Maine Red Claws
The Maine Red Claws are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League, based in Portland, Maine. The Red Claws play their home games at the Portland Expo Building. The team debuted in the 2009-2010 season and have since won three division titles. The team is owned by the Boston Celtics,[3] who purchased the franchise in July 2019 from Maine Basketball, LLC, a company chaired by William Ryan, Jr.
Maine Red Claws | |
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League | NBA G League |
Founded | 2009 |
History | Maine Red Claws 2009–present |
Arena | Portland Exposition Building |
Location | Portland, Maine |
Team colors | Red, green, gray, black, white[1][2] |
Head coach | Darren Erman |
Ownership | Boston Celtics |
Affiliation(s) | Boston Celtics |
Championships | 0 |
Conference titles | 0 |
Division titles | 3 (2015, 2016, 2017) |
Website | maine |
Franchise history
On February 25, 2009, the NBA G-League awarded the city of Portland, Maine, with an expansion franchise.[4] On July 21, 2009, the Red Claws announced Austin Ainge as the first head coach of the team.[5] During the 2009–10 season, the Red Claws were the only D-League team to sell out all 24 of their home games. This streak continued until the 2011–12 season, ending the streak at 48 consecutive games.
On June 21, 2012, the Red Claws announced that they had entered a hybrid affiliation with the Boston Celtics, making the Celtics the Red Claws' sole affiliate.[6][7] For the team's first two seasons, their affiliation was split between the Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Charlotte Hornets). For its third season, the team's affiliation was split between Boston, Charlotte and the Philadelphia 76ers.[8]
The Red Claws made their first playoff appearance in April 2013, entering the playoffs as the eighth seeded team and being swept by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in a best-of-three-game opening round series.[9][10][11]
On July 16, 2014, the Red Claws announced that Mike Taylor would not return for a third season as the team's head coach. He had a 45–55 record as coach over two seasons with the team.[12] He was replaced by Canadian Scott Morrison after 11 seasons as the head coach of Lakehead University's Lakehead Thunderwolves. Morrison spent the 2013–14 season as a D-League assistant.[13] On June 21, 2017, Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics head coach, named him as an assistant coach with the Celtics.[14]
On July 25, 2019, the Celtics announced they would purchase the Red Claws franchise from original owners Bill Ryan and Bill Ryan, Jr. Before the sale, the Red Claws had been one of the few remaining independently-owned NBA G League franchises. Their sale to the Celtics continued the trend of NBA teams purchasing their G League affiliates.[15] The sale was finalized on October 15, 2019.[16]
Team name
On April 2, 2009, "Red Claws" was announced as the winning name after a name-the-team contest.[17] Voters in the contest could choose from the Red Claws, Beacons, Crushers, Destroyers, Swarm and Traps. The name and logo give homage to the lobster fishing industry, a major economic engine of the New England area. The use of "Red" in the team's name also serves to pay tribute to longtime Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach.[18]
Season-by-season
Season | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | ||||||
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Finish | Wins | Losses | Pct. | ||||||
Maine Red Claws | |||||||||
2009–10 | Eastern | 4th | 27 | 23 | .540 | ||||
2010–11 | Eastern | 5th | 18 | 32 | .360 | ||||
2011–12 | Eastern | 6th | 21 | 29 | .420 | ||||
2012–13 | Eastern | 3rd | 26 | 24 | .520 | Lost First round (Rio Grande) 0–2 | |||
2013–14 | Eastern | 4th | 19 | 31 | .380 | ||||
2014–15 | Atlantic | 1st | 35 | 15 | .700 | Lost First Round (Fort Wayne) 0–2 | |||
2015–16 | Atlantic | 1st | 31 | 19 | .620 | Lost First Round (Canton Charge) 0–2 | |||
2016–17 | Atlantic | 1st | 29 | 21 | .580 | Won First Round (Fort Wayne) 2–1 Lost Semifinals (Raptors) 0–2 | |||
2017–18 | Atlantic | 4th | 17 | 33 | .340 | ||||
2018–19 | Atlantic | 5th | 19 | 31 | .380 | ||||
2019–20 | Atlantic | 1st | 28 | 14 | .667 | ||||
Regular season record | 270 | 272 | .498 | 2009–2020 | |||||
Playoff record | 2 | 9 | .182 | 2009–2020 |
Head coaches
# | Head coach | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Achievements | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | L | Win% | G | W | L | Win% | ||||
1 | Austin Ainge | 2009–11 | 100 | 45 | 55 | .450 | — | — | — | — | |
2 | Dave Leitao | 2011–12 | 50 | 21 | 29 | .420 | — | — | — | — | |
3 | Mike Taylor | 2012–14 | 100 | 45 | 55 | .450 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | |
4 | Scott Morrison | 2014–17 | 150 | 95 | 55 | .633 | 9 | 2 | 7 | .221 | NBA D-League Coach of the Year (2015) |
5 | Brandon Bailey | 2017–19 | 100 | 36 | 64 | .360 | — | — | — | — | |
6 | Darren Erman | 2019–present | 42 | 28 | 14 | .667 | — | — | — | — |
Current roster
Maine Red Claws roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster |
Players assigned from NBA teams
- Bill Walker – assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 21, 2009
- Alexis Ajinca – assigned by the Charlotte Bobcats on November 30, 2009
- Lester Hudson – assigned by the Boston Celtics on December 15 and December 26, 2009
- Sherron Collins – assigned by the Charlotte Bobcats on December 8, 2010
- Avery Bradley – assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 14, 2011
- Craig Brackins – assigned by the Philadelphia 76ers on February 7, 2012
- Fab Melo – assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 14, 2012
- Kris Joseph – assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 14, 2012
- MarShon Brooks - assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 1, 2014
- Rajon Rondo – assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 15, 2014
- Vítor Faverani - assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 25, 2014
- Vander Blue - assigned by the Boston Celtics on January 31, 2014
- Jordan Mickey - assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 5, 2015
- Terry Rozier - assigned by the Boston Celtics on November 5, 2015
Players recalled by NBA teams
- Lester Hudson – recalled by the Boston Celtics on December 20, 2009
- Bill Walker – recalled by the Boston Celtics on December 23, 2009
- Alexis Ajinça – recalled by the Charlotte Bobcats on February 2, 2010
- Sherron Collins – recalled by the Charlotte Bobcats on December 21, 2010
- Avery Bradley – recalled by the Boston Celtics on February 7, 2011
- Craig Brackins – recalled by the Philadelphia 76ers on March 2, 2012
- Rajon Rondo – recalled by the Boston Celtics on January 15, 2014
- Jordan Mickey - recalled by the Boston Celtics on January 16, 2016
NBA affiliates
- Boston Celtics (2009–present)
- Charlotte Bobcats (2009–2012)
- Philadelphia 76ers (2011–2012)
References
- Evans Boston (September 15, 2015). "Contact Us". Maine.GLeague.NBA.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- "Maine Red Claws Reproduction Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
- Mike Lowe (2009-06-29). "Red Claws, Celtics make their partnership official". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30.
- "NBA Development League Expands to Portland, Maine". Maine Red Claws. 2009-02-25. Archived from the original on 2012-11-06.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2012-04-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "BOSTON CELTICS AND MAINE RED CLAWS ENTER INTO SINGLE AFFILIATION PARTNERSHIP BEGINNING WITH 2012-13 SEASON" (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. June 21, 2012. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
- Toscano, Jimmy (June 21, 2012). "Celtics enter into single affiliation partnership with Red Claws". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
- "Maine Red Claws Add 76ers As Affiliate". CBS Boston. 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- "Furious Red Claws' Rally Falls Short". Archived from the original on 2013-04-13.
- "RED CLAWS TO OPEN FIRST ROUND OF PLAYOFFS AT HOME THURSDAY". Archived from the original on 2013-04-14.
- "Maine Basketball LLC owner bios". Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- "NBA Development League: Red Claws Will Feature New Head Coach For 2014-15 Season". National Basketball Association. July 16, 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- "End of an era".
- Former Wolves coach named assistant with Celtics
- "Boston Celtics reach deal to purchase Maine Red Claws". Portland Press Herald. July 25, 2019.
- Snow, Taylor. "Celtics Complete Purchase of Maine Red Claws". Maine Red Claws. NBA G League. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- "'She's Your Lobster' | Memorable Lobster Moments in Pop Culture". New England Today. 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
- "27 Teams In 27 Days: Meet The Maine Red Claws". NBA G League. Retrieved 2019-01-02.