• 9 months ago
In today's episode of The Big 3 Podcast, A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani Lunis take a close look at the Celtics' bench. Who has exceeded expectations, who should fans be concerned about, and who could surprise people in the playoffs? That, and much more!


01:20 - C’s first to 50 Wins
06:55 - Celtics Bench Standouts
14:03 - Who to be concerned about
19:45 - playing time in playoffs
23:50 - Isaiah Thomas
35:50 - Schedule Lookahead



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Transcript
00:00 [Casting]
00:18 The Big 3 NBA Podcast is powered by PrizePace, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the
00:23 CLNS Media Network.
00:25 Hello everyone, welcome to The Big 3 NBA Podcast. I'm Kwani A. Lunas, joined by H. Rob Blakely,
00:31 Gary Washburn. The gang's back together again. Sorry I had to-
00:34 Welcome back, Kwani.
00:36 Yeah, I'm sorry, but you know, things happen and we're back.
00:40 Gary, she sound like a politician.
00:43 I know, right?
00:43 Listen, listen, my constituents, I've been gone for a while, but you know, things happen.
00:49 I still care about y'all.
00:50 They're like, "Okay, but you don't cover my taxes."
00:53 Right.
00:55 "Where's my stimulus check?"
00:56 "Where's my check?"
01:01 Oh my goodness. But yes, it's good to be back. And obviously the Celtics have continued to
01:08 be on a roll since we last spoke. I can't remember exactly what game I had last talked
01:13 to you guys. Of course, the Nuggets loss wasn't the greatest, but all that being said, the Celtics
01:18 are still the first team in NBA to get to 50 wins this season. They're continuing to show that they
01:23 are maybe not the best, but one of the best teams in the NBA right now. But what do you two think
01:29 it means for them to hit that marker so early on in the season? And is it something that's
01:34 worth celebrating?
01:35 Well, for them, I mean, it means that what you've been doing all season long is not only are you
01:43 handling your business, but you're handling your business better than anyone else in the league
01:48 at this point. 50 wins is not something to sneeze about. One thing you hear coaches talk
01:53 about all the time, and they've been talking about this since the beginning of basketball times,
01:57 is it's not easy to win in the NBA. And so to rack up 50 wins with a good sizable chunk of the season
02:06 still left to play is certainly for the Celtics. It speaks to, again, their ability to handle
02:11 their business better than anyone is handling their business. But is it something to celebrate?
02:16 I don't think Joe Mazzulla is popping out the bubbly on this one.
02:22 I don't think so either.
02:23 But it does speak to, again, his ability to get as much as he can out of the group that he's
02:29 working with. And the Celtics continue to be basically the standard bearer for the rest of
02:34 the NBA.
02:34 Yeah, I think it's a good benchmark in terms of the progress. They won 57 games last year,
02:43 and they had a handful of games. They probably more than they should have won. They could have
02:47 been a 60-win team last year. So the fact that they're kind of slicing through the schedule,
02:54 winning lots of games, nothing more than a two-game losing streak this season,
03:01 yeah, that's something to be proud of and something to cherish and something not to
03:06 take for granted. Because I think, as Jason and Jalen said the other night, I mean, there's teams
03:11 just in total rebuild. And since they've been with the Celtics, there's never been a rebuild.
03:16 They've never had where they've had to. They just knew going into the season, "We have no
03:22 shot at making the playoffs. We have no shot of getting to the final. We have no shot of winning
03:27 the East." Now, they haven't won the East every year, but in all the seasons they've been here,
03:33 that's been the goal is to get to the final. So I think they understand don't take that for
03:38 granted. And you smell your roses and get your flowers right now. And then, obviously, you move
03:44 on because there's more work to be done in April, May, and June. But I think it's a good
03:48 accomplishment for this team. People didn't know how this team would work with the new lineup.
03:55 And they haven't had a lot of the pitfalls that the other teams have had, bad losses.
04:00 You can say the Cleveland loss is probably one of the worst. I would say the one in Charlotte
04:06 way back when was bad. But that Cleveland loss was probably one of the worst. But they haven't
04:12 had that many moments this year where they've had those in the past. And there's other teams.
04:16 Milwaukee loses by 35 at Sacramento in the final game of their trip. And people, "Well,
04:23 if that was the Celtics, people would be going crazy on them." Probably so. Probably so. And
04:27 I'm not saying that Milwaukee won't be there in the end, but there's some concern there.
04:31 And the Celtics took care of business after the Denver loss, won the final three games of the
04:36 trip. And I think that they should be proud of 50 now, 51 wins, and looking forward to that 60 mark.
04:45 The one thing Gary said, though, that I think is really, really important is that this team,
04:53 they understand what they're tasked with doing this year better than I think they've been in
05:01 the past. Where before it was like, "They're a good team. They might make a little noise in
05:04 the playoffs. They might." There was always this might, might, might. But this year,
05:08 there was a legitimate expectation that they're going to be the last team standing based upon
05:14 who they have coming back, who they were bringing in. There weren't as many might this, might that
05:21 with this team. It was just like, "This is who they are. This is what they should be doing.
05:24 This is why they should be that last team standing, or at least be on the very, very short
05:30 list of last team standing." And they've held up their end of the bargain, so to speak, up until
05:36 so far in a regular season. The biggest difference with this team, I think, and some of the teams
05:41 we've seen in the past, this team is just tougher mentally than I think those Celtics teams we've
05:46 seen in the past. And it manifests itself, I think, a lot when you see them have those moments
05:52 in the third quarter or fourth quarter where that 15-point lead is now down to six. And then in a
05:58 matter of minutes, that six-point lead becomes 26. They've been able to just absolutely just
06:05 snatch the soul out of teams just like that. And they've done it consistently. And to me,
06:12 you can't do that consistently unless there's a certain level of mental toughness that you're
06:16 bringing to the game. And I don't know whether it's the guys just being a little bit older and
06:22 kind of understanding the mental grind, whether that's Joe Mizzullo projecting who he is about on
06:28 this team or a combination of that. But the bottom line is this team, from a mental toughness
06:33 standpoint, is as good as we've ever seen them during this Tatum-Brown era. And that's why,
06:42 to me, and I've said this time and time again, anything short of a title is a disappointment
06:47 because this team could not be built any better and more equipped and more versatile than they
06:53 are now to win a championship, regardless of who is on the other side, on that other sideline.
06:57 - Mental stamina is important, of course, physical fitness as well, but
07:01 depth is very important when you talk about that goal for the Celtics. And right now,
07:06 their stay-ready crew, the bench, they've been producing the way that they should. So,
07:13 do you guys think they're ready for the playoffs is the first question. But
07:17 out of that group, who do you think has stood out the most so far?
07:20 - What you got, Gary? -
07:22 Well, I think Luke Cornett has. Luke Cornett has taken his responsibilities and ran with it. I've
07:31 been impressed. I was not a big Luke Cornett guy. - It was a turn.
07:35 - Gary is channeling his inner Bobby Manning right now.
07:39 - But I'll, yeah, I'm not, no, don't do that. I'm not that big of a fan like Bobby is, but
07:47 I do think he's doing well with his role. He's becoming more aggressive at the damn rim,
07:51 dunking on people. Luke, you're seven foot, like dunk on these foods, right? And he even
07:58 acknowledged he just stopped taking as many threes. He's more focused on the alley-oops,
08:04 being a rim protector. And I thought against the Utah Jazz, where the Jazz put in Walker Kessler,
08:12 and last year in that game in Utah, he was a real factor, rim protector, getting the rebounds,
08:18 getting, and they beat the Celtics. Last night in Utah, Kessler wasn't as effective, and that
08:24 was because of Cornett. Cornett battled. Cornett got a lot of offensive rebounds. He was battling
08:29 in there. Like, play seven feet. You're seven feet. You are taller than 98% of humans. Play
08:38 like it, man. And I think he has played like it. I gotta give him much credit. I think he
08:44 has taken the step forward. Maybe it's the presence of Xavier Tillman. And Tillman played
08:49 well last night. Hit a couple of quarter threes. - That's right.
08:52 - You know, I know, you know, he's a guy that I think has had a lot of play, you know,
08:58 played with a lot of great players and good young players in Memphis. And now it's like,
09:02 I think, you know, I think he's said like, you know, it's just such a professional atmosphere.
09:07 You know, obviously he's probably the grown man in the room in Memphis, but now he's got a bunch
09:12 of vets around him and they're just like, "Hey, we're trying to win." Like, do you, but just show
09:18 up to the ballpark, or ballpark, to the court, on time, ready to play, to the ball field.
09:27 Wherever we playing, show up, fool. - The turf, wherever you want to go.
09:30 - The turf, yeah. The stadium, the ice, whatever. - Just show up and perform.
09:36 - Exactly. Exactly. The dance floor, whatever you do, the concert, show up on time,
09:44 be ready to ball and contribute. And, you know, you can help us get a Quest for a Championship.
09:50 So, but I gotta say Cornette, I've been completely impressed. He's battling in paint,
09:55 getting rebounds that he probably didn't get maybe even a few months ago, because he wasn't a
10:00 high-level rebounder. I know Kata was coming in there and getting boards and I was like, "Wait a
10:05 minute, those are boards that probably Cornette could get." But Cornette has been mad aggressive,
10:10 not just think, that might be the presence of like, "Hey, they got two guys who want your minutes,
10:15 so what you gonna do?" And he has flourished. - I agree. And the very last point, Gary, is why
10:21 Cornette to me is an example of what happens when you create competition for guys to see where their
10:28 compete level is. Cornette, when there was no Kata, when there was no Tillman, he was just,
10:33 "Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo."
10:35 "I'm the third center, I'm gonna get a couple, I'm gonna do pretty much nothing. I'm just,
10:39 I'm gonna play, they're going to play me." And once Kata showed up on the scene, oh wait,
10:44 Luke getting rebounds? Luke blocking shots? And then when it got Tillman, it's like, "Oh,
10:48 I gotta do that like every night now. Oh, okay, I get it." So to me, he's a guy that has benefited
10:55 from Brad Stevens, to his credit, creating a greater competition for those minutes. Now,
11:02 the guy that on that stay ready crew that I'm most impressed with is Sam Hauser. And I'm gonna tell
11:08 you why. Sam has not had the benefit of someone pushing him, he's had to push himself to be
11:13 better. You watch Sam play now, he's not that dude sitting in the corner behind the three-point line
11:18 just waiting for Tittum to throw him the ball. He's putting it on the floor. He's hitting you
11:22 with the float game, he's hitting with your mid-range game. He has expanded his game in a way
11:27 that allows him to be more versatile, more, I think, frankly, creates another level of
11:34 concern for teams when you're preparing for the Southers. Because now you can't just worry about
11:39 Sam hitting those threes, Sam can actually put it on the floor and hit the mid-range.
11:43 Sam, defensively, he's never locking anybody up. But the one thing he does, and he's been pretty
11:48 damn good at this since he's been a Southie, stay between the rim and your man. If a guy
11:53 shoes over the top of you, okay, he can jump higher than you, he can do that. But you have
11:59 the ability to keep yourself between him and the rim and Sam does that as good as anyone on this
12:04 team based upon the minutes he plays. And so for me, he's the guy come playoff time that I think
12:10 teams, they're really gonna have to worry about him more than they probably thought they would
12:15 need to because, again, a 40-plus percent three-point shooter, a guy who can now put it on
12:20 the floor just enough to shoot the mid-range. He ain't breaking ankles, this ain't no John Morant,
12:24 this ain't no Tatum do-do-do-do-do-do, 18 dribbles. He's a three-dribble pull-up guy
12:30 and that's all they need from him. Pump fake, three dribbles, pull-up. That's all they need
12:36 for him to do. And defenses, you now have to react to that. You now have to deal with him.
12:41 That's right. That do-do-do-do-do-do, don't do that again.
12:45 That's your thing.
12:46 Don't do that again. Don't do that.
12:49 Do-do-do-do-do-do.
12:50 Yeah.
12:50 Do-do-do-do-do-do.
12:51 [Laughter]
12:53 Don't do that.
12:55 The bottom line, Sam do-do-do-do-do-do Hauser is killing it.
13:00 That's his nickname now.
13:01 Do-do-do-do-do-do Hauser.
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13:59 - Okay, you mentioned the people that you guys think are difference makers,
14:07 but what about the opposite end of that spectrum?
14:10 Who are you concerned about and what do they need to work on?
14:14 - Gary?
14:14 - I'm on my--
14:15 - Concerned about Gary?
14:16 - No, well, no.
14:18 - Yes, no.
14:19 - No, no, no, don't do that.
14:22 - Gary's guy, Gary's guy, Luke Cornett, I am concerned about,
14:26 because Luke has been playing well up to this point.
14:27 - Wow.
14:28 - He's done a really good job.
14:29 But I'm concerned come playoff time,
14:32 because the level of aggression and intensity, particularly among bigs, it ramps up.
14:37 And I don't know, even as the third big, whether Luke is going to be able to help them.
14:42 I see certain matchups where Luke might have some problems,
14:47 not because those guys are necessarily better than him,
14:49 but because he doesn't necessarily play with that aggression
14:53 that I think they're going to need from that position.
14:55 So I would not be surprised if we see Luke's role diminish at some point in the postseason.
15:01 And one of those other two guys we're talking about,
15:03 well, specifically I'm talking about Tillman,
15:05 because this is the thing about Luke and Tillman that I keep coming back to.
15:09 Luke has basically had a year and some change to get to where he's at right now.
15:14 You look at Tillman,
15:16 think about if they had Tillman for like a year and a half where he would be right now.
15:20 It's not even close.
15:22 Tillman would be pushing out for some minutes at this point.
15:26 If he can hit those corner threes and defend the way he's able to.
15:29 And let's not forget that Tillman comes from the Tom Izzo cloth
15:34 of defensive, versatile, kind of grimy bigs.
15:38 I mean, basically he's Draymond Green-like.
15:42 He's not Draymond Green, but he's very similar
15:44 in terms of being that undersized big who's versatile defensively, can do a lot of things.
15:49 He's a better scorer than Draymond, way better scorer than Draymond,
15:52 which ain't really, that's not a huge bar to leap over.
15:54 But bottom line is he's a guy that if you gave him the same opportunities
16:00 over an extended period of time that Luke Cornett has had, there's no question about it.
16:04 He would be a significantly more integral part of the rotation.
16:08 But give Luke credit.
16:10 Luke has made the progress that he's needed to make to keep that number three spot
16:13 as far as the third big.
16:15 But I would not be surprised if they get to the postseason and there may be a little bit
16:21 of a minute switcheroo thing going on where Luke maybe doesn't play as much as a Tillman does.
16:27 It would not surprise me.
16:28 I don't expect it, but I would not be shocked to see it happen.
16:31 - And Gary's answer is Sam Hauser.
16:34 I'm kidding.
16:35 - Sam gonna play.
16:37 - Who were you most concerned about Gary?
16:39 - Sam the dude from Hauser's gonna play.
16:40 - On the team or the stay ready crew?
16:43 - On the stay ready crew.
16:44 - Stay ready crew.
16:45 Let's stay ready.
16:46 - Wow.
16:48 - Yeah.
16:49 - I'll probably say...
16:50 Wow, that's a good question.
16:56 - Your defensive player of the year, O'Shea Brissett?
16:58 - Well, he's kind of not part of the crew.
17:01 I mean, he's...
17:01 I mean, he is doing okay.
17:04 I thought he would play more this year.
17:06 I thought he would be more of a factor.
17:07 - He's more on the in case of an emergency, stay ready.
17:10 - Yeah, I think he's had...
17:11 I mean, without question, I think he's kind of had a disappointing season.
17:18 I don't think anybody would deny that.
17:20 He has not made the impact that people thought he would kind of fill in for Grant Williams
17:24 and be that Grant Williams guy.
17:26 He's had flashes here and there, but not where I think that he's gonna be a healthy part
17:33 or consistent part of the rotation in the playoffs.
17:37 I mean, I could say Peyton Pritchard, but I feel like those guys are all comfortable
17:43 on their roles.
17:43 I could say Hauser because there are times Hauser can go 0 for 6, right?
17:50 And he gets open looks.
17:52 And your question is, well, what does he do to stay on the floor besides hit threes?
17:58 And he's got to...
17:59 - He's doing more these days.
18:01 - Defend, rebound, do little things.
18:03 And I think he's trying.
18:04 I'm not saying he's not giving effort.
18:06 But can you play him long stretches, extended stretches if he's not knocking down shots?
18:15 Because he's going to get open shots.
18:17 And if he does get defended, he is going to leave someone else open for a shot or someone
18:23 with single coverage or the defense has to play him honest.
18:27 So I think he's got to hit threes to stay on the floor.
18:31 And I'm not talking about 5.
18:33 He ain't got to be Steph.
18:34 But 2 for 6, 2 for 5, just 3 for 6, that type of thing.
18:40 Hit knocking down threes to keep the defense honest.
18:45 You see how much a three-point shooter...
18:49 Like the other night, you get in Portland, the kid, the big kid, Heath, right?
18:55 I don't know if you watched that game.
18:57 He hit two threes because they left him alone because they're like, "You're 7 foot.
19:02 And you don't look like a shooter."
19:05 And he hit two threes.
19:06 Suddenly, they had to come out on him.
19:08 You see the impact that shooters have.
19:12 And you can see the impact that Hauser has.
19:15 It's just that Hauser has to respond to that attention by knocking down those threes consistently.
19:21 And I'm not talking about that stuff before.
19:23 You don't have to go 4 for 5 or 6 for 8 every night.
19:27 But just 2 for 5, 3 for 6.
19:30 Like knock down 40% of those joints and you'll be fine.
19:34 Yeah, Reef is an interesting player from the Sudan, but played at, I think, LSU.
19:41 And played at a small college before that.
19:44 Dude, 27 years old.
19:45 So he's been in the game a minute.
19:47 He's been in the game a minute.
19:48 Staying along those lines of the Stay Ready crew, you two mentioned concerns and difference-makers.
19:55 But thinking about minutes now, who do you-- and it could be overlapping answers-- but
20:01 who do you think we'll see more of in the playoffs than we do now?
20:04 And who do you think could possibly have less minutes in the playoffs that we might be seeing
20:09 more of at this moment in time?
20:11 What you got, Gary?
20:13 Or will it even change?
20:14 Is Joe Mazzuola just ramping up for the playoffs and we already know?
20:20 Yeah, I think you're going to see less, maybe Pritchard, a little slightly less, maybe Cornette.
20:30 They might go to Tillman because of his playoff experience a little bit more.
20:35 Obviously, Horford's going to be the first guy off the bench.
20:39 I don't know.
20:41 I mean, I'm not saying slash Peyton's minutes.
20:45 I just don't know.
20:46 I just think they're going to go with the starters for longer.
20:49 The Derricks and the Drews.
20:51 So I don't think you're going to see as much Peyton and Sam and Luke.
20:55 And I think that they might figure out, depending on matchups, whether to go to Tillman or whether
21:02 to go to Cornette in certain situations.
21:05 I think it's going to be kind of interchangeable depending on who's in the game.
21:10 Remember, as much as Tillman's a tough guy, he's underside.
21:14 He's 6'8".
21:15 He's not 6'11".
21:17 OK?
21:18 He's not that guy that Luke-- I stood next to him last night.
21:21 He was a 7'4".
21:22 He's a tall guy.
21:24 So that's a difference, too.
21:28 Does Tillman have-- he has the strength.
21:31 He has the grown man's strength without question.
21:34 But does he have the size in terms of height and length to help stop a yo-kick or a guy
21:41 who's 6'10", 6'11", 7 feet from getting the shot off?
21:46 You might be able to push him out the block, but if you could just turn around and shoot
21:50 over him, that might not work.
21:52 So Luke might get some minutes because of his length, because of his ability to rebound,
21:57 and because he can be a rim protector.
22:00 No, I think the guy who's going to see the drop in minutes is going to be Peyton.
22:04 When you just look at where this team's ultimate strength is, it's on a perimeter.
22:10 When you look at Drew, you look at D. White, you look at Jalen Brown, you know, Tatum is--
22:15 you know, plays, you know, initiator offensively as well.
22:19 So Peyton, I think, is going to see his minutes cut.
22:22 But-- and it has nothing to do with him playing poorly or anything, just the opposite.
22:26 He's giving them reason to think about how can we get him on the floor more, because
22:29 he's been playing really well the last month or so.
22:32 Peyton is a guy, I think, his minutes are going to fluctuate.
22:36 I think there are going to be stretches where when he's feeling it, I think Joe's going
22:39 to ride him a little bit longer and his minutes are going to be up into the high teens, low
22:43 20s.
22:43 And in those games, you might see Drew Holliday's minutes down to the mid to high 20s or maybe
22:49 low 20s.
22:50 But more times than not, he's probably going to be in that low to mid teens and be impactful
22:58 in those minutes.
22:59 That's the thing about Peyton Pritchard at this point.
23:01 He's found a way to do the one thing that he was drafted to do, and that's make shots.
23:06 Because of just, frankly, he ain't that big, there's not a lot more he can give you.
23:13 He's not going to lock people up defensively because he's not built for that.
23:16 He doesn't have this great size advantage.
23:18 In fact, just the opposite.
23:19 He's not a traditional playmaker as far as bringing the ball up and initiating offense
23:24 and getting the ball in spots where guys can knock down shots.
23:27 So the only thing he really can give them consistently that they could absolutely use
23:32 from that second unit is his scoring.
23:34 And I think more times than not, he's going to bring that into playoffs.
23:38 I just don't think they're going to lean on him to provide that for extended period of
23:42 time.
23:42 Because of that, his minute is maybe more than anyone else on that stay ready crew is
23:47 going to be cut noticeably.
23:49 Okay, okay.
23:53 So moving along, the final thing that we have on the rundown is a segment that I'm going
23:59 to now call checking in on our exes.
24:02 What?
24:05 So controversial.
24:06 Are you sure you want to do this, Quanie?
24:11 No, no, no, we're not checking on him.
24:12 This is something you really, you really need to?
24:18 I'm using the podcast for ill intentions.
24:20 No, absolutely not.
24:21 That was a joke.
24:22 We're actually talking about the Celtics exes.
24:24 We're talking about Isaiah Thomas, his return to the Utah G League team.
24:29 He actually played Tuesday night in front of a lot of Boston Celtics staffers, including,
24:34 of course, head coach Joe Mazzulla.
24:36 Gary, you actually had a chance to talk to him.
24:39 So let's just get your perspective on that conversation, and then we'll talk a little
24:44 bit more about the Celtics ex Isaiah Thomas.
24:47 Well, I mean, you know, the G League is the G League.
24:52 So it was a 1030 AM game the morning before the Celtics jazz game.
24:58 It was at the same place, the Delta Center.
25:00 And it was Isaiah just kind of like, it's hard to determine, okay, well, he looks like
25:09 he could play for the NBA.
25:10 I think if you put him in an NBA game, he'll figure out a way to contribute, okay?
25:15 Will he drop 29 and will it be, you know, fourth quarter Isaiah?
25:22 And I don't know about that, but I think if you threw him in an atmosphere where he is
25:27 in a game with pros, he is going to figure out something to do.
25:32 He knows what he's doing out there.
25:35 It was good to see him on the court.
25:38 I think that's where the sanctuary is.
25:40 I don't think he's ready to retire.
25:43 Some guys at 35, he just turned 35.
25:45 It doesn't seem like that long ago, you know, he was 26, 27, killing for the Celtics.
25:50 You know, now he's 35 and, you know, 30 somethings in the league aren't really welcomed
26:00 anymore unless, you know, you can be a good locker room guy.
26:03 And I think Isaiah can check all the boxes.
26:07 He can still score.
26:08 He was trying to be a leader.
26:10 He was talking to people.
26:11 He was talking to his teammates.
26:13 He is not there just to put up numbers and get away from me.
26:17 You're beneath me, you 19-year-old, you know, undrafted player.
26:22 Like, he's not doing that.
26:23 He's not sunning anybody.
26:25 He's not putting anybody down.
26:28 Yeah, he's not putting anybody down.
26:30 He's not doing any of that, right?
26:35 He's being a real leader out there, a real mentor for a lot of these young guys.
26:40 It's good to see.
26:41 Now, how long does he want to do this and be, you know, does he want to do it into the
26:47 summer?
26:48 Does he want to try to play?
26:49 Like, it's interesting to see what's going to, this is going to come to.
26:52 I just think it's a good opportunity for him to ball, show one team, all it takes is one
26:57 team.
26:57 We literally just saw, and I put my story, we saw Todd Gibson sign a 10-day with the
27:03 Detroit Pistons.
27:04 I mean, my goodness.
27:05 Like, it's possible for him to get back into the league.
27:09 The Celtics have an open roster spot.
27:11 I mean, I wouldn't keep my hopes up for the Celtics.
27:15 It's a great story.
27:17 It would sound good.
27:19 Do I think Isaiah would be great in the locker room?
27:24 Yep.
27:24 Do I think he would do whatever they asked?
27:27 Yep.
27:28 Do I think he would, like, be a good mentor for Peyton Pritchard?
27:31 Yep.
27:32 Do I think he would check all the boxes?
27:34 If you're clamoring to get, if the players are calling Blake Griffin to come back, and
27:41 Blake wouldn't put giving them much on the floor.
27:44 It was because he's a great locker room guy.
27:47 And if they're doing that, then why not Isaiah?
27:52 And I'm not talking about, like, somebody got something against Isaiah.
27:55 It probably won't happen.
27:56 It's something you should consider if you're not going to do anything with that roster
27:59 spot.
28:00 Now, if you're going to convert Cata to a full-time NBA deal, right?
28:05 If you're going to do that, OK.
28:06 If you're going to use that roster spot for someone, if there's someone else on the street
28:11 that you're like, someone in the G League who's a free agent, who's not tied to a team,
28:17 and you're like, that guy could potentially help us.
28:20 But if you're just going to add someone, and they're going to sit around like Blake probably
28:26 would, why not Isaiah?
28:28 So I don't think it's a terrible idea.
28:30 I think that the Celtics are kind of over it.
28:33 In all honesty, I think Brad Stevens loves Isaiah and would love to see him back in the
28:39 league.
28:39 But it's like, listen, man, we didn't move on.
28:41 So it's a tough situation.
28:44 You can see the Celtics side of it.
28:46 We don't want to mess up this chemistry.
28:47 What kind of impact would he have in the locker room?
28:52 We have a good locker room already.
28:56 Isaiah is not going to be the guy who's going to sit in the corner and be quiet.
28:59 So will that have any negative impact on anyone?
29:04 I can see the Celtics saying that.
29:07 But to me, if the Heat kept-- Udonis has them around all those years.
29:11 If all these-- I don't think it's a bad idea.
29:14 And I think he can still play.
29:16 Is he going to drop a 29?
29:21 No.
29:21 Can he come in and play mop-up minutes?
29:24 Yeah.
29:26 You know, but it all depends on-- I think it all depends on what the league thinks.
29:32 The league might be a little tired of him.
29:34 Say, hey, you know, the league might say-- want him to go, like, oh, Isaiah, he had a
29:40 great career.
29:41 Now go do something-- or go overseas, like Kemba did, right?
29:45 And Kemba's a year younger than Isaiah.
29:49 So that might have to be his next move.
29:52 But it was awesome to see him.
29:54 Awesome to talk to him.
29:55 Awesome to see his spirit.
29:56 He's still a great guy.
29:57 He was a fun guy to cover.
29:59 But I'm rooting for him.
30:01 And I think it's worth noting also, he said he still has love for the Celtics.
30:06 And with the Utah team, the Stars, he also kind of reunites with Danny Ainge as well.
30:13 But to your point, it sounds like-- Sherrod, what do you think?
30:16 Do you think there's a chance, a door that could possibly be opened for him to reemerge
30:21 in the NBA?
30:22 Well, I think that there's definitely a chance of that happening.
30:25 But I think as each day passes, that door comes closer to closer to being slammed shut.
30:30 And Gary touched on it earlier.
30:33 It's his age.
30:34 The NBA is a young man's league.
30:37 And they have artificially designated basically 30 and under is considered the type of players
30:44 that they believe--
30:44 It's agents, OK?
30:46 As a 30-something-year-old.
30:47 Yeah, yeah.
30:48 No, Quani, it's all right.
30:49 Come on over.
30:50 We got you.
30:51 We got a spot for you.
30:52 Thank you.
30:52 But the thing about Isaiah Thomas is this.
30:56 If you're the Celtics, I think there's some very fundamental questions you've got to ask
30:59 yourself.
31:00 First and foremost, do we have a roster spot available that we don't have an intention
31:04 of using?
31:05 And if the answer to that question is yes, then you have to consider, does he have enough
31:09 in the tank to potentially help you in an absolute--
31:13 in case of emergency, we got to throw somebody out there who can get a bucket or two.
31:17 Yes, he still has that in him.
31:18 And is he a guy that can blend in with your culture as it stands?
31:23 And I think he can, because this is the one thing that people, I think, kind of lose sight
31:27 of with guys like Isaiah Thomas.
31:29 It's not that he wants to play over the guys ahead of him.
31:34 It's just that in his career, most of the guys that played ahead of him, he was better
31:38 than them.
31:38 He could do more.
31:40 But if he's coming to the Celtics and he's saying, Drew Holiday, yeah, Drew's kind of
31:45 better than me.
31:46 Derek White, yeah, bigger and better than me.
31:49 Jalen Brown, no straight up-- yes, he's better than me.
31:52 And so at that point, it's like when you have three guys who play on a perimeter that you
31:58 play on, and you know in your heart of hearts that they, at this stage of their career,
32:03 are better than you, you're not tripping that they're getting minutes over you.
32:07 Because you know, realistically, they're in position to help perform.
32:11 I think at this point, he just wants to hoop.
32:14 And as crazy as that sounds, he wants to hoop at the highest level.
32:18 And for him, that is playing in the NBA.
32:22 He's shown what he can do with an opportunity.
32:24 When he was in Phoenix before he came to Boston, he was part of this weird guard rotation
32:30 where I think it was him and Bledsoe, and I think there was another guard--
32:33 - Goran Drogic.
32:34 - Goran Drogic, right.
32:35 They were all kind of basically, you know, it was like point guard roulette with those
32:40 guys.
32:41 He comes to Boston, and Danny Ainge is like, "Well, you're going to come off the bench
32:45 and give us that instant offense."
32:46 And then Marcus Smart got hurt.
32:48 He goes to the starting lineup.
32:50 And the rest, as they say, is history.
32:51 And to his credit, all he wanted in all of those instances is an opportunity.
32:58 And when he has had an opportunity to show what he can do, more times than not, he has
33:03 exceeded whatever your expectations are for him.
33:05 It would not shock me if the Celtics were to go out and add him, and he somehow finagles
33:12 his way into, you know, seeing more than just mop-up duty.
33:15 Not-- he's not going to be a starter, nothing like that.
33:17 But he could-- I could actually see a scenario where he could be someone that gives him a
33:23 little bit more than just mop-up duty.
33:24 And again, it goes back to something Gary touched on earlier about playoff experience
33:28 and why you can't dismiss the fact that Tillman has shown himself to be a little bit more
33:34 reliable in a postseason than, let's say, a Lou Cornette.
33:37 You can't pretend as if that doesn't exist.
33:39 And just like you can't pretend if you add a guy like Isaiah Thomas that his playoff
33:44 experience can't be of some benefit, whether it's on the floor or inside the locker room.
33:48 When guys were lobbying for Blake Griffin, one of the things that, you know, was really
33:54 important when Blake was here was the relationship he built up with Peyton Pritchard.
33:59 That-- those two talked a lot.
34:01 And Peyton has credited, you know, Blake for helping him get through a very tough stretch
34:07 there where he wasn't playing and he wasn't-- you know, he just wasn't in a place that a
34:13 young guy wants to be.
34:14 And then his contract was coming up.
34:15 And so he had a lot of things going on.
34:17 And Blake was that voice of reason that kind of helped him navigate through that.
34:21 Isaiah Thomas can be that for some of these guys on his team.
34:24 He could be that guy for Peyton.
34:25 Or he could be that guy, you know, when Tatum is trying to understand, like, look, I'm
34:30 getting 27-5 and 5 and folks act like I'm garbage.
34:33 Isaiah can help him understand that's part of the process because Isaiah has literally
34:38 been in those shoes before.
34:40 And so to me, it makes a lot of sense if you were to add in.
34:44 But again, if you're looking for what's the best thing from a pure talent standpoint for
34:49 your team, I-- if it were me, if I were Brad, I would convert Tatum's contract to a guaranteed
34:55 one because that's a guy that I see potentially helping us not only in the playoffs this year,
35:01 but going forward.
35:02 You know, he's-- basically, he's a longer, I think, a little-- slightly more athletic
35:07 version, less offensively skilled version of Cornette.
35:10 And Tillman is kind of, you know, that kind of undersized in-between guy.
35:16 He can defend bigs, but he's going to be undersized.
35:20 And there are going to be nights where, you know, when he's playing against, you know,
35:23 a Joel Embiid, for example, he can hang with him for a little bit.
35:26 But at some point, Joel is just going to be a look, I'm 7'1" and you're like, maybe 6'8".
35:30 I just got to get the ball to block and just shoot right over you.
35:32 Or I just got to stand on a three-point line and just bang, bang, bang away.
35:37 Because you're not going to block my shot.
35:38 You're too little.
35:39 Too little.
35:41 So that was for you, Gary.
35:44 -Amazing.
35:44 -You said bang, bang, bang.
35:46 -Bang, bang, bang.
35:47 -Oh, God, here you go.
35:49 -Here he goes again.
35:51 -You know, you're Craig's daddy now.
35:54 Anyway.
35:54 -I hate Gary.
35:56 I hate Gary so much.
35:58 -Looking ahead, the Celtics are back at home on Thursday.
36:02 They'll be playing Phoenix.
36:03 Chris Absporzing is his outlet, a right-string, hamstring, sprain.
36:07 After that, they play Washington in Washington and in Detroit on Monday.
36:12 Does anything stand out to you looking ahead to next week?
36:14 Milwaukee is next Wednesday, which I think will obviously be, hopefully, an exciting matchup.
36:20 But anything stand out before we wrap up?
36:23 -They got a couple of cream puffs in between some really meaty teams.
36:27 -Cream puffs, so don't take them lightly.
36:31 -And the thing that the Celtics do, though, they have done this consistently.
36:35 They have not allowed bad teams to just look like world beaters.
36:39 They've had a couple of exceptions, couple exceptions.
36:41 But for the most part, they've handled their business.
36:43 I mean, in Portland, that was a business trip.
36:46 Portland never-- watching that game,
36:49 I never felt Portland was going to win that game,
36:51 even though there were moments where, you know,
36:53 Scoot Henderson did a couple nice things.
36:55 You know, your boy Reefer, you know, he did a couple nice things.
36:59 And, you know, Simons is good.
37:02 Simons is really-- he's going to be a really good player.
37:04 But it never manifested itself collectively to where you felt like,
37:08 "Oh, wow, Portland might win this game."
37:09 It was more like, "Oh, wow, Portland might keep this game closer than we thought."
37:13 -Yeah.
37:13 -So, no, I just-- this is a stretch for the Celtics again.
37:18 I just think that they're going to go about handling their business,
37:21 make sure all the core guys stay healthy,
37:24 and just, you know, get a chance to evaluate some of those guys in that Stay Ready crew
37:27 to see if-- do we need to make any adjustments from the--
37:30 in case of emergency, Stay Ready crew.
37:33 That's, to me, that's the O'Shea preset.
37:35 There's two-- there's two levels.
37:37 It's almost like-- like international soccer teams,
37:41 where you've got different levels.
37:42 -Oh, yeah.
37:43 -Stay Ready is like Luke, is like Sam, is like Peyton.
37:48 In case of emergency, you need to Stay Ready.
37:50 That's right below that.
37:51 You've got O'Shea, you've got my man Tillman,
37:54 who's probably at the head of that-- that-- that food chain.
37:56 And the Celtics, I think the next couple weeks,
37:59 just need to figure out, do we need to make any changes?
38:02 Do we need to move someone up, someone down?
38:04 Do we just, you know, keep it as is?
38:06 This is an opportunity these next couple of weeks,
38:08 I think, for them to really take a closer look at guys like Tillman,
38:11 guys like O'Shea, you know, Luke,
38:13 and those guys to see what they can do.
38:15 But like the Peyton and Sam houses, they ain't going nowhere.
38:18 Those guys are going to play in a plus.
38:20 They may not play as many minutes as they're used to,
38:21 but they are definitely going to be playing.
38:23 -Great analogy.
38:26 Well, until then, Gary--
38:28 -What's going on, Gary?
38:29 Was that one OK with you, Gary?
38:31 -Yeah, Gary.
38:31 -You do too, Gary.
38:33 Was that OK?
38:33 -That-- none of that, no-- no, bang, bang, bang.
38:37 Oh, John Willis Moon.
38:40 Anyway, yeah.
38:44 I think the Phoenix game tomorrow will be a tough one.
38:48 The first game back from a road trip at home is always the toughest game.
38:52 Phoenix has had two days off in Boston.
38:54 They haven't played since Monday,
38:56 so they're going to be well-rested.
38:58 I think they get-- obviously, they're getting--
38:59 Devin Booker will be in that game.
39:01 He wasn't in the first matchup last weekend.
39:04 So I think that's going to be a game for the Celtics.
39:06 It'll be probably one of the harder games
39:08 in the last few weeks for the Celtics
39:10 because Phoenix feels like,
39:11 "Hey, we could have won it.
39:12 We could have won the last matchup.
39:14 Now we got Devin Booker.
39:15 We got some days off.
39:17 The Celts coming off that road trip.
39:19 No Porzingis in that game.
39:21 The hamstring now, I think, is his fourth straight game.
39:24 He both missed, so we'll see how that goes in terms of his health.
39:28 We were told that it doesn't seem to be a long-term injury.
39:32 So-- but obviously, they're giving him plenty of rest.
39:36 And then, obviously, Detroit and Washington are back-to-back.
39:39 You know, teams-- games you got to win.
39:42 You can't let down--
39:44 And their magic number to clinch the East is eight.
39:48 And that's not-- that means they can do that--
39:52 if they do what they're supposed to do,
39:54 they can do that maybe in a week or so.
39:57 That they can clinch, you know, in March, the Eastern Conference.
40:02 - That's crazy.
40:03 - You know, if they do, you know, Milwaukee
40:07 or whoever's in second place at all.
40:09 I think Milwaukee is kind of alternating--
40:11 - It's March left.
40:12 - But if the Celtics take care of their business,
40:16 Milwaukee or Cleveland loses, you know,
40:20 a couple of games here and there,
40:22 they can lock that in with two to three weeks almost left in the season.
40:26 So take care of your business if you're the Celtics.
40:30 Focus on Detroit and Washington.
40:32 Don't take them lightly.
40:33 Don't be that team that loses to the Pistons.
40:39 - Sherrod's-- you know, Sherrod's--
40:41 - Man, I mean, it's to the point where, man,
40:45 you got my man Troy Weaver getting into it with fans.
40:47 - Yeah, that's bad.
40:48 - And Troy, my guy, I love Troy.
40:50 Troy Weaver, that's-- that's fam.
40:53 It's rough in Detroit.
40:56 I mean, the streets of Detroit are rough.
40:57 - It's cold out there to be--
40:59 - The basketball streets of Detroit are pretty damn rough right now too.
41:02 - Right.
41:03 - The basketball streets are pretty rough too, man, so.
41:06 - It's cold out there in the D.
41:09 - It is, man.
41:11 - Man.
41:11 - Man.
41:12 - Man.
41:13 - Sending them all the love that they can possibly get.
41:16 - They're my people, man.
41:18 - Well--
41:18 - Damn, my people struggling.
41:19 - Look, you gotta go help your people out, Sherrod.
41:23 But until next week, this has been the Big Three NBA Podcast.
41:27 For H.R. Blakely and Gary Washburn, I'm Quanie Lewis.
41:31 Thank you for listening and we'll be back.
41:33 (upbeat music)

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