• 9 months ago
The NBA's 2024 trade deadline has come and gone, and with it the ability to make trades to improve the Boston Celtics' roster. But Boston picked up Xavier Tillman, Sr. and Jaden Springer ahead of the deadline to bolster their deep rotation before the 2024 postseason arrives.

The league around the Celtics did not stand still, with several teams in the East also making moves to try to challenge Boston in the playoffs. On, in particular, may challenge the Celtics in ways they likely couldn't have before. Thankfully, Boston still has an open roster spot to add a buyout or unsigned prospect in case that mystery Eastern Conference ball club can give the Celtics more than we collectively expect.

To talk through the new order of the East and what Boston can do to fortify their spot atop it, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast took out a magnifying glass to scour the option available to the Celtics.

And to see if there are any threats who might spoil a return to the league's biggest stage for Boston. Come for the news, stay for the surprise top target the crew collectively settles on in this week's Lab.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.
Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:09 All righty, welcome to the Celtics Lab podcast brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive
00:12 wagering partner of the CNS Media Network. I am Cameron Tepes-Bye, I am your host for today.
00:17 I'm joined by Alex Goldberg, who plays bass in the band Divine Sweater. They just played the music
00:22 you heard to open this podcast. And we're also joined by Dr. Justin Quinn down in Mexico.
00:28 It's the big three. We're back. No guests this week. How's that? Later in the program,
00:34 we are going to talk about whether or not the Celtics got better after the trade deadline,
00:39 what the state of the east is after that deadline, the trade deadline. We will talk about some news
00:45 and then we're going to think about who maybe the Celtics will, I almost said hire, I guess hire,
00:52 will hire for that 15th roster spot or promote as effortees. Before any of that, Alex, how are you?
00:59 I'm doing okay. Had a pretty fun weekend seeing some music. Obviously, I took in the big game last
01:07 night as well. It was pretty, pretty interesting, for sure. Definitely a good watch. Didn't have
01:14 any particular loyalty to either the Chiefs or the 49ers, but impressive game nonetheless. And now
01:21 it's over and I am ready for basketball to be the go-to dominant sport for the next, well, minute.
01:29 Yeah, Dr. Quinn? Well, I follow football so closely that I did not think anything at all
01:39 about the Super Bowl until I noticed that literally everyone in my wife's family's
01:44 neighborhood was barbecuing. I was like, why is everyone barbecuing? And my wife looks at me like
01:48 I'm an idiot because I kind of was. And then I put the dots together and yeah, someone won the Super
01:54 Bowl. Woo! We actually know who won the Super Bowl. We're recording on Monday, but fair enough.
02:01 Yeah, I take it UConn is a good basketball team and we have to talk about college a little bit
02:07 for a few weeks and then finally it's the NBA's time to shine. I just have one other Super Bowl
02:13 thing to add, which is I saw the early betting markets suggest that the next Super Bowl halftime
02:19 show honoree is going to be none other than Lil Wayne. And I will be seated if that is going down.
02:27 That would be an all-timer for me. I mean, it's in New Orleans. They have options, but that would
02:32 be a good one. Also, shout out to Usher. He killed it. That was great. Okay, so let's do the news.
02:39 We'll talk about the trade deadline and we will talk about buyout guys. But first, we have two
02:44 birthdays that we would be remiss to not honor. First, it's Bill Russell's birthday and we could
02:51 wax poetic for the rest of the hour about Bill Russell. I don't need to do that. I'm sure everyone
02:56 listening knows how and why to wish Bill Russell a happy birthday. Happy birthday to Scott Pollard,
03:02 former Celtic who is in the ICU, hopefully on his way to a heart transplant. I think a lot of
03:08 Celtics fans have followed this news story and are pulling for him. So happy birthday to Scott
03:13 Pollard and happy heavenly birthday to Bill Russell. How's that? Okay, since we last talked,
03:20 the Celtics won three games against Southeast Division teams. Divisions are still a thing in
03:25 the NBA. They looked pretty good. Took care of business against Atlanta. Waffled then took care
03:33 of business against Washington. Waffled then took care of business against Miami. Just recent stretch
03:38 of games, I think you can kind of take it in two directions. All the metrics say this is one of the
03:44 best teams in the clutch and this team looks a lot like the 2008 Celtics. And then there's also
03:50 metrics that remind you of last season and the season before that and the season before that.
03:54 So I really do think you can squint in either direction and decide there's something to be
04:00 worried about or there's nothing to be worried about. So Dr. Quinn, I'll go to you first.
04:03 Where are you at with the Celtics team vis-a-vis the last week or so?
04:07 To commemorate this entire season, I'm going to get a pillow that is embroidered with the words,
04:13 "They would have lost this game last year."
04:16 Why, your pillow from the year before that wasn't good enough?
04:21 Might burn that one. Burn that crap.
04:22 All right, so trending up. Alex, where are you at with this team?
04:28 I'm still in a pretty good place. I mean, listen, Boston is fifth in offensive rating and fifth in
04:34 defensive rating. They're one of the best teams in the league and have consistently been great
04:40 all year. I think the reality of this part of the season for the NBA is that teams start to get
04:48 a little bored. I think that is a real thing. We're about to hit the all-star break. There's
04:55 definitely, I think, a lot of players and teams for whom that cannot come soon enough. A vacation,
05:02 even a little vacation for two of our all-star players in Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown is
05:08 definitely something that I think many, many, many NBA players look forward to around this time of
05:15 year. The Celtics, to me, for these last three games, feel like they've kind of been going
05:22 through the motions regardless of who is out there. It's not like they've been going all out,
05:27 although with the exception of last night's game in Miami, where I think things as they do against
05:34 Miami got a little chippy and Boston took that one a little personally. I think that was ultimately a
05:41 good win despite the Heat being incredibly shorthanded. But all things being equal,
05:47 I think the Celtics have played a very good team that is a little bit bored right now.
05:52 They have a five-game lead in the Eastern Conference standings. So that makes sense.
05:57 I think my hope is that they will be healthy first and foremost come April, that they will
06:05 retain that one seed and that when the schedule starts to get a little bit closer to playoff time,
06:13 we'll start to see a more engaged, crossing eyes and dotting Ts group. But for now, it seems like
06:20 it's kind of, oh, Jason Tatum, routine dominance, Kristaps Porzingis, crushing basically everybody
06:28 in front of him. The Celtics win. It's not particularly convincing, but it also never
06:33 really felt like those games were tremendously in doubt either. - Yeah. I guess I have a couple
06:40 of points that I want to raise. First is to your point, maybe the most positive one is like things
06:45 weren't in doubt insofar as they're getting into a good habit of kind of like playing with their
06:51 food and then in the fourth quarter, just playing really tight defense. And it's not perfect formula,
06:56 so it looks a little clunky, but I don't know that I mind it. Second to Joe Mazzuolo's point,
07:03 it's kind of good for them to face some adversity. Like it's nice for them to get punched in the jaw
07:07 a little bit because they have to react accordingly. And then finally, it's the same
07:12 problem I have at the beginning of the season, just now we're in the middle of the season,
07:16 it's like, I don't know what a statistically significant data set is in the NBA. So like
07:20 this Cavs team has only lost one since New Year's. Is that like enough data for us to say, oh, the
07:26 Cavs are that legit? The Warriors are on a tear finally. Like, is that, you know what I mean? Like
07:30 the Rockets finally fell back to earth. Is that who they really are? So. - Yeah. I had a good
07:35 conversation with a friend of mine who's a Cavs fan. They look really good, but like you look at
07:40 the record and it's like, they've been like five teams that are over 500 in that stretch. You know,
07:45 it really is difficult to piece that stuff out. - So to your point, Alex, like the time of the year,
07:52 I mean, even someone that covers the team, I understand getting like a little bored
07:58 with like another weekday matchup against the Atlanta Hawks. So I understand where they're
08:05 coming from. I don't think I'm worried, but you know, the habits that doomed them last year and
08:11 the year before, you can still find them. And maybe that's part and parcel with this team.
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08:52 - All-Star game is coming up Boston tonight. No, tomorrow night, Tuesday night in Brooklyn,
08:58 Wednesday night in Boston against Brooklyn, and then off to the All-Star game, Jason Tatum and
09:03 Jalen Brown will go. Jalen Brown is participating in the dunk contest. I think people know that.
09:08 First All-Star since, do you guys know which All-Star it was in 2017? Who did it?
09:12 DeAndre Jordan. - Wow, really? DeAndre Jordan. Man, I forgot DeAndre Jordan was an All-Star.
09:21 I thought it was going to be like Aaron Gordon, but I guess Aaron Gordon did not make an All-Star team.
09:26 - God bless Aaron Gordon for what he did for the dunk contest. Jalen Brown will also be the first
09:33 Celtic to participate since 2007, since...
09:36 Gerald Green won it. Come on guys, do your homework. - No, I think that was, yeah, I was about to say
09:44 that and you just jumped on me. It's cool. - So, and Tatum's defending his All-Star game MVP. I don't
09:53 know anything about any All-Star game MVP repeat battles. I don't really care, but it's interesting.
10:00 It's a wrinkle. And he's going to start. I don't think we know who the fifth East starter is yet.
10:05 So there's some intrigue there. Dr. Quinn, Alex, what else did I miss about this All-Star weekend?
10:11 - I think the only thing you missed about this All-Star weekend is, you know, with regard to Celtics
10:18 fans specifically, that there are two players in the Boston Celtics who have been playing very well
10:22 lately and will not be at All-Star weekend. We are of course referring to Derek White and I think
10:28 perhaps more notably Christoph Sporzingis, who has been on an absolute tear for these past few games.
10:34 Now, I will be perfectly blunt in saying that I am actually okay with Christoph Sporzingis
10:40 not making the All-Star team this year. I would like for him to go take a nice long rest on a beach
10:46 where he doesn't have to move around very much. That feels like a great use of his time. But
10:53 it just goes to show that All-Star is definitely not a perfect formula. I think to me, it's a little
11:00 crazy that Sporzingis is not in the All-Star game at least. And, you know, there's been a lot of
11:06 discussion lately about should the teams be expanded to 15 to get more players into the All-Star game?
11:13 I think there's definitely good arguments both ways. The pro argument being that, like, listen,
11:20 there are more than 12 All-Star level players in each conference every year, it seems like,
11:26 increasingly. And the counter argument being, well, it's kind of a just for fun for the fans
11:33 type of deal and it doesn't really matter that much. And it would potentially reward players who
11:41 are maybe not All-Star level getting into the game. But that's neither here nor there. I guess the only...
11:47 I do want to push back on that just a tiny bit because I think it was JJ Rennick made a really
11:52 good point on his podcast, Old Man and the Three, that if we're talking like the percentage of the
11:57 league that used to get in versus what gets in now, we are actually probably excluding lots of
12:04 people who should be getting in by historical standards. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we talked about
12:11 this last podcast. We understand why Trey Young and Scotty Barnes make it both on the court and
12:17 off the court. But Alex, to your point, like, Borzingas and Derek White, even if Derek White,
12:22 maybe it's less sexy, are playing like All-Stars. And so it's like maybe there's a world where you
12:27 want to like acknowledge that or reward that or find ways for them to get to the game. But
12:31 they're not going. So we can't solve that right now. Dr. Quinn, any other thought on
12:38 All-Star game that we missed or something you're looking forward to? I just want to see a pair of
12:43 Reebok pumps or a no look dunk out of Jalen as an homage to somebody else who wore number seven,
12:49 who was in a dunk contest. That's all I have to say about that. Who wore a number seven brown jersey,
12:54 in fact. I have one more thing that I'm looking forward to at the All-Star game, which is our
13:00 very own Cameron Tabatabai going to the All-Star game in Indianapolis. He'll be reporting and
13:06 talking with all sorts of fun people, players, execs and everybody else that he can. If you
13:13 are interested in following Cam's odyssey to the All-Star game, please throw him a follow on
13:19 the app formerly known as Twitter. Follow him on Instagram and follow all of us on our socials
13:25 at Celtics Lab because Cam's going to have some interesting stuff. Actually, don't follow my
13:31 Instagram. That's private. Every so often Celtics fans try to follow my Instagram and
13:37 I don't know. I guess maybe we'll start a Celtics Lab Instagram. But thanks for the plug, Alex. I
13:42 appreciate it. Yeah. I don't know what to expect. I've heard good things. I've heard bad things.
13:48 I've heard good advice. I've heard weird advice. I know a few people are going to be there. I think
13:52 it'll be fun. I've never been to Indianapolis. Jalen and Jason will be there. So I'll try to
13:57 bring as much coverage to that as I can. I think about, Bull Pet said this on our podcast. I think
14:02 about it all the time. I say it to people all the time. Take people places they can't go or tell
14:07 them things they can't know. That's what I'm going to try to do. So that's that. All righty. Let's
14:13 hop into the lab, although it's a two-parter. So strap into that safety gear you need for your lab,
14:20 your lab gear. First, we're going to quickly talk about a post-deadline Eastern conference.
14:26 But really, the meat and potatoes of this is looking at what the Celtics might do next. So
14:32 we'll start. Boston traded for Xavier Tillman and Jared Springer. Jaden Springer.
14:40 Jerry Springer. Springer. Springer. Springer. Wait, wrong name.
14:44 That would be bad. It's J.B. Springer, for those who are listening at home.
14:49 My brain just kept saying Jared Sollinger in my head. I knew that wasn't right. So Xavier and
14:58 Jaden. Two trades where Boston really didn't give up much in the way of assets, but two trades where
15:04 the guys are injured and they're on the injury report tonight. So let's talk about them a little
15:09 bit, but soon enough we'll get to see them play. Then we'll actually have analysis. So Alex,
15:14 you can pick one. Which one do you want to give us 30 seconds on? I got to pick my man Xavier Tillman,
15:21 a player that I have been watching and kind of craving for this Boston team for a while now.
15:27 Folks, if you're looking for another elite big defender who can play next to Al Horford and
15:35 Christoph Sporzingas and Jason Tatum, look no further than Xavier Tillman. This guy is a 99th
15:41 percentile big man defender. He is crazy, crazy good on that end, and he's only going to get
15:48 better playing in Joe Mazzuolo's system and playing alongside Al Horford. He can move his feet. He's
15:54 got real size. He's a very good shot blocker. He's a rock solid rebounder and screener. The only
16:01 drawback with Xavier Tillman, aside from his injury, which we're hoping he recovers from soon,
16:06 is that this man cannot hit anything outside of directly under the rim. So if you're looking for
16:12 a floor spacing center, you should check out the other two centers on the Boston Celtics, Christoph
16:18 Sporzingas and Al Horford, who are both shooting very well from the three. You should not expect
16:24 Xavier Tillman to be spreading the floor. But I do think his offensive metrics have been a little
16:31 skewed playing against, playing on a pretty limited Grizzlies team offensively for the past
16:39 couple of years. Even when the Grizzlies were healthy and good, offense was never really their
16:44 calling card. Xavier Tillman is going to get a lot better looks than I think he would be getting in
16:50 Memphis. But that's not what he's here for. What he's here for is to make life very, very difficult
16:57 for opposing Eastern Conference bigs throughout the playoffs. And this defense is going to be
17:03 absolutely hellacious when he is on the court. I will add to that that he was able to connect
17:11 from three at a, I won't say a good level, but a respectable level. You at least have to respect it.
17:17 Like a Daniel Tice level, like 33, 34% his rookie season. So it's not beyond hope that he could
17:23 eventually with good looks develop an outside shot. But as far as Jaden Springer goes, he is
17:32 very, very raw on offense. And again, a larger defender, he's kind of like the opposite of Peyton
17:38 Pritchard in that he is a little more size. He's a lockdown defender. Everyone was ranting about
17:44 his performance on Stephen Curry. I think he limited to like one shot when he was guarding him
17:48 fairly recently. He can be an absolute terror on that end. He's very, very athletic. The tools are
17:53 there for him to become a very good offensive player. But for now, like he'll have one good
17:57 offensive game and then six very bad ones. So don't expect too much from that. I don't really
18:02 expect either of them to see too much of the floor in the postseason, if at all. But if they are in a
18:07 position where they need to call on them, both of them have a defensive floor that is high enough
18:12 that they can at least stay on the floor in limited minutes in the postseason.
18:15 Yeah, with respect to Delano Banton and Lamar Stevens, they're both much closer to serviceable
18:22 postseason guys than Banton or Lamar Stevens. It's also the case that they're bona fide prospects,
18:28 like bona fide guys that can grow and you could expect to get better. So Boston, I think we've
18:34 got better at this trade deadline. But then also, you know, the next few years, it's gonna be really
18:40 hard to feel the 10 person depth chart with the spending limits. And now they have guys that they
18:45 can authentically look to grow or if they need to use a trade package. So having Tillman's bird
18:54 rights is going to be, I think, pretty useful, particularly for getting middle tier salaries,
19:00 which Boston is very much going to be hunting over the course of the next few years as they
19:06 plow into the second apron. They're going to need, you know, kind of the mid tier contracts,
19:11 if they want to be able to make trades and make flexibility and stuff like that. So
19:16 I think Tillman's a really good pickup for that reason as well.
19:19 Yeah, no, I thought it was a tremendous trade deadline for the Celtics. I thought that did
19:26 everything they needed to do quite well. All right, let's do this. Let's go through the east
19:31 and let's do this quickly. Let's decide if teams in the east got better or worse or stayed the same.
19:38 And rather than Dr. Quinn respectfully, because I know we had a little disagreement
19:43 on the categories we have here, let's just run through the standings. So the Cavs didn't do
19:48 anything. So we can't say if they got better or for worse. So let me ask you this, Dr. Quinn,
19:53 I'll go to you first. Are the Cavs a legit threat to Boston sitting there at the two seed?
20:00 No, but they can probably get out of the first round, which is more than I thought they were
20:04 going to a few weeks ago. They're looking a lot better. Cool. Alex, any major disagreement there?
20:10 We'll keep it moving. Not really. I think they're a very solid team. I would like to see them play
20:16 against the actually elite teams in the NBA and see how they fare there. Wow. For the YouTube crowd,
20:22 look how orange my face is when I look at it. This is a black NBA standings and that's white with
20:29 that's how I normally look. And then here's my impression of Donald Trump. Okay. The Bucs are
20:35 in third place. I mean, look, no one else steps out into public looking like this. The Bucs are
20:44 in third place and they traded for Patrick Beverly, which is funny if you know the personnel on that
20:50 team. But Alex, did the Bucs get substantially better? So I like Patrick Beverly and think he's
20:56 a good player. I think he's better than campaign. And I think on that respect, the Bucs pretty
21:02 clearly upgraded on talent. I don't know that Patrick Beverly is going to be enough to solve
21:07 the Bucs much bigger defensive issues, which mostly have to do with Damian Lillard being an absolute
21:16 sieve on that end and Brooke Lopez losing a step and Chris Middleton getting hurt and Malik Beasley
21:22 also being very bad on defense. Pat Bev cannot make all four of those guys good on defense.
21:28 He can provide some relief in lineups. And particularly, I think one thing that he'll
21:35 bring to the table is that Pat Bev has developed into a pretty good playmaker and shooter as well.
21:41 He brings more than just his defense, which is kind of his calling card. So it's definitely an
21:47 upgrade. But for me, it's going to be hard for them to address some of their more systemic issues
21:54 with just that move. Dr. Quinn, the New York Knickerbockers are the fourth seed in the East
22:02 right now. They've been moving and shaking. They made a lot of moves at the trade deadline.
22:06 Out went Grimes, Malachi Flynn and Ryan, former Celtic Ryan Archie Giacchino. They got
22:17 Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Quirks. They also previously made the OG and Anobi trade.
22:22 So I guess writ large, Dr. Quinn, where are you at with the Knicks?
22:27 They're better. I don't know how much better they are, but they are definitely better. I don't know
22:33 if they're good enough to threaten the Celtics. They would have to be an absolute, you know,
22:38 it had to be like one of those Miami Heat outlier shooting series, not games, for them to really be
22:46 a threat to the Celtics. But I do think that they are probably, depending on how the Sixers look and
22:53 whether or not Embiid comes back, the next best threat in the East, I think, at this point.
22:58 Yeah, I think I agree with that. I mean, I can't see a team led by Jalen Brunson,
23:05 who's just too small, and Julius Randle making a real run. But I could see a world where the Knicks
23:14 win the first two games of the series and we have like real, real, real intrigue. So I would really
23:21 look forward to that matchup in the postseason, because I think it'd be a lot of fun. I don't
23:25 think if I was the Celtics, I would be fearful, but I think there's a chance it could be like a
23:30 really intriguing series. Alex, I thought your position in New York hit something.
23:40 I mean, of course I do. Yeah, I think the Knicks are a great deal better. I think that the
23:45 Bogdanovich move in particular is good as a stopgap while Ananobe gets healthy, and then he
23:51 will be a useful bench piece after that. To me, the Knicks, I feel, I know Giannis is definitely
23:58 the best player in the conference that does not play for the Boston Celtics and is going to be
24:03 healthy this postseason. But to me, I feel like the Knicks are now, at least for my money, I think
24:10 they're a likely Eastern Conference Finals opponent with the way things are trending.
24:15 Brunson's been outstanding. Tibbs is, guys, Tibbs is doing some amazing stuff with this New York
24:22 Knicks team, and it might result in them being a pile of ashes by the time the playoffs roll around.
24:29 But holy crap, that guy is an excellent coach. I really like the Knicks moves at the deadline,
24:34 and I think they are much better positioned to make a deep run.
24:37 Yeah, I really like this Knicks team. I think it has a cap, but it's so fun. And it's fun when
24:46 the Knicks are good, it's just good for basketball. Okay, I'll do the Sixers. They got Buddy Heald,
24:51 Forkon Korkmaz finally off he went away from Philadelphia. They got Campaigne
24:58 for Pat Beverly. Joel Embiid has a repaired meniscus, and we're hoping for his health,
25:05 but that doesn't mean he's necessarily going to be back or back the way he was.
25:08 Maybe at the trade deadline, you can say they got better because Heald is a nice offensive fit.
25:16 It's downgrade, I think, on defense. But in the past two weeks, they got worse. I mean,
25:21 like the Embiid thing sucks, and the Sixers were probably playing with house money just
25:25 because Embiid was playing like Will Chamberlain. And if he came back down to earth a little bit,
25:30 they weren't a very good team. But now, I don't know, it doesn't seem like
25:35 they could go the distance. Although, shout out to Maxie. That kid can play. He's so fast. He's
25:41 so fun. This move is, this move is, I think, is going to be most interesting, actually,
25:47 in the offseason, because they acquired Buddy Heald, mostly, I think, to have Buddy Heald's
25:53 bird rights for when he hits free agency. But I will be very interested to see what kind of
26:00 contract Buddy Heald is eligible for, because this free agency class does not look all that strong.
26:08 And I think there is a world where Buddy Heald could be lined up well for a pretty large contract,
26:17 a contract that I think a lot of people might be surprised by. And I'll be interested to see
26:21 if the Sixers balk at that figure or not. - I think I disagree with you, but it's February,
26:30 let's not do that right now. In terms of the free agency landscape, not the Buddy Heald read. Okay.
26:35 Everyone gets one more team they can talk about, and then we'll move it on from the trade deadline.
26:41 So East or West, and the Pacers are up for grabs. You can talk about the Pacers if you want,
26:47 but one more team, East or West, who do you want to talk about, Alex, you get to go first.
26:52 - I have to pick East or West. I think the pick then has to be the Oklahoma City Thunder,
26:59 who snatched up Gordon Hayward for Trey Mann, Davis Burton's, Meechich, and some second round
27:08 picks, they did not send a first. So this is really interesting. I think a lot of people,
27:13 myself included, thought that OKC was going to target size, and they did add size in the form
27:19 of Bismarck Biambo as a buyout signing. But I thought they were going to be a little more
27:24 aggressive in targeting a potentially starter level or high level bench big. And instead,
27:31 they kind of zag, and they go with Gordon Hayward as a connector piece, a guy who can facilitate
27:38 offense, who can shoot, who can play on the floor, potentially over a more inexperienced Josh Giddey
27:44 in late game situations. I think this has got the potential to be a really good move for the Thunder,
27:51 particularly if Hayward, he is injured now, and it sounds like he's going to be out for a couple
27:56 of weeks, and that's always the caveat with Gordon Hayward is, will he be on the floor?
28:02 But if he is on the floor, he makes a tremendous amount of sense in this OKC starting lineup,
28:08 and he could come off the bench for them as well and be a valuable chip. I'll be really interested
28:13 to see in particular how that plays out in the postseason, because to me, like Shea Goldgers
28:20 Alexander is a remarkable basketball player, but he is also now the de facto vet leader of this team
28:28 in a lot of ways, and Shea Goldgers Alexander is 26, I believe. So that's a big ask for Shea,
28:37 and then to bring in Gordon Hayward, who I guess should be that vet leader in theory,
28:43 Gordon Hayward's a really good player. I've never really thought of Gordon Hayward as like a big,
28:48 vocal, commanding leadership presence when he was on Boston or really anywhere else. So I'll be
28:56 interested to see how that plays out, but I do think if he's on the floor and healthy,
29:01 it makes OKC better, and it makes them a tougher out in the postseason.
29:05 - Dr. Quinn, you're up.
29:08 - So you mentioned the Pacers, and I feel like we do need to talk about them. We were talking
29:14 off air about whether they got better or worse depending on what you consider to be a deadline
29:19 trade. If you don't consider Siakam to be a deadline trade, they clearly got worse. They
29:24 traded Buddy Heal for Concorquemoss and some second round picks, which aren't going to help
29:29 them this season. So they very clearly in that context got worse, right? But there is a case to
29:37 be made that by opening up more playing time for Benedict Matherin, that by the end of the season,
29:42 they might be better poised not only for a postseason run, but for the future. So I think
29:48 that is a realistic possibility, if not a likely possibility, and it's something they should have
29:55 done about a month or more earlier if they're really in on that idea, honestly. Because I don't
30:00 really think that this deal wouldn't have been able to get done a little bit earlier than it did,
30:04 and giving Matherin more run with a bigger role would have better prepared them for this
30:10 postseason, which I do think they want to try to get some postseason reps in for this younger core.
30:14 - Agreed. I feel like everyone wants to talk about why didn't the Bulls do anything,
30:20 why didn't the Lakers do anything, why didn't the Magic do anything?
30:22 - Good point.
30:24 - They're not going to win the title, but come on, get in the game. Unbelievable.
30:28 - Yeah, I kind of wonder, I think they're keeping their chips for the offseason a little bit.
30:33 - But for what?
30:36 - They've got a lot of cap space to throw around, man. I think they could-
30:43 - Yeah, cap space isn't just free agency signing, no one wants to sign more Orlando cap spaces for
30:47 trading. - But there are guys who are going to be available in a year or so that I think are a
30:55 serious target for them, and I'll leave it at that. - I just, I don't know why they wouldn't
31:01 play ball a little bit here. All right, anyways, that was the trade deadline, let's look ahead. So
31:07 Boston still has a 15th roster spot open. They can convert Nemi Keita,
31:16 the pride of Portugal, they can convert his contracts to a full-time contract that would
31:20 be the 15th on the roster. - I would like to just bring up,
31:24 why do we just assume there would be Keita if they would do that for? Because they have two other
31:31 guys, one of which I don't think is very likely at all to be made into a regular roster member,
31:37 but Peterson, in theory, offers something that is at least useful and positionally mobile enough
31:46 next to Sam Hauser off the bench, that there is at least a very small case to make if you are going
31:52 to elevate someone and you cannot find someone else that you'd prefer to fill that with.
31:56 - So this is Drew Peterson, he's been almost exclusively with Maine since joining us.
32:04 - He spent like two minutes with the regular Celtics, I don't think is likely,
32:08 but do they also need another big man after Tillman? - Yeah, fascinating. Oh, nice take.
32:16 Dr. Quinn, how much Drew Peterson pay to say that? Okay, so Boston has options where they can take
32:25 and promote guys from within, guys on two-way contracts make them a full-time contract.
32:31 However, let's say they don't for the sake of the rest of this podcast, they can sign either a free
32:37 agent, a player that has not signed this season, or a guy who either has or is going to take a buyout.
32:44 And the caveat there is that because of CBA math that Yossi Gosselin can explain some other time,
32:52 Boston can't sign anyone who made more than $12.4 million in annual salary this season.
32:59 So for example, Gordon Hayward sign up or buyout was never an option, Kyle Lowry was never an
33:05 option, they needed to make $12.4 million or less in annual salary. So we think that it's really
33:15 likely that Boston could get in the game here. However, I'll point out, it's something like
33:22 there are 30 open roster spots around the league, or the number that has been thrown around is like
33:27 two X the number of usual roster spots that are open. So there's gonna be competition for people's
33:32 services and some teams can probably offer would be free agents or current free agents more money
33:38 and or more of a role. So just because your favorite player is available, doesn't mean that
33:43 another team can't woo them elsewhere. So worth pointing out, I suppose. All right, we'll do this
33:50 by position. And we can decide as we go if what position is the right one to target, but we're
33:56 gonna start with bigs. And Dr. Quinn take it away because I this is another hot take out of you,
34:02 you're gonna you're saying this person is the best available, maybe the best available. And
34:07 it's mostly just because the other options are very, shall we say closer to my age than this
34:14 options age, which is, you know, totally fine for life, but maybe not for basketball, right?
34:20 We're looking at a field where there are the other three, I won't mention them yet. So we
34:26 can go through them. They will be more named than game, they would be there like the veteran presence
34:32 on the bench, which we already have a veteran presence on the bench. And we already have a,
34:35 you know, plenty of big men. We can talk about another person I would like to sign outright if
34:42 we could convince them to later. But Shemezi Metu, he might be the best big available. He's not a
34:49 great shooter. He's kind of a tweener and between being a four and a five, he's only six foot nine,
34:55 which kind of tells you about the state of the big man buyout market. It's not great. But if you want
35:02 someone who's actually athletic, could maybe have a future past this season with your team,
35:06 he's probably the best available. Great. Let's keep it moving. Alex, make the case for the Celtics
35:14 not signing Danilo Gallinari. Okay, the case for the Celtics not signing Danilo Gallinari,
35:21 who I actually like and think would be a pretty good fit is a that Danilo Gallinari maybe doesn't
35:26 really want to sign with the Boston Celtics because there might still be a little bit of
35:31 bad blood there. I'm not exactly sure why. But he seemed to feel that at one point or another.
35:39 The other case for not signing Danilo Gallinari is that there's just a little bit of a positional
35:45 logjam at the four. I don't think he would get a lot of playing time. I think Gallo wants to play.
35:50 I think he still believes that he can be a high level contributor. And as fun as Gallo is,
35:58 that man cannot guard a cone. He is a truly bad defender at this point in his career. And
36:09 I think, yeah, maybe he could eat a couple of minutes in the regular season. But if Gallo is
36:13 out there in the playoffs, that's an automatic, "Hey, come here, man." Like for the other team,
36:19 it's just a walking invitation to go at him in the pick and roll. So that's the case against Gallo.
36:25 I think both of these guys are, Dr. Quinn, to borrow your phrase, more name than game. So I'll
36:31 do them together. Someone step in if they disagree firmly. The first would be Robin Lopez, all around
36:36 good locker room guy. He could soak fouls and rebounds, but that's really it. And then Thad
36:43 Young, same thing. He'd probably rebound. Maybe he could stretch the floor a little bit, but
36:50 neither is radically going to change Boston's outlook if they sign him. Maybe they have
36:55 friendships with players on the team and that's why they're going for it. Although to that end,
37:01 Harry Giles didn't make a cut. So I think that's it for the big men. I mean, Xavier Tillman signing
37:08 and James Springer even sort of gives the team plausible size and depth such that they might not
37:15 need to target a big man with that 15th roster spot. So let's look at the wing. Dr. Quinn, I
37:24 think I'm going to have to skip Seth Curry for you. I was really high on that, but I think he's
37:28 going to stick around in Charlotte. His dad played there. He's wearing his dad's number.
37:32 They definitely need a veteran. I only included him because other people seem to think that he
37:38 could be. Yeah, I don't agree that he's going to get bought out, but some people seem to think he
37:44 might be. I would love him if he would. I'm sure that every other team in the league would as well.
37:48 Yeah, no. When I wrote about this before the weekend, I thought that was going to be a stretch,
37:55 but I couldn't imagine that he'd want to stay in Charlotte. But it might just be like a nice place
38:01 to ride out the spring and take a long summer. So Seth Curry, hey, if you're available, come on
38:06 down. But otherwise, Dr. Quinn, I'll go to Jetty Osman. He's not bought out. He plays for the Spurs.
38:12 What do you think? I mean, I think that he is probably of the guys who are not bought out yet
38:20 who reasonably could be maybe the most interesting candidate. They need a bigger wing. They need
38:26 somebody who can play up and down guard, up and down the roster and can shoot. And he could do
38:30 all of those things, if not especially well. That said, he's probably looking for more playing time
38:37 than you'd get in Boston. He's still young enough where he can get another good contract. So I
38:41 wouldn't expect him to choose Boston. Yeah, he's a good use case for if he becomes available.
38:47 That doesn't mean he signs with Boston. Alex, pick a wing from our list. I don't really know
38:53 which one to give you. I am actually so surprised who you're going to pick.
38:57 So there's been a lot of murmurs about Daniel House being a guy who teams have been pretty
39:06 locked in on as one of the better buyout candidates. But I'm going to zag and not talk
39:12 about Daniel House. I am instead going to talk about another buyout guy who I think could be
39:17 a sneaky good pickup for this Boston team. And that is Furkan Korkmaz, baby. Let's go. I want
39:23 to get Furkan Korkmaz on this team. I want to get Furkan Korkmaz on this team for two reasons.
39:28 The first is because that guy can still rip from three. He is shooting 395 from this year,
39:36 which is low for him. But at one point he was shooting last year 43% from deep. That is just,
39:43 I always like guys who can shoot. I know Joe Zula likes guys who can shoot. Furkan Korkmaz can shoot
39:49 the dang ball. The other reason that I want to get Furkan Korkmaz out here is because that guy's got
39:58 some bad blood with the Philadelphia 76ers. And I, you know, the Sixers I think are kind of a mess
40:04 right now. And the Embiid injury to me at least somewhat disqualifies them from being a true
40:10 contender. But boy, would I like to have a kind of mean, upset, angry, scorned Eastern Conference
40:19 bench player to come in and, you know, just chop up a few minutes here and there for this Boston
40:25 team. And I think I like that Korkmaz has a kind of irrational confidence to his game. I mean,
40:32 this is a guy who requested a trade when he was getting DNPs. He clearly believes in himself as
40:38 like, I can contribute to a winning team. I am a very good basketball player. And I think,
40:44 you know, regardless of the fact that defense is definitely not his strong suit and his game is,
40:51 I think, very limited to like, he is a shooter and not much else. But I like the irrational
40:59 confidence and the kind of nasty that comes with Furkan Korkmaz. And I think he would be a really
41:05 fun pickup for this team. - That's probably my guess. I mean,
41:10 if only, because he knows how the Sixers play and it's always fun to get a mole in the system.
41:14 Yeah, at the end of this, I'm going to ask each of us what position you think the Celtics should
41:23 target here. And I think, I think the wing is going to be my answer and partially you guys
41:29 have talked me into it, but I don't know yet. So I'll just shout out, FF Fournier is possibly
41:35 going to become available. It'd be a funny career arc. I mean, the way he showed out against the
41:42 Nets, speaking of dudes with a little bit of fight. - That's the reason why he's on this list.
41:46 If he had not had that single play against Kevin Durant, where he was the only goddamn person on
41:51 the court giving them some resistance, he would not be on this list.
41:55 - Yeah. And he like, he knows some of the guys, like the familiarity factors, like not,
42:02 it would at first, second, and maybe third blush be somewhere between funny and stupid.
42:07 I don't think it's, it's crazy. Certainly he is a pros pro and like understands his role. And so
42:17 if he didn't play at all, I don't think that that would work him the way that maybe some other guys,
42:22 that'd be a problem. Actually, I talked myself into that. Okay. Evan Fournier.
42:26 I'll have to Google that later. Okay. Let's talk about ball handlers. Alex, I think your team,
42:35 Victor Oladipo. So either way, talk about Victor Oladipo. - I mean, I've always liked Victor
42:41 Oladipo's game. The problem is that his knees keep popping out of place. And I think at this point in
42:48 his career, he's definitely, he's definitely had a pretty rough run for these past few years. I
42:54 don't imagine that he would play a tremendous amount, but of all the options that are available,
42:59 Oladipo is probably the most proven defender of the remaining ball handlers. And if you're
43:05 looking for a different look from Peyton Pritchard as your kind of secondary ball handler, you want
43:12 to get somebody closer to the Drew Holliday, Derek White mold. And if you don't fully trust
43:17 Springer because of how raw he is, then Oladipo as just like a steadying hand guard off the bench,
43:25 who can also actually defend, could be useful. I do think, you know, his best days are certainly
43:32 behind him. He definitely does not have the explosive athleticism that he used to have,
43:37 but he knows where to be on defense. He can hit a three every now and then. I don't,
43:42 I wouldn't hate it. Let's put it that way. - All right. Dr. Quinn, you have made a request,
43:48 so take it away. - So let's just say the Celtics go in the complete opposite direction because,
43:54 and there's good reason to think this is the case, they don't think they actually need to
43:58 add anything to this team, which, I mean, when you're the number one team in the NBA, that's a
44:03 pretty good case, right? So let's say that they do want to look to the future and they want to
44:09 think about cost-controlled options in future seasons that maybe have a real amount of upside
44:16 to them. And if in that case, and this player can actually play a little bit in terms of defense and
44:24 passing, but pretty much nothing else, former number seven pick, Kellyanne Hayes was surprisingly
44:30 bought out. He didn't fit on Detroit, but the fact that no other team seemed interested in trading
44:36 for him might tell you something about him. It might tell you a little bit about the new CBA
44:41 reality, but I see a number seven pick who is at least a baseline NBA player, replacement level NBA
44:48 player who has some upside, who could be a really good way to get some value for nothing basically
44:56 moving forward in future seasons with probably someone about as useful as Springer on defense.
45:03 - And if they, for whatever reason, think that like they're going to trade Pritchard in the
45:09 summer and they'd need an immediate backup, that wouldn't be a crazy, because to your point,
45:14 I don't think there's enough minutes for him to prove himself, but it's nice to get young players.
45:21 I mean, everyone talks about the Warriors running two timelines and how messy that is,
45:25 but it's not a bad backup. So yeah, I like that a lot too. In terms of ball handlers,
45:33 we have Corey Joseph on our list as a guy who has been bought out. Same, same, but different.
45:40 He's veteran. He knows what he's doing. He's been around the league. He's had different roles. So
45:44 there's no, I don't think that would be like risky, but it certainly, there aren't as many
45:50 creative upsides. I think that would be pretty straightforward signing. Okay. What about the
45:56 free agents? I actually have a few. Well, I have one that's not a free agent that we talked about,
46:02 Alex, you talked about this. He can handle the ball. He's kind of on the wing. Upgrading
46:07 Toddy Snell's main contract to full-time contract, not like the healthcare thing. Absolutely. I'm a
46:12 hundred percent for labor getting compensated for the sake of doing labor, but just from a basketball
46:19 fit veteran guy knows how to be a veteran. He's dusting up his leadership chops up in Maine.
46:27 I think that'd be worth a look. He's perfectly solid. He's as good as many of the options we've
46:33 floated. Cool. Okay. I just want to shout that out. I have a different free agent that I do want
46:38 to shout out, but I'll see if you guys have any Dr. Quinn, you can take the sexy mustachioed one
46:45 if you want. Sure. I alluded to him earlier. There's a really good chance that he meant it
46:52 when he said he wasn't coming back, but there's also a case to be made that, you know, spending
46:56 most of the season with your kids, relaxing, staying fit and getting ready for a playoff push
47:02 at the end of a regular season might be attractive to a one Blake Griffin. Or Campbell Walker.
47:11 Or Campbell Walker. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'd be vibes. There's only be
47:17 vibes, but I'd still be here for it. Yeah. Blake could I, I mean, based on last postseason, it
47:21 would be bad if he played more than a few minutes a game, but he could still play and not be a total
47:26 Civ. I don't know about Kemba, but it'd be great for the, I mean, I wrote about this too. I think
47:31 it'd be great for the locker room. Alex, I think you don't have to any free agents off the cuff
47:36 that you. There's there's two that I was thinking about that are not on our write up and I should
47:44 have put it them there. But so this guy washed out of Charlotte and I think a lot of people were a
47:50 little puzzled as to why he never really got anywhere, why his career didn't get off the
47:54 ground. But James Booknight is 23 years old. He's six, four. And I don't know. I liked his upside
48:02 in college. Just figured I'd throw that out there. But I don't like him falling asleep with loaded
48:08 weapons and parking garages and other fun things like that on this team. He's definitely made some
48:13 questionable off the court decisions. But purely as a basketball player, you know, there was some
48:19 real upside for him in college. And the other guy that I was thinking at least marginally about is
48:28 a guy who was moonlighting very briefly on this Celtics team, actually, when Gabriel,
48:34 who still doesn't have a job. And listen, when Gabriel's like nothing special, he's not like
48:39 a crazy great basketball player, but he's long and he's pretty athletic. And Joe Mazzola has
48:46 typically done a good job incorporating long athletic guys to do long athletic guy things
48:52 on this team. So when Gabriel doesn't have a job and the fact that no team has signed him,
48:59 despite him like not having a job since training camp, definitely to me indicates that it's
49:05 possible that he might just not be an NBA player anymore. But if you're looking for just like a
49:10 deep seated flyer in terms of just like raw athleticism and size, he's available. And,
49:18 you know, I wouldn't be I wouldn't hate it. I don't think he'd play a lot anyway, but
49:22 wouldn't be the worst signing in the world. - I guess my expectation is that where it's
49:29 if they sign someone that's going to be someone no one has thought of, because that's how the
49:33 Celtics seem to operate. And part of what I'm going to say is informed by like, if you,
49:37 I just like this player. I think he's charismatic. He's very experienced. I think...
49:43 - Yamadar is not coming over. - No, but it's, I'm not going to say
49:47 Carmelo Anthony. I and Justin actually fill me in. What about Juan Toscano Anderson? He's got
49:56 championship chops. He's got size. He's played both ways, neither direction, particularly,
50:03 interestingly, but he's still young. He's still got upside. I wonder, Dr. Blim, he plays for the
50:08 Capitanes now. - He did. I think he got called up.
50:12 Let me just check. - He is now a member
50:14 of the Sacramento Kings, I believe. - I thought that was right. I knew I saw
50:18 a release somewhere. Yeah. - Oh, good friend. All right, Juan. All right.
50:22 Well, I guess I'll start covering the Kings now because I like Juan. Great. Okay. I was,
50:28 I can't trust everything you read on the internet. Okay. Well, regardless,
50:34 I think we've decided that we don't know much of anything yet. Dr. Quinn, do you remember the
50:41 deadline off the top of your head? There is a date where guys need to be bought out by in order
50:46 to sign, in order to be playoff eligible. Do you off the cuff remember what that date is?
50:51 - Brain wants to say March 1st, but that's probably wrong.
50:55 - Historically, it's been around that time. So sooner rather than later, a lot of these names
51:00 will or will not come into play here. Based on this conversation that we had, let's go around
51:07 the horn and we'll give our position on the type of player Boston ought to target. And if you have
51:15 decided, and in fact, it should be this person, you can give us that. So let me model how this
51:20 is done. In thinking through this, I think I've decided that the Celtics need a wing player.
51:25 I am fearful of what injuries, how quickly injuries could change the script, but I do
51:34 think that the front court depth is pretty steady. And Tatum can always slide to the four, or five in
51:43 some cases if you really need to. Same, same, the number of ball handlers seems pretty established
51:49 for a while. I was like, man, I really wish they had a traditional point guard. They seem to be
51:54 figuring it out. It seems like lots of guys get touches and direct traffic. So I think just a
51:59 wing who can defend a 3D wing is like the ultimate currency in the NBA. We've said that before. So I
52:05 think, I think I want them to sign a wing, which I don't think I would have said at the beginning of
52:10 the season. I think it's Corkmoth for me. It just, the guy with a little crazy, that's fun.
52:17 I was thinking to myself while you were saying all this, like, what if they could get someone
52:21 who can ball, handle the ball a little bit and is also pretty big and that's Furcon Corkmoth,
52:27 isn't it? Alex, Furcon Corkmoth, anyone? I mean, I made the case earlier. I would feel great about
52:34 a Furcon Corkmoth signing. There's only one other player that I really would even think about as far
52:41 as the Celtics trying to add some wing depth for this team. And I do agree ultimately like wing,
52:48 particularly wings that can defend and maybe shoot a little bit would be the priority for me. And the
52:54 only other guy aside from Furcon Corkmoth that I would be interested in taking a flyer on is
52:59 currently playing in Maine and his name is Jordan Walsh. Why not? The Boston Celtics have Jordan
53:06 Walsh just sitting there in Maine. He is available. He is. Doesn't he have a regular contract? He does,
53:11 but they can play him. They can play him. And I think, you know, if we're looking for trying to
53:19 just like fill roster spots, you know, he goes back and forth between Maine and between the
53:24 main roster, the Celtics main roster, giving him a full season call up, even if he's not really ready
53:32 to play like that dude's been playing quite well in Maine. I think he's still two, maybe three
53:38 years away from being a viable NBA player, but getting him some NBA floor time now wouldn't be
53:45 the worst idea in the world for his long-term development. And he seems by all accounts to be
53:51 a pretty like fun and interesting guy to have on your team from a vibe standpoint. So to that end,
54:00 there's two directions you can go with the vibes, right? There's like fun, cool, energetic rookie
54:06 guy in Jordan Walsh who's like trying really hard and there's like psycho pirate. I need to show the
54:13 league that I am a great NBA player for a Con Cork Maz. And I think either one of those would be a
54:19 terrific signing for what is assuredly going to be a guy that does not play a lot of minutes.
54:25 - If they think this is it, then this is the year. Sign Harry Giles. I don't know. Like
54:33 it's not, it's not like, I don't think it's bending the knee to your superstars. It's like
54:41 making your superstar a happier person. And Terry Giles seems like he's like on the cusp of being an
54:48 NBA player. I mean, I'd rather have Harry Giles on my team than the Nassus Antetokounmpo.
54:52 - And I mean, for having done an entire podcast on a player who's probably not going to log more
55:00 than 200 minutes for the rest of the season. Yeah, why not?
55:04 - Are the other Antetokounmpo still free agents?
55:08 - Alex, I think is currently.
55:11 - Just for intrigue, I hope someone signs the other Antetokounmpo just to mess with the fuck psyche.
55:20 Actually, the more I think about that, I really hope that that happens. Spencer Dinwiddie to the
55:26 Lakers is pretty bizarre to me. I wish they had gotten the Antetokounmpo kid. Okay. Anyways,
55:31 this episode of the Celtics Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive
55:35 radio partner of the CLMS Media Network. This time next week, we will have had a dunk contest.
55:42 Let's close with this. What is your expectation for Jaylen of the dunk contest? He's
55:47 got the third best odds right now. Alex, in a word, what are you expecting?
55:53 - Can I do a hyphenated double word or just one?
56:00 - Yeah, you can do a hyphenated double word. I think that's the preferred term.
56:04 - Attention grabbing.
56:06 - Dr. Quinn.
56:08 - Pumps.
56:10 - I'm going to hyphenate a word, injury risk. Why are they playing this stupid thing on an iPad?
56:16 And in a football stadium, it's just going to look and sound awful. I respect Jaylen for
56:21 doing it, but anyways, I'll be there. Lucky, lucky me. Yeah, next week we'll talk about what
56:32 it was like to be at the All-Star Game and maybe we'll have more clarity on the buyout, guys.
56:36 And we'll begin to preview the home stretch because don't look now, but here comes the postseason.
56:42 Like and subscribe if you haven't. Thank you for listening. Check out Divine Sweater,
56:46 the band you've heard at the top of this podcast, and we will catch you later.
56:51 Peace.
56:52 (upbeat music)

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