Ex-teammates happy for Hunter
CHICAGO — The Bulls finally made his signing official last night, but even before the transaction was announced
R.J. Hunter had a locker in their dressing room, a red plate displaying his name and new number, 31.
Waived Monday by the Celtics, who had to make a cut to get down to the roster maximum of 15, Hunter was scooped quickly by the Bulls. He flew in yesterday morning and took his physical.
He did not play against the Celtics last night in the Bulls’ 105-99 win, but his now former mates are happy for him.
“We all sent R.J. texts and just told him to keep working,” Avery Bradley said before the game. “You know, ‘A door opened for you.’ He’s here in Chicago now, and he’s a very good kid and a very good player. I know he’s going to work hard. I’m a true believer in everything happening for a reason, and so maybe this just pushes him to work even harder.”
Brad Stevens also exchanged text messages with Hunter, who turned 23 the day he was cut.
“I’m not surprised he got picked up,” the coach said. “We said the other day, we had more than 15 NBA players, so it was just a matter of time who he was going to get picked up by. It was good that he did.
“I haven’t really thought about (Chicago’s) depth at the position or anything like that, but I think that the way that he plays fits with the way they like to play.” Rondo reunion It had been 679 days since Rajon Rondo had been a Celtic when he took the floor last night. And the Bulls are his third team after being dealt to Dallas with
Dwight Powell on Dec. 18,
2014, for Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson (and first- and secondround picks) and then signing free agent contracts with Sacramento in 2015 and Chicago last summer.
But he and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge embraced on the court during early warmups, and Rondo went on to greet team personnel.
So does he still have feelings for Boston?
“No,” he told reporters, adding, “It’s always where I started. It’s where who I became in this NBA as a player. But no feelings. Seeing a lot of the guys who were there, as far as a staff that’s still there ... so seeing good friends, good memories and continue great relationships.”
One of his good relationships with the Celts was with his last coach, Stevens.
“He’s probably the most positive coach I’ve ever played for,” Rondo said. “He’s always onto the next play — very inspiring, very encouraging. As a player, you want to play for a guy like Brad Stevens. He’s just real positive.”
As for Stevens’ reputation as a creative offensive coach, Rondo said, “He has some junk in his X and O’s.
He’s a pretty good ATO (after timeout) coach. Fred ( Hoiberg, the Bulls’ coach) is, as well. He’s very poised.
Doc ( Rivers) is a really good one, as well, along with Rick Carlisle.”
Asked by a member of the Chicago media how best to handle Rondo, a player who has had some conflicts with coaches, Stevens said, “When I coached Rondo, he was coming off the injury. And then the next year he broke his hand, so he never had training camp either. So I felt bad for him. He was coming off the ACL (and) he only played very limited that first year I was with him, and then we were only together for (22) games the following year.
“But I thought he was a really good player. I thought he was really bright obviously, understood the game, could make passes in small areas that I’ve never seen before. I just tried to coach him like I coach anybody else.” Recipe for trouble
The Celtics took a scheduling shot to the chops to begin 2016-17. A home-road back-to-back when the Bulls are waiting for their first game of the season had the C’s at a pretty good disadvantage heading into this one.
And the Celts didn’t help their own cause when they allowed a 23-point lead to dwindle to eight, which necessitated them putting their starters back in the game with 2:07 left instead of resting them for the last quarter.
But Ainge wasn’t sweating the schedule details.
“You know what?” he said. “Every team has their challenges schedule-wise. Obviously those are tough.
“I think we’re playing three straight home openers — Boston, Chicago and Charlotte — with two of them on the road. Those are tough games. But everybody has stretches in the season where the wins are difficult to come by, and we just have a few right out of the gate.” twitter: @StevebHoop