchange for Moses Brown.
"I think Josh brings a great grit, an edge," Stevens said. "Our numbers would say that when he gets the open opportunities, he's better obviously than he shot last year. He wants to win. Winning is really important to him. The way he separated himself when he joined the league, with being a mid-second round pick, was he showed his competitive character out of the gate. I think that that's something we're looking forward to adding to our team."
Details of Williams' extension emerged this week, which will start with a $10.7-million base salary in 2022-23, increasing to $11.6-million in 2024, $12.4-million in 2025, then $13.3-million in 2026. The contract carries close to $6-million in incentives, $446,000 annually if he plays 69 games in a season, $223,000 for Boston advancing in the playoffs, along with all-defense team bonuses that together amount to roughly $1.5-million each season, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.
There is no player or team option. Boston can trade Williams immediately, but he'll carry a poison pill provision in any trade (the in-balance between approximately $3-million in outgoing salary on Boston's end and $10-million for the receiving team making salary matching difficult until 2022).
Cavaliers land Lauri Markkanen as free agency winds down
Lauri Markkanen, the top remaining free agent in the 2021 class, landed with the Cavaliers via a major sign-and-trade with the Bulls and Trail Blazers on Friday. Chicago maintained Markkanen's restricted free agent rights as his market dwindled, money dried up and the prospects of him returning to the Bulls disappeared. He told Yle he wanted to leave Chicago earlier this month and he did, landing four-years, $67-million with Cleveland for an average annual value close to $17-million.
The Cavs traded their beloved Larry Nance Jr. and a Denver second-round pick to Portland in the deal, with the Blazers sending forward Derrick Jones Jr. and a protected 2022 first-round pick to Chicago. Markkanen, a 24-year-old, 7'0" stretch five from Finland, joins Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in a crowded Cleveland front court that soon could be without Kevin Love. The Cavs may soon buy out the 2016 champion, according to Cleveland.com, from his remaining two-year, $60.2-million contract after several injury and frustration-filled losing seasons following the departure of LeBron James in 2018.
Paul Millsap, Avery Bradley, Demarcus Cousins, JJ Redick, James Ennis, Jarred Vanderbilt, Svi Mykhailiuk, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Stanley Johnson remain as the most prominent free agents on the market.
Nerlens Noel sues LeBron's representative Klutch CEO Rich Paul
Knicks center Nerlens Noel shocked the NBA world by suing Klutch Sports Group CEO and LeBron representative Rich Paul, the league's most powerful agent, over lost salary stemming from a 2017 extension negotiation with the Dallas Mavericks. Noel alleges Paul cost him $58-million by advising him to decline a four-year, $70-million extension offer from Dallas. Instead, Noel signed the $4.1-million qualifying offer with Dallas to become an unrestricted free agent in 2018 -- which followed a disastrous 2017-18 where Noel underwent thumb surgery and missed 42 games, before a drug suspension capped his Mavericks career that April.
Noel then floated as a minimum-level player for three seasons before a strong year with the Knicks earned him a three-year, $32-million contract this offseason. George Landberg now represents Noel, as Paul seeks his commission on the first New York deal, one-year, $5-million. The lawsuit alleges Paul did not provide enough assistance once Noel became a journeyman between Oklahoma City and New York. While Noel is unlikely to recover the full amount he believes Paul cost him, the lawsuit opens the door for the NBA to address how it oversees player-agent interactions.