Will Celtics Defense IMPROVE? + JB's Off Court Value w/ Bobby Manning | Celtics Beat
Bobby Manning covers the Celtics for CLNS Media and Boston Sports Journal. Bobby joins Evan to discuss Jaylen's new project, Oshae Brissett, and why the defense could be BETTER. Twitter: @RealBobManning
⏱️ EPISODE TIMELINE ⏱️
0:00 Intro
1:28 Bobby's box score goes VIRAL
5:15 We need to add Jaylen’s off-court contributions when discussing his contract
21:15 Porzingis has already shown he’s willing to sacrifice
23:35 Celtics personnel could be better defensively
33:41 Offsetting the loss of Grant Williams (Bob on Oshae Brissett and Jordan Walsh)
43:05 Malcolm Brogdon to remain with Boston
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⏱️ EPISODE TIMELINE ⏱️
0:00 Intro
1:28 Bobby's box score goes VIRAL
5:15 We need to add Jaylen’s off-court contributions when discussing his contract
21:15 Porzingis has already shown he’s willing to sacrifice
23:35 Celtics personnel could be better defensively
33:41 Offsetting the loss of Grant Williams (Bob on Oshae Brissett and Jordan Walsh)
43:05 Malcolm Brogdon to remain with Boston
Available for download on iTunes and Spotify on Saturday, July 22nd, 2023. Celtics Beat is powered by Fan Duel!
FanDuel Sportsbook is the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network! Visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON to get up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in bonus bets! Take your first swing at betting MLB on FanDuel and get TEN TIMES your first bet amount in bonus bets - up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS – win or lose.
21+ and present in MA. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days.
Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it
smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.
FanDuel – Official Partner of Major League Baseball.
Major League Baseball trademarks used with permission.
Transcript
00:00 Celtics B is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNX Media
00:07 Network.
00:08 All right, everybody, Evan Valenti with you here on Celtics Beat solo.
00:13 No Kaufman.
00:14 It's OK.
00:15 Adam and I have been trying to trade a little bit off back and forth because, you know,
00:19 it's summertime.
00:20 Not a lot of crazy things are happening right now.
00:22 We can give each other a little bit of a break.
00:24 Kaufman's been plugging away for I don't even know how many weeks straight at this point.
00:29 It's important to me that he gets some rest and time off, spend with the family, the wife,
00:32 the kids, all that stuff.
00:34 And I am taking over solo here this week with CLNX's very own, of course, Boston Sports
00:39 Journalist as well.
00:40 Bobby Manning.
00:41 Bobby, good morning.
00:42 What's going on, sir?
00:43 Good morning, Adam's never here when I'm here.
00:45 Yeah, I know.
00:46 It's a lot to get you on together that way, or at least, you know, maybe the two of you
00:50 solo so that way you guys can have some sort of little connection here.
00:52 It's always good to have a Syracuse guy on as a fellow Syracuse guy, Adam, as well.
00:58 But it's good to have you on me in the Garden Report.
01:00 Still crushing it.
01:02 You guys continually put out, I think, probably some of the best stuff that CLNX has to offer
01:07 on our YouTube page and our website.
01:08 So congratulations to your success, my friend.
01:11 Thank you.
01:12 Yeah, we finally got back together this week, had a big brown blow up that everybody's probably
01:16 been waiting for.
01:17 Yeah, you know, you're in about his contract situation, which moves into its fourth week
01:21 now.
01:22 Yeah, I see here.
01:23 We're going to get to that in a minute because I do I do want to talk to some about some
01:27 brown stuff off the top, but we have to talk about you first, because I don't know if you
01:32 saw this, Bobby, you went viral yesterday.
01:35 So all I'm going to do is I'm going to clear out.
01:38 I'm going to clear out.
01:39 I'm going to give you the lane.
01:40 We give you the runway.
01:42 Defend yourself after everybody came after you for taking 26 shots in 22 minutes.
01:48 Defend yourself here.
01:49 So, yeah, I'm playing in a summer league right now.
01:53 You know, they they take the box scores, all that.
01:55 They got the refs.
01:56 It's pretty official.
01:58 And last summer, they do it like every season, but I don't really have time to do it during
02:04 the summer.
02:05 So last summer I played on the championship team, but we had one player who took, you
02:11 know, 30 shots a game, averaged over 40 a game.
02:14 And it was great because it was incredible.
02:16 But I really got the ball.
02:18 I take like four or five shots a game.
02:20 So I was in summer league, obviously, for the first game of this season.
02:25 This week, I made my debut for the team and I actually got to play center.
02:31 So, you know, I was getting the ball a lot, like in the pocket and I was just firing.
02:35 And I listen, the scoring is pretty accurate.
02:38 I'm not sure it's 100 percent accurate.
02:40 It didn't feel like I took 26 shots.
02:43 I definitely took a lot.
02:44 I definitely was very aggressive and I'm happy I was because sometimes I'm not aggressive
02:49 out there and I'm like I left points on the table.
02:51 I left shots on the table.
02:53 But I put up 16, eight, three blocks, which no one talked about.
02:59 No, and smooth over when you take 26 shots.
03:03 And I do I do feel like I had at least one assist.
03:07 So there you go.
03:08 You got 26 shots and we won.
03:13 I love it.
03:14 Well, that's that's the most important thing is that you won.
03:17 You know, like you you won the game.
03:18 That's all that matters.
03:19 And then you got the dub.
03:20 That's that's what we're looking for.
03:21 We're looking for results.
03:22 Yeah.
03:23 And we had to put points on the board.
03:24 I mean, if you look up and down the box score, there weren't great shooting percentages on
03:28 all.
03:29 I know our guy, Bellman, just poured it on from three.
03:33 So he drove us.
03:34 I think he had thirty eight.
03:35 Yeah.
03:36 But, you know, I was I was second in the box scoring points, played aggressive, cleaned
03:40 up around the rim.
03:42 I do have to say, though, people were tossing around.
03:44 The other team did have four players.
03:47 I don't know how I didn't notice that, but they did.
03:50 So that's another asterisk I got to put on the performance is Vivek on the other sidelines,
03:55 like controlling the team is ours.
03:57 We have a Hoosier situation on the other side of the court.
03:59 Like what's going on here?
04:00 All I'm saying is Dion waiters would be proud.
04:05 You know, you're getting up that many shots coming.
04:07 You know, would you come off the bench?
04:08 Because it seemed like that's I did come off the bench.
04:10 Yeah.
04:11 Oh, yeah.
04:12 Twenty six shots off the bench.
04:13 Dion, fellow Syracuse, he'd be proud of that.
04:15 You know, get shots up, coming off the bench.
04:16 It's good stuff.
04:17 Well, next Wednesday, we'll have another box score for everybody.
04:20 Yeah, this is going to be the weekly thing.
04:22 I think I think, you know, I guess it might be the only thing to talk about.
04:25 I'm look, man, you've gotten you've kept the Internet for a day.
04:29 I think you you could keep this moving for at least one more try.
04:32 I think I love my favorite tweet of all.
04:35 I know Evan Turner chimed in, but I think my favorite tweet was Celtics PR Celtics PR
04:41 is Christian Maglio saying pass the ball.
04:44 You're better than this.
04:45 Oh, man, I'm glad you're taking it in stride because that could be that could be in a tough
04:53 spot.
04:54 But I'm glad you're taking it in stride.
04:55 It's tremendous.
04:56 I do want to move, though, because, you know, we are in week four of the Jalen Brown noncontract.
05:02 Gary Washburn tweeted, I think, late last night that they, according to sources, they're
05:05 going to resume conversations this upcoming week and try and get this deal done.
05:10 Feel like we've done.
05:13 Everybody's had their say on how they feel about this Jalen Brown contract.
05:16 I feel like we've all talked about it.
05:17 I kind of want to do some little different and have a slightly different discussion about
05:22 it, because I think it's really important, especially coming off his event in Dorchester
05:26 yesterday where he opened up a new court, well, refurbished a court and started talking
05:30 about how important it is that people in the Boston community have safe spaces to go to
05:35 to feel comfortable, to make friendships and to continue to try and, you know, add to the
05:41 community in certain different ways.
05:43 And this is the part about, I think, the Jalen Brown contract that maybe that I think about
05:48 solely and nobody else thinks about.
05:50 I think it's highly important that Jalen Brown remains a Celtic because of what he means
05:55 to the fabric of this community.
05:57 Right.
05:58 He has the biggest platform of anybody in the Boston sports area that's willing to have
06:04 certain type of conversations with the public and lead those conversations and take those
06:09 problems on head on.
06:10 I think it's wonderful.
06:12 And I know people are getting caught up in the number of like, oh, they can't pay Jalen
06:17 Brown 50 million.
06:18 You know, he can't be the highest paid player in basketball only for a year, by the way.
06:22 He can't be the highest paid player basketball.
06:24 He's not the best player in the league.
06:26 And I sit here and say, well, that's like sort of semantics, because Jason Tate will
06:29 be the highest paid player in the league next year.
06:31 It's only it's only going to last a year.
06:32 It's not like he's going to be the highest paid player for a while.
06:35 He earned it with with the all NBA now.
06:37 But at the same time, like.
06:39 I think it's important to have Jalen in Boston because of what he provides to this culture.
06:44 And on top of that, if you have to pay a little extra to keep him here to make impact throughout
06:50 the city of Boston and not just us here, but like the entire country as a whole, I know
06:55 he's not going to change everything, but it's important that he's starting some dialogues.
06:59 I think it has to be factored in here, Bobby.
07:00 I think it has to be factored into this discussion of trying to keep Jalen Brown in Boston, because
07:04 I think this is I know we talk about we get so focused on things on the court that we
07:09 don't think about his impact off the court.
07:11 I think that should be factored in here in terms of bringing him back to Boston.
07:14 Yeah, and the on court stuff's pretty good, too.
07:17 I think the last game left a bad taste in everybody's mouth that's lingered through
07:23 the summer.
07:24 And overall, that wasn't a great series for him.
07:26 But yeah, an incredible year when you look back on it and the growth's been enormous
07:30 year to year.
07:32 But that always was something that I felt strongly about, too, is that what he meant
07:37 to the organization and the city on the level of, you know, just social activism, but also
07:45 just sort of direct activism in the community.
07:49 That's important, especially given stuff he's talked about, about the history of the city,
07:54 given, you know, Bill Russell's impact and just sort of the tradition in that sense of
08:00 the Celtics leading the way when it comes to, you know, just active, involved and outspoken,
08:11 you know, athletes who and, you know, Russell got criticized, Brown's gotten criticized
08:17 for stuff he's done.
08:19 I think he's sort of going about his career and his commentary and his action the way
08:26 he wants to.
08:28 And I think it alludes traditional media.
08:31 I think it, you know, might rub people the wrong way.
08:36 Criticisms he makes, you know, I know yesterday he was talking about like wealth disparity
08:39 in Boston and everyone's going to be like, oh, is he going to take the minimum?
08:44 Like it's I think he senses that criticism and people trying to undermine his message
08:50 in ways that I think make him a little bit resistant to speaking the way a lot of other
08:56 athletes do just directly to the press or directly to social media or, you know, whatever
09:02 it might be.
09:03 And he even talked about that at the ceremony yesterday that like, you know, people try
09:07 to put athletes in a box.
09:08 He's tried, he's talked about this for a long time and that when you try to step outside
09:12 that box, people get uncomfortable or people will criticize you, whatever it might be.
09:18 So I've always loved, you know, the clothing line, which he's always talked about charging
09:24 people high prices to give access to people who can't afford those clothes, but also funnel
09:30 that money to other things like the education initiatives he's doing, basketball courts,
09:36 whatever it might be.
09:37 There's a lot that he's doing behind the scenes that I don't think people even see.
09:42 And it's important because, you know, we talk a lot about the difference between Tatum and
09:45 Brown, you know, Tatum, I think is really wrapped up and engulfed in like this basketball
09:52 culture and he loves the game and he just loves the sport and everything that comes
09:57 with it and basketball is his thing.
10:00 And as we've always said with Brown, I think he feels a higher calling, you know, beyond
10:07 the game.
10:08 And that's like as much, if not a greater focus for him, which, you know, is commendable
10:13 to me, especially with the fact that he's still able to put so much time and dedication
10:18 into his game.
10:19 Like everybody I've talked to this summer, they rave about like just how, how long he's
10:25 in the gym.
10:26 And I see it at practice too.
10:27 Like he's the guy who's there the longest.
10:29 He's the guy going through every detail.
10:31 He's repeating drills over and over again.
10:34 He's repeating shooting motions over and over again.
10:37 And that's how you get so precise in some of the offensive moves that he's developed.
10:41 Now I know the dribbles driving people crazy and the facilitating and all that, but everybody
10:44 has weak points in his game.
10:46 He has a couple and I do have some thoughts about those going into next year.
10:50 But yeah, I've always been super impressed by him off the court.
10:53 I do think it's super important to have a guy like that for years to come on the Celtics
10:58 and you're right, Evan, it's a great point.
11:00 Like you're losing a lot in that sense.
11:02 If you do lose Brown.
11:03 Yeah.
11:04 And I don't, I don't think a lot of people think about the off court stuff when it comes
11:08 to trying to keep Jalen in green.
11:10 And I think it's super important.
11:12 You know, again, I love Jason Tatum that Jason Tatum is not about doing this kind of stuff.
11:18 I love Marcus Martin.
11:19 Marcus, you know, obviously isn't here anymore, but in Marcus did a lot of great charity work.
11:23 I'm not saying you can not, but he's not having conversations that Jalen has happened.
11:26 You know, Al Horford has been here twice.
11:28 I just think it's, I think it's really important like to have a voice like that, to have some
11:33 like in, in, it's very evident that he idolizes Bill Russell.
11:38 I mean, what was it game one, the first game of the Hawks series, he had Bill Russell cleats
11:42 on.
11:43 I mean, I thought I was a great nod to the guy that has built everything for everybody
11:49 in the NBA.
11:50 Like, you know, the, the older guys talk about, you know, paving the way for the next generation.
11:54 I mean, Bill did it for everybody and it's in, you know, we had Cedric Maxwell on just
11:59 after Bill passed and about how, you know, we, you know, if you, if you take out everybody
12:05 in NBA history, like Bill Russell probably has the greatest impact of any single player,
12:10 not just in NBA history, but maybe in like North American sports history.
12:13 So it's great that Brown seems to, you know, at least be taken up that mantle a little
12:18 bit and step into that role.
12:20 But you know, you talk about the Encore stuff and you know, his potential fit with this
12:25 new team.
12:26 And I've been talking a little bit with Kaufman about how, you know, I'm a little worried
12:29 about Jalen and his fit with poor Zingas.
12:33 You know what I mean?
12:34 Like I have a little bit of a, a hesitancy to get fully behind the poor Zingas experience
12:40 because I don't think anybody in the South, like so I had to make an entry pass to anybody
12:43 in the low block.
12:44 Like, I just don't think outside of Derek White, I have zero confidence in anybody's
12:47 ability to do that all the time.
12:50 And I think Jalen might be my biggest question mark.
12:53 I'm like, how is that going to work together?
12:56 How are Tatum and poor Zingas going to find synergy?
12:59 Not Tatum, poor Zingas, Brown and poor Zingas is going to find synergy because to me, poor
13:04 Zingas is brought in to help with this problem of this offense goes in the toilet when Tatum's
13:12 on the floor.
13:13 When Tatum's on the floor, the on off numbers like are spectacular.
13:16 Like last year there was a point where like Tatum plus four dudes was a top whatever offense
13:23 in the league.
13:24 Like he was, he was unbelievably impactful in the on off court metrics.
13:28 So I have a little bit of hesitancy here and I don't know if Jalen realizes this either.
13:33 Like does Jalen realize that poor Zingas might be the number two in the pecking order between
13:37 Tatum, Brown and poor Zingas?
13:40 Because I think I have more confidence in poor Zingas leading an offense for good stretches
13:47 than I do Jalen Brown.
13:49 Am I crazy?
13:50 No.
13:51 And I can't imagine a world where he's that second unit, let him cook guy, especially
13:56 given his skill set.
13:57 He's able to line guys up.
13:58 He's able to shoot over pretty much anyone on the court and he's able to create that
14:02 shot for himself, especially in that trail spot.
14:05 So I do think poor Zingas is going to be the guy driving those second units a lot of the
14:09 time.
14:10 The interesting thing is though, when, when Tatum steps off the court and you have to
14:14 think his minutes will finally decrease a little bit this year, his games off will probably
14:20 finally tick up for the first time in like three years.
14:23 So that's the good thing about it is that there's an interchangeability between the
14:27 stars on this roster.
14:28 And of course, given the position poor Zingas plays and interchangeability between the bigs
14:32 all of them, of course, are going to probably need some games off this year.
14:36 But when everybody's out there, I do have the same questions.
14:40 Brown didn't shoot a lot of corner threes last year.
14:42 I think it was less than 50.
14:45 That obviously used to be his role primarily is shooting out of the corner.
14:49 Poor Zingas never shoots corner threes.
14:52 I was going through all his tape, Dallas, Washington last year.
14:56 I think he just shot a couple of dozen total last season as a whole.
15:00 He's in that trail spot all the time, which is good in a sense, because he doesn't always
15:04 have to be playing in the middle of the floor.
15:06 He doesn't always have to be playing around the post.
15:07 He can be a guy stretching that big man out, which will be effective against some of these
15:12 guys like Giannis and Embiid.
15:13 And man, he really can shoot from a long distance.
15:17 And I think that's primarily where the Celtics are going to use poor Zingas, which will give
15:21 Brown some cutting lanes, some mid-range flexibility.
15:25 They gave him a lot of that last year, and he was incredible from that spot on the floor.
15:29 So I do think there's going to be some ways for these guys to coexist, especially in the
15:33 second units, where maybe Brown and poor Zingas can kind of get some two-man game stuff going.
15:38 Brown obviously didn't have a ton of work with Brogdon.
15:41 Being a guy who was primarily the scorer off the bench last year, didn't really have big
15:46 man outlets.
15:47 So having poor Zingas is going to make a difference in that sense.
15:51 But the one thing you got to say about Brown is that the playmaking, the vision, and just
15:57 the awareness on the court has to improve.
15:59 I felt like it got worse in the playoffs last year.
16:03 He always has that laser focus on the basket a lot of times.
16:08 And if he's going to be trying to play off or play with poor Zingas, there's going to
16:12 have to be sort of that connectivity that you saw with Smart and Tatum last year, which
16:16 honestly was probably my favorite combination on the team, the way Smart would screen for
16:20 him, Tatum would screen for Smart sometimes.
16:23 And those guys would just roll off each other and make plays in that pocket area.
16:27 And that's something Brown and poor Zingas can do on the second unit, I think.
16:31 But it's going to have to take another adjustment by Brown, not only a willingness to take corner
16:36 threes, which he'll have to do, I think, to make this work, but also to be a passer in
16:41 that pocket area and not always be looking for that shot.
16:43 Because I know we're not thinking about this as a big three, Evan, but it is.
16:48 These are three massive usage players, three guys who excel in isolation scoring.
16:54 And just like with KG, Ray, and Pierce, even though these aren't future Hall of Famers
16:58 across the board yet, they all have to sacrifice to make this work.
17:04 And poor Zingas, I think, taking the pay cut, knowing that he's going to be sort of the
17:08 third man in this mix and admitting that in the opening press conference did his part.
17:13 Now Brown's going to have to do his part.
17:14 And I think we know Tatum is a willing passer and a guy who's going to sit down if they
17:17 really need him to, is going to do his, given that he's still number one in this hierarchy.
17:22 It's not a ton of sacrifice.
17:24 It's going to be tough for Brown, especially after last year where you kind of heard some
17:27 complaining about the sacrifice.
17:29 He was already doing.
17:30 Yeah.
17:31 And that's going to be a real, you know, the regular season is going to be about trying
17:35 to build that trust from game one to game 82.
17:39 It's going to be all about trying to find the level that everybody feels comfortable
17:44 with.
17:45 And, you know, you go to, you know, the Miami big three with LeBron, Wade, and Bosh.
17:50 Like, yeah, Bosh had to take a little bit of a backseat, you know, LeBron and Wade figured
17:54 their little, you know, dynamic out.
17:57 And they went from there, you know, can, can, can Porzingis be the, the, the Bosh of the
18:02 group or be the Kevin Love of the group?
18:03 You know, we'll see.
18:04 We'll see how it goes.
18:05 I actually think that Porzingis has slightly more to offer than that.
18:08 And I think, again, the Brown Porzingis hierarchy is going to be really interesting and that's
18:13 going to be really hard for Joe Mizzoula.
18:15 Like you're asking Joe Mizzoula in his second year to try and figure this out in the fly.
18:19 That's going to help.
18:20 I think this year that he has Charles Lee and he has Sam Cassell to help him out and
18:24 try and manage this thing.
18:25 So I, I, I, I have higher expectations and I feel a little bit better about the coaching
18:30 staff and where Joe is right now, considering who he has behind him.
18:34 But it's going to be, this is going to be hard.
18:36 Like I, I, I think this is a real challenge for everybody involved.
18:40 And I, as much as I love Joe Mizzoula and enjoy, you know, the freshness and the new,
18:46 the new face and the new variety of ways that they, they play basketball.
18:50 I think this is going to be really tough.
18:51 And I understand people's, I guess, hesitancy to like really get behind Joe, but you have
18:59 to understand like the two guys behind Joe will just replace him if it doesn't work.
19:03 I mean, I think, I think they've, they've kind of sent a message to Joe pretty loud
19:06 and clear, like, Hey, like we're giving you what you need.
19:09 But at the same time, the guys behind you are fully like Charles Lee had what four interviews
19:14 this off season and like Sam Cassell is like knock on the door of a head coaching job.
19:18 So, you know, it's going to be up to those guys and then everybody else in the room to
19:22 try and figure that all that stuff out.
19:24 I do want to take a quick break though, from this show to tie today's show is powered by
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20:12 Evan Valenti solo with Bobby Manning here on the show from, of course, Boston Sports
20:17 Journal.
20:18 Of course, you also know him from the Garden Report, CNS, CNS Media's own.
20:21 It's like a postgame show for the regular season.
20:23 Then you guys, how many times a week are you guys coming at the people during the offseason?
20:27 Just once, twice.
20:28 What are you guys doing?
20:29 I'm doing two shows, the full crew.
20:31 We do our weekly show and then I'll try to bring a guest on.
20:33 We had Dart Adams on kicking around.
20:35 Yeah, I love Dart.
20:37 Listen, if you don't follow him on Twitter for Boston thoughts, you owe it to yourself
20:42 for just music history, because he like I've never seen anybody come at the Internet with
20:48 more just this is how this really happened in the music industry takes than Dart.
20:54 He just continues to educate people.
20:56 It's wonderful.
20:57 Yeah.
20:58 And he's got a Reggie Lewis commemoration coming up.
20:59 He said 30 anniversary of Lewis's death coming up.
21:04 And you know, he's got something coming for that.
21:06 So stay tuned for that.
21:07 Yeah, yeah.
21:08 I've always, always loved giving him the sounding board for his Celtics talks.
21:11 He's very high on, you know, what they've done here and the moves they've made.
21:14 And I'm torn on it.
21:17 One thing I love about this offseason, though, Evan, is like this is this.
21:21 There's been so much conversation.
21:24 Obviously moving smart was a lightning rod topic that always was going back 10 years.
21:29 So of course, finally trading him was going to cause massive debate.
21:34 But I also think like everything they've done and just, you know, how they've doubled down
21:38 on Missoula, which Brian Windhorse talked about and the coaching staff or, you know,
21:44 some of the role players coming in the grant trade.
21:46 There's so much to debate.
21:47 And I really think the fan base is pretty evenly split on optimism about everything
21:53 they've done, which I think the strong case that they're better and that this could go
21:58 wrong and that they've taken some big risk here and that they've lost a lot.
22:02 And, you know, I think nationally the perception has actually been that they've gotten a little
22:06 bit worse, which surprises me.
22:07 But, you know, I think you've also had some people and I think, you know, Ryan Bernadone
22:11 has been chief among them that he doesn't love what they've done this offseason.
22:16 I do think I lean a little bit in that direction, too.
22:20 I think they had something that really worked in 2022 and they ventured pretty far from
22:25 that.
22:26 And part of it, it was out of necessity because the email is gone and the whole staff's gone
22:30 and you really don't have a coaching staff who is going to continue that identity.
22:37 But also they've had some great opportunities here to upgrade in talent.
22:41 And the poor thing is thing, just to get back to that.
22:44 It's so enticing because you bring in the seven three guy.
22:47 It's not Kevin Garnett, but it kind of feels like that.
22:50 You know, you're going to get in this all star big man who just has this like a lure
22:54 around him and really coming into the league looked like a guy who was changing the way
22:58 basketball is played.
22:59 And I know he's had some ups and downs through the years, but finally hits his stride last
23:03 year.
23:04 And now you think might be entering his prime with the Celtics in a really good situation.
23:09 And one thing Dart said that I loved on the Garn report is that he might have played for
23:13 the three most unstable organizations in the NBA coming into Boston.
23:17 So this is a spot where you think that it would be like the force of right there.
23:23 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
23:24 So this is a spot you have to think where things could finally click for him.
23:28 And you know, he's talked about how he's more mature than ever.
23:32 I have the offensive questions to Evan, and I think those really need to be sorted out.
23:36 But the one thing that does reassure me a little bit about Porzingis through all the
23:39 words I have about it is that he's going to be a monster for this team defensively.
23:44 The system they play, the personnel around him and.
23:49 The season he's coming off of on that end.
23:52 I think he's going to be incredible blocking shots, playing back, covering ground, and
23:57 with all this length around him, I think this defense is going to play a lot differently
24:01 this year, and I think they might be in a different style and play to get back to that
24:05 number one spot.
24:07 It's going to look different than it did in 2022.
24:09 Much different now, actually.
24:11 And there's not that forcefulness and brute strength, and I do think that's a real question.
24:16 But analytically, I think they're in a place where they could really be forcing teams to
24:21 take tough shots against them, and that's what they tried to do last year, but didn't
24:24 quite have the personnel or the time to implement.
24:27 Yeah, it's also like a chemistry thing too.
24:29 I think I think you know having Joe come in and try and tweak certain things is like,
24:35 you know, they lost Will Hardy too, which I think people don't really take into account
24:39 enough.
24:40 Like Will Hardy had a tremendous first season with the Jazz for a very for a very good reason.
24:44 He's an excellent head coach, right?
24:45 He's been on pops bench forever.
24:48 You know, as a as a Western Mass guy, we all love Will Hardy out here in Western Mass as
24:53 a Williams College alum.
24:54 We're all big fans and and he had a really big part in terms of trying to figure out
24:59 defensively what their identity was and implementing it.
25:01 So I think losing, you know, a big part of your of your voice in the locker room as a
25:05 defensive guy, Will Hardy going to Utah was a tough loss.
25:10 You know, and trying to get over that's going to be hard.
25:12 I think I think I fight with people in terms of by the way, Utah really wanted Porzingis
25:17 too.
25:18 Yeah, well, I'm going to get to some Utah stuff in a minute.
25:21 I want to save that for just a second because I do.
25:24 I do think that I think they're the ceilings higher for this team, but the risk is greater,
25:29 right?
25:30 Because of all the injury risks they have on this team, like in a vacuum, Chris Epps
25:34 Porzingis is a better player than Marcus Smart.
25:37 Like that's just flat out.
25:38 I love Marcus.
25:39 He's great.
25:40 But like Porzingis has been an all star before and and been a number one on a team before
25:47 like Marcus.
25:48 Again, I love him to death.
25:49 I will root for the Memphis Grizzlies until they play the Celtics like that's I'm a big
25:54 fan, but the talent is much different.
25:57 You know, like Marcus is defensive talent is unbelievable.
26:01 You have to sort of question.
26:03 All the toll that his body's been taking the past nine years, and so I question whether
26:09 he's ever going to be the same guy again.
26:11 He won defensive player of the year for a start of winning since Gary Payton, which
26:13 is a ridiculous accomplishment.
26:16 But I don't know if he can ever be that guy again.
26:17 Whereas Porzingis like, yeah, is he not as versatile defensively?
26:21 Sure, didn't Marcus Smart guard Porzingis like pretty well?
26:24 Like absolutely, I've seen it.
26:26 But Porzingis brings a different dimension and changes the geometry on the floor when
26:30 he's out there, which I think is really important to sort of know.
26:34 And I think considering their offensive problems, I think I'm willing to take a chance on.
26:45 Advancing Marcus to try and get a little bit better, because like the one thing that because
26:50 everybody keeps asking me like, hey, like, how do you feel?
26:52 And I'm like, well, at first, like it was like it just ripped my heart out.
26:56 But at some point, one of Jalen or smart like had to go because you can't keep running this
27:03 back.
27:04 You just can't and just expect things to be different unless Tatum takes this massive
27:07 leap to the best player in the league somehow, you know, or like top three, no question.
27:14 And you can't bank on that, right?
27:16 You can't bank on Tatum making some.
27:18 He's already top 10, top seven.
27:21 I think Jokic, Giannis and Curry and Luca like those guys are your top echelon.
27:29 Can Tatum get there?
27:30 We'll see.
27:31 Can he ever make?
27:32 Do you think Jason Tatum can have a Nikola Jokic like impact on the NBA finals?
27:39 That's hard.
27:40 That's really hard because Jokic affects so much with his play.
27:43 But by swapping out smart, bringing in Porzingis, you change some things.
27:47 Yes, defensively, you won't be as good, but you'll have more answers to more questions,
27:52 I think.
27:53 And and and jettison smart, not my first choice.
27:58 But at the end of the day, like one of those three guys probably has to go if you don't
28:02 win a finals this year.
28:05 And I'm willing to bet on Jalen and Jason over Marcus.
28:09 And that's where I settled on.
28:11 Yeah, and that deal was something of a compromise to between maintaining their ability to stay
28:17 all in for the next year or two here and have some future pieces to remain flexible and
28:24 keep the core going around Tatum specifically.
28:27 And we'll see how things shake out with the two other stars going forward, the draft picks,
28:32 whatever it might be.
28:34 And they, I think, solve some issues here, as you say, like the zone problem that they've
28:41 had for Zingas definitely brings some zone busting qualities.
28:45 I look back at a couple of games he played against the Heat last year, and he was active
28:49 and involved and moving.
28:51 But it's going to require Tatum and Brown said a lot of this stuff up, which is what
28:56 you really lose in smart, because as you said, yes, Porzingis on paper, across the board,
29:01 you're checking the boxes, he checks more boxes in terms of stuff he can do on the floor.
29:07 But some of those things are things you already have in terms of isolation, scoring and shooting
29:12 and whatever it might be.
29:15 You had a passing problem on this team, a facilitating problem that I think still exists,
29:20 even though I'm excited about Derek White getting pushed up the lineup.
29:25 He's not a great advantage creator, I think, as a point guard.
29:29 He's a guy who I think, especially in this situation, is going to still end up playing
29:33 off the ball quite a bit.
29:35 Bring the ball up, I'm sure plenty and be a threat out there as a shooter and as a catch
29:41 and roll guy, screener.
29:43 I love his screening still to this day, and I love that he's going to be playing 35, 40
29:48 minutes a game.
29:49 But I don't think anyone's looking at him and saying he's going to be the orchestrator
29:52 of all this.
29:53 I don't think anyone's looking at Tatum and Brown and still maintaining this utmost confidence
29:58 that they're going to take huge steps as playmakers this year.
30:01 Because honestly, I thought they took a little bit of a step back last year after that was
30:04 really a focus under Doka.
30:07 So they have to continue to do that, especially when a lot of the personnel around them, Porzingis,
30:13 some of the new bench guys they brought in.
30:15 These guys are really impactful as cutters and Brown, too.
30:19 You know, we talked about during the playoffs, the amount of times Tatum and Brown were connecting
30:24 and how often they're able to succeed alongside each other.
30:29 So for this to succeed, like they have a great team on paper.
30:34 They have a lot of answers to problems that they had a year ago.
30:38 But it's still going to require that growth from Tatum and Brown for those guys to be
30:42 the playmakers and the facilitators.
30:44 And I know a lot's been made out of smarts gone, grants gone, those big voices are gone.
30:49 Tatum and Brown are going to have to step up as leaders.
30:51 And I do think that's true.
30:53 But the greater urgency and need out of them might be them stepping up as the playmakers
30:59 of this team.
31:00 And that's going to be a big challenge for Brown after the year we just saw him have
31:03 in that sense.
31:04 Tatum has taken some real steps in that part of the game.
31:07 And I do think there's always a willingness on his part to move the ball.
31:11 But then it's going to be on him to stay moving and just keep this offense active.
31:14 Because I do think probably the biggest thing that worries me about Porzingis alongside
31:20 injuries is that he does have some real ball stopping tendencies.
31:26 He is a guy who's going to face up and take his time.
31:29 And you do see with a lot of the tape on him, it's a lot of guys standing around, a lot
31:33 of guys alongside him.
31:35 And that's why you end up with this, you know, huge stats, bad team season he ended up having
31:40 there in Washington.
31:41 Not to say he can't fit in on a winning team.
31:44 But it's going to take adjustment by everybody involved in that sacrifice, like we talked
31:48 about for guys to adjust their styles a little bit, and figure out ways to make this work
31:52 alongside each other.
31:53 Because, yes, there's a lot of answers with the talent that they have on this team.
31:58 There's a lot of potential and possibilities for them to try new things here.
32:03 But it's going to take commitment by these guys to play a little differently than they've
32:07 had and then they've been doing in the past.
32:10 You got to be honest with you, Bobby.
32:13 One of the biggest reasons why I wanted to have you on here.
32:15 Well, one of them just happens to be timing.
32:17 I think, again, you going viral yesterday and me be able to kind of, you know, javatch
32:21 it with that a little bit to start was was great.
32:23 But one of the reasons why I brought you on here, and it's honestly my not my main reason,
32:27 because I think you do a great job.
32:29 It's not a reason why I'm here, but.
32:31 We haven't talked on this show really at all about O'Shea Brissett.
32:37 And nobody on this beat knows O'Shea Brissett better than you do.
32:42 And that's I mean, I love everybody on this beat.
32:45 They're all tremendous people.
32:47 Nobody knows O'Shea Brissett better than you do.
32:49 You guys go back to Syracuse.
32:50 You were obviously very familiar with each other as O'Shea was was tearing up with the
32:55 Orange.
32:56 I'm sure you followed his career in Indiana, you know, and all of this.
32:59 I think it was in Toronto before that, right?
33:01 Toronto started in Toronto.
33:02 So I'm sure you follow this.
33:04 You know, it's one of these things when you go to school with someone like I followed
33:08 Dion Waiters for the entire time he was in the league because like that's my guy like
33:13 Wesley Johnson.
33:14 I followed Wesley Johnson League for the entire time he was in the league because that's my
33:17 guy.
33:18 You know, Chris Joseph and Fab Mello didn't last so long.
33:21 You know what I mean?
33:22 I'm a big fan of Pete and Fab.
33:23 But when you like when you interview guys and you're in you and you go through the same
33:27 stuff with them as a fan because like you're a journalist, but also a fan of the team like
33:32 it's hard not to just be invested in their success.
33:36 So with the you know, we talked about bringing Porzingis in to kind of supplement the loss
33:40 of smart.
33:43 They lose Grant Williams.
33:45 They bring in O'Shea Brissett.
33:47 They have Sam Hauser and they have Jordan Walsh who I'd like to talk about in a minute.
33:51 But how does O'Shea Brissett in your opinion help if at all offset the loss of Grant Williams?
33:57 What can you provide to this team that Grant Williams gave them and can can give them back
34:02 a little bit in terms of guy coming off the bench?
34:06 A lot of its energy and intensity.
34:09 He's going to be a guy who's diving on the floor chasing rebounds.
34:13 One of my favorite stats and I throw it around all the time is that he had the most double
34:17 doubles of any freshman at Syracuse behind other than rather Derek Coleman and Camille
34:23 Anthony.
34:24 So his freshman year was incredible at Syracuse and he he was always one of my favorite guys
34:31 through those years just because of that intensity, the energy, but also just the physicality
34:36 he plays with.
34:37 I think, you know, Celtics fans remember the dunk he had against them.
34:41 Forget who was on.
34:42 I can't remember off the top of my head, but he had probably the dunk of his career against
34:46 the Celtics.
34:47 I caught shooting night against them and it is funny how those things rub off and it always
34:51 seems like those kind of games influence teams that end up pursuing these guys.
34:56 The huge games against them and Breset's capable of that.
34:59 Now he's going to play an answer early role, which which they need, you know, as a cutter
35:05 as an off ball shooter.
35:07 Almost all his shots in Indiana were wide open and he's not grant in that sense.
35:13 The shooting comes and goes.
35:15 He's got an interesting release.
35:18 It is really like high above his head and you know, and you have these hot stretches
35:24 and Syracuse kind of told the story of that freshman year coming out.
35:28 Great three point shooting really drove this awesome year for him.
35:32 Second year, the three point shooting took a big step back and that was similar in Indiana
35:35 to first year.
35:37 Their shoots close to 40% involved active big part of their rotation and then last year,
35:44 you know, 31% big step back in that sense with his role.
35:47 So you're going to get good rebounding.
35:50 Great size.
35:51 A guy who's again, it's a theme here with this roster really able to cover space.
35:56 Not as much switch ability, which I think says a lot as well.
36:00 Grant was a very switchable guy.
36:01 This is a guy who I think is going to have to guard fours.
36:04 I think, you know, some threes maybe he'll be capable of guarding, but a lot of it's
36:09 going to be sort of those, you know, physical fours that he's going to be able to, you know,
36:13 kind of front.
36:15 So I do think with guys like Bursette, Banton, if he's able to break through even Hauser,
36:21 you know, they have some taller, longer guys who I think will probably lead them to switch
36:29 less and sort of just guard their positions this year and funnel, you know, guards and
36:35 pick and rolls into the drop with Porzingis in the middle.
36:38 But I also think what we saw this year, of course, with Bursette and Syracuse and all
36:41 that is in the summer league, they played a lot of zone.
36:46 And I'm really interested in how that's going to translate to camp.
36:49 Are we going to see some zone from this team in the preseason, given the personnel they
36:52 have, given that they have such big, long bodies across the perimeter and they can really
36:57 cover space with these players?
37:00 They've been killed by it before.
37:01 They've seen a lot of success from the Heat playing that system, and they really haven't
37:06 tried it at all.
37:08 And it felt like half a summer league they were in that zone of and they have some guys
37:13 who I think project to be really good in that look.
37:17 They had Tony Dobbins trying to run it out there.
37:20 And I have to think that they're going to at least try to run a little zone early in
37:25 the preseason and see how it works and maybe have that be part of their defensive game
37:30 plan this year with guys like Bursette with Porzingis in the middle and, you know, with
37:35 some big guards at the top who can be disruptive.
37:37 Yeah, they certainly have the length.
37:39 Like, I remember a few years ago, Spelstra did had played his own against, I think it
37:44 was in the bubble.
37:45 He played zone against the Celtics and he had Derrick Jones Jr. at the top.
37:49 And I was just about to make really things I've ever seen.
37:51 I was like, that's so brilliant.
37:52 He's so long, so active.
37:55 He's going to be so disrupted that anybody that tries to break into the middle of the
37:58 zone like he's just going to.
38:01 So, you know, we look at the length of this team.
38:04 I mean, Jordan, I'm not trying to say Jordan Walsh to go out there and be some unbelievable
38:08 player, but, you know, Jordan Walsh having a seven to wingspan or being six foot seven.
38:13 You look so good at the top of that zone.
38:15 He's going to look spectacular at the top of the zone.
38:17 I think it's not like he can't.
38:18 He has, you know, we had a bullpen on last week and I talked about how watching Jordan
38:26 Walsh and summer league.
38:27 I all I could think about was like, man, I can't wait until he gets Tatum's shoulders
38:31 because, you know, Tatum, when he came into somebody was a skinny, lanky guy.
38:36 And Walsh's frame reminds me a lot of that.
38:38 When he puts weight on, he's going to look a little different.
38:40 And Steve was quick to say, like, I wouldn't want him to put too much weight on because
38:44 his lateral quickness is going to be what makes him really special as a defender, if
38:50 he's going to really get there.
38:52 And so as a, you know, as you toy between the two, I think, you know, Walsh's ability
38:56 to be a great lateral mover in space and someone that understands, you know, help defense as
39:02 a help defender.
39:03 Like, I think the sky's the limit for him, especially if they play zone.
39:06 Like if he's got to know where every everybody is and where everything is, but with his reaction
39:10 and his ability to recover, I think, you know, you have potentially a guy that could play
39:15 a little bit more in a role like that.
39:16 Because I think about like, if you go back to Tatum's rookie year, I'm not trying to
39:20 compare Tamer Walsh, like as players, I just want to go back to their roles.
39:25 If you remember Tatum's rookie year, he's surrounded by Jalen Brown, Al Horford, Kyrie
39:30 Irving and Gordon Hayward.
39:33 All Tatum had to do is like stand in the corner, hit open threes, play defense and like drive
39:38 closeouts.
39:39 Can Jordan Walsh do all that stuff?
39:41 I think he's certainly capable of it.
39:43 Does he, will he make enough mistakes to get taken off the floor defensively?
39:47 We'll see.
39:48 But I think there's definitely a possibility that Walsh gets a little more playing time
39:53 than I think people are admitting right now because of the way he can kind of impact the
39:58 defense event.
39:59 Yeah, and we've seen rookies get on the floor for them.
40:02 Grant Williams, obviously, I thought played some steady minutes his rookie year during
40:06 2020.
40:07 Pritchard got out there, played a real role as a rookie.
40:11 Some of these guys came in a little more seasoned than Walsh, a little older in some other cases
40:15 too.
40:16 He's still so young.
40:17 It feels like he was in high school yesterday.
40:20 And it's funny to come out of summer league feeling better about the offense than the
40:24 defense given his pedigree as a defender.
40:27 But I do think defense is probably going to be a little bit of an adjustment at this level,
40:31 especially if they're playing some different schemes than what he's used to in the past.
40:35 So I'm interested to see how he looks early on, but I'm not ruling out him playing this
40:39 year.
40:40 I don't think there's going to be a JD Davidson situation where he's in Maine his whole first
40:43 year.
40:44 He's on a standard contract for a reason.
40:46 And I think they've almost celebrated him and marketed him like a first rounder.
40:52 I can't remember.
40:53 And, you know, you probably remember a lot more second rounders than I do, Evan, but
40:57 I can't remember a second rounder that they've really pushed as a team like this.
41:02 And it's not like this is the only thing.
41:04 Vermont Waters didn't get this kind of treatment.
41:06 You know what I'm saying?
41:07 Right.
41:08 Like Davidson last summer, you know, they've stashed a couple of guys in recent years,
41:12 but this is different.
41:13 And it's not like they didn't have some other big marquee moves this summer that they really
41:17 could have marketed.
41:18 And then Walsh is the only guy coming in here.
41:20 So they've had to push him extra hard.
41:21 I think they're legitimately excited about him.
41:23 Not that he was their first choice.
41:24 I think a guy like, oh, Max Prosper, there was people there in the first round who I
41:28 think they were looking at who went.
41:30 And that's why they ended up trading back a couple of times, because you can't just
41:33 say like this was their first choice and they're trading back like crazy.
41:38 It wouldn't make sense.
41:39 But I do think he was near the top of their list and he fell pretty far and they were
41:44 still able to get him while picking up future second rounders here.
41:48 And I've said this, I don't want to get overly excited about summer league results.
41:51 And it's just a couple of games and probably a couple of dozen shots.
41:54 But he went out and shot 40 percent in summer league.
41:56 And he's going to be even more open when the NBA season starts.
42:00 And he did have a nice poise and confidence about him that I think is going to be hard
42:04 to shake.
42:05 You know, obviously, I think a lot of his personal life has shaped that, too, as he's
42:09 come up.
42:10 He's intense and confident and sure of himself in ways that I think are going to translate
42:17 well to those ups and downs of being a rookie.
42:20 And given the position he plays, as you mentioned, with Grant gone and percent, some other guys
42:25 trying to fight for those secondary four minutes, probably big dressing almost every night.
42:31 There's going to be pockets for him to play this year.
42:33 And if he's shooting 40 percent or close to it, he's going to play like that's all
42:38 there is to it, especially the style they play and the way the NBA is now.
42:42 If you're shooting, you're going to get out on the floor and he brings a lot of other
42:45 things to the table, too, which is nice.
42:47 He's not just that, you know, spot up three point shooter.
42:50 It's what I think is going to unlock the rest of his game.
42:54 But it's also going to be key to him playing as a rookie and going out and shooting 40
42:58 percent in the summer league like he did was a great first step.
43:00 We'll get you out of here on this because this is just some newsy kind of stuff.
43:05 Bullpen had an article come out.
43:08 I think it was there yesterday, the day before we're recording on a Saturday.
43:11 So I think it came out Friday.
43:13 I'll give you one quote.
43:14 Like one exec said, quote, they valued Malcolm Brogdon.
43:17 He's a member of their team, a member of their team.
43:19 That's where it ended.
43:20 We didn't get anywhere.
43:21 This is, of course, talking about trading Malcolm Brogdon, at least trying to reengage
43:24 on Malcolm Brogdon, the one executive.
43:27 I just have a question for you, Bobby.
43:28 Is this is this Danny Ainge like helping out the seas with with Malcolm Brogdon's trade
43:34 or do you actually think that Brogdon's a quote unquote valued part of this team?
43:39 Concerned that the lack of guard depth at this point.
43:43 As far as I've heard, I don't think you can rule out Brogdon moving at this point.
43:50 I don't expect it to happen.
43:52 I think the most activity on that front probably already happened.
43:55 I don't know, per se, if, you know, they're deflecting teams that would be interested
44:01 in him.
44:02 I think the biggest uncertainty here is still the medical.
44:07 The fact that that Clippers deal got squashed by, you know, I think having it in place and
44:12 then it going to the highest level and then ultimately, once the medical gets assessed
44:17 at that level in L.A., the deal fell apart.
44:20 And I think some of that was exclusive to the Clippers, given the criticism they've
44:25 received for their player health.
44:27 Bringing in a guy like Brogdon who has some questions on that front wouldn't have been
44:31 the best look for them.
44:32 Now, if another team comes along and makes a very aggressive offer, I don't think Brogdon's
44:37 untouchable.
44:38 But what never made sense to me was the notion that they were just going to move off his
44:42 contract to try to get below the tax or make a money move in that sense, because I still
44:46 think he brings enough to the table here and they have enough of a need at that position
44:52 where you should see what he can do this year.
44:55 You know, start the season with him, let him recover if it takes some time into the season.
45:00 I still think that's probably one of the uneasy questions going into this year is that we
45:06 haven't seen or heard a lot from Brogdon.
45:08 And so does training camp come around?
45:10 It's like, oh, it needs a couple of weeks.
45:12 You know, you're going to keep continuing this healing program with him.
45:15 I haven't heard a ton on that front.
45:17 I think Brad most recently mentioned that he was getting close to getting back out there
45:21 on the court, which is a positive as August approaches here.
45:24 But I've always been strongly in favor of bringing broadening back.
45:27 And I wasn't his biggest fan last year.
45:28 I felt like I was one of his biggest critics talking about his defense and, you know, the
45:33 passing and just overall, I think the narrowness of his impact where it seems like he was going
45:38 to bring this wide impact to the team.
45:40 He really only ended up being a scorer and shooter for them.
45:43 So listen, there's some ways that they could upgrade their like if the Clippers offered
45:47 Norman Powell, that's an intriguing swap, I think, for both sides, especially if the
45:51 Clippers can't get this Harden deal done.
45:55 There's some other deals out there where you split broad in the multiple players that I
45:58 think could make some sense.
46:00 But as far as my confidence in Peyton Pritchard goes, I have to see it this year because I
46:04 think he did get some opportunities last year, not a ton, but even through the early years
46:09 in his career where he would get out there and he'd have some dazzling nights, of course,
46:14 when the ball was in his hands for most of the night.
46:16 But when he was in more of a, you know, ancillary role, he didn't have the greatest impact.
46:21 And the one thing you can say about Brogdon last year was in limited minutes off the bench
46:26 in a smaller role, he was able to be extraordinarily consistent and effective in ways that really
46:34 helped them.
46:35 And, you know, I think they're still going to need that vocal presence in the locker
46:39 room, which he really ratcheted up late in the year.
46:42 And so did he get comfortable enough in that sense to where he could finally be a vocal
46:45 leader for this team?
46:47 He can be that closer if they want to go small.
46:49 And I think he'll still be key for connecting their smaller and their bigger lineups out
46:54 there.
46:55 And then, of course, you're going to need someone to man those secondary point guard
46:57 minutes.
46:58 They're high on Pritchard.
46:59 I know that for a fact.
47:00 So that makes me even more sure that if the right deal came along, they would move Brogdon.
47:05 But at this point, I just don't think there's enough momentum in that direction.
47:09 I don't think there's enough out there.
47:11 And I still think there's probably enough uncertainty with the medical here that it's
47:15 not likely he moves.
47:16 And Brad has really been, if you've listened to his comments over the last month plus,
47:21 pretty concerted and including Brogdon among like the guys that they're going forward into
47:26 this year with and building around this season.
47:29 So I know everybody's freaked out about him being in a deal and it falling apart and how
47:33 that might impact him.
47:35 That stuff happens.
47:37 It's a little rare to actually be like on the doorstep of a deal and having it like
47:40 signed and ready to go and it falling apart like it was and actually being reported because
47:45 I think it was Jake Fisher, one of the national reporters who was saying like this stuff happens
47:49 a lot, but you don't hear about it because it's not reported until it's like ready to
47:53 go.
47:54 This deal was ready to go and go into the Clippers and it fell apart.
47:58 So it'll be interesting to actually hear about it once he reacts to that.
48:03 But I think it is something that everybody can kind of push past and understand that
48:08 it's a business and now he's back and part of the team again.
48:12 So if you ask me right now, I have to think it's going to be on this team on opening night.
48:18 I agree with you.
48:19 That's Bobby Manning of Boston Sports Journal of the Garden Report.
48:23 Of course, CLS is very own Garvey Port.
48:25 You can follow him on Twitter.
48:26 You can follow him on YouTube.
48:28 You guys, you know, you guys are twice a week.
48:30 So you're going to hear Bobby a lot in terms of you listen to podcasts and iTunes or Spotify
48:33 or whatever.
48:34 You can read Bobby Boston Sports Journal, of course, CLS media as well.
48:38 Bobby, thanks for joining us here today.
48:40 Make sure you subscribe to this podcast on YouTube, on iTunes, on Spotify, all that great
48:44 stuff.
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48:49 Love working with them.
48:50 We got some fun futures bets coming up that we'll get into later on this summer.
48:55 But for Bobby Manning, for Adam Kaufman, I'm Evan Valenti.
48:57 We'll see you guys next time right here on Celtics Beat.
49:00 See ya.
49:00 (upbeat music)
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