• 4 months ago
Welcome back to Celtics Beat! In today's episode, hosts Evan Valenti and Adam Kaufman are joined by Matthew Perrault. Matthew is a co-host of "Boston vs The Book".

Matt joins the program to discuss the Celtics drafting Baylor Scheierman. Specifically, how he can steal rotation minutes through his shooting and playmaking abilities. His play style is similar to that of Sam Hauser, meaning he could potentially compete with him for a spot in the rotation.

With the recent addition of Mikal Bridges to New York, they debate whether the Celtics should be afraid of the Knicks.

Their conversation then shifts to the recent surgery of Kristaps Porzingis. The Celtics announced that Porzingis would be out for five-to-six months. Does Boston have enough depth at the center position to survive without him?

They discuss the Lakers drafting Bronny James and the implications of the storyline. Will he actually get minutes for Los Angeles?



5:04: Can Scheierman actually get minutes?
12:22: Scheierman’s shot gives him an advantage over other bench players
16:47: Hauser and Scheierman redundancies?
25:32: Does Boston have the luxury of resting Porzingis?
41:43: Bronny James/LeBron is a fun storyline



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Transcript
00:00Celtics Beat is powered by PrizePix, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:09What's up everyone? Welcome to a new edition of Celtics Beat here on the CLNS Media Network.
00:14Adam Koffman and Valenti, we are always here.
00:16There has been some Celtics news since that parade which of course happened just after we were on last time.
00:22I was there, brought the kids, it was a fun time.
00:24Except for a jerk in the front row that wouldn't move aside and give my kids any space to stand there.
00:28Because heaven forbid a dude who's in like his 60s can't get front row, put little 4 foot kids in front of him.
00:36He has to keep moving over and moving over and stepping on their toes, even yelling at my kid and make him cry.
00:42I'm still a little salty about this.
00:43But other than that, the parade was a nice time and lord knows Sam Hauser had a great time just puking all over the duck boat.
00:50And I guess you get paid for that because he's got a couple million bucks more in his pocket after Boston picked up his option.
00:55He is extension eligible as well.
00:57We can get to that.
00:58Chris taps for Zingas.
00:59You may not see him again until 2025 after he had surgery to repair his leg.
01:04He is going to miss five to six months.
01:06Best case scenario, he's probably back around November.
01:09And don't be at all shocked if that thing drags out into Christmas time, January, something like that.
01:14So all things that we will touch on a little bit later on as we celebrate the champion Celtics and all the wannabes behind them,
01:22including the New York Knicks, pardon me, the Knickerbockers who went out and, of course, acquired McHale Bridges from the Crosstown Nets,
01:31gave up, I don't know, 35 first round picks.
01:33They're going all Danny Ainge right there in Brooklyn in the reverse,
01:37trying to get all the picks back that they once lost that turned into a Boston championship.
01:42So, again, much of that to come.
01:44But NBA Draft, got a couple of guys that have joined the team.
01:48Second rounder was Anton Wattson out of Gonzaga.
01:56But more to the point, maybe he'll play.
01:58We'll see.
01:59More to the point, though, is Baylor Shireman out of Creighton, who was the very last pick of the opening round.
02:06And will he play?
02:07And what is he going to look like?
02:09What can we tell you about him?
02:10Look, I'm not a huge draft guy.
02:12Ev is more into it than I am.
02:14But I wanted to make sure that we could fully educate the audience.
02:17And that is why this man fills a lot of needs, actually, to this specific show.
02:23Matt Peralta is here with us.
02:24He hosts the Bostonian versus the book.
02:26He is part of Sports Grid, Daily Juice.
02:29He's all over the place.
02:30He's also a Massachusetts native.
02:32I don't know if he still considers himself technically a Celtics fan.
02:36I think you do, right, Matt?
02:37Oh, yeah.
02:38I saw you lighten up a cigar after Celtics wins on Instagram.
02:41So you're still in the spirit of things.
02:43But you are here in large part because you know probably more about Creighton basketball
02:49than anybody that I have ever met who hasn't played for the team or coached the team.
02:54So if anybody can break down Baylor Shireman and what he brings to Boston, it is certainly you.
03:00So first and foremost, welcome to the show.
03:02It's great to have you.
03:03Thank you. Appreciate the invite.
03:05So I, again, like I enjoyed watching Creighton play, but just in a very sort of casual way.
03:14You know, bet on them occasionally, made some money on them occasionally.
03:17But I am not someone that could, like, break down Creighton athletics.
03:20And I would not fool the audience into believing that I am.
03:23I could tell you a little bit about Shireman just based on what I've read.
03:26But I can't, you know, as far as watching him, it's highlight reels like probably any other Celtics fan since he's been drafted.
03:33No one's going back and breaking down game film.
03:35But you have probably seen most, if not every game of this kid's career.
03:39And he has been obviously around for a while.
03:41He's only a couple years younger than Jason Tatum for that matter.
03:44So he's, you know, been playing college ball for a while, comes into the NBA now.
03:49And that's sort of, I think, the appropriate place to begin.
03:52Because my first instinct when I saw the pick, and it could have been anyone.
03:56This is not a knock on Shireman, was 30th overall pick, see you in Maine, kid.
04:00Have a good time.
04:01But with no Porzingis for an extended period of time, this kid being about as NBA ready in the eyes of many as just about anyone else taken in the first round.
04:14Doesn't mean he's a top prospect or anything like that.
04:16But he's just, he's seasoned.
04:17He's a good shooter.
04:19He fits the mold in terms of what Celtics basketball, Missoula ball is all about at this point in time.
04:26Do you see him actually getting legitimate run, maybe being a rotation player for this team?
04:31Yeah, I do.
04:32I mean, look, I started covering Creighton basketball in 2004.
04:36Those 20 years ago.
04:37And I was just fortunate to, I moved there.
04:40I was doing afternoon drive radio in Omaha for five years and started doing pre and post game for the Creighton Blue Jays before, you know, moving on to covering the Jays for rivals.
04:50And I started a ton of recruiting stuff.
04:51I actually, I live in Vegas now, but that's what brought me to Vegas was to cover all the big AAU conferences, all the big AAU tournaments here in Vegas.
04:59And so I've seen this change in college sports through the eyes of the Creighton basketball program.
05:05And it's really indicative as to what everyone has done because coach Greg McDermott was at Iowa state.
05:11He was at Northern Iowa before that.
05:13He ran a football style playbook.
05:15He had hundreds and hundreds of plays.
05:17And then he saw the game changing and he saw his son, Doug, and how he could build a program dedicated to the three point line and using the three point line as not just the analytical weapon, but an actual weapon to go and recruit kids to come in and shoot a ton of threes, go up tempo, get guards and get forwards who like Doug who wound up his senior year being the Naismith player of the year.
05:39And the Jays went into the Big East conference and went all the way to the Big East final and lost to Providence that year.
05:43But coach McDermott has really looked to build a program that looks a lot like Joe Missoula types of offense, shoot threes, go up tempo, use your bigs from behind the arc.
05:54And Baylor Shireman was a kid who was really a football prospect in Western Nebraska, in Aurora, Nebraska, which is the middle of nowhere.
06:02He was a kid that was likely recruited, goes to South Dakota State, becomes the summit league player of the year.
06:08And really it was the start of the NIL, the name, image and likeness world where you could shop yourself.
06:14And the great and blue Jays are in Omaha, which is people don't really know this, but that's the home of Berkshire Hathaway.
06:20It's the home of Warren Buffett.
06:22It's the home of one of those highest per capita millionaires cities in the entire country.
06:26They've got money.
06:27So they were able to win the Baylor Shireman sweepstakes and keep him away from Iowa State in Iowa and Nebraska.
06:33And he went to Creighton.
06:34He plays a year.
06:36He tests the waters with the NBA and the scouts come back and say, you're probably a late second round pick.
06:42And, you know, we like you, but we don't really know if you could play at this level.
06:46He goes back to Creighton.
06:47He dedicates himself.
06:48He works his tail off.
06:49He gets bigger.
06:50He gets stronger.
06:51He gets more accurate from behind three point line and becomes a better defender.
06:54Look, this kid's not going to defend anybody in the NBA that makes you go.
06:57Oh, wow.
06:58But if you see how Sam Houser has worked on his game defensively and came in and was able to guard Luca during the finals.
07:03I think that's the blueprint for this kid.
07:05Get him in.
07:06Let's see what he can do.
07:07And you're right with presences injury and how long he may be out for.
07:11He's a left handed six foot seven shooter.
07:13He's a little bit of an anomaly.
07:15It's going to be weird as he comes off screens.
07:17He'll come off screens the other way versus a right handed shot.
07:21So he's a guy that I think gives Joe Missoula some some wrinkles to throw into the offense and he can rebound.
07:27He's six seven.
07:28He's not afraid to go and body somebody up.
07:30He's not a small player.
07:32Sure.
07:33Defensively laterally.
07:34He's not that quick.
07:35But if he's a spot up shooter and a guy that just stands in the corner and buries threes for the offense.
07:40I absolutely could see him getting playing time in particular early in the season.
07:46Yeah.
07:47It feels like to me when it comes down to the way they want to build this team, whether it's I think it's a lot of everybody kind of get on the same page.
07:54Brad, Joe, you know, how many ranges Mike's there and everybody in there kind of the same idea we want to do is we want to spread the floor as much as possible to make driving lanes easier for Jalen, for Jason, for Drew or whoever.
08:07And the thing that I think Baylor is going to have when he comes in is the green light from Missoula to shoot any shot that you feel is a good one.
08:16I think they trust him because this is a guy you'll attest to this, Matt, a little bit more than we can.
08:21A guy that's that's capable of running an offense.
08:23But, hey, buddy, your job right now, staying over there, shooting the corner, shoot the open ones and bury the open ones.
08:29That's how you'll get yourself some more playing time.
08:31But as you'll probably attest to, like, he's not just a shooter.
08:35Right. No, he can rebound.
08:37I mean, again, he could do everything you want with the basketball on on in his hands.
08:42He can drive. He can post up.
08:44He's got an all around offensive game that is NBA ready.
08:48And he's a really hard worker.
08:50I think one of the best things about Baylor Shireman is that he takes coaching really well.
08:54He's a very confident kid.
08:56He believes in himself.
08:57But he comes from that football mentality where, like, contact doesn't bother him.
09:01If he needs to go into the lane and body somebody up, he will.
09:04If he gets hit going to the rim, that's not going to bother him at all.
09:07And being a lefty again creates some differences for him with other players.
09:11It's only on the defensive side of the basketball that you really got to go.
09:14OK, like you've got to improve that dramatically if you're going to play significant minutes.
09:18But I don't think he's going to come in to play significant minutes.
09:21I think he'll be a guy that will get spot opportunities to come in.
09:24And I do think as the year progresses, if an injury happens to Houser, injury happens to Pritchard, something along those lines where the role players,
09:32he'll get chances to go out there and play and they'll live with the defensive liability.
09:36They'll live with him.
09:37They'll hide him in some ways.
09:38They'll give him help.
09:39They'll do things.
09:40So he's not exposed defensively, but he'll work on that as he goes.
09:43And being 23, OK, he's not young.
09:46He's not a puppy.
09:47He takes coaching really, really well, though.
09:50And as the draft progressed, I thought he was going to go to Minnesota because it looked like that was a really good fit to them.
09:55Then I thought Denver was going to take him.
09:57And I'm like sitting there going, is Brad going to take him at 30?
10:01Because I couldn't see Baylor falling out of the first round just given his three-point prowess and being a lefty three-point shooter.
10:08I was like, this is what the NBA is built for right now.
10:10You saw Dalton connect go to the Lakers at 17.
10:13Dalton connects a better player than Baylor Shireman.
10:17I don't know if Dalton connects a better player in the NBA than Baylor Shireman is going to be because they're both going to do very similar things when it comes to shooting the three.
10:25So I loved this fit when I was like, man, Brad, just do this.
10:29Take this kid.
10:30And then they took him.
10:31And I was texting with Coach McDermott after the pick.
10:34And he was in the room when the call came.
10:36He's the one that got the call from the Celtics that said, hey, we're going to take Baylor.
10:39I go, can you talk about a better fit?
10:41He goes, this is absolutely the dream spot.
10:43This is perfect.
10:44So they're ecstatic to be with the Boston Celtics.
10:46And they're coming in to work hard.
10:49Looking at just this roster right now, makeup, and obviously there are changes that could be made.
10:53Free agency is right around the corner, begins on Sunday.
10:56They could make some minor trades.
10:57But generally speaking, we know what Boston is going to look like.
11:00They're running back the core as they should, defending champs, championship favorites for next year, all of that.
11:05So you have in no particular order Tatum Brown, Holiday White, Porzingis, Horford Pritchard.
11:11OK, so that's what?
11:12One, two, three, four, five, six, that's seven guys right there.
11:16Let's throw Hauser in and call it eight.
11:18Porzingis is going to miss time, bring it back down to seven.
11:21After that, I mean, is there anyone that you could make a legitimate case for being ahead of a guy like Shireman in the rotation?
11:32He should, and I don't know that all these guys are going to be there, but just to throw out names of guys who have contracts,
11:37you could put him, and they're not all in the same position either, but you could put him ahead of Walsh, Tillman, Springer, Cornett if he's even back,
11:48Svee, Kada, like all of these guys.
11:52I mean, Shireman could get a look before all of them.
11:54Because he does the one thing that Joe wants, right?
11:57Two to three really well, and this is going to be the spacing of the court that you need,
12:01that he offers to a team that is, you know, built behind the three-point line and getting, as you mentioned,
12:06the lanes for Jalen and Jason to get to the rim.
12:09And so, yes, I think they've drafted him to play.
12:12It's a first-round pick, so it's a guaranteed contract.
12:14So they're bringing him in.
12:15They're committing financially to him to be a part of this roster for at least a couple of years,
12:19and so I think that gives the team some added incentive to play him and say,
12:23okay, let's see what he can do, and let's see what he's capable of.
12:26And look, it just comes down to just, you know, it's 82 games.
12:29Injuries are going to happen.
12:31If he's the backup for Hauser or the backup for Pritchard in some form like that,
12:35when those guys who, you know, it's basketball.
12:38They're going to get nicked up.
12:39They're going to get banged up.
12:40They're going to have to have a night off, whatever it might be.
12:42Those are the games I think you're going to see Baylor Shireman out there playing for Boston,
12:46and I think it fits directly as to what the team wants to do.
12:49And culturally, this is a great fit.
12:51I mean, Doug McDermott went to the Indiana Pacers this year, but he's been in the league now for 10 years.
12:56I had Greg on my show, the Bostonian versus the book, and Doug popped a bottle of champagne,
13:02and Greg was like, what's going on?
13:03He's like, I just made my 10-year.
13:05I have pension.
13:06Like, this is a kid who was not recruited.
13:09Harrison Barnes was on his high school team.
13:11Harrison Barnes, who went on to a great career in North Carolina and a great career in the NBA.
13:15Everyone was recruiting Harrison Barnes.
13:17They weren't recruiting Doug.
13:18They overlooked him entirely.
13:20And Doug wound up going and becoming the ace foot player of the year, like I mentioned,
13:22and going off to have a 10-year career in the NBA.
13:24I really believe Baylor Shireman is going to follow in a very similar situation.
13:27He's never going to be a starter.
13:29He's never going to be a superstar.
13:30He's never going to be a player that you're like, oh my gosh, you've got to stop Baylor Shireman.
13:34But he's going to be a solid NBA player that will fit a role for a team.
13:39Danny Tolliver, Kyle Korver, players that have come out of Creighton who have done exactly this,
13:43from behind the three-point line, being big shooters, over 6'6", forward-type shooters,
13:49who can knock down open threes consistently enough to keep themselves in the league for a very long time.
13:54So I think it was a very smart pick by Boston.
13:57I think it's a good, great fit for Baylor Shireman to be with the Celtics.
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14:54So Chris Forsberg tweeted out a little while ago, and others have been talking about this,
14:58that Sam Houser, I mentioned, the team picked up his option,
15:01a couple million bucks, no surprise there.
15:03He's extension eligible.
15:04So Forsberg writes he's eligible for roughly four years, $78 million.
15:09Decides he'll have plenty of time to negotiate.
15:11Starting next month, low-money team option.
15:14Takes some stress off finances this year.
15:17Risk is exposing him to unrestricted free agency next summer.
15:23We've talked about him in relation to Shireman now multiple times.
15:27It's easy to make a comp in that guy with decent size, not special defensively,
15:33shoots really well, white.
15:37I think, obviously, Shireman's the better rebounder between the two,
15:40and I don't think that can be overlooked.
15:42You already talked about that strength, but 9-10 rebounds a game in college,
15:45at least last year.
15:46I think that's really significant.
15:48But if, in fact, the team decides they don't want to commit $80 million to Sam Houser,
15:54do you think that this is a...
15:56Does Shireman fit?
15:58Are they sort of...
16:01What's the term people always use to describe the Jays with?
16:05Redundant.
16:06Are they redundant enough in theory to where if Houser leaves,
16:11you have Shireman, no big deal?
16:13I think there's a case to be made for that,
16:15but I think that the shots that Houser made in the finals,
16:18I think the play he had defensively,
16:20I think I would be hesitant to say that Baylor Shireman should take the job of Sam Houser.
16:25I mean, look, I made a lot of money on Houser, so I'm a bit biased.
16:29I loved him over one-and-a-half threes in the finals.
16:31It just kept on cashing in the books, kept on keeping it one-and-a-half,
16:34and it kept on coming in with him hitting two, three, four threes, depending on the game.
16:39So I don't want to say that if Sam Houser were to walk,
16:42that Baylor Shireman could step in and hit the same shot that Houser made last year,
16:46but I do think eventually, yes,
16:48I do think that there might be something of a trade piece where you could keep Houser for this year,
16:54keep it cost-effective, extend him, and then down the road,
16:57if Shireman shows to be the guy at a cheaper price to take the similar position and take the same shots,
17:03you then could move Sam Houser and trade him for something in the future.
17:06So I think what Brad's doing is I think that they're doing a very interesting –
17:12redundancy is not the right word, but I think it's just sort of stacking the cards,
17:15that if things play out the way they play out, that they have guys that fit this core,
17:20it fits this roster as to how they want to play, because look, the numbers are the numbers.
17:24They were unbelievable on both sides of the basketball all season long.
17:28They were the best team in the NBA.
17:30They're one of the best NBA teams that we've seen for a single season in a long time.
17:34So there's nothing to fix.
17:35So let's just make sure that we've got some stopgaps.
17:38If things don't go the way we want or injuries happen, that we can keep on playing the way we want to play.
17:44Were you surprised considering how much of a big deal shooting is?
17:49It's like pitching in baseball.
17:50You can't have – you can never have enough pitching.
17:52You can never have enough shooting.
17:53Were you surprised that it took to 30 for him to come off the board considering like –
17:58we've been texted around some of these weird numbers,
18:01half of them that you don't even understand what they mean.
18:03I sort of agree with you sometimes.
18:04I'm like I don't know what this means, but I like –
18:06Some of these analogues are stupid.
18:09I don't even understand the abbreviations.
18:11Never mind what they stand for.
18:13What was the one you sent the other day?
18:14It was like in the 99th percentile of S-L-L or something.
18:19What the hell does that mean?
18:20I think it's shot quality points per play, but I don't – or points per possession.
18:23I don't even know what that means.
18:25You spell it out.
18:26Yeah, so I think that's what that –
18:27but the idea being like – and the one thing I love about Shireman is he's not just a shooter.
18:33He's a movement shooter, which is a different being entirely.
18:36Like, yes, he can stand there and shoot the open ones if he's set and square to the basket.
18:41That's a skill.
18:42I'm not denying that.
18:43I think one of the biggest skills of Shireman is the fact that he can come off a screen in movement
18:49and get square in the air and still have good balance and all the stuff you need.
18:55You think about it like – you mentioned Kyle Korv is a great example.
18:57J.J. Redick, now coach J.J. Redick, is another great example of a guy who's –
19:02and Hauser, a great movement shooter.
19:04That's why – again, I was a little shocked.
19:08I didn't do a ton of prep because I was too busy watching the Celtics win an NBA championship
19:13instead of getting ready for the draft.
19:15I'll take the tradeoff.
19:17But as I was doing my research, I'm going through, and I'm looking at his profile, and I'm like, okay,
19:22all these things to me scream Missoula ball.
19:25Let's throw on the tape.
19:26I threw the tape, and I'm like, this guy's awesome.
19:29I tweeted out very quickly.
19:31I think it was the morning of the first round of the draft, like Wednesday morning, maybe Tuesday.
19:35I was like, this guy – I don't know a lot about this draft, but I really like this guy.
19:39The fact that he was available at 30, I'm like, I can't believe what I'm watching here.
19:44He has a definitive role in this league, and he does one thing that I think a lot of people are looking for
19:51in the case of like Duncan Robinson gets you paid in the NBA.
19:55I could not believe he lasts all the way to 30.
19:57What was your impression of that?
19:58No, I was – I'm with you.
20:00I was surprised that he got through the 20s.
20:02I thought that was the perfect spot for him, 25, 26, 27, somewhere in that range,
20:06and someone was going to jump up and grab him.
20:08Then he kept on sliding and kept on dropping, and I was like, my goodness.
20:11I was like, I don't know if he gets to Boston, but if he gets to Boston,
20:14this is going to be the perfect pick for the Celtics to jump into.
20:17I also think just culturally for him to go in there and being a guy who played for Greg McDermott,
20:22who played in the Big East, he's played in MSG before.
20:25He's played all over the East Coast and Philadelphia.
20:27He's from Nebraska, but he spent all the time on the road on the East Coast
20:31playing in the Big East.
20:32So this is not going to be like culture shock for him.
20:35He understands what a big city is like on the East Coast,
20:37and he knows what East Coast traffic is like.
20:39He knows what East Coast people are like.
20:41This is not going to be like some stunning, shocking California kid walking in going like,
20:45oh my gosh, this winter in Boston is horrific.
20:47I can't believe I'm here.
20:49So I loved the fit from just his personality, his background,
20:53the way he'll come in and be part of the team.
20:55He understands his role really well.
20:57I loved all of it, and I was surprised to see him at 30 drop there.
21:01And then the shooting being such a key part.
21:04You know, it's weird because the NBA is now so obsessed with a three-point shot,
21:08and I am too.
21:09I think it's tremendous.
21:10But I also like the fact that from a Boston standpoint,
21:13Boston's stretching things out, but they're still attacking the rim,
21:17and they're still looking to protect the rim as well,
21:19which is what I think makes Boston different than some other teams
21:22that are just jacking threes like crazy and say, all right,
21:24we're going to go like Indiana.
21:25We're going to go up tempo and shoot a thousand threes,
21:27and they're not going to play defense,
21:29and they're not going to go to the rim and not go into the paint.
21:32So it's a really cool juxtaposition to look at Boston as being like a liberal
21:36school, but also very much heavily into the analytics and into shots.
21:40Creighton runs this way.
21:41As you mentioned watching the tape, they run high screen,
21:44high pick and roll, pick and pop all game long.
21:47That's their style.
21:48And if you can't come off a screen, you can't play for Greg McDermott.
21:51And if you can't hit a three off of a screen,
21:53you really can't play for Doug McDermott.
21:54So him and Shireman are really tight.
21:57They've worked a ton.
21:58The strength coach for the Celtics really keyed in on his core strength and
22:02just making him a tougher guy to get off his spot.
22:05And he really worked on that all of last year.
22:08And that is a huge advancement for him because he's now really strong,
22:12you know, bottom core bottoms.
22:14Half of him is really going to be a fun thing to watch him develop and grow
22:18into an NBA player.
22:20I want to go back to the rebounding because I think that it just really in
22:24this situation, we'll see how it translates.
22:26Like shooting translates, you know,
22:28if they get them open shots and the way that Missoula runs that offense,
22:32he'll get open looks.
22:33And it's just a, it's a, again, a translatable skill.
22:36Shooters can shoot bottom line.
22:38Doesn't matter what level you're at the rebounding.
22:40Of course we'll see because you know, he was going up against big kids,
22:45but now he's going up against big men.
22:47When he gets to the NBA.
22:48And also we don't know how he's going to be used.
22:50How much is he going to be down low?
22:52You know, he played a lot of power forward in college,
22:54even though he's listed as a shooting guard, played a lot of power forward.
22:57He's a wing.
22:58So how much is he going to be used down low on,
23:01on those nights that we're seeing this isn't available yet.
23:04Maybe Cornette doesn't come back.
23:06Horford's not playing back to backs.
23:08Like it's entirely possible.
23:10Obviously he gets some run in the middle,
23:12but I'm wondering if Missoula is going to, you know,
23:16I just think you brought this up, Matt.
23:18I think that he's sort of a fun new toy.
23:20You know,
23:21you can use him in a lot of different ways that are sort of unique to his
23:26ability, his size, his, you know,
23:28I'm not going to say he's a unicorn in the way that Porzingis is
23:31obviously, but you don't,
23:32there just aren't a lot of wings in the NBA that we talk about their
23:35rebounding ability.
23:36It's more about, you know, the three and D kind of mentality.
23:40And I feel like the way that he could be used in theory to supplement
23:46the loss of Porzingis is really interesting,
23:48depending on what they do as far as the bigs.
23:50It's the defensive rebounding that I think attracts teams to him.
23:54So this is a kid who took his small school to a Nebraska football
23:58championship in 2018.
24:00Seems like a long time ago,
24:01but he was a quarterback and he has that football mentality.
24:04He doesn't go after the offensive glass all that much,
24:07but he is a really good rebounder on the defensive end of the ball,
24:11the floor.
24:12So he will crash the glass defensively and he will help.
24:15That's where he isn't the greatest defender,
24:17but he makes up for it for its ability to get after loose basketballs and
24:21just out hustle people to get to the spot, to get to the ball.
24:24So I really liked that from a Celtics perspective,
24:26because Hauser had a couple of really big rebounds in the finals where he
24:30was sticking his nose in there.
24:31And even though he's not the greatest defender,
24:33it's an awesome guy for Sharma to learn the offense from and go after the
24:37defensive glass and make yourself some money that way as being a player that
24:41you don't care about contact.
24:42You don't care if it's a seven foot center,
24:45that's going to push you around.
24:46You'll go up there and try to get the basketball out of him and then outlet
24:49the ball and let the athletes go out to the rim.
24:51So that I think is a huge,
24:53but I don't think you'll see him on the office of glass all that much,
24:55but I definitely see him being a big weapon defensively for Boston on the
24:58rebounding side.
25:00So I've mentioned several times,
25:02Porzingis going to miss time,
25:03obviously.
25:04And again,
25:05I just wouldn't be surprised if this stretches out.
25:07I think you can pretty much lock in that he is going to miss half of next
25:10year.
25:11It doesn't mean in general,
25:12all upfront.
25:13He's just,
25:14once he comes back,
25:15there are going to be nights that he misses,
25:16obviously,
25:17whether a re-aggravation of an injury,
25:18a new injury,
25:19or just off nights,
25:20whatever it is.
25:21I think if,
25:22if he plays 40 regular season games,
25:24you would consider that a victory coming off of this surgery that he is.
25:28And then we'll see what the playoffs look like.
25:30I guess my biggest question with this though,
25:32and I want both of your perspectives is does it matter?
25:36You know,
25:37there are a lot of people out there that still believe the Celtics would have
25:40gone out and won a championship rather easily last year.
25:43If Porzingis was never even on the team,
25:45I'm not so sure that I'm in that camp.
25:47I think he was,
25:48you know,
25:49really the best version of what you could have possibly hoped when they
25:52acquired him throughout the regular season and many moments in the playoffs,
25:56especially that game one against Dallas to really kind of set the tone for the
26:00series.
26:01He was exceptional when people didn't know what the hell he was going to look
26:04like after not having played in five weeks.
26:06So I still am of the belief that Porzingis is more
26:11important than he is just a luxury.
26:14But that being said,
26:15as the team goes out and looks to defend its title,
26:18knowing that the basketball really,
26:20isn't going to stop,
26:21right?
26:22The Olympics are right around the corner.
26:23The Celtics have a game in Dubai to begin the preseason.
26:27You know,
26:28Tatum is,
26:29is continuing to play holidays,
26:31continuing to play possibly white,
26:33possibly Brown.
26:34We'll see what injury replacements or whatever else look like as far as team
26:37USA.
26:38But a lot of these guys are not going to get a break rolling from that season
26:41celebration into the next.
26:43So the lack of Porzingis puts that much more pressure on some of these guys to
26:47perform early.
26:48Does it matter,
26:49Matt?
26:50Go ahead.
26:51Yes,
26:52it matters what,
26:53how much he plays to me.
26:54It may,
26:55it matters from the minutes perspective.
26:57Like you just,
26:58you know,
26:59look,
27:00we've had six titles in six different teams in six years.
27:02Okay.
27:03There's a reason for that in the NBA parody is here.
27:05It is hard to repeat.
27:07It's hard to go and play deep into June,
27:09turn around,
27:10wait a month and a half or two,
27:12get a little bit of rest and rehab,
27:14and then get back after it and get ready for training camp and then go into
27:17the season.
27:18The Olympics is the real big curve ball here.
27:21And I think every Celtics fan has to at least acknowledge the fact that these
27:25guys are going to play so much basketball that they're probably going to be a
27:28rocky start to next season.
27:31And you kind of just say,
27:32I'm with you on the 25 thing.
27:34Like you take Kate,
27:35you tell KP I'll see you in January.
27:37Like just get yourself ready for 25.
27:39Don't worry about the rest of this year.
27:41Let's figure out what happens because when you're on the floor,
27:44you're a massive difference maker.
27:46I think they still win the championship even without presenting us,
27:49but it's not nearly as easy.
27:50It's not as simple as smooth as quick.
27:52And it's not as they don't dispatch the Dallas Mavericks in five.
27:55It takes more time.
27:57I do think they would have won it anyway,
27:59but I am of the belief.
28:00And I think you seem to be too,
28:02that her Zingas is such a weapon that you have to have him ready for the
28:05playoffs.
28:06Like the regular season,
28:08whatever it might be,
28:09I'm not saying flush the whole thing,
28:10but this is about repeating and repeating comes to the tournament.
28:13So get into the tournament and then have person gets available.
28:17So until then,
28:18I don't need to see him at all.
28:19If he plays 40 games,
28:20that's great place,
28:2125 games to get in shape,
28:22to be ready to go for the playoffs.
28:24Awesome.
28:25To me,
28:26it's all with the playoffs.
28:27And it comes back to seating kind of,
28:29you know,
28:30do they really want to go after you get the number one seat?
28:31Look at it this year.
28:32One of the things I loved was how they used rest on the end of the,
28:35end of the year to get guys ready to go.
28:37I mean,
28:38they had a lot of 27 game lead on the rest of the NBA.
28:41They had locked up pretty early.
28:43So like March,
28:44like a lot of people are like,
28:45Oh,
28:46you know,
28:47they had a couple of losses at the end of the,
28:48at the end.
28:49I don't really care about that,
28:50man.
28:51It's they're,
28:52they're just trying to get rested up for the playoffs and make sure
28:53everybody's healthy.
28:54I don't really care as much about seating this year.
28:55I don't think,
28:56because this is a team that proved last year and have proven over time,
28:59you know,
29:00with this core that they can win on the road.
29:01That's not going to be a problem.
29:03You almost sometimes prefer,
29:05especially against like Miami,
29:06that they play Miami on the road.
29:07Cause it seemed to play,
29:08play much better there.
29:09And they do any at home when they play Miami,
29:11but they,
29:12it's,
29:13it's not a team that should be afraid of going on the road.
29:15It is all about just making sure everybody's healthy.
29:17And,
29:18you know,
29:19would they have won the title this year?
29:21If they didn't have Porzingis,
29:22I,
29:23you know,
29:24I'm not going to sit here and say they would have,
29:25I think they it's possible.
29:27And the fact that it's possible is insane.
29:29If this,
29:30however you want to call it,
29:32the third best player,
29:33they could have won the title.
29:34There's a third best player.
29:35It's pretty impressive,
29:36but he definitely makes life a lot easier.
29:39And I would prefer to have him on the floor than not.
29:42So whatever you got to do,
29:43I think we're all in agreement on that.
29:44Like whatever you gotta do to get him ready to rock and roll for the
29:46season,
29:47to make sure he's playing in April,
29:49May and June,
29:50just do that.
29:51I mean,
29:52it doesn't cause the Eastern conference is not,
29:53a juggernaut.
29:54It's not,
29:55there's,
29:56there's not a kajillion teams that are lining up to compete with you.
29:59The Knicks made a nice move.
30:00I think it's going to be fun.
30:02It's going to make the,
30:03the,
30:04the conference more interesting.
30:05I think Indiana is going to,
30:06is going to,
30:07you know,
30:08be a little more successful this year.
30:09Cause they,
30:10they have a clear identity and,
30:11and Pascal clearly helped them.
30:12There's going to be some team that we don't know about.
30:14It's going to be pretty okay.
30:15I think Orlando,
30:16that's going to be a fun team to see what they do clearly.
30:18And obviously Giannis is going to be there,
30:20but it's not like the West,
30:22where there's a litany of good teams waiting for you to,
30:25to,
30:26to get hurt.
30:27You know,
30:28you look at the West and,
30:29you know,
30:30the Lakers and warriors have to fight and scrap to make the play in
30:32game.
30:33And they have LeBron,
30:34AD Curry and every Boston is going to make the playoffs.
30:38It's we're not worried about that.
30:40It's what do they look like when they get there?
30:41And if,
30:42as long as everybody's healthy,
30:43you have to consider it for,
30:46to go to the final.
30:47So again,
30:48whatever they got to do to get him ready to go,
30:50wrap it in bubble wrap,
30:51who cares?
30:52The,
30:53the,
30:54the best part is,
30:55and I'm knocking on wood,
30:56as I say this,
30:57the main guys are all very durable guys.
31:00Like,
31:01and I always get worried about Tatum playing too much basketball,
31:04but that seemed,
31:05that hasn't seemed to matter at all in his career.
31:08So at some point I'm going to say,
31:10I'm wrong about this.
31:11Tim knows his body better than I do.
31:13If he wants to play in the Olympics and be a big part of this
31:15thing,
31:16I'm not going to stop him.
31:17He'll get ready.
31:18I'm not worried about Jalen.
31:19I'm not worried about drew holiday.
31:20I'm not worried about Derek white.
31:22We're good.
31:23So if there's a couple of ancillary guys and KP being one of them,
31:26you know,
31:27who takes some time to get healthy and they want to rest out,
31:29which they should,
31:30obviously that was huge this season.
31:33I'm fine with it.
31:34Just get them to may and June and worst,
31:36worst square.
31:37We're good.
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32:55So I,
32:56I don't spend a lot of time paying attention to what the national pundits
32:59are saying about the NBA,
33:01because I,
33:02I think,
33:03you know,
33:04we all know that the era we live in,
33:05it's all hot takes and who can scream the loudest and clickbait and all of
33:08that.
33:09And it was,
33:10you know,
33:11it was borderline impressive.
33:12And I don't want to get into all the reasons the Mavericks were going to
33:14just destroy the Celtics in the NBA finals,
33:16but where I,
33:17where I will give all of these people credit now is that I haven't,
33:21at least what I've heard.
33:22And maybe I missed it.
33:23You guys can tell me.
33:24I haven't heard a lot of people,
33:27really anyone talking themselves into why the Celtics should not be the
33:31favorites going into next year.
33:33People's are,
33:34are giving them the respect that they've earned,
33:36that they deserve.
33:38And you know,
33:39Adam right now,
33:41I mean,
33:42it's,
33:43it's June.
33:44It's June.
33:45When we get to,
33:46when we get to October,
33:47you're going to hear all the negative,
33:48all they can't.
33:49As we sit here now,
33:50free agency does begin tomorrow.
33:51Who knows?
33:52In the wake of the parade,
33:53they got to be careful.
33:54They,
33:55you know,
33:56they can't say what they really want to say until they get to October and
33:57people forget,
33:58and then they can rip the Celtics because it's coming.
33:59They're going to talk about,
34:00I just kind of felt like I was waiting for Stephen,
34:02a Smith after the Knicks trade to be like,
34:04and this is why the Knicks,
34:05the Villanova Knicks,
34:06you know,
34:07are,
34:08are going to be,
34:09you know,
34:10they're going to be,
34:11they're going to be,
34:12they're going to be,
34:13they're going to be,
34:14they're going to be,
34:15they're going to be,
34:16they're going to be,
34:17they're going to be,
34:18they're going to be,
34:19they're going to be,
34:20they're going to be,
34:21they're going to be,
34:22they're going to be,
34:23they're going to be,
34:24they're going to be,
34:25they're going to be,
34:26they're going to be,
34:27they're going to be,
34:28they're going to be,
34:29they're going to be,
34:30they're going to be,
34:31they're going to be,
34:32they're going to be,
34:33they're going to be,
34:34they're going to be,
34:35they're going to be,
34:36they're going to be,
34:37they're going to be,
34:38they're going to be,
34:39they're going to be,
34:40they're going to be,
34:41they're going to be,
34:42they're going to be,
34:43they're going to be,
34:44they're going to be,
34:45they're going to be,
34:46they're going to be,
34:47they're going to be,
34:48they're going to be,
34:49they're going to be,
34:50they're going to be,
34:51they're going to be,
34:52they're going to be,
34:53they're going to be,
34:54they're going to be,
34:55they're going to be,
34:56they're going to be,
34:57they're going to be,
34:58they're going to be,
34:59they're going to be,
35:00they're going to be,
35:01they're going to be,
35:02they're going to be,
35:03they're going to be,
35:04they're going to be,
35:05they're going to be,
35:06they're going to be,
35:07they're going to be,
35:08they're going to be,
35:09they're going to be,
35:10they're going to be,
35:11they're going to be,
35:12they're going to be,
35:13they're going to be,
35:14they're going to be,
35:15they're going to be,
35:16they're going to be,
35:17they're going to be,
35:18they're going to be,
35:19they're going to be,
35:20they're going to be,
35:21they're going to be,
35:22they're going to be,
35:23they're going to be,
35:24they're going to be,
35:25they're going to be,
35:26they're going to be,
35:27they're going to be,
35:28they're going to be,
35:29they're going to be,
35:30they're going to be,
35:31they're going to be,
35:32they're going to be,
35:33they're going to be,
35:34they're going to be,
35:35they're going to be,
35:36they're going to be,
35:37they're going to be,
35:38they're going to be,
35:39they're going to be,
35:40they're going to be,
35:41they're going to be,
35:42they're going to be,
35:43they're going to be,
35:44they're going to be,
35:45they're going to be,
35:46they're going to be,
35:47they're going to be,
35:48they're going to be,
35:49they're going to be,
35:50they're going to be,
35:51they're going to be,
35:52they're going to be,
35:53they're going to be,
35:54they're going to be,
35:55they're going to be,
35:56they're going to be,
35:57they're going to be,
35:58they're going to be,
35:59they're going to be,
36:00they're going to be,
36:01they're going to be,
36:02they're going to be,
36:03they're going to be,
36:04they're going to be,
36:05they're going to be,
36:06they're going to be,
36:07they're going to be,
36:08they're going to be,
36:09they're going to be,
36:10they're going to be,
36:11they're going to be,
36:12they're going to be,
36:13they're going to be,
36:14they're going to be,
36:15they're going to be,
36:16they're going to be,
36:17they're going to be,
36:18they're going to be,
36:19they're going to be,
36:20they're going to be,
36:21they're going to be,
36:22they're going to be,
36:23they're going to be,
36:24they're going to be,
36:25they're going to be,
36:26they're going to be,
36:27they're going to be,
36:28they're going to be,
36:29they're going to be,
36:30they're going to be,
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36:32they're going to be,
36:33they're going to be,
36:34they're going to be,
36:35they're going to be,
36:36they're going to be,
36:37they're going to be,
36:38they're going to be,
36:39they're going to be,
36:40they're going to be,
36:41they're going to be,
36:42they're going to be,
36:43they're going to be,
36:44they're going to be,
36:45they're going to be,
36:46they're going to be,
36:47they're going to be,
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36:51they're going to be,
36:52they're going to be,
36:53they're going to be,
36:54they're going to be,
36:55they're going to be,
36:56they're going to be,
36:57they're going to be,
36:58they're going to be,
36:59they're going to be,
37:00they're going to be,
37:01they're going to be,
37:02they're going to be,
37:03they're going to be,
37:04they're going to be,
37:05they're going to be,
37:06they're going to be,
37:07they're going to be,
37:08they're going to be,
37:09they're going to be,
37:10they're going to be,
37:11they're going to be,
37:12they're going to be,
37:13they're going to be,
37:14they're going to be,
37:15they're going to be,
37:16they're going to be,
37:17they're going to be,
37:18they're going to be,
37:19they're going to be,
37:20they're going to be,
37:21they're going to be,
37:22they're going to be,
37:23they're going to be,
37:24they're going to be,
37:25they're going to be,
37:26they're going to be,
37:27they're going to be,
37:28they're going to be,
37:29they're going to be,
37:30they're going to be,
37:31they're going to be,
37:32they're going to be,
37:33they're going to be,
37:34they're going to be,
37:35they're going to be,
37:36they're going to be,
37:37they're going to be,
37:38they're going to be,
37:39they're going to be,
37:40they're going to be,
37:41they're going to be,
37:42they're going to be,
37:43they're going to be,
37:44they're going to be,
37:45they're going to be,
37:46they're going to be,
37:47they're going to be,
37:48they're going to be,
37:49they're going to be,
37:50they're going to be,
37:51they're going to be,
37:52they're going to be,
37:53they're going to be,
37:54they're going to be,
37:55they're going to be,
37:56they're going to be,
37:57they're going to be,
37:58they're going to be,
37:59they're going to be,
38:00they're going to be,
38:01they're going to be,
38:02they're going to be,
38:03they're going to be,
38:04they're going to be,
38:05they're going to be,
38:06they're going to be,
38:07they're going to be,
38:08they're going to be,
38:09they're going to be,
38:10they're going to be,
38:11they're going to be,
38:12they're going to be,
38:13they're going to be,
38:14they're going to be,
38:15they're going to be,
38:16they're going to be,
38:17they're going to be,
38:18they're going to be,
38:19they're going to be,
38:20they're going to be,
38:21they're going to be,
38:22they're going to be,
38:23they're going to be,
38:24they're going to be,
38:25they're going to be,
38:26they're going to be,
38:27they're going to be,
38:28they're going to be,
38:29they're going to be,
38:30they're going to be,
38:31they're going to be,
38:32they're going to be,
38:33they're going to be,
38:34they're going to be,
38:35they're going to be,
38:36they're going to be,
38:37they're going to be,
38:38they're going to be,
38:39they're going to be,
38:40they're going to be,
38:41they're going to be,
38:42they're going to be,
38:43they're going to be,
38:44they're going to be,
38:45they're going to be,
38:46they're going to be,
38:47they're going to be,
38:48they're going to be,
38:49they're going to be,
38:50they're going to be,
38:51they're going to be,
38:52they're going to be,
38:53they're going to be,
38:54they're going to be,
38:55they're going to be,
38:56they're going to be,
38:57they're going to be,
38:58they're going to be,
38:59they're going to be,
39:00they're going to be,
39:01they're going to be,
39:02they're going to be,
39:03they're going to be,
39:04they're going to be,
39:05they're going to be,
39:06they're going to be,
39:07they're going to be,
39:08they're going to be,
39:09they're going to be,
39:10they're going to be,
39:11they're going to be,
39:12they're going to be,
39:13they're going to be,
39:14they're going to be,
39:15they're going to be,
39:16they're going to be,
39:17they're going to be,
39:18they're going to be,
39:19they're going to be,
39:20they're going to be,
39:21they're going to be,
39:22they're going to be,
39:23they're going to be,
39:24they're going to be,
39:25they're going to be,
39:26they're going to be,
39:27they're going to be,
39:28they're going to be,
39:29they're going to be,
39:30they're going to be,
39:31they're going to be,
39:32they're going to be,
39:33they're going to be,
39:34they're going to be,
39:35they're going to be,
39:36they're going to be,
39:37they're going to be,
39:38they're going to be,
39:39they're going to be,
39:40they're going to be,
39:41they're going to be,
39:42they're going to be,
39:43they're going to be,
39:44they're going to be,
39:45they're going to be,
39:46they're going to be,
39:47they're going to be,
39:48they're going to be,
39:49they're going to be,
39:50they're going to be,
39:51they're going to be,
39:52they're going to be,
39:53they're going to be,
39:54they're going to be,
39:55they're going to be,
39:56they're going to be,
39:57they're going to be,
39:58they're going to be,
39:59they're going to be,
40:00they're going to be,
40:01they're going to be,
40:02they're going to be,
40:03they're going to be,
40:04they're going to be,
40:05they're going to be,
40:06they're going to be,
40:07they're going to be,
40:08they're going to be,
40:09they're going to be,
40:10they're going to be,
40:11they're going to be,
40:12they're going to be,
40:13they're going to be,
40:14they're going to be,
40:15they're going to be,
40:16they're going to be,
40:17they're going to be,
40:18they're going to be,
40:19they're going to be,
40:20they're going to be,
40:21they're going to be,
40:22they're going to be,
40:23they're going to be,
40:24they're going to be,
40:25they're going to be,
40:26they're going to be,
40:27they're going to be,
40:29and then what are you left with,
40:31a couple of wings?
40:32Well,
40:33boston can handle the wings,
40:34they're not afraid of Nile Maxience and
40:35company.
40:36They can take care of them,
40:37so this team is built for the long
40:39term and if
40:40i'm in the eastern conference,
40:41i gotta figure out how
40:42i'm gonna score on boston,
40:43let alone stopping boston's offense.
40:45So,
40:46uh,
40:47in the final few minutes,
40:48we've got.
40:49I
40:50do.
40:51You mentioned bronnie James and i
40:52want to talk about him for
40:53a minute because i
40:54and and i'm going to i'm going to
40:55say a lot of different things,
40:56i know i tend to ramble but i'm
40:57I'm going to talk out of both sides of my mouth. I will readily admit that I will start
41:01with this. I love the story and I have loved the story for years. I have been talking about
41:06LeBron playing with his kid for six years. I probably started tweeting about it at like,
41:10so I have been looking forward to this. I am all about Ronnie being a Laker and genuinely,
41:16I hope he is decent. I hope, you know, his defense is enough to, to get him some minutes
41:21on the floor.
41:22We know offensively he sucks. So I hope defensively he can get out there and, and play a little
41:26bit and share the floor with his dad. I grew up as, you know, as did you, Matt, if you
41:30were a little behind us in, in like Ken Griffey jr. Like anyone else at my age was my favorite
41:36player in the world. I have a signed bat of his right over my shoulder here and you know,
41:42watching him in the, you know, the, the late eighties, early nineties play with his dad
41:46there with Seattle was like just the best story ever.
41:50Like that's the fantasy man. And we have never seen this in NBA history. So I just think,
41:55I think it's so cool. I have no issue whatsoever with like, it didn't even occur to me the
42:01whole like nepotism thing. People start tweeting about nepotism and spending time on TV talking
42:07about nepotism. It didn't even enter my brain because it was just such a foregone conclusion
42:13that these two guys were going to play together.
42:15And honestly, to talk about nepotism here would be such a remarkable sports double standard,
42:20you know, for, that has existed for like, as, as, as, as long as time, right? Like Belichick
42:27with his kids on the, on the coaching staff and, and like, how, how does about Austin
42:34names? Sure. I mean, Austin getting his opportunity there in Boston, I'm sure dad had a lot of
42:40mania, you know, they're like, there are a thousand examples of this. Why, why is the
42:46frigging Niners coach escaping my name, my brain right now is Shanahan Kyle. Yeah. Like
42:52Shanahan, his dad had nothing to do with, you know, hit the, hit like, and I mean, you
42:57see it throughout football and out like there's, I mean, hell, like in broadcasting, I mean,
43:01Noah Eagle is incredible.
43:03He was a classmate of yours. Wasn't he ever, was he behind you? No, it was incredible.
43:07But like, is he, is he definitely in the NBA? If not for Ian, I have no idea. And he's genuinely
43:15good. Hell, Sean McDonough, who is like the best broadcaster on the freaking planet. Does
43:21he get the, you know, an MLB job at 25? If not for will McDonough, who the hell knows?
43:26That's not what I have to say. My point is like, this stuff has been around forever.
43:31I don't care about the nepotism angle at all. What I do kind of care about though, is if
43:38this makes sense, league wide nepotism, you know, for all of the teams to stand out of
43:46way and just be like, no, no, no. We'll just let Bronny fall to you. Now, obviously that
43:50doesn't happen. If Bronny is any good, you know, and he's not like, he's not even drafted.
43:57If not for LeBron, he probably doesn't even enter the draft. He's back in college. If
44:00not for LeBron, if not for, you know, being LeBron James jr, this is not a kid that we
44:04would even know about. So, you know, like Bryce might actually be able to play LeBron's
44:09next kid, but you know, we'll find out over the course of time, obviously.
44:13But even still for a team, and I'm looking at you, Boston, so not want to mess with the
44:20Lakers at least a little bit. And I realize you could say, he's not a player. What's the
44:26point? Waste of a draft pick. Let's get, you know, this Anton Watson who might be another,
44:31you know, not on the level of Shireman, but another rotational player who could come in.
44:35He's experienced. He's another like 24 year old kid or whatever age he is, you know, that
44:41like, I, I get it, but, and I'm, I'm far from the first person to say this, but you're
44:46going to tell me what the Celtics is 54 and the Lakers who, you know, they're going to
44:49pick at 55, like red hour back. Doesn't take Bronte James 13 times out of seven. Like,
44:57of course he does just, just to do it, just to have a freaking chuckle about it and to
45:03say, we'll give them to you, you know, give us three second round picks in return.
45:06Like just to do it, just like that part does kind of bug me a little bit. Like when you're,
45:12if the Celtics were at, at 42, fine. Like, okay. But when you've got the pick right before
45:18the pick, just take them just to screw with them, that level of respect for Ron and for
45:26like, we want to see the Disney story come to life. That part kind of bugs me.
45:30I hear you, but I don't think they actually did. I think they did it. I think they did
45:35not draft him because it wasn't even worth it. It wasn't work worth the headache. It
45:41wasn't worth it because Bronte James is not an NBA player. And Bronte James is a six foot
45:45one guard who, if his name was John Smith would be still on the bench at USC, not playing
45:52basketball for the Trojans who were an under 500 pack, 12 basketball team.
45:57He couldn't break into the rotation of that team. And that team wasn't any good. So I
46:01think Boston's like, you know what? You can have him. I think the whole league was like,
46:04you know what? You can have him. I don't really know if rich Paul really was calling
46:08team saying you draft him. I'm taking him to Australia. I don't know if that was true
46:12or that was just a plant to make it seem like rich Paul's got more power than he does. But
46:17the whole thing was hysterically funny because this kid's going to get a second round pick
46:21contract.
46:22He doesn't need to play at all, but he's LeBron's kid. They're not cutting him. So he's on the
46:26roster. He's taking a roster spot from somebody that might actually help the LA Lakers. If
46:32he plays, I cannot wait to watch him in summer league. I'm coming back from new England
46:36or right on the, on the 14th or so. And I'm going to be right down to Thomas and Mac to
46:40watch Brody James.
46:41I want to see this kid play in NBA style basketball. Maybe I'm dead wrong. Maybe he can play. But
46:46from what I saw in college offensively, he can't shoot defensively. He's tiny. I mean,
46:52we talked about the length and size of Boston. He's going to guard Jason Tatum. He's six
46:56one Tatum, six 11, like have fun. Like he's tiny for a basketball player and he can't
47:02shoot like Pritchard. So what role is he filling for an NBA roster? Other than his dad is the
47:08best player in the league.
47:09I'll tell you, I, I, this story, I don't really care too much about it. I think it's cool.
47:17I think it's weird. We're talking about nepotism in the NBA. I don't really care. It doesn't
47:21bother me at all. LeBron has made the Lakers enough money. The point, you know, they probably
47:26own one. Sure. Totally get it. Totally fine with it. I did. The one thing I will say is
47:32I am happy he's staying in LA because you know, he did have that health scare called,
47:36you know, not too long ago in his doctors are all already there.
47:41So having him there, I think it's great for him just from a health standpoint. I think
47:46it's really important. I don't care if he plays, I think it's, it's a cool story. Like
47:50Ken Griffey, Ken Griffey, senior career junior. That's great. Ken Griffey junior can play.
47:54I know he was the number one prospect in all of baseball. Like this is something like,
48:00it's not that it's not apples to apples, but I spent a lot of time talking to Greg about
48:04Doug about how to coach Doug and what it was like to bring in Doug.
48:08And Greg said, he talked to a lot of other coaches that coach their sons and they all
48:12said do a T either. He's the water boy and he never plays, or he better be the best player
48:17in the entire team because either if he's in the middle, it's going to be problematic
48:21because you're going to go, everyone's going to question. Well, you're the son of the coach.
48:24Of course, you're going to play. Of course, you're going to start. Of course, you're going
48:27to get these shots and whatnot. If you're the best player, there's never any question.
48:31Maybe Bronnie's so bad that there's not even a question. They'll never play. And there's
48:34no questions asked at all. But if he plays real minutes, cause his dad wants to play
48:40with his son, that could be a locker room problem for the Lakers.
48:46I mean, hell coffin, we come from Syracuse and, and buddy and, and Jim jr. Both played
48:51got minutes for now. Buddy was good. Buddy was good. Got to be able to play. If your
48:59dad or nepotism is involved in some form or fashion, you want to quiet down the whispers.
49:03You better be able to play. And I, when I saw Bronnie didn't play at USC at no, at no
49:07point that I was like, yep, that guy's going to play in the NBA next year. Like there wasn't
49:11even a question.
49:13I want to circle back for a second, just because I don't want this to go without me following
49:19up here said he talked to Craig McDermott after the draft pick was made and said it
49:23was a dream scenario for them. Was there any back and forth through this conversation about
49:27how maybe, you know, Boston might use him or, or how, uh, cause I know he had a workout
49:32with Boston the previous year. I think Brad talked about this, that they had them in workout
49:37last year and that they told them to go back to school and get stronger.
49:40And then somebody dead. And now here he is a Boston Celtic. I was just wondering if there's
49:44anything else that maybe God has transpired in the chat.
49:48Oh, not, not night of, because it was late in Omaha when I was texting, it was I'm on
49:53the West coast. So I was, it was easier time for me. But during the interview, before he
49:57was drafted, before the Celtics took him, I had, I mentioned I had Greg on the show
50:01and I asked him what did, what was Ryan Kalkbrenner? Who's going to be the kid that everyone will
50:06talk about? He's the next Zach Edy types. He's a seven footer. He's a two-time defensive
50:11player of the year for the big East. He tested the waters. He heard back from the teams that
50:16we don't think you're ready for the NBA. You got to go back to school for one more year.
50:19He's got, he's, this is the last COVID year extra, but you know, bonus year, these kids
50:23are going to get. So go back and use that. And they took the Baylor Charmin literal blueprint
50:29about what Baylor did after he heard similar things from teams like the Celtics to go and
50:34work because Baylor didn't like what he heard and he didn't like what teams were telling
50:39him.
50:40And he didn't want to go there and be playing in, you know, Austria or playing in France
50:43after, you know, not making an NBA roster. So it was all about working hard on your strength
50:49in your quickness and working on your shot. He shot 38, 39% from behind the arc. He took
50:55deep threes. The problem with hearing that from the NBA, and we'll see what Kalkbrenner
50:59does for Creighton this coming year is that he was told to keep showing your range.
51:04And so you, if you watch the tape, he'll take threes from anywhere on the court. Like he
51:08was shooting logo threes in Madison square garden. And that always wasn't the best thing
51:13for the Creighton basketball program, but he was trying to justify his range. Like I
51:16can hit shots from anywhere and he's fearless. And so the thing I like about him going to
51:21Boston, like he won't stop shooting. Like if he's called to start and teams are either
51:26letting him shoot or the fans are on him, he won't care. He's a, he's a very confident
51:31young man. He comes from a really good family, hardworking kid. So I think that's from the
51:37Celtics standpoint, you're getting a guy who's not going to be wavering on his talents. If
51:41things don't get off to a great start for him, because it is the NBA and he is playing
51:45for the defending champs.
51:46Well, if you listen to the show and feel like you didn't learn anything about Baylor Shireman,
51:52then I would encourage you to listen to the show again, because you weren't paying attention.
51:55We, uh, we gave you a lot there in particular, Matt Peralta or gave you a lot, check out
51:59the Bostonian versus the book. I can't believe you didn't show up wearing a BBB hat and brand
52:04the thing, but that's okay. It's yeah, there we go. It's right there. It got them handy.
52:07Not as many in the collection of sheriff fan, but you got, Oh, I've got 10. So we, we, we
52:12got the, the, this is my daughter's model. This is, this is Madeline, my, my 10 year
52:16olds designs. So this is her model of BBB hat
52:18Pack on a zero. And that's how many Dave has, right?
52:21True. Yeah. I think he has 50. So yeah, he has like, he's got a lot, every, every color
52:27in the, it's like the, uh, what, what do they call them? Uh, in, uh, with like, what's I'm
52:32not a sneaker head. What do they call the sneaker? Uh, different color schemes. The
52:36other ways, other ways. Yeah. Makes sense. Dave's got all the color ways. This is, this
52:41is, this is for all my Andover people. So this is the, this is the hometown, uh, Matt
52:47Peralta, get them on Twitter at sports talk, Matt, again, a wealth of knowledge about college
52:50hoops and, uh, and beyond obviously knows his Boston Celtics and his great and blue
52:55Jays as well. And direct line to Greg McDermott, which is always a nice thing as well. Uh,
52:59for M Valenti, I'm Adam Kaufman. We'll be back more updates on the Celtics next week.
53:03Let you know what's going on. Summer league be right around the corner and a great review.
53:08Subscribe all that good stuff. Thanks for listening. If you're checking out the audio
53:10watching, if you're on the CLNS media YouTube page, we'll catch you again soon.

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