Re: The Celtics 2022 Offseason Thread

[Ktron]

War Criminal Apprentice? Naw our boy has no dog in him.
What’s his pedigree when he hangs out with a savage that went out of his way to take numerous victory laps disrespecting Tatum’s team/teammates and most importantly dogged out his co-star Jaylen Brown!
I just don’t know about this Super Star of ours.
Lawd take me back to the 80’s, Please!

Here is one with Tatum and Grant and Draymond taken on July 4th

https://www.audacy.com/national/sports/jayson-tatum-grant-williams-pose-for-picture-with-draymond

Does not phase me in the least.  

You took the time to respond to it so obviously it does.

It does not bother me at all that players from different teams hang out.  

Did I miss the point you were making?

Of course

[Ktron]

Most of these players are friends or at least friendly towards each other.  They're peers and sometime in their lives, they may have been teammates.  They all have more in common with each other than they do with fans.  Even after the Royal PITA screwed our team, he still gets greetings and hugs from his old teammates, the very team he screwed.

Fans want it to be one team and their fans against another team and their fans, but it will never be that anymore.  The reality is the us vs. them comes down to players vs. fans.

The players see it every day, the hate and venom spewed at players.  The result is that they bond with each other even more.  Doesn't that upset the fans even more.

The world has moved on.  

I believe you missed the entire point.

I'm not so sure, it seems like you are mad at Tatum for some odd reason.  

No. Only if that same behavior translates to on the court play. I have doubt that it will. When it does, i’ll address it.

[gyso]

How about giving this guy a chance off the bench:



I am glad to see he has recovered.

[dbrown4]

Great observation, willjr. My son is in AAU in Texas and loves it.

db

[bobheckler]

How about giving this guy a chance off the bench:



I am glad to see he has recovered.  

gyso,


You know how Ime likes to surround himself with people he has worked with before, like the Portland crowd (i.e. Damon Stoudemire, Will Hardy (now head coach of Utah), Ben Sullivan (head coach of our Summer League team) and Payton Pritchard) and San Antonio (i.e. Derrick White)?  Well, Baynes was on Pop's 2014 Championship team, the same team that Ime won his ring assistant coaching.

Symmetry?


Bob


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[dboss]

I would pass on adding Baynes.

At 35 and coming off of an injury with a rehab that included learning how to walk again, is too big of a risk factor.

[bobheckler]

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/al-horford-new-plan-minutes-report/



Celtics Have New Plans for Al Horford Next Season: Report



By Jack Simone

Updated Jul 9, 2022 at 1:42am


The Boston Celtics will be heading into next season with their core rotation intact. All nine of their primary rotational pieces from last season will be returning to the team, and the Celtics also reportedly added Danilo Gallinari and Malcolm Brogdon to the squad via free agency and the trade market, respectively.


Despite their valiant offseason moves, the Celtics are still on the hunt for a backup big man. In the reported Brogdon trade, Boston sent Daniel Theis to the Indiana Pacers. Because of that, they are left without a big man to back up Robert Williams and Al Horford. And based on recent information, they desperately need one.


According to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Horford is expected to take a step back next season. He should still be the team’s starting power forward, but since he’s getting older, he’s expected to sit out back-to-backs and take some extra time off throughout the season.


“They will certainly need center depth, as Al Horford is expected to sit out most back-to-backs and have his minutes limited even further next season, according to team sources,” Weiss reported.

Horford was great for the Celtics last season. In the 69 games he appeared in, the big man averaged 10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 46.7% shooting from the field and 33.6% shooting from behind the three-point line.

Weiss noted the importance of snagging a legitimate backup big before the season begins.


Celtics’ Need for Backup Big Man

At the moment, the Celtics’ big man rotation consists of Horford, Robert Williams, Grant Williams Luke Kornet, Danilo Gallinari, and Sam Hauser. Of those six, only three can effectively play the center position – Horford, Robert Williams, and Kornet. However, with the former of those three in the starting lineup1, Kornet would be the lone backup. Weiss doesn’t see that working out.

“Acquiring another center who can play above the rim with power and aggression will be key,” Weiss argued. “Kornet has shown an ability to rotate across the paint to block layups and space the floor in pick and pops, but being a commanding presence in the paint is not quite his style.”


Boston just reportedly re-signed Kornet to a multi-year deal, but he’ll likely remain in the role of the third-string center. He’s fine in certain situations, but with how Boston plays on the defensive side of the floor, Kornet could struggle. He can’t easily switch onto wings and guards like the Williamses and Horford can.

The Celtics will attempt to fill out their roster with the necessary depth while simultaneously maintaining their elite team chemistry.


Boston’s Depth Options This Offseason

As explained by Weiss, the Celtics have two options when it comes to filling out their roster – add pieces from within, or go the external route. Either way, one of their primary concerns is to not lose any of their team chemistry.

“The Celtics may bring in more players or build out the deep bench from within, but the top item on their checklist is to keep the strong chemistry they developed last season,” Weiss wrote. “As Stevens put it, building a team is a fragile thing.”

Boston will likely ponder their decisions during Summer League and make some final calls as next season draws closer.


Bob
MY NOTE:  We all agree we need another big but if this article is accurate, and I believe it is because it makes so much sense, then the door is wide open for either Kabengele or Williams, although my preference would be for a veteran like Whiteside or Favors or D12 or even bring back "Moose" Monroe.  Monroe's game and Williams' seem to have a lot of overlap.  Both prefer to be inside.  Both are very good, even exceptional, passers for bigs.  Both can rebound.  Neither are particularly athletic.  The difference, right now, is that Monroe is a proven NBA player while Williams is not.  That's the good news for Monroe.  The bad news is that the guy who would be making the decision, Brad Stevens, knows exactly, precisely what Monroe's weak points are because he coached him.  There's no mystery there for Brad.

Last year Al Horford played a total of 2005 minutes in 69 games, 29mpg.  That was a ton of minutes for a 35 year old, I'm proud of the OG, but next year will be easier for him.  The Time Lord played 1804 minutes in 61 games, 29.6mpg.  It's hard to know what to do with RWill's minutes but if we keep them about the same, and we reduce Al's games down to, say, 61 too and back off his mpg to around 26mpg that would come in at around 1586 minutes total.  There's 429 minutes being freed up.  Theis played 393 minutes for us last year.  429 + 393 = 812 minutes for Luke (who played 85 last year) and/or some other new center.  Naz Reid of Minny, a name mentioned for us, played 1215 minutes behind KAT.  D12 played 912 minutes for the Lakers last year.  Alex Len, another name cited as an available 3rd string center, played 620 minutes for Sacto.  So 800 minutes for a 3rd string center isn't a crazy number.


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[Ktron]

How about giving this guy a chance off the bench:



I am glad to see he has recovered.  

gyso,


You know how Ime likes to surround himself with people he has worked with before, like the Portland crowd (i.e. Damon Stoudemire, Will Hardy (now head coach of Utah), Ben Sullivan (head coach of our Summer League team) and Payton Pritchard) and San Antonio (i.e. Derrick White)?  Well, Baynes was on Pop's 2014 Championship team, the same team that Ime won his ring assistant coaching.

Symmetry?


Bob


.

I believe most if not all coaches in sports like to surround themselves with people they have worked with.

[NYCelt]

We have 3 centers. One who is constantly injured, one who is an excellent but ancient player by NBA standards and one who doesn’t have the physical being needed to defend the position.

Baynes is a wonderful recovery story, but way to big a risk for a team who is one injured center away from disaster.

My guess is that last seat or two get filled by Trevion Williams and the healthiest wide body that can be found. I don’t think there’s a choice unless we’re trusting prayer to solve the huge risk the team is presently taking in the frontcourt.

[bobheckler]

Brad Stevens shares Celtics' top remaining priority this offseason


Darren Hartwell
Tue, July 12, 2022 at 11:50 AM·2 min read



The Boston Celtics have a very deep, versatile rotation after adding point guard Malcolm Brogdon and forward Danilo Gallinari. But there's still one item on Brad Stevens' offseason to-do list.


During a press conference to introduce Brogdon and Gallinari on Tuesday, the Celtics' president of basketball operations said the team hopes to add another big man to provide depth in a frontcourt currently featuring Robert Williams, Al Horford and Grant Williams.

"We're still looking, and we'll still add at least one more body at whatever we call the five position nowadays," Stevens told reporters.

The Celtics are down a big man after sending Daniel Theis to the Indiana Pacers in the trade that brought Brogdon to Boston. But Stevens suggested the team doesn't need to add a traditional center, noting that the C's are well-equipped to play more "small ball" with lineups featuring Gallinari, a 6-foot-10 floor-stretcher who made 38.6 percent of his 3-pointers last season.


"We'll continue to look at what adds to our team," Stevens said. "I think ultimately, though we started big most of last year with Al and Rob, we oftentimes we would play one of them. We're better set up to play 'smaller' than we were just because of the size of these two guys sitting next to us (Gallinari and Brogdon). We've got a lot of options there."

Stevens also added the Celtics are "really high" on 7-foot-2 big man Luke Kornet, who appeared in just 12 games for Boston last season but is a permanent member of the roster after landing a two-year, $4.5 million contract this offseason.

"We'll probably add one more person who can play in that area, but we really believe in Luke as not only depth to fill out the roster, but also be ready to help us win," Stevens said. "I think he's at that stage where he can do that."

With due respect to Kornet, the Celtics could use a more talented backup big man who can give them 10-15 minutes per night or take on a bigger role in the event of an injury. Unfortunately for Boston, the options on the free-agent market aren't great, and the team reportedly doesn't plan to sign big man Aron Baynes despite showing initial interest.

The Celtics do have multiple traded player exceptions at their disposal, however, so Stevens could look to the trade market to make one more meaningful upgrade to the roster entering 2022-23.


Bob
MY NOTE:  "With due respect to Kornet, the Celtics could use a more talented backup big man who can give them 10-15 minutes per night or take on a bigger role in the event of an injury. Unfortunately for Boston, the options on the free-agent market aren't great, and the team reportedly doesn't plan to sign big man Aron Baynes despite showing initial interest."  This sums my feelings up pretty well and I don't think either Kabengele nor TWill can give us that.


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[jrleftfoot]

I don't know how anyone could have watched the first three Summer League games and not be impressed by Kabangele. He is way better than Kornet and better, at this stage, than the ghosts of centers past mentioned in semi-pro newspaper articles and throughout this thread Yes, I know it is only summer league, but I've watched every minute of our games, and in my opinion , Kabangele can fill the Theis role quite nicely. He's good on the pnr, rebounds the ball, is extremely active and runs the floor well . The only thing I haven't seen him do is guard on the perimeter. The summer league team always seems to be in drop coverage.

[cowens/oldschool]

I don’t know why Kornet is on the team.

Anyone concerned with Davison? This kid has no touch and can’t buy a bucket. I don’t see abundant athleticism, this is the NBA, everyone can dunk and run and jump. Right now he can’t even hold Marcus Banks jockstrap.

[cowens/oldschool]

Knicks are looking to unload Julius Randle, would anyone do White and GWill for him? Randle is way better and bigger than GWill at every phase….

[bobheckler]

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2022/07/ime-udoka-wants-celtics-to-target-wing-to-fill-out-bench-you-always-like-to-add-shooting.html



Ime Udoka wants Celtics to target wing to fill out bench: ‘You always like to add shooting’


Published: Jul. 13, 2022, 9:26 a.m.



Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka gestures during the first half of Game 7 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals playoff series against the Miami Heat, Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)AP


By Brian Robb | brobb@masslive.com



LAS VEGAS — Ime Udoka asked for some veteran scoring off the bench at the beginning of the offseason. Brad Stevens delivered on that front quickly with the official additions of Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari this week.

“Love them,” Udoka said. “We were excited to potentially add them early on and glad everything worked out. Two veterans, experienced guys that will obviously solidify our bench a little bit more. They’re guys that have been there, can add to our versatility across the board and just love who they are as people, as players. We really feel good about our depth now.”


The Celtics do have one of the deepest rotations in the NBA with that duo being added on to a bench featuring Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White. However, with the trade of Aaron Nesmith to the Pacers in exchange for Brogdon, Udoka acknowledged one more need that has flown under the radar for Boston beyond adding another big.

“Talked about another big, another possible wing,” Udoka said Tuesday. “We’re just monitoring everything we’re doing here, taking a good look at our guys. Obviously, Sam has been signed already. For us, it’s best available wing possibly. You always like to add shooting, but another big will be a premium for sure.”

The Celtics will have plenty of small ball options on the wing with their backcourt but they still do not have a player with good size and defensive ability at that position. Gallinari plays much bigger at this point in his career defensively while Brogdon (6-foot-5) is on the smaller side to play small forward.


That’s why it is likely important to keep an eye on wings on the Celtics Summer League teams as potential roster additions including Juhann Begarin, Brodric Thomas, Matt Ryan and Justin Jackson.

Jackson has excelled specifically since joining the team earlier this week once his USA Basketball duties ended.

“It was kind of a quick turnaround,” Jackson said. “They let me go and see my wife and kid for a day or two. Still let me come out here and join the team. So that’s how I came back.”

Jackson has excelled so far in Las Vegas, averaging 17 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the field, no surprise given his age at 27. However, the 6-foot-7 wing is motivated by a potential chance to play for a roster spot at the end of Boston’s bench.


“I mean, for sure,” Jackson said Tuesday. “Anytime you see an opportunity. I mean, for one, just to play basketball is great. But two, whenever you know there’s a possibility that something could happen or something could open up, yeah, it’s definitely cool.”

While Jackson and Thomas highlight Boston’s best internal options, there are more seasoned veterans available on the free agent market as well. Wayne Ellington, Ben McLemore and Tony Snell are some of the bigger names left at the wing position but none of those are inspiring options at this stage of their careers.

Look for Boston to go young to try to address this whole or potentially sniff around on the trade market to give themselves some depth protection behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the wing to complete an impressive bench overhaul.


Bob



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[bobheckler]

Knicks are looking to unload Julius Randle, would anyone do White and GWill for him? Randle is way better and bigger than GWill at every phase….

Cow,

Randle will make almost $24M this year.  He is under contract for $53M over the next 2 years after this one (through 2024-2025) and then has a $29.4M Player Option after that.  Those are HUGE salary numbers.  Randle would represent almost 25% of the salary cap by himself!  Could we use the TPE to make the numbers work this year (maybe keep White but trade Grant?)?  Sure, but then there's those big numbers in the later years that would kill us.  Do you want Jaylen to sign an extension?  Where's that money coming from?  Even with his Bird Rights, which will let us go over to resign him, we'll be unable to add other pieces around him for years if we have Randle's contract.  How do you think Jaylen would feel if Brad didn't offer him at least as much $ as Randle is making?

Something to remember, too, is that Al's contract comes off the books next year, so that could be replaced by Randle's.  Would I replace Horford with Randle?  Sure.  I'm not saying trade Al, I'm saying that this year they play together and the year after this one Al retires and Randle takes his spot.

Randle played 35mpg last year and shot 41%, 31% from 3.  Not great, but a bit of an anomaly for him.  He's a beast underneath.  Why are the Knicks trying to move him?  


Bob


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[NYCelt]

Knicks are looking to unload Julius Randle, would anyone do White and GWill for him? Randle is way better and bigger than GWill at every phase….

After reading Bob's response, that $24 mil cap hit is the one problem. Otherwise, sure.

If there was a way to move Horford and his salary out in a deal, that might help. I'm not certain of the details and possible options there.

I know it sounds heartless to suggest dumping Al, but looking at it both as a business and building the best team, I'd take Randle at PF.

[cowens/oldschool]

Knicks are looking to unload Julius Randle, would anyone do White and GWill for him? Randle is way better and bigger than GWill at every phase….

After reading Bob's response, that $24 mil cap hit is the one problem. Otherwise, sure.

If there was a way to move Horford and his salary out in a deal, that might help. I'm not certain of the details and possible options there.

I know it sounds heartless to suggest dumping Al, but looking at it both as a business and building the best team, I'd take Randle at PF.

I’ve seen Randle have monster double-double games against Giannis himself, guy can play. With the talent here, the game would be easier for all our stars

[cowens/oldschool]

Knicks might be stupid enough to do this….

[jrleftfoot]

Gyso

I grew up watching the Russell Celtics.

The enemy was that brutal guy named Wilt.

We just figured that Bill and Wilt were not friends.

Many many years later Russell revealed the truth.  Off the court they were friends.

There was no social media with look see pictures of rivals mingling together off the court.

Fans forget that the game is just a game.  Fans want their players to take their rivalries with them when they are out and about.

Heaven forbid that one of our beloved players should dare to collaborate with the enemy.

It would take a rather bizzare logic to believe that especially if a fan has long time loyalty to a particular team and significant  media experience.  No justification for such ignorance

                                                    +1

[jrleftfoot]

JT is not an alpha dog because he often plays soft, not because he has friends around the league.

[jrleftfoot]

I don’t know why Kornet is on the team.

Anyone concerned with Davison? This kid has no touch and can’t buy a bucket. I don’t see abundant athleticism, this is the NBA, everyone can dunk and run and jump. Right now he can’t even hold Marcus Banks jockstrap.

              he;s 19 yoa, lightning fast, can jump thu the roof, and only got a two- way contract. Worth a look, I think.

[cowens/oldschool]

I don’t know why Kornet is on the team.

Anyone concerned with Davison? This kid has no touch and can’t buy a bucket. I don’t see abundant athleticism, this is the NBA, everyone can dunk and run and jump. Right now he can’t even hold Marcus Banks jockstrap.

              he;s 19 yoa, lightning fast, can jump thu the roof, and only got a two- way contract. Worth a look, I think.

That sounds like every kid 6 ft tall that gets drafted, he’s a bust, no touch, no vision, barely a handle….

[Ktron]

In my opinion the Boy is hardly a bust. He’s only 19 and does need some work but I see that he has a lot of potential. Lots

[Ktron]

Tatum… some folks Just.Don’t .Get .IT!
Keep buddying up. They’re fl%%^g with your head. You’ll learn.

[bobheckler]

Just a reminder, the $17.1M Fournier TPE expires tonight at midnight tonight.

I know that Wyc etal are already spending a ton on salary but it'd be nice if Brad could use that TPE on something.  Use it to facilitate someone else's trade (preferably NOT Kyrie to LA!!) and pick up some draft picks in payment.  As long as Danny is in the biz draft picks will always have value.

Regardless, today is a good day to watch for Celtic news...


Bob


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