The Celtics were hoping to re-sign center Luke Kornet last summer, but their desire to duck below the second apron limited what they could offer, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Kornet, who accepted a four-year, $41MM c0ntract with the Spurs, returns to Boston tonight with his new team. At this morning’s shootaround, he talked to reporters about his decision to move on.
“It was ultimately between San Antonio and Boston,” Kornet said (YouTube link). “I had a lot of conversations with my wife, said a lot of prayers and had conversations about where we are in life. It was very, very difficult to leave and we had a lot of relationships (here). We were in a different part of life and kind of being open to wherever God kind of willed us and see where it took us. You sort of accept it and take that step forward and figure it out from there.”
The move has worked out well for Kornet, who has started 21 of the 29 games he has played this season and is averaging career highs of 8.4 points and 6.7 rebounds. He’s been a valuable addition for San Antonio with Victor Wembanyama battling injuries through the first half of the season.
Kornet’s former Celtics teammates are glad to see him doing well.
“Just a great teammate, honestly, is a great leader, and got tremendously better over his time here,” Payton Pritchard said.
There’s more from Boston:
- Sam Hauser has moved back into the starting lineup over the past four games and is making a strong case to stay there, Robb adds in a separate story. Hauser contributed 19 points while shooting 5-of-7 from three-point range in Friday’s win over Toronto, but coach Joe Mazzulla was most impressed with his defense on RJ Barrett, who was just 6-of-15 from the field. “I think everyone always sees Sam’s shooting,” Mazzulla said, “but his defense is top-notch, and he has the ability to focus on a guy and take tendencies, and I thought he was great defensively tonight.” Hauser will miss tonight’s game with hamstring tightness, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).
- Anfernee Simons‘ $27.7MM expiring contract has made him the subject of trade rumors for a team that may be looking to move out of luxury tax territory, but the Celtics also have reasons to keep him. Robb notes in another piece that Simons reached double figures in scoring for the seventh straight game Friday night. His role off the bench has been expanding, as he’s averaging 17.8 PPG in January while shooting 54% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc. Simons insists he’s not distracted by the trade speculation as the deadline nears. “That’s the NBA,” he said. “I’ve been in trade rumors since my third year, every other week it seemed like. So it’s just a part of the NBA and you’ve just got to be where your feet are.”
- Teams have been defending Jaylen Brown differently since his 50-point game last week, observes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required). They’re trying to limit his scoring opportunities and take advantage of his long-time weaknesses as a ball-handler and playmaker, but Brown says he prepared himself for those tactics. Knowing he was going to be the primary scorer for the first time in his career while Jayson Tatum is sidelined with an Achilles injury, Brown has been working to improve those aspects of his game. “Teams are not just gonna let me do what I want every single night, and I’m OK with that,” he said. “I just gotta be better at reading the game, trust my teammates, empower my teammates, and just play the game the right way, and everything will work itself out. So I remind myself, give myself grace. I’m still learning.”