Watford, Frazier, McGruder And Babb To Maine

Babb to camp with Claws
October, 31, 2014
OCT 31 4:20 PM ET
By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com




Chris Babb, a casualty of Boston's bloated roster, will camp with the team's Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, after being assigned as a returning player.

Babb, a final camp cut last season, appeared in 33 games for Maine before being signed by Boston to provide late-season depth. Babb spent the summer working with the Celtics, but was cut again in late September after the team's roster bloated following a trade with the Cavaliers.

In camping with Maine, Babb will have the opportunity to stay within the Celtics family. More lucrative overseas offers likely exist, but Babb is one of many D-Leaguers that have benefited from in-season call-ups.

The Claws also announced that Sherwood Brown and Jermaine Taylor have been invited to camp as returning players.

On the eve of the D-League Draft, the Claws made two trades. First, the team acquired a third round pick from Grand Rapids while trading away the rights to former NBA first-round pick Daniel Orton and a sixth-round pick. Orton, a 6-10 forward, played in 24 games for Maine last season, averaging 11.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Maine then acquired the returning player rights to Jamal Sampson III from Reno in exchange for a fourth-round pick.



Frazier, McGruder, Watford to Maine
October, 31, 2014
OCT 31 5:35 PM ET
By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com



The Boston Celtics assigned training camp invitees Tim Frazier, Rodney McGruder and Christian Watford to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League on Friday.

Each team can assign up to four players this season. Frazier, McGruder and Watford were all camp cuts who spent time with Boston with the expectation they would sign in Maine.

Bios from the Red Claws:

Frazier, a 6-1 guard out of Penn State University, averaged 14.9 points and a Big Ten-leading 5.4 assists during his senior year.

McGruder, a 6-4 guard out of Kansas State University, played last season overseas for Alomeromu SE Paks of the Hungarian A Division, averaging 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists during league play. He also averaged 12.7 points over six games in the EuroChallenge.

Watford is a 6-9 forward out of Indiana University. He also played overseas in 2013-14, playing in 37 games for the Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Winner League. He averaged 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.



bob




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I hope that these guys can help the Red Claws to be competitive as the more competitive the minor league team is the better it will be for the guys on the Celtics roster who do get sent down (up?) to Maine for whatever reason.

Does anyone see each NBA team having complete control of a minor league team (owning all of the players) like major league baseball has in the future? One of the biggest reasons that the Pawtucket Red Sox, Lowell Spinners and the Portland Seadogs are successful minor league franchises is that lots of New Englanders want to get a look at future Red Sox players.

clyde,

The Boston Celtics own the Maine Red Claws, lock stock and barrel.



bob



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OK, but there does not seem to be the same type of interaction between the Red Claws and the Celtics like the Pawsox have with the Red Sox. Perhaps I am just missing something.

wide clyde,

There is a huge difference between baseball minor leagues and the NBA DL.  There are many players on baseball minor league teams that will eventually make the big team.  The high draft picks and "future stars" usually cannot break into the starting lineup and need a little seasoning (actually years of seasoning) before they are ready for prime time.  Big-leaguers often play for the minor league affiliates when rehabbing after an injury.

Most NBA DL players will never get as sniff of NBA time, except pre-season and late season add-ons.  The late season add-ons are mostly done for trade flexibility during the next summer, due to their non-guaranteed contracts.  The high draft picks and "future stars" in the NBA usually break into the main rotation.  It is the projects that get sent down to the development league, players like Fab Melo, Kris Joseph and this year's other 1st round pick, Young. Big-leaguers hardly ever play for the minor league affiliates when rehabbing after an injury. There were rumors about Rondo playing in Portland last year, but it never happened.

Baseball has more rounds in the draft and it needs to pump more players through the minors for the cream to rise to the top.  The NBA is more star driven, where one or two players on one team can make a bigger difference than one or two players in baseball.

gyso