In the latest episode of Talkin C's, Bobby Krivitsky, Jack Simone, and Sam LaFrance discuss the Celtics' 5-0 homestand, they're rumored trade interest in Isaiah Stewart, and they're upcoming trip to the West Coast.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - And we are back, another edition of
00:10 How 'Bout Them Celtics,
00:11 Talking C's with Bobby Kravitzky of SI Media Group.
00:14 Bobby, how are you doing today?
00:16 - I'm doing fantastic.
00:17 Nice West Coast road trip headed for the C's.
00:21 I'll be covering it remotely, which makes things,
00:23 it's not comfortable being detached,
00:25 but it certainly is also more relaxing.
00:27 So, we'll see what the Cavies store.
00:28 - I was just gonna say, I was just gonna say,
00:30 as I love being at the games, I love being at the garden,
00:33 I love being at practices and being with the team.
00:36 Obviously we went to Philly for a little road action
00:38 earlier this year, but like the fact that
00:40 around the holidays, 'cause my family's big on Christmas,
00:42 like we can just kind of chill, road trip,
00:44 hang out at home, breathe a little bit.
00:47 I'm not gonna say I was upset at the concept of it,
00:51 I'll put it that way.
00:52 But Celtics before the West Coast trip
00:55 are fresh off a sweep of the Orlando Magic
00:58 that came on the tail end of a five game homestand
01:00 of which the Celtics won every single game.
01:02 One of the next two wins over the Cavs,
01:04 two wins, dominant wins, I should say,
01:06 over the Orlando Magic,
01:08 a team they had trouble with in the past.
01:09 I think they had lost four straight games to Orlando
01:11 before they picked up the two straight victories
01:14 on Friday and Sunday.
01:16 Big wins.
01:17 Bobby, what are your biggest takeaways from those wins?
01:19 - Yeah, so I believe it's the first time
01:20 the Celtics have swept a homestand of five games or more
01:24 since 2016, I believe is the correct year.
01:27 So it's been a minute.
01:29 And to do it against opponents that have given them trouble
01:33 and specifically because of the physicality they play with.
01:36 And I know the Cavs didn't have Evan Mobley,
01:39 but you look at what Orlando has done to the Celtics team.
01:41 You mentioned it, four straight wins
01:43 coming into the mini series.
01:45 And that's some of the best ball the Celtics have played.
01:48 They did it shorthanded on Friday,
01:51 which made it more impressive.
01:52 Plus it was the second half of a back to back.
01:54 And just Jalen Brown, I think this five game stretch
01:58 in particular is arguably the best of his career
02:01 where he really was the driving force
02:04 in why the Celtics were playing with this uptempo pace
02:08 that is crucial to them being at their best.
02:10 - Yeah, I mean, it was sick to see the Celtics play for real
02:17 against Orlando.
02:18 They meant every single one of the hard dunks
02:20 that they threw down.
02:21 You could tell both sides really wanted it.
02:23 Jalen Brown talked about how that felt like
02:26 the biggest win of the season on Friday.
02:28 And it was reflected in their play.
02:31 And Joe Mazzullo was pumped up at the game yesterday.
02:33 There was a video of him fired up
02:35 doing the big fist bump on the side.
02:37 And he'd said, more or less,
02:39 the players need to see that kind of emotion
02:41 from the coach every once in a while.
02:43 And he felt like it was deserved
02:44 because they're playing Celtics basketball.
02:46 And I could not agree more,
02:47 even though it is funny that the reaction comes
02:49 after Jalen hits a pull up three,
02:51 just into the Mazzullo ball mindset there, which is fine.
02:56 But man, it was awesome to see them
03:00 not only win five straight games at home,
03:02 but to bounce back after what was a disaster loss
03:04 in Indiana to me.
03:05 I hated the way they melted down defensively.
03:07 They couldn't buy a stop.
03:09 Then they lost an important tournament game.
03:11 And they bounced back by beating the Knicks,
03:13 Cavs twice, Magic twice,
03:15 in five games that they had almost complete control of.
03:18 They got off to slow starts against Cleveland once
03:20 and Orlando once, but they came back,
03:23 fought back and dominantly won both of those games.
03:27 It was great to see.
03:28 It gave me a big boost in confidence for the Celtics
03:31 as they head out to the West Coast
03:33 to take on the Warriors tomorrow.
03:34 - I agree.
03:36 I mean, I've said this to Sam a bunch of times
03:39 while we're recording and off air,
03:40 that Joe Mazzullo fist pump video
03:41 might be my favorite video of the season so far.
03:43 Like every time I watch that, right?
03:46 Obviously as media, you're supposed to be unbiased
03:48 and you try to be,
03:49 but even as just a fan of basketball,
03:52 watching a coach show that much emotion on the court,
03:54 it's just so, so sick.
03:57 Like he sees Jalen make the three
03:59 and you see him like fist pump, like, yeah, that's cool.
04:00 And as soon as the timeout is called,
04:02 he's just like, yeah.
04:03 Like he just gets fully amped, fully into it.
04:06 I don't, I truly don't know how fans can be so against
04:10 Joe Mazzullo after that video.
04:11 Like that has to draw you in a little bit, right?
04:14 Like that video, it was, ah.
04:16 - Based on my social media mentions,
04:18 I think he definitely won some people over.
04:19 - Okay, good.
04:20 - And Sam, you referenced his answer
04:23 to why he chose to let that out in that moment.
04:26 Another part of his answer was defining
04:29 what Celtics basketball means to him.
04:31 And shameless plug, I wrote about this
04:33 for Inside the Celtics about Mazzullo and Jalen Brown
04:36 and Christoph Porzingis.
04:38 They all got asked that same question.
04:39 What does Celtics basketball mean to you?
04:42 And in particular, they're all great answers,
04:44 but I love Jalen's would get the gold medal in my opinion,
04:47 where it starts with defense laying the foundation
04:50 for their success.
04:51 And then he mentioned how they have to play up tempo
04:54 and they have to take care of the ball
04:56 and make the right reads.
04:57 And even later on, he got into how they have to win.
05:00 And Jack, you're gonna love this.
05:01 He got into how they have to be able to win
05:03 when threes aren't falling.
05:05 And he specifically referenced him and Jason's ability
05:08 to score in the low post.
05:09 And so to me, it, you know,
05:12 we've seen hot stretches from the Celtics before.
05:14 They were on fire for the most part last season.
05:17 Going into that game against Golden State on the road,
05:20 they had just blown out the suns
05:22 and then they went to San Francisco
05:24 and it really knocked their season off kilter.
05:27 And they started to deal with much more physicality
05:30 after that loss at Chase Center.
05:31 So now they go back to what's kind of been a house of
05:34 horrors in a sense in recent years.
05:36 And those are the keys as Jalen Brown described them
05:39 to making sure that this trip starting Tuesday
05:41 is a successful one.
05:44 - Yeah, I mean, the fact that they have reinvented
05:47 their game a bit this season,
05:49 added the wrinkle of post play, like you mentioned,
05:51 and have really started to lean on defense
05:53 a bit more heavily,
05:54 even though they were second ranked last year, I believe,
05:57 has made the Celtics that much more difficult to beat.
06:01 Because last year you could catch them on an off night
06:03 and you could beat them
06:04 because the threes weren't falling.
06:06 And when that would happen,
06:07 they really wouldn't know what to do.
06:08 You saw plenty of the playoffs.
06:09 It's why they lost some of these games,
06:11 especially when they got close.
06:13 Now with the ability to go low to Tatum and Brown
06:16 and Porzingis, they are just so much more dangerous,
06:19 especially with Jalen Brown having his head on a swivel.
06:22 As of late, I think he's only averaged
06:24 two turnovers per game.
06:26 And he's looked great moving the ball
06:28 out of the low post in particular.
06:30 He's using guys on the weak side corner.
06:32 He's setting up teammates for open threes.
06:34 He looks comfortable with the ball,
06:37 just like Tatum does and just like Porzingis does.
06:39 And that just makes the Celtics so dangerous
06:41 because they don't necessarily need those guys
06:43 to do all the scoring.
06:44 They just need them to be able to capture enough attention
06:47 for other guys to capitalize on it.
06:50 We've seen Derek White have plenty of great games this year.
06:53 We've seen Drew Holiday catch fire times.
06:54 Even Al Horford has had 18, 20 point games
06:57 just because he's been in the right spots
06:59 to take advantage of the defense.
07:02 Going forward, they should have no problem
07:04 continuing to exploit this
07:05 because there's no real answer for the Celtics
07:08 when they just play for real.
07:10 I hope when they go out West,
07:11 they bring that mentality with them
07:13 because you saw it on the home stand.
07:15 You saw them take Orlando seriously
07:17 as they've kind of accepted this as a rivalry,
07:20 as is the fan base,
07:21 'cause everybody was very pumped about these two wins.
07:24 And now you've got the Warriors who, like you said, Bobby,
07:26 have beaten up on you.
07:27 You lost it in the finals.
07:28 You went there last year.
07:29 That's where things started to unravel a bit
07:31 because you lost your first bad game of the year.
07:34 Then you have both LA teams
07:37 who you've gone back and forth with in some tight games.
07:40 The Lakers in particular, both games went to double OT.
07:43 On Christmas, as for Sacramento,
07:45 you've handled them for the last two seasons.
07:47 Just continue doing what you've been doing.
07:50 - Agree.
07:51 I agree.
07:52 It all goes back to Joe Mazzullo idea for me.
07:54 I love it.
07:54 Love that they're playing the right way.
07:55 Love that they turned it around.
07:57 And to segue that,
07:58 hopefully they can keep it up
07:59 'cause they've got a pretty,
08:00 excuse me, tough road stretch coming up.
08:02 Celtics have a West Coast road trip
08:05 that includes the Warriors, the Kings, the Clippers,
08:07 and the Lakers finishing on Christmas day at crypto.com arena.
08:11 It's still the Staples Center.
08:12 I don't care.
08:13 At Staples Center against the Lakers.
08:14 This is a big road trip.
08:17 Sam and I just finished up recording our,
08:20 what is today?
08:21 I lose track.
08:22 Our Tuesday pod.
08:23 It's gonna be up tomorrow on the channel at 5 a.m.
08:24 This will obviously be up before that
08:26 'cause we're putting it up today.
08:28 But we talked about the road trip a little.
08:29 We talked about the magic sweep.
08:31 The way I presented it on the pod
08:35 that you'll hear again tomorrow if you listen to that
08:37 is they're playing good enough to win.
08:39 I don't necessarily expect them to sweep it
08:41 because I never go into a big stretch of road trip.
08:43 I didn't go into the homestead expecting a sweep
08:45 'cause as much as they are capable of it,
08:47 that's just not how basketball works.
08:49 So I'm not necessarily expecting a sweep,
08:51 but it does feel like the Celtics are playing good enough
08:53 where they are fully capable of sweeping this road trip.
08:55 That said, some tough opponents here.
08:57 Bobby, what are you looking for?
08:58 - Yeah, for sure.
08:59 And I mean, they've got another back-to-back coming up.
09:01 They have to go from Tuesday against the Warriors
09:04 to Wednesday against the Kings
09:06 and that explosive high-octane offense,
09:08 that's gonna be difficult to deal with.
09:10 And again, it's a challenge of mental toughness
09:13 and also the ability for everyone
09:15 to take care of their bodies
09:16 and have themselves physically ready to play
09:18 and get your energy back up.
09:20 And it's gonna be really interesting to see
09:22 because there was so much, to use that word again,
09:25 energy exerted it takes to be able to play
09:28 the swarming defense they showed against Orlando
09:31 where they did an excellent job of walling off drives
09:34 and then swarming it and getting to the perimeter
09:36 and contesting shots.
09:37 Orlando for the series shot 43% from the field
09:41 and committed 30 turnovers.
09:42 That's outstanding.
09:44 And it does, as Jalen put it,
09:45 lay the foundation for their success
09:47 and why they were able to play in transition so frequently,
09:51 as important as it is to also push off of makes when you can.
09:55 And so if they can do that, as draining as it is,
09:59 that's gonna go a long way for their success.
10:01 So it's just gonna be interesting to see
10:03 if they're able to maintain the mindset
10:06 that went into what made them successful in this homestand.
10:09 - Yeah, they've got big games.
10:12 They should have a chip on their shoulder
10:14 against at least two of these teams.
10:16 Hopefully all four of they find some kind of motivation
10:18 because one, you're running a win streak, have fun with it.
10:22 Get us all fired up.
10:24 Five games is great, but how great would it be
10:26 if it got to nine and you won on Christmas
10:27 against the Lakers in LA?
10:29 We would all be pumped.
10:31 The Warriors are a team that the Celtics should get up for
10:34 no matter what.
10:35 In the past, they've done it.
10:36 Ever since the Warriors got good,
10:38 the Celtics have played them really well.
10:40 Change in personnel that have been wearing green,
10:43 they all kind of bring that same mentality.
10:45 They play real hard, especially on the road.
10:47 They've been pretty good,
10:48 aside from last season's visit there.
10:51 Then playing against Sacramento again,
10:53 you have beaten that team really, really handedly as of late.
10:57 Continue doing what you're doing.
10:58 They are for real.
10:59 Keegan Murray just exploded for 12 threes.
11:02 We talked about it on the show
11:03 that'll come out tomorrow morning,
11:04 but the insane 12 of 13 shooting output from Murray,
11:09 even had Steph Curry going nuts.
11:13 Keep an eye out for them.
11:13 Fox has always been pretty good,
11:15 and Sabonis is out there setting guys up,
11:17 setting hard screens and hitting the glass.
11:20 I'm interested to see how they fare without Horford.
11:23 I would hope that they sit him against Golden State
11:25 'cause I feel like you almost need him less
11:27 against the Warriors compared to
11:29 when you have Sabonis to deal with on the other end.
11:31 You're not gonna have Draymond playing in that Warriors game.
11:33 Looney is a beast on the glass,
11:34 but I feel like you have a decent amount of bodies
11:37 to throw at him, even with Horford out.
11:39 And then of course, beat those LA teams.
11:41 The Clippers have won eight of 10.
11:43 They've turned it around after the hardened trade
11:46 got off to a shaky start,
11:48 and it's looking like they didn't just mortgage
11:49 their future for nothing.
11:50 They might actually get something out of it.
11:52 And then anytime you play the Lakers,
11:54 I mean, you better win.
11:56 It's Christmas.
11:57 Everyone's gonna be watching.
11:58 Don't embarrass yourselves.
11:59 - Yeah, the way I look at it is
12:04 I think the toughest games in that stretch
12:05 are probably gonna be the Warriors and the Clippers.
12:08 I think the Lakers are a good team,
12:10 but the Celtics should have the juice.
12:12 I think they've played the Kings well.
12:14 Clippers are hot right now though,
12:15 and the Warriors always seem to have their number
12:16 regardless of Draymond probably,
12:18 or definitely not playing in that game.
12:20 They should do well on this road trip.
12:22 You expect them to do well on this road trip,
12:24 and then you come home to play the Pistons.
12:26 So if you really wanna keep it up,
12:28 that's a good excuse to come home and keep it up.
12:31 So you wanna see them keep up that intensity.
12:33 But as all this is going on,
12:34 rumblings of the Celtics potential involvement
12:36 in the trade market are as well.
12:38 We talked about this on the pod that comes out tomorrow
12:40 at 5 a.m. a decent amount.
12:41 Shams Tarana doubled down on his previous reporting
12:45 saying that, yeah, the Celtics are gonna be involved
12:47 trying to upgrade the bench on the trade market.
12:49 And this is after in between his two statements,
12:51 Windy, Brian Windorst of ESPN basically said,
12:54 now they're gonna be focused on the buyout market.
12:56 Our thought process, spoiler alert,
12:58 we get into it in depth on the show,
13:00 there's not really a pathway for them
13:02 to really get involved barring them just targeting
13:05 some of these smaller contract guys.
13:06 And at that point,
13:07 is it that much of an upgrade over the bench?
13:09 Bobby, what's your take on the whole Celtics
13:10 being involved in the trade market thing?
13:12 - I think that I'm sure they would love
13:15 to feel more comfortable about what they have
13:18 at that four or five spot.
13:19 It's why in hindsight,
13:22 losing Grant Williams is so difficult.
13:24 And look, I was advocating in the moment to keep him,
13:28 but at that juncture,
13:30 he would have been the reason
13:31 they went over the collective bargaining tax,
13:33 which they had some flexibility on clearly,
13:36 but it's a lot different when you decide to do it
13:38 to get Drew Holliday, a two-time all-star
13:41 and someone who can be a core member of your roster
13:44 compared to Grant Williams coming off a season
13:47 where he was often out of the rotation.
13:50 And so now it's a question of, can they fill that spot,
13:54 someone who can play the four and the five
13:56 and give them a better layer of insurance
13:59 in case they were to lose Porzingis or Horford
14:01 and they missed time in the playoffs.
14:03 And yeah, they have the draft capital moving forward.
14:07 They have their first round picks from 2024 to 2027.
14:11 They have three second round selections
14:13 in this upcoming draft,
14:15 but financially we're gonna get into a player
14:17 in just a second, so I won't reveal that name,
14:20 but it's a prime example of,
14:22 it doesn't seem realistic
14:23 that they could even make the math work,
14:25 let alone, are they willing to sacrifice
14:27 the players it would take to bring in a name like that?
14:30 - Yeah, I mean, there really isn't a lot of great pathways
14:36 for the Celtics to make any move of substance.
14:39 Jack and I talked about it on the pod
14:40 that'll go up tomorrow morning,
14:41 but there's only a few names out there
14:42 that could fit into the TPE
14:45 that you would be like, oh yeah,
14:46 okay, I know who that guy is.
14:48 Maybe I would like the team to bring him in.
14:50 But going back to Grant Williams,
14:52 I kinda hate that they just gave up that free cap slot
14:55 that they would have had by keeping him,
14:57 'cause it could have made trades like this one
14:59 more possible.
15:00 It could have made something like
15:01 going to get Alex Caruso feasible.
15:04 At least if you wanna go back,
15:06 even at the end of the summer, when they got Drew Holiday,
15:09 they gave up Malcolm and they gave up Rob.
15:12 They might not have had to give up both of those guys.
15:14 They could have put Grant in there,
15:15 still had the extra cap slot,
15:18 and already had the third rotation big guy in Rob Williams,
15:21 if they had kept him,
15:23 to not even have this conundrum
15:25 that they're dealing with now.
15:26 Instead, they're really strapped
15:28 with what they can do trade-wise,
15:30 and it doesn't make for an easy path to getting anybody.
15:33 The buyout market is what seems like
15:35 it's going to be the most realistic option.
15:37 They still have that roster spot open
15:39 and seem pretty dead set on keeping it that way
15:42 until there's something they can do with it.
15:45 - Yeah, and I mean, you guys have both hinted at it,
15:46 and I might just throw them in the thumbnail
15:48 'cause it's probably the biggest piece
15:49 of Celtics trade news.
15:51 James Edwards, the third of the Athletic,
15:52 again, we talked about this in the pod
15:53 that goes up tomorrow morning,
15:55 recently revealed that the Celtics,
15:56 the Mavericks, and the Thunder
15:57 have shown a level of interest in Isaiah Stewart.
16:00 The issue is he's poison-pilled.
16:04 So he makes 5.3 million this season,
16:06 but in order for the Celtics to acquire him,
16:08 they'd need to give up 13-ish million in salary.
16:11 Unless you're willing to give up Al Horford,
16:13 that's close to impossible.
16:14 You did the math in the pod.
16:15 I'll reveal it to you here.
16:17 They would literally have to give up everybody
16:19 on the roster outside of the top six
16:21 and Sam Hauser to make the money work.
16:23 Peyton Pritchard, Jordan Walsh,
16:25 all of the mid-level bench guys, including Luke Cornett,
16:28 which don't really see happening for Isaiah Stewart.
16:31 So as cool as it is, it seems pretty impossible.
16:34 I'm curious to know your thoughts, Bobby,
16:35 and barring a "they should trade Al Horford" stance,
16:38 I can't imagine it's too dissimilar to ours.
16:40 - And that's not my position,
16:41 and they're not gonna trade Al Horford.
16:43 I love beef stew,
16:45 but he also signed a four-year $60 million extension.
16:49 So the average annual value of that contract is 15 million.
16:53 Moving forward for a Celtics team
16:54 that has so much committed to most of their top six already,
16:59 and the expectation is that they extend Drew Holliday
17:01 on top of that.
17:03 So it's just not realistic financially
17:06 that they're gonna acquire Isaiah Stewart
17:08 as much as I'm sure that Brad Stevens loves him.
17:10 And the other side of the coin,
17:12 and James Edwards does an exceptional job
17:14 covering the Pistons, so I don't doubt his reporting
17:17 and him getting information from the Detroit side of it,
17:20 but Brad Stevens moves in silence
17:22 and has proven to be a shrewd poker player.
17:25 And the other side of the deals that he makes,
17:28 those partnerships have obliged in that secrecy.
17:31 It's easier when you have a relationship
17:33 with the Spurs franchise, for instance, and Greg Popovich,
17:36 but it's not the only example where a deal has happened
17:39 and it was off the radar.
17:42 And so I do believe that the Celtics have checked in,
17:45 that they'd love to get Isaiah Stewart,
17:47 and hey, what's the price tag to make it happen?
17:49 But again, the financial aspect of it
17:52 makes this unrealistic.
17:54 - Yeah, and also the James Edwards report from today
18:00 could just be a re-report of what we heard
18:02 earlier in the summer when it was reported
18:04 they were interested in Stewart.
18:05 The news part of that could be that the Thunder,
18:08 and who was the other team that was also interested?
18:10 There was a third team. - Dallas.
18:11 - Dallas were both interested, which makes sense.
18:13 They both kind of could use an extra body down low.
18:16 The Celtics would have made more sense this summer
18:20 before Stewart's contract became poison pill
18:24 and a deal could have been done
18:25 without having to bind their hands
18:27 completely like it would now.
18:29 I don't really expect anything to get done on that front,
18:31 but you never know.
18:32 Sometimes you get surprised.
18:33 - At least he gave us a talking point.
18:36 This is something to talk about, Celtics Isaiah Stewart,
18:39 even if the talking is, no.
18:42 Which is pretty much what it's gonna be.
18:43 - Even if we're shooting it down.
18:44 - Yeah.
18:45 But I just don't see the Celtics
18:48 making any huge trades this season.
18:50 It doesn't seem like it's gonna be in the cards.
18:52 It doesn't seem possible.
18:53 Unless they're willing to trade Peyton Pritchard,
18:55 which in my opinion doesn't make much sense
18:58 with how well he's played and the value of his contract.
19:01 And even that, even if they wanted to trade Peyton Pritchard,
19:04 the best they could get up to is around 10 mil
19:06 and you look at some of the guys who make 10 mil
19:08 on teams that would be willing to trade the players
19:10 and you're like, it just doesn't move you very much.
19:14 - You know what I could see though,
19:15 as at least a piece to the puzzle,
19:17 is Brad Stevens, the front office,
19:20 and Joe Mazzuola looking at two things.
19:23 And that is Porzingis' health, even with the extension,
19:26 and Al Horford's age and saying,
19:29 this window that we have,
19:31 and I know that Ownership's talked about it,
19:32 as I believe Wick Grosbeck said it,
19:34 drew Holiday's introductory presser a six year window,
19:37 I believe is the number that he threw out there.
19:39 But these next two years,
19:42 it's easier to justify pushing your chips
19:44 even further into the middle of the table right now
19:48 because of those factors surrounding Horford and Porzingis
19:50 than it is to wait a season.
19:52 So maybe there is something, a move they make,
19:56 and look, there's other needs where you could argue
19:58 they need to add another wing off the bench
20:00 to get more athletic in the second unit,
20:02 and I think that's a fair point.
20:04 But in particular, it's that layer of insurance
20:07 behind Porzingis and Horford,
20:09 and maybe they do decide, okay,
20:11 what's the most aggressive we can be
20:13 in bringing in an upgrade who fits that description?
20:16 - Yeah, I mean, well, they already fumbled Daniel Tice.
20:20 Could've got him after the buyout,
20:22 and they didn't go after him.
20:24 Shameful.
20:25 - I think that was almost prearranged
20:27 for him to get to the Clippers.
20:28 - Sad, sad, sad, sad from Tice.
20:31 But with the rest of those guys,
20:34 and Jack and I dropped some names on the podcast,
20:37 there weren't any that were very interesting
20:39 that were big guys.
20:40 There was one, Precious Achua.
20:42 And even then, there's nobody that's like,
20:44 knock your socks off good that's gonna fit into the TPE.
20:47 Besides that, you're still pretty strapped.
20:49 You don't get to combine the TPE with other salaries,
20:51 so you can't reach those larger numbers
20:54 unless you completely gut the team.
20:56 It's just that simple.
20:58 I really can't get behind any trade talk this year.
21:01 When the team's 20 and five, and I get it,
21:03 I get you want insurance.
21:04 Those two guys absolutely have reasons to concern you
21:07 about their availability down the line.
21:12 Ugh, can't speak.
21:13 But, I don't know.
21:16 Cornette's out there, and he's out there,
21:17 and you're like, oh, he's not making the team lose.
21:20 He's not actively hurting them,
21:22 which is all his job is, is the third string guy.
21:25 But to your point, when he's asked to play more minutes,
21:28 do you want it to be him,
21:30 or do you want him to remain the third string guy?
21:32 That's where it becomes a question.
21:34 - Yeah, I don't know.
21:37 It just feels like they're not gonna do too much.
21:38 It feels like the buyout market will be the bigger play
21:40 if they even get active on that.
21:42 I think we were using the wrong background this whole time.
21:44 Yeah, there we go.
21:44 There's the correct one.
21:46 I updated it and didn't update the name.
21:48 Anyways, I think we covered all the points.
21:50 Did we get everything we wanted to talk about?
21:51 Did I miss anything?
21:52 - Well, just one more on this topic
21:53 I wanna throw out there is Joe Mazzuola,
21:55 I believe it was post-game Friday after the first win
21:59 against the Magic, is that he didn't see it as going small
22:04 because Porzingis, Horford, and Cornett were out
22:06 as a challenge, and he was really focused
22:08 on all the advantages that came with it.
22:11 And especially with these restrictions on the trade market,
22:14 maybe they just decide that it's best for them
22:17 in the event they lose Horford or Porzingis in the playoffs
22:20 to go small, to use some minutes with Tatum at the five.
22:23 Maybe you trust a Lamar Stevens or an O'Shea Brissett
22:28 in that center role for just a short spurt
22:30 during games in the postseason.
22:32 So again, that makes it even easier to utilize their speed.
22:36 They can team rebound to try and keep teams off the boards.
22:39 And I think there are certainly positives that come with it,
22:43 and maybe that's what they view as that layer of insurance.
22:46 - Yeah, yeah, I mean, listen,
22:51 I can understand why the Celtics would want to add depth.
22:57 You can understand why they would want to maybe beef up,
23:00 but it's just the pathways to getting there
23:02 that caused me like, "Really? Is that gonna be it?"
23:06 And most of the guys that would be available for the TPE,
23:08 you look at in our, "Are they that much better
23:11 "than O'Shea Brissett and Lamar Stevens?
23:13 "Are they that much better than the guys they already have?"
23:14 And they would have to cut somebody to bring somebody in
23:17 through the TPE, I believe,
23:18 'cause I think they're at 15, right?
23:20 So they would have to get rid of one of those guys
23:22 in order to bring someone in.
23:23 - I thought the spot was still open.
23:25 - Yeah. - Is it still open?
23:26 - Am I crazy? - I believe it's still open.
23:28 - Peterson got the last two-way spot.
23:30 - Correct.
23:31 - Okay, you're right.
23:33 Yeah, they do have one.
23:34 So I'm wrong on that front, at least, but yeah, I don't know.
23:39 Anyways. - And even for someone
23:41 who's thinking, "Well, what if they put Pritchard in a deal,
23:43 "but also got a point guard back,
23:45 "or they had a point guard lined up on the buyout market?"
23:49 The latter is more likely than the former,
23:52 because again, you're adding salary in a trade
23:54 if you get two players, obviously.
23:56 Buyout market, at least it comes cheap.
23:58 But the question is, are you willing to do that
24:02 if you don't have something lined up
24:04 with a point guard available on the buyout market
24:06 that you would trust to get meaningful minutes
24:09 in the playoffs, even with Holiday and Derek White
24:12 ahead of that individual?
24:13 - Yeah, I agree.
24:16 - Of course, Pritchard's been real good.
24:18 He has started to finally look consistent.
24:19 So even then, I'm like,
24:21 "Ah, do they really need to get rid of Pritchard?"
24:22 - I'd rather keep Pritchard.
24:23 - Just give him time, man.
24:24 He's ready to cook.
24:26 - Agree.
24:27 - I'd rather cast PP.
24:28 - All right, I think we covered it all.
24:32 Thank you to everybody.
24:33 Bobby, any final thoughts?
24:35 Anything else you wanna say before you jump out of here?
24:37 - Yeah, I think we capped it.
24:39 Awesome.
24:40 - Well, in that case, thank y'all for tuning in.
24:41 Make sure to check out Bobby's work
24:42 at Inside the Celtics,
24:44 Sports Illustrated's Celtics site for SI Media Group.
24:47 Make sure to subscribe to How 'Bout Them Celtics,
24:48 and I'll let Sam take it out.
24:50 - Yes, thank you guys very much for watching.
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25:42 That's it for us, bye.
25:43 (upbeat music)
25:46 - Jack, Jacko, come on.
25:48 - Jacko's having some fun here.
25:51 - Man, he is bogus!
25:52 These guys are ridiculous!
25:57 These guys are ridiculous!
25:59 These guys are ridiculous!
26:02 (upbeat music)
26:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]