East Notes: Celtics, Jaylen Brown, Nets, Magic, Paolo Banchero

Celtics

Celtics guard/forward Jaylen Brown hasn’t allowed to let the offseason trade rumors impact his mindset, it seems.

The same goes for the drama surrounding coach Ime Udoka, suspended for the season after admitting to inappropriate workplace conduct.

“You just keep doing what you do. That’s all I’ve been doing. Like, it’s been the same since I’ve been here in Boston,” Brown said, via Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. “So it’s the same now. So I just keep doing what I’ve been doing, put my best foot forward, I guess. This summer, I was hanging out with my grandpa, working out. I feel good, I’m in the best shape of my life. So that’s it.”

• Center Robert Williams III underwent a PRP procedure on his injured knee Monday, a day before the team’s regular-season opener, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Williams is hopeful of returning to the lineup by midseason, perhaps as soon as December, Charania noted.
• The Celtics and forward Grant Williams failed to reach a contract extension ahead of Monday’s deadline, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Williams will now be a restricted free agent after the season.
• Acting head coach Joe Mazzulla offered praise for Williams. “He’s doing a great job, doing a great job screening, doing a good job offensive rebounding, doing a good job making the right play,” Mazzulla said, via Tom Westerholm of the Boston Herald.
• In case you missed it, some rival executives appear to believe Udoka has coached his final NBA game. You can read that full post here.

Nets

• Nets guard/forward Joe Harris will be limited to start the season, as he continues to recover from a foot injury, per reports. Neither Harris nor guard Seth Curry (ankle) will be available for the season opener, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.
• Nets coach Steve Nash said the injuries are nothing with which to be overly concerned. “It’s well within the realm of normalcy for guys to have little hiccups on their way back from surgery,” he said, via Friedell.
• The Nets have exercised 2023-24 rookie-scale options for center/forward Day’Ron Sharpe and shooting guard Cam Thomas. Both were third-year team options.

Magic

Rookie power forward Paolo Banchero said he won’t allowing the pressure of being the No. 1 pick get to him.

“I just felt like at this point I’ve gotten past it,” Banchero said, via Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel. “The NBA is so many games, so if you put that amount of pressure on yourself every game you’re going to have 80-plus games of being stressed out and feeling pressured. It’s too many games to worry about that stuff. Whether you play good or bad, move on to the next one.”

Interestingly, Banchero, 19, said he wasn’t sure where he’d be drafted until about the time he heard his name called.

“By [the morning of the draft] I was still a little unsure,” Banchero said, via Marc Stein of The Stein Line. “I didn’t know if I was going 1, 2 or 3. A week before the draft, I was pretty set that I was going where I was projected to go, which was probably third, and then maybe three days before the draft all the stuff started happening with the odds. The odds went way down and it was in my favor all of a sudden. So then I’m like, ‘OK, maybe I’m not going 3.’”

• The preseason revealed that the Magic still have plenty of room for growth, wrote Coby Leibowitz of Fansided. Overall, the goal is just to “take steps toward winning,” Leibowitz wrote.