How Did the NBA Let the Celtics Sign Lonnie Walker w/ Steve Bulpett | Celtics Beat

  • 2 months ago
Steve Bulpett is a Senior NBA Writer for Heavy Sports and Heavy.com. Steve joins the show to chat about NBA front offices asleep at the wheel, Jayson Tatum's maturation, and Lonnie Walker's potential impact.


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Transcript
00:00Celtics is brought to you by Price Picks and the Game Time app.
00:06Hey everybody, welcome in, it is a new edition of Celtics Beat, great to be with you, Adam
00:11Kaufman, Evan Valenti, we're always here, our special guest today, Steve Bulpette from
00:14Heavy.com.
00:15Steve, welcome, it's good to see you again, been a bit.
00:19Is Valenti throwing up gang signs over here?
00:21He's a, yeah, he's always like whatever, I don't know, I, he's, we're going to have a
00:27secret Zoom handshake or something like that, that won't be a secret because everybody will
00:31see it obviously, but we should, yeah, I mean, we haven't been in person in years, we, actually
00:36we had, there was the little stopgap for an afternoon last year, but other than that,
00:40we haven't been in person in years, so maybe, maybe we can come up with something to make
00:44the people happy.
00:45I think something that will make everyone happy, Steve, is that basketball is right
00:49around the corner, not that it ever really went away between the Celtics' very long season
00:53playing all, basically through June and onward to a championship and the parade and the celebration
00:58that followed and everything like that, and you have Summer League and obviously the Olympics,
01:03which was a lot of fun, a lot to talk about as it related to the Celtics, and I know you've
01:08written about the Olympics, otherwise known as Jason Tatum's vacation.
01:12Yes, exactly, and you wrote about that a couple of weeks back on Heavy and Jared Weiss over
01:17at The Athletic and New York Times wrote something this week, talking with Tatum about sort of
01:22his reflections of that time.
01:24I would certainly recommend people go out, read both pieces, but you know, September
01:28is basically here at this point, and we're, you know, rapidly approaching training camp
01:34and obviously preseason games, and then late October, you know, just before Halloween,
01:38boom, season's going to be underway and here we go again.
01:41So one thing that I want to start with, and we can get back to sort of the Tatum stuff
01:44and Olympics and all of that, there's been a lot of conversation on this show and elsewhere
01:49pertaining to Jalen Brown's feud with Nike and the Olympic committee, and obviously
01:58he wins the multiple MVPs in the playoffs, but isn't first team or even second team or
02:02third team, all NBA, Tatum with the benchings and just a lot, you know, not winning MVP,
02:10either conference finals or NBA finals, a lot of, boy, these guys are motivated and
02:14how are they going to respond?
02:16One thing we haven't spent a lot of time on here on this program just yet, and I think
02:20a lot of people have been so sort of preoccupied with all of those other stories that they
02:26haven't fully gotten here yet, but I think it's a good storyline going into the year
02:30and it's going to be a talking point early in the season, depending on how Boston starts,
02:34is for years it's been, are the Celtics good enough?
02:38Do they have the right makeup?
02:40How do they get over the hump?
02:41You know, all of these things.
02:43Now that they've won though, it's going to be, how does Boston handle being the hunted
02:48and being that team that everyone is trying to catch and knock off?
02:53And they've re-signed everyone and they've got this window now, if new ownership, whenever
02:56that comes down the line, doesn't sell off pieces, you know, there's, there's a real
03:00potential here for banner 19, 20, 21, who knows, you know, if Celtics fans are out there
03:05dreaming big, how do you think that this team, given some of the off season drama does respond
03:12to being the hunted in the new year?
03:17I think, I think, look, they've been a really good team for a long time and they, this year
03:28for several reasons, it was just a matter that they didn't screw it up.
03:32I mean, you go back to the, the conference finals against, against Cleveland, was that
03:4118?
03:42Yeah.
03:43Yeah.
03:44I mean, that team was, first of all, get game seven on your home floor and the Warriors
03:56were very concerned about the Celtics that year because the Celtics were able to switch
04:03things.
04:04Trust me when I tell you this here, they were really, they were rooting hard for the Cavaliers
04:10in that game seven.
04:13And so the Celtics have been good enough for a long time.
04:16And I think they've been hunted for a long time, but it was just a matter of like getting
04:21in their own way.
04:22The Cavaliers, the Warriors, part of them was surprised they were able to do what they
04:28did to the Celtics in the finals a couple of years ago.
04:31You know, they just kind of bullied them in a lot of ways.
04:33They put a lot of pressure on Tatum and got physical and things happened.
04:39So they've been in this case, this situation before.
04:43I think the fact that they've got the confidence that, Hey, we didn't screw it up.
04:48We didn't let the ball dribble through our legs.
04:51You know, they've got that and they're going to have to deal with expectation.
04:58And I think that's going to be good because they're going to be, you know, they're not
05:02going to be able to walk in and think, well, which is another game.
05:07They're going to be the team that is going to be challenged and how do they respond to
05:11a challenge?
05:12And they've got enough guys, I think that respond well to challenges.
05:16We'll see.
05:18Yeah, I agree with that.
05:19And having a group of guys that have been through a lot of things together, you know,
05:25now that with Drew and Chris Stapps coming in as new pieces, that's kind of a little
05:30different.
05:31I'll get to that in a second.
05:32But you have a lot of continuity on this team.
05:33One of the things that I've bragged about for years about this particular core is it's
05:37been pretty much the same, you know, minus a piece or two here and there.
05:42So they've been able to grow and learn together.
05:45Then you add a Drew Holiday, who I've since the playoffs have started, I probably haven't
05:50stopped talking about just because of the maturity level and how good he is on both
05:55ends.
05:56I just didn't fully understand Drew Holiday's experience until watching him this year, understanding
06:01exactly everything he does on the floor.
06:03It just feels like there's a different level of professionalism now with these guys.
06:07I mean, you hear Tatum talk about it in that piece that Adam just talked about in terms
06:12of, yeah, we already, you know, we got fit for our rings and we talked about, you know,
06:17ring night's going to be kind of different, but that second game, we need to be ready
06:20to rock because as you said, we're going to be the hunted now.
06:24And it feels like to me, Steve, one of my favorite parts about this group has been able
06:29to watch them grow from when you're standing, obviously going into this season, there is
06:35a, it feels to me like there's a different level of maturity with, with these guys.
06:40Do you concur with that?
06:41Yeah, I think, well, look, I think I wrote weeks ago that, yeah, it was a lot of weeks
06:50ago now, I guess it's been a while, uh, that the, here's the question, did Tatum and Brown,
06:58what came first?
06:59Did they start trusting your teammates or did their teammates get good?
07:03Did they get better teammates?
07:05The answer I came up with was who the, you have a seven second delay here, who the exploitive
07:12deleted cares, you know, um, but cause that's the thing.
07:16And you mentioned drew holiday and I wrote a story this year because it just, I just
07:23kept coming back to this one thing.
07:26How the hell is he played for like all these different teams?
07:29I mean, the fact that he's been built around the league to me is the clear sign, the clear
07:38bright flashing sign that the NBA needs to start drug testing its front offices.
07:45I don't get how, I mean, you get a guy like him, you say, okay, you're not going anywhere.
07:50Take all the money you want.
07:52You're not going anywhere because he's so much more than just what numbers he puts up.
07:57Um, you know, you look at when they made the initial trade last summer to get Porzingis,
08:06my questions were then, and we might've even talked about it here.
08:10Tell me how, how healthy Porzingis is going to be.
08:13And tell me how the Sox are going to do defensively and just kind of basketball soul wise without
08:20Marcus smart.
08:22And then they, they get the opportunity to make the trade for drew holiday and it's like
08:29problem solved.
08:31Um, I mean, clearly the bucks, you know, are in need of a dope slap.
08:39I mean, how do you make that move?
08:41First of all, making that move, knowing what it's going to cost you defensively when you,
08:47when you trade, you know, you're going to get a help offensively, I'm sure perhaps with
08:53Dame Lillard, uh, but it's going to cost you defense because they're going to, when you
08:57get to, if they got deeper into the playoffs, you're going to, you would just watch teams
09:01target Lillard and it wouldn't have been pretty, but to not think about, okay, we're going
09:07to, we're trading drew holiday to the Portland trailblazers who are trying to play for the
09:12future who really don't need a drew holiday right now.
09:16What are they going to do with him?
09:18To what's going to happen with him and realizing that he could, he would be a perfect person
09:23to come to the Celtics.
09:25You know, if you're in the box and you realize, if you'd have thought about it, you couldn't
09:29make that trade for Lillard with the possibility that, or with the eventuality, you know, he's
09:35going to come to Boston.
09:36Do you think there's regret on the part of the bucks making, you know, that, that series
09:43of moves?
09:44Because I, I look at it and say, you know, they kind of, they felt anyway, I don't know
09:51if this is true, but they felt they had to make that move for Lillard independent of
09:56obviously ultimately costing them holiday and he goes to Boston, wins a championship,
10:00all of that.
10:01They had to make the move for Lillard because it was one of those pieces or dominoes of
10:07we need to do whatever it is to keep you on as happy and keep him here.
10:10You know, we can't risk him wanting to leave, you know, asking for a trade or waiting out
10:15his contract and leaving or whatever it is like, you know, we need to bring in, if he's
10:19one a, we've got to bring in another team's one.
10:21We've got to bring in a one B and we'll see what it looks like.
10:24And hopefully we figure it out.
10:25And obviously it didn't look great last year under Doc and company, but it still felt like
10:30sort of a, a necessary evil for the greater good of Milwaukee and Giannis.
10:36But I don't know, am I wrong about that?
10:37You talked to more execs around the league than I do, obviously.
10:41Let's put it on the board here.
10:42Let's do the math.
10:43Okay.
10:44Before the trade, you're the, look at the Bucs and the Celtics and say, how competitive
10:49are these two teams?
10:51If you're the Bucs, what are your chances against the Celtics of these two, and particularly
10:56after the trade for Porzingis with the Celtics not having Marcus Smart, okay.
11:04And you'd be looking at a backcourt, probably you'd be moving Jalen Brown back to the two
11:11spot or two, you know, to that basic defensive position anyway.
11:17How are you basically against the Celtics then you say, okay, we're, you know, we match
11:21up pretty well here.
11:22We've been competitive with them before, and this is going to be an interesting fight.
11:26Particularly now they don't have Marcus Smart to get in our way and to, you know, take charges
11:31and all that kind of thing.
11:35Now reshuffle and say, oh, here's where the Bucs with Dame Lillard, but without Drew Holiday
11:42against the Celtics with Drew Holiday.
11:47And you can't be excited about that matchup if you're the Bucs.
11:51So I mean, just, you know, you know, I say, okay, we're going to give you a math problem.
11:57Now show your work.
11:59If you did that on the board and did the, and worked it out, it's like, whoa, no, we
12:03can't do that.
12:04And, you know, you present that to Giannis and it's like, dude, this, it's not going
12:10to work here.
12:11The Bucs, they had to, you know, they had to hope some guys were healthy and they've
12:18got guys that are, I think, sneaky good that, you know, people don't talk about a whole
12:23lot, but Lopez is like a really good player for them.
12:26You know, having that kind of a five that can stretch and he's a strong guy, he'll get
12:30boards and all that stuff.
12:32But you know, thinking you're going to bring in that kind of offense with Lillard, first
12:37of all, he's got to be able to find a way to be complimentary with Giannis, which is
12:47its own set of difficulties, guys getting comfortable with each other, et cetera.
12:53Even if they want to, and they both look like they did, there wasn't any like, no, I'm the
12:58guy.
12:59No, I'm the guy.
13:00But it was still going to be difficult.
13:03And then you look at it and say, okay, now how bad have we hurt ourselves defensively?
13:10And that puts even more pressure on your offense to, you know, I do, we got to score like every
13:16possession here, you know, it's, you kind of be like the, you know, the Colorado football
13:22team, you know, you better score every time you have the football, right?
13:25Because you're going to be giving it up.
13:29I heard that last night, just as an aside, I heard that last night from Shador and I
13:32laughed.
13:33I was like, that's not a great mentality to have that we got to score that last night.
13:37He said it.
13:38He said it at halftime.
13:39He said that he said we have to, he said to the reporter, we have to score at every possession
13:42to win this game.
13:43And I was like, Oh my God, let's throw your whole defense under the bus, but like an email
13:49quote almost, you know, throwing everybody under the bus and then run everybody over
13:52with it.
13:53I said, what did I, yeah, that was, that's well used.
13:57It shows that, um, he's got a pretty strong grasp of it.
14:02He's a man of intellect for the people that are listening and watching.
14:07We had a very brief pregame conversation about the Colorado game, uh, versus North Dakota
14:14state on a Thursday night.
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15:52I do want to get back to the Celtics because I think it's funny that, you know, you talk
15:57about that trade and not thinking two steps ahead.
16:00And I, and I clearly minute the, the bucks from the minute they traded, didn't even consider
16:06the fact that some of us would get true holiday to trade.
16:10They didn't know that Brad Stevens had been asking, apparently according to Brad, Danny
16:14age for true holiday for years.
16:16Can you corroborate that?
16:17Do you know anything else behind that?
16:19Because you have a little bit more insight to the inner workings of Danny's front office.
16:23Because Brad seemed like pretty adamant.
16:25He goes, I've been asking Danny for years, how we would get ahold of true holiday.
16:28And now we finally brought him here.
16:30Yeah.
16:31I mean, you know, I, I've been a Marcus smart guy for a long time and just in terms of appreciating
16:39what he does, he he'll throw up a bad three and people will just, you know, go crazy.
16:47But if you look at the overall body of his work, like some guys, you know, are you, even
16:52when they're doing good things, it's not going to be poetic.
16:56It's not going to look great.
16:57And that's Marcus.
16:59But if I'm coaching and you know, the biggest thing you want, especially out of your point
17:05guard is some sense of certainty and Marcus to put it mildly could be just a tad mercurial.
17:15So that had to be a little bit interesting.
17:20I'd say in terms of things that caused Brad Stevens to reach for the digitalis, Marcus
17:28would be like chief among them, like, you know, okay, you know.
17:33So yeah, I can see him wanting a true holiday very badly.
17:36Hey, he wanted Mike Conley too, for a long time.
17:39There's a few guys that they've had, they had their eyes on.
17:43And I think, yeah, Holliday is one of them, but why, I don't understand why everybody
17:48wouldn't want, you know, I can understand why Portland made the trade and moved Drew
17:55Holliday.
17:56Look, they wanted Rob Williams, who if he can stay healthy and look, these have been
18:02traumatic injuries.
18:03If he can be something, you know, so things you can get over, if he comes back healthy,
18:09that's a great trade for Portland.
18:11You've got a guy that's a game changer under a good contract.
18:15Thank you very much.
18:16But everybody else, how do you get rid, how do you let a Drew Holliday out from your grasp?
18:23How are you as basketball people not see what he does for you, for teams, for your team?
18:31Again, beyond the numbers, it's just, you know, having that kind of a presence like
18:38a, look, Al Horf is another one.
18:41He does great stuff.
18:42You go to the numbers, that's good stuff there.
18:45But having someone in your dressing room that's playing a major role in your team that isn't
18:50saying, hey, give me this, give me that, but is playing a role, I mean, that's huge.
18:58We talked about, you know, in a pregame team, we're talking about mentioning the Spurs.
19:05And all these different things, and how the good players act is huge.
19:13If Tim Duncan doesn't let Greg Popovich yell at him, then tell me where the Spurs and Greg
19:22Popovich are.
19:23Pop has said, yeah, he's back coaching Division III, right?
19:27I mean-
19:28Brady Belichick, right?
19:29I mean, that's what people have said about that for years, too.
19:33When Tim Duncan allows Popovich to yell at him and responds properly and does, if you're
19:39any other player on that team, it's like, damn, our best player can get yelled at.
19:43You know, this is, it becomes acceptable.
19:47It doesn't, it's not a thing where guys are, damn, this coach doesn't, no, you've got to
19:51go along with the program.
19:53So those kind of things, those kind of relationships, I know we're getting kind of far afield here,
19:58but there's so much to appreciate with guys beyond just what you see on the floor.
20:05It's the mentality that they bring to their game that is huge.
20:10Having a guy like Derek White, who you had to actually goad into being a little bit more
20:15selfish, dude, take the shots, you know, that's huge.
20:22And it's, it alters a team's chemical makeup.
20:29And it's, you know, without those two guys being not only their physical talents, talking
20:35about White and Holiday, beyond their physical talents, just the way they approach the game,
20:41the way they play hard, and the way they play intelligently, are their Celtics nearly as
20:48good a team as we saw this year?
20:50I don't think so.
20:52I mean, that's, you know, it's not just their numbers, it's their approach and throwing
20:57Horford for three, and even Porzingis, you know, it's when people, when they made the
21:04trade for Porzingis, everyone around Boston's like, this guy is a stiff, he's, you know,
21:09always hurt.
21:10It's like, no, you don't look at everybody in context, right?
21:15If Christophe Porzingis is like your first or second best player, that's a whole lot
21:21of eggs to put in his basket, and that basket can get dropped pretty easily.
21:26But if he's like your third or fourth or whatever, you know, in that kind of context, that's
21:31huge.
21:32Well, I think what you're talking about, too, with all of those guys that you just mentioned,
21:37they're all, you know, largely at kind of different moments, phases, stages, what have
21:43you of their careers.
21:44They do fit under a similar umbrella, right?
21:47I mean, these, you know, I'll take Porzingis out of it for a moment, but the other three
21:51in particular, Holliday, White, and Horford, they're just basketball players.
21:56Like, these guys just, they're good, solid, seemingly could fit anywhere and thrive in
22:03a role kind of guys, and the only reason I say seemingly there is because I believe that
22:07of Holliday, I believe that of White.
22:10I did believe it of Horford until we saw how horribly he was misused with Philadelphia,
22:15so I'm not entirely sure I can keep him in that category, I'd like to, but these are,
22:20you know, it's just a trio of guys that there is, to your point, an utter, almost obscene
22:27selflessness among the three to where, you know, Holliday's at a stage where he's now
22:31won multiple championships, he's won a gold medal, he's, you know, he's been a scorer.
22:35He's never been a one, per se, but he's been a scorer.
22:38He's had that I'm the guy sort of stage of his career.
22:42Now he's in the twilight years, Horford as well, not that he was ever a, like this overwhelming
22:48all-star, but for Atlanta, he was, you know, kind of a, he was the pride free agent when
22:52the Celtics got him, and at that point in time was the biggest name free agent in terms
22:58of where he was at, the stage of his career, contract, all of it, that the Celtics had
23:02ever signed.
23:03I mean, that was a big deal for anyone that is, you know, either doesn't remember or is
23:06too young to remember.
23:07I mean, that was huge when, when Al Horford joined Boston and obviously set things in
23:12motion to where, you know, he would be replaced on, on that list by Gordon Hayward and, you
23:18know, almost Kevin Durant and, and some of these other guys along the way.
23:22But I just think there's, there's a really special, unique fit among these guys here
23:29to where, you know, yeah, I mean, they could work elsewhere and they have worked elsewhere,
23:32but it just works that much better together.
23:35There, again, the selflessness, but also the fact that there, there's a level of buy-in
23:41or what have you that, you know, when, when they know, when everybody knows Tatum and
23:48Brown or our 1A, 1B on whatever the given night, it may be interchangeable and every
23:52once in a while, if somebody's out holiday, you're going to have your night white, you're
23:56going to have your night once in a blue moon, Horford, you know, Porzingis, certainly you'll,
24:01you know, people, I may have already forgotten how instrumental he was in that, that you
24:07know, game that he returned in, in the playoffs after that long layoff.
24:11And I mean, just such a tone setter, obviously in that series.
24:14So they do, they have this, this collection of guys that I think sometimes we're guilty
24:19of overlooking kind of how masterfully Brad and Zarin and Austin and so many others put
24:29this group together.
24:32Brad said all along that he was looking for guys to, that would work well with Tatum and
24:38Brown, right.
24:40To compliment them.
24:42Like I'm sure you guys do too.
24:43I look at the little stuff.
24:47You had Jalen Brown coming back this year as the highest paid player in history or whatever,
24:53you huge bag.
24:55Okay.
24:56And he's in his head, partly it's there thinking I've got to prove I deserve this, which in
25:03some ways takes you away from, you know, the team thing, but you know, Hey, look, if he's
25:10hell bent on that and he's working his butt off and he's going to be making, he's going
25:14to be a better player because he's worked hard then let him, okay.
25:19How can we compliment where his head's at?
25:23So I look at also look at that situation and tell me how much, I'm not saying it was
25:30a huge thing, but tell me how much the relationship between Jalen Brown and Chris Absporzingus,
25:38what kind of, of an effect that had on this team, you know what I mean?
25:43Like their relationship playing with each other, like, you know, trying to compliment
25:49kind of taking Jalen and like, say, look, Hey, you know, here's your buddy.
25:57This is a buddy comedy and here we go.
26:01You know, those kinds of things work and then the part that gets left out, because I fully
26:05believe that Tatum should have shared the finals MVP with Jalen Brown.
26:14I think I wrote that they should have, it should have been four, four in voting.
26:16They should have either split the last vote or given it to the Leprechaun logo at center
26:22court, whatever.
26:23They should have found a way to split that award because although his numbers weren't
26:28what people thought they should be, Jason Tatum, you know, seeing the double teams,
26:35making the pass out of it, not just the assist, which were, you know, pretty impressive, but
26:41the pass to the person who makes the assist, that was huge stuff.
26:47And he wasn't doing that before.
26:50And that was a major key to this team being as unguardable as it was in most situations.
27:00So, you know, and I know I wrote a story about this.
27:04It drove me nuts to see these former NBA players on TV saying that Jason Tatum has to assert
27:14himself.
27:15He's got to be the alpha and he's got to score 30 points and it's like, no, he doesn't.
27:20You know, how dumb are you guys?
27:22Are you just, you know, trying to give a hot take to get your paycheck?
27:26That's crazy.
27:28He has to do the right thing in each situation.
27:32And if it's seeing a double team coming, among the things that really define Tim Duncan's
27:40greatness to bring him back into the picture was not just that he made the pass out of
27:44the double team, but he made the pass that killed you out of the double team.
27:49So I mean, you saw a lot more of that from Tatum this year.
27:53This whole thing of he's got to be, that's the kind of mentality that kills basketball
28:00teams.
28:01You know, if he comes in saying, I've got to score 35, you're screwed.
28:06It's, you know, again, maybe it's just guys realizing they have to say something boldly
28:14to, you know, because that's the way the medium works, TV, those shows.
28:20And if so, hey, great, you know, keep food on the table.
28:26But it's like in a basketball sense, no way.
28:30You know, it's just, that's ridiculous.
28:33I want to stick with that for a second, just because Tatum, I did a whole podcast with
28:37Jeff and about this, about how he's been a lightning rod for pretty much just NBA discussion
28:41this whole year and how frustrating it's become for guys who are like trying to watch the
28:47game and tell everybody what's actually happening versus, you know, Tatum scoring 30 a game.
28:53And obviously the Olympics had a lot to do with that.
28:55You wrote a piece on it.
28:56You had quotes from, you know, coaches and executives about, you know, what, what's going
29:01on with team USA.
29:02And you had a great bit about how it's Steve Kerr's team, you know, they asked him to coach
29:06this team.
29:07So he's going to coach it his way, et cetera, et cetera.
29:09I want to ask this way, because you're going to have that little conversation with Jared
29:13Weiss yesterday.
29:14How do you think Jason Tatum has handled all the noise that's around him this summer between,
29:21you know, not being alpha enough and not playing versus Serbia and playing sparingly?
29:26How do you think he's handled everything?
29:27Because it seems to me like he's entering this new phase of NBA superstardom where every
29:33like would like it or not, you're going to be talked about all the time in bad ways and
29:38good ways and sideways and everything.
29:41How do you think he's handling it so far as a 26 year old?
29:44I think well enough.
29:47I think the his best response after they get their jewelry, when that kind of question
29:54gets asked, his response should be, I make sure I hold up the right finger here.
30:00You know, check out this piece of check out this little bling here.
30:04Here's my response.
30:05You know that.
30:06Look, I know I've said this a billion times.
30:11If you go back, look, there wasn't a day in Bill Russell's life that Will Chamberlain
30:17wasn't a better individual basketball talent, better basketball decathlete.
30:27But Bill Russell understood the game in a way that will never fully grasp.
30:32So on one hand, you have Will Chamberlain being a colossus who would be an uber star
30:38today.
30:39You know, enough of this crap, JJ Reddick and Gilbert Arenas and whomever else wants
30:45to talk.
30:46Yes.
30:47Yeah.
30:48I'm sorry.
30:49Yeah.
30:50Antony, my God, dude, you're great.
30:51It's like, you know, with the old line, I'd rather keep my mouth shut and have people
30:54think I'm an idiot than open it and remove all doubt that in my life.
30:59So yeah.
31:01So but so Wilt is the colossus and Bill Russell is the greatest winner in the history of team
31:07sports.
31:08There's an object to the game.
31:11So, you know, if you're Jason Tatum, you know, say all you want about me.
31:20Here's what you know, there's some ceiling laundry there that I contributed to.
31:24And we're going to try to stitch some more of it, you know, that that would be the response
31:29and like and laugh at it because it's it's especially with social media, right?
31:36This is hot take society, you know, like, you know.
31:42You can do stuff now that I can finish this here and go on Twitter X, whatever Elon wants
31:49to call it today, and and say something ridiculously stupid.
31:55Not that I don't regularly anyway, but even more so.
32:00And you know, and people are going to respond.
32:02It's just crazy.
32:03But that's the thing.
32:05It's it doesn't mean, you know, what matters is what happens in the games and how you contribute
32:11to it and how how good a teammate you are.
32:14You know, yeah, I've spoken to like high school teams and stuff, and I went back to my school
32:21when I go back and teach at Dayton.
32:23And one year I talked to the basketball team and I said, look, you know, you'll win when
32:29you play for each other.
32:31You know, when when you're overriding feeling is I don't want to let the guy next to me
32:35down and he doesn't want to let me down.
32:38You get to that situation, you work harder on the court, in practice, in the weight room,
32:44in the classroom, even you start supporting each other.
32:47And that's how teams win.
32:49And that's how this Celtics team won, because they weren't just great individually, but
32:54they were great in a complementary sense.
32:57The corner threes that drew holiday was hitting that were daggers.
33:01Right.
33:02I mean, there weren't a ton of them, but when they came, they were a pretty sure bet and
33:08they were daggers that came because the team had space properly, because it had moved the
33:13ball well enough to get the defense rotating and going side to side.
33:18And the ball had gotten to him with with enough space to have a clean shot.
33:24You know, the other example I always use, I'm talking to guys is some one guy has a
33:31ball.
33:32He drives to the basket.
33:33His teammate seals off a defender and the guy goes in for a layup.
33:38OK, the guy that scored, he gets the two points.
33:42The guy that passed to him gets the assist.
33:44But who really scored the bucket here?
33:46The guy who did the seal gets no stat at all.
33:50But when when teams, the guys on the bench, when teams celebrate that kind of stuff, that's
33:55when you win.
33:56That's what wins games.
36:03Guys, before we wrap here, though, I do want to make sure that we mention there was some
36:10news pertaining to the Boston Celtics this week, a camp invite.
36:14Anyway, we'll see if he sticks around.
36:16Lonnie Walker, who has been with the Nets, Lakers, spent a little time with Spurs when
36:21Derek White was there as well.
36:24Intriguing move.
36:25Now, obviously, we're talking about if he even makes the team an end of the bench guy
36:29who could see some minutes.
36:30I mean, he's granted for a very bad Brooklyn Nets team, 17 minutes a game, something like
36:36that, and scored about 10 points.
36:38He's an excellent three-point shooter, really strong defender, tremendous athlete, all of
36:45it.
36:46I think he's a very natural fit with this team and Joe Mazzullo's crew, if obviously
36:51he does make the club.
36:53And roster spots are a little thin, hard to come by.
36:57I mean, they've only lost a couple of guys per set.
36:59And Spie, everybody else from last year, is back, plus, obviously, Shireman.
37:04We'll see what happens with, what is it, Walton, the second rounder that you love?
37:10It's not Watson.
37:11Watson.
37:12So, yeah, this is how much I care about him.
37:13But this team, you know, is, I think Lonnie Walker could be a good fit for what, you know,
37:20one for what they're looking to do, and I'm talking regular season when I say that.
37:24And knowing that there's just going to be sort of a depth climb, if you will, in that
37:31Porzingis is going to miss half the year.
37:33I mean, he's, you know, Horford's going to be sitting back-to-backs and have minutes
37:39limited and all of that.
37:40There's just, there's going to be a trickle-down.
37:42I know I just talked about Biggs, but there's going to be a trickle-down in terms of overall
37:46minutes that exist on this team.
37:47I think somebody like Walker would come in and be a good fit.
37:51I don't know how you guys feel about him and, you know, chances of even making the
37:55team to begin with, but what you think he brings, if in fact, Steve, he is here?
37:59Well, you talk about the guys that are going to be missing time and Horford, how they're
38:04going to play with him.
38:05I think basically what we're looking at this year is this is going to be the, you know,
38:10Nemeus Cato's campaign for Springfield.
38:13This is going to be it this year.
38:15He's going to be, this is his chance to make the Hall of Fame.
38:19The Lonnie Walker signing is like one of those perfect risk reward thing, you know,
38:27great potential reward, no risk.
38:30But realize this, if Lonnie Walker were better, more interested defensively, he wouldn't be
38:41available to the Celtics for an Exhibit 10 contract.
38:44So he's got to alter his thinking there and buy in and all those fun things.
38:51But yeah, he's there, you know, as a pretty nice insurance policy.
38:58If one of the wings gets hurt, if there's some kind of injury there and he's, you know,
39:04around, he's in your, he's in the fold, he's ready to go.
39:09So, you know, I think those are, it's a no brainer move.
39:16I'm kind of surprised and I'm not sure what other options were available to him, but,
39:22you know, I'm kind of surprised that he would take an Exhibit 10 from the Celtics.
39:28Yeah, I was, I was a little surprised and it was, I was going to, I was building towards
39:33this if we ever got to, I was like, we got to the, you know, how did the, how did the
39:38rest of the league let the Celtics trade for true holiday felt kind of similar here
39:43in a way of how is there not another team around the NBA that's, that's, that needs
39:48a depth piece.
39:49I'm looking at Lonnie Walker and say, Hey, let's give this guy a shot.
39:51Cause you know, I went back after the signing, I went back and watched that fourth quarter
39:55he had against golden state a few years ago where he scored 15 in LeBron after the game
39:59was, we don't win this game.
40:00No Lonnie Walker.
40:01I love, you know, it was a fun, fun little moment to get caught up in, but it's when
40:05I see something, how, how, how is Boston coming away with Lonnie Walker?
40:08I don't, I don't really get how everybody else in a league that's, again, we talked
40:12with this coffin.
40:13We've been talking about this for years in a league that's prioritizes wing depth and,
40:18and having so many guys that you can throw out there on the wing, how Lonnie Walker sit
40:23around.
40:24I really don't understand now.
40:25Yes.
40:26I know he has his deficiencies in certain places, but I was like, I saw the, the in with the
40:31contract, I'm like, what, what is going on?
40:33I have a hot take though, Steve.
40:35I have a hard time believing he's going to play in Maine.
40:37I just don't, I don't see how he doesn't, I mean, I know there are certain contractual
40:42things that might have to work around, but he's a, for your ninth, 10th on your bench,
40:48that's an extreme luxury.
40:49Yeah.
40:50I mean, he's a, I looked at it the same way I, I B when I saw that and it's, well, you
40:55could wind up in man, it's like, I don't think so, but you know, I'm, I'm wrong occasionally
41:02by only like 10 times today and it's what a two o'clock.
41:05Yeah.
41:06So, but I, I don't see it either again.
41:10He could wind up being there, but Hey, look, there's, there's guys in May.
41:14I mean, you know, JD Davis and these guys, he, he looked, you know, better.
41:20There's just no room at the end with the varsity right now.
41:24And it's a difficult spot, you know, but, um, they were pretty well fortunate injury
41:33wise last year, the, and even to the extent that the Porzingis injury didn't, didn't hurt
41:39them badly.
41:40Cause I mean, Porzingis was an incredible compliment to that offense.
41:46My God, you know, the, the, the threes, he was able to hit the stretch and not just the
41:52threes and the, and the points you got off them directly, but that kind of floor spacing,
41:58you know, like again, it all works in, in harmony and in tandem.
42:04And you know, what does him hitting a couple of threes do for everybody else getting to
42:08the basket?
42:09You know, um, Chris Porzingis hitting a three pointer up by the, the arc there, or obviously
42:17beyond it.
42:18What does that do for Drew Holliday in the dunker spot along the baseline creeping in,
42:24you know, I mean, and then zipping out to the, to the corner, if, if someone else drives
42:31all those things work together and, um, yeah, it's, you know, um, I think Lonnie Walker
42:40will, is more likely to wind up on another roster than on mains.
42:47Well, fellas, like I said, season is approaching, you know, I, I don't, there, there are some
42:54of these shows that like, it's, it's good to have these overall big picture conversations,
42:59obviously.
43:00And, uh, you know, but, but like, there's also a, there's, there's, there's an anxiousness
43:04of like, all right, well, now we're talking about how motivated these guys are going to
43:08be and, and being the hunted and roster fits and selflessness and all these different things.
43:13It's like, let's get there already.
43:15I'm ready to get there.
43:16I'm ready to start to, you know, hear from these guys, you know, doing their media avails,
43:20giving us the whole media day.
43:22Everybody's in the best shape of their live stuff.
43:24I'm ready for it.
43:25It's where it's almost September, Steve.
43:27I mean, you gotta be, I'm, I'm sure you don't mind the, the break to whatever you're allowing
43:32yourself to take a break, but I'm sure you're eager to get back, uh, you know, over there
43:35into the locker rooms too.
43:38You know, I think I'm eager more for like getting to like middle of December when, when,
43:45when, no, I mean, when things are like have shaken out, you get to see, you know, and
43:50like, cause I mean, the biggest thing it's as just a person following sports in the last
43:57several weeks has been dissecting, watching people dissect the Patriots preseason games,
44:06you know, when they're not showing anybody anything else, no one's showing them anything.
44:12So how are we making, you know, huge judgments based on, you know, the, the playing field
44:19in a preseason game, which is nothing or very little to do with what you're going to see
44:24during the regular season, like get to games.
44:27It means something.
44:28Cause it's almost a different regular season football is a different sport than preseason
44:33football.
44:34No.
44:35I mean, the collective we has decided the Patriots offensive line is arguably the worst
44:39in history.
44:40And we've seen it for half of a quarter of one game, but they presented pretty good evidence
44:45in that.
44:46People are right, but what's going to happen when, you know, when it's not preseason and
44:54the biggest goal, your best players, their biggest goal in preseason is games is what
45:02don't get hurt.
45:03Okay.
45:05And then when it, when it gets to regular season, their biggest goal is let's hurt someone
45:09else, you know, and it's, it's a different, different gig.
45:13So again, I saw, I bring it back to basketball, which I think is why we came here.
45:21I want to get to the middle of December and see how teams are shaking out and and, and
45:28what groups look like now.
45:31I mean, how I'm hugely interested to see Philadelphia, but watching them certainly not in preseason,
45:39but even in the first few weeks of the regular season, you know, I think would be foolish
45:47to judge what they do then, because it's going to take a while to see how that shakes out,
45:53you know, Paul George and Tyrese and, and beat and all that.
45:59So, you know, give me a, not just racism, but give me a little while into it.
46:05Check Steve out on Twitter at Steve B. Hoop.
46:08You can of course, find Steve bullpets work on heavy.com.
46:11If you're looking for a direct link, it is heavy.com slash author slash Stephen bull
46:16pet.
46:17That is Stephen with a pH for anyone that is out there, not just doing a steeple pet
46:20heavy Google search.
46:21If you want the direct link, that's what it is.
46:23Steve, we always enjoy when you hop on with us, man, we'll keep an eye out for future
46:27articles, obviously.
46:28Nice to be well for Steve, for Evan Valenti, I'm Adam Kaufman rate review.
46:33Most importantly, subscribe to the podcast.
46:35Next time we talk to you folks, it's not just the footballs here and it's, you know, the
46:38fall September, September basketball's right around the corner.

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