LIVE Celtics Q&A - You Got Boston Mailbag w/ Noa Dalzell
Celtics reporter Noa Dalzell goes LIVE for the first Sunday Mailbag edition of You Got Boston. Every Sunday, all year long, Noa will go live to answer all your Celtics questions. In the August 4th episode, we'll talk offseason moves, Team USA's pathway toward a gold medal, Jaylen Brown's new nonprofit, Jayson Tatum's first Olympic double-double, and much more.
Tune in live to get all your questions asked, and like and subscribe on all platforms to continue getting You Got Boston episodes.
Tune in live to get all your questions asked, and like and subscribe on all platforms to continue getting You Got Boston episodes.
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00:00What's up everybody?
00:29This is Noah Darzal and I'm here with a Sunday Mailbag episode of You Got Boston.
00:35I'm really excited to be able to do this, going to be doing this every Sunday and
00:40just kind of talk about things that are pertinent, things that are front of mind
00:43for all of you. So it's an opportunity to answer questions, it's an opportunity to
00:48kind of share my thoughts on the week related to all things Celtics. And this
00:53will be every single Sunday all year, including right now in August and
00:57September when things are a little bit slower. And, you know, we'll have some
01:01things, some people message me questions in advance that I'll be sure to answer,
01:04but also want to be able to take questions live and then this will be
01:08posted everywhere that the podcast streams. So on Spotify, Apple, and on
01:13YouTube, both on CLNS and otherwise. So for those of you that don't know me, my
01:18name is Noah Darzal. I cover the Celtics with CLNS Media and with SB Nation. I
01:22also cover the WNBA for SB Nation. I've been doing this for about a year and
01:26have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being able to cover the Celtics. And
01:30so I will just say, you know, a lifelong follower of the NBA, followed the Celtics
01:35my whole life, and last year was my first season actually doing this. And obviously
01:39the Celtics won a championship, so I like to say that I'm one for one on that. And
01:44in general, you can see this streaming on Twitter, that's probably where most people
01:47are seeing this, but we recommend you tune in on YouTube so you're able to
01:52submit questions live. So with that, I'll just start off with a question that was
01:58commonly asked of me this week about thoughts on Jason Tatum's performance
02:01with the Olympics so far. And I've talked about this a little bit on this podcast,
02:05so I don't want to go too in depth, but I will just say, I do think that Tatum's
02:10been way overly scrutinized with his Olympics experience so far, just because
02:15in general, I think the Olympics, you know, should be evaluated more on a team
02:18level than an individual level. And I think that to date, there has been a lot
02:23of interest, a lot of just a lot going on as it relates to this, you know, the
02:29Olympics and just individual players and things. And I think that it should just be
02:34about whether the team is winning, whether the team is advancing forward. And
02:39that's, yeah, that's kind of the one thing that I I've noticed is, is just kind
02:45of a little bit of a misdirection, people are talking more about the individuals,
02:48and less about the team. And then when you just watch the Olympics or other
02:50sports, you don't see that. And so that's been a little bit frustrating, just from
02:55a kind of basketball viewer standpoint, that it became kind of lost that the end
02:59goal, the end objection is objective is actually about the individual. And I
03:03think it's just because it's the NBA, and it's, you know, very individual
03:06focused sport. So with that, I will begin to kind of go through questions in the
03:12chat and answer them. And I'm sure right now, you know, it's a pretty slow time
03:16of year. So I'm sure there are less questions that there will be during the
03:18playoffs or even during training camp and things. And I'm not in Paris. So I
03:22wish I was I'd be able to give you guys more behind the scenes stuff. But first
03:27comment here question is about a Celtics repeat. I think the thing that stands out
03:33to me is the fact that they brought back the entire roster. It's pretty unusual to
03:39be able to do that. And they really brought everybody back except for two
03:42players, which a percent in schema high like, and that's not only good,
03:46because the public's have a pretty complex defensive system. And I think
03:49that it's hard for players to just jump into it. And you see guys that are
03:54treated midseason last year, like Sadra Tillman and James Springer, they're not
03:57able to play right away, because there is just a sense of randomness with the
04:01Celtics defense, that you have to just have experience in order to be able to
04:04build that and actually play with the team. And so the fact that they brought
04:07everybody back, there's not going to be that hiccup. One thing that I think is
04:11challenging is the fact that you have three guys that are playing the Olympics
04:15right now, and then you have Porzingis, who's going to be injured. So you're
04:18going to have to really rely on your bench. And I don't know that you're
04:22going to be able to, you know, that's a question mark, because last year,
04:25everybody was healthy. You need a lot of luck, you need a lot of health to be
04:28able to play. And yeah, I don't know, I don't know that that'll be the case
04:33again this year. So that's the biggest threat is just injuries and health. And
04:37obviously, you see like the books last year in the playoffs, they didn't have
04:40Giannis, they didn't have Dame. So certainly, that's going to be an
04:44obstacle. Those other teams got better. Did the Celtics get better? I would
04:47think that they did just because you ultimately do have, you ultimately do
04:53have guys that are in their primes or entering their primes. Maybe besides for
04:57Drew Holliday, who's not going to be getting better at this point in his
05:01career, but everybody else, you know, there's no reason to think that they're
05:03getting worse. And as far as chemistry and confidence, that's only building. So
05:07I would say they have as good a chance of as any team to repeat maybe aside
05:11from the KD Warriors, and a better chance than some of these recent teams
05:15that have lost key pieces, whether that's KCP, or whether that's whether
05:20that's Bruce Brown from the Nuggets. I feel like every year in the last, you
05:23know, couple years here when the team has won a championship, they've
05:26immediately lost a key piece. And so Celtics obviously didn't lose that
05:29piece. And that's, that's going to be kind of critical on its own. So that's
05:35my thoughts on that. But again, we'll see because it really does depend. It
05:38really does make a difference kind of what, you know, the health piece and
05:42also, again, Tatum and Brown, and those guys are going to come back and play
05:46the same level that they did last year. You just can't take that for granted.
05:50Next question here is from Tom Coolidge about whether Jason Tatum's better all
05:55around game yesterday will lead him to starting throughout all the knockout
05:58games. So back to the Olympics, I think that there is a lot of interest in
06:03lineups and minutes and in particular Tatum's because of his stature as a
06:08NBA superstar and all that. And for me, I think the thing that stands out the
06:12most is that the starting lineup is not necessarily the group that's going to be
06:18finishing games. And that's what you really want to be you want to be one of
06:21the five guys that's there at the end of a close game, maybe there won't be any
06:24close games. But I think that there will be maybe one I think Canada is going to
06:30be tough, they kind of have an easier bracket who look, they are avoiding most
06:33of the most of the contending teams, at least the ones that we think are
06:37contending teams until later on. And so I don't know, maybe, you know, maybe he
06:43does play more throughout these knockout games. The fact that he did get a DNP
06:48shows me though, that his minutes are not guaranteed. And also that, you know,
06:52Steve Kerr clearly doesn't see him as one of like the centerpieces of this
06:55team. And he hasn't played like one of the centerpieces. So, yeah, I have a
07:00feeling that he's going to be his minutes are going to be somewhat
07:02inconsistent throughout the knockout games. And, you know, depending on the
07:05matchups that that might change as well. Obviously, Serbia is the team that he
07:08didn't play against last time. And so, you know, they might face their Serbia
07:13against you. And I think Nigeria now it looks like it's the first team that USA
07:16is going to play. Or sorry, I also cover women's women's playing Nigeria. Brazil
07:22is the first team that USA is going to play. And so that's, you know, I think
07:27that's a matchup that he'll probably play quite a bit in. But I don't know
07:29that he's one of the five guys that are kind of like the go to guaranteed guys. I
07:32think those guys are going to be LeBron. I do think Curry is going to be one of
07:36those guys that he hasn't played like it. And maybe some of that is just the Steve
07:39Kerr connection. I think Anthony Davis probably has to be one of those guys. And
07:43you really want to have Drew Holiday or Derek White out there. So I don't know,
07:47we'll see. I'm really interested in how minute patterns look like during the
07:50actual playoffs, during the actual elimination games, because so far, there
07:54hasn't been a whole lot of pressure, especially at this most recent game where
07:57Tatum played quite a bit, that game effectively didn't have didn't have a
08:00huge impact on anything because they'd already clinched their quarterfinal spot.
08:04So that's on that's on that. A question here on whether the Celtics can maintain
08:10a top seed in the east to start the season without Ford Zingas? That's a
08:15great question. I would guess that without him, they're not going to be the
08:18number one seed in the east. And even though they were really good, I think
08:23they were 30 and five or something like that, without him in the lineup this past
08:27year. So obviously, they are capable of it. But I think that just, they're going
08:31to have to lean more on guys like Luke Hornet, Xavier Tillman, Nimesh Keda. And
08:36they're guys that I believe in, but they do change the complexion of like who you
08:39have out there in close games and things. Because a lot of the Celtics wins without
08:43Ford Zingas came in the playoffs when they were really playing a tight rotation
08:46and really leaning on Al Horford. And I don't think they're going to be doing
08:49that in the beginning of the season. I don't think Al Horford is going to be
08:51playing heavy minutes. I don't think he's gonna, he's definitely not gonna be
08:54playing back to back. He hasn't for years. So it's gonna look different, you
08:58know, to play without Ford Zingas because you're going deeper into the bench
09:01deeper into deeper into the bench deeper into guys that are a little bit more
09:05unproven. But that's what's part of what's fun. So I would imagine the
09:09Celtics are in the top two or three seeds throughout all year, especially in
09:13the early early days, and they finish, you know, in the top three, maybe, maybe
09:17they don't finish number one. But, you know, it's pretty unusual. I think the
09:20championship teams come back and finish, you know, the first seed, just because
09:24there is that extra toll that it takes. And now you have the Olympics on top of
09:27all that. So my prediction will be that they won't be number one, but it'll be
09:31up there. But it ultimately doesn't make a huge difference going into the
09:33playoffs, especially with just how good the Celtics have been on the road these
09:38past few years. That's been really what stood out to me is that on the road in
09:41the playoffs, it almost doesn't even really matter. I mean, we were talking
09:44during the season about is the team actually better without the you know, at
09:48home on the road rather than at home during the playoffs. So we'll see. But
09:52that that's that's kind of my thoughts on that. And it does sound like from our
09:55conversations with Brad Stevens in the offseason, it does sound like without
10:00pores, they're going to be without porzingis until Christmas or something
10:04like that, if not later, I definitely don't think they're going to rush him
10:06back. And I do think this is the kind of injury because there's a little bit
10:10less a little bit less proven, you know, recoveries or, you know, it's a rare
10:14injury. So there's not a clear blueprint of like, this is exactly when he'll be
10:17back. And these will be the benchmarks. So I think they're going to take it
10:20really easy on him.
10:23Got a question here about is the cost of a billion dollar team sustainable? I've
10:28talked about this a little bit. I think a first of all, there's the ownership is
10:32so in flux right now that that's a little bit confusing. And it's a little
10:34bit challenging to be able to figure that out, because we don't know who's
10:39going to actually be paying the this payroll, and obviously, it's not going
10:42to be the current ownership. So you'd like to think that whoever does buy this
10:46team is buying the team with keeping these contracts on the payroll and
10:49keeping that in mind. I think when you look at her looking at taxes, like the
10:53cost of individual contracts is one thing, but then what the actual taxes
10:57associated with that are, is just exorbitant. And so I from everything
11:01that I'm not an expert on the salary cap or contracts, I've mentioned this
11:05before, but from everything I've read, everything I've seen, it's likely that,
11:09you know, everybody on this team is not going to play out their full the full
11:11length of their contract. But I don't think anything's gonna happen in the
11:14next two years. And so I view those like there's like a very clear two year
11:18window. And then who knows, maybe somebody buys this team that's a
11:21billionaire. And, you know, it is no, there's no issue with this, with this
11:25contract, you know, with this payroll. So we'll see. But that is definitely
11:29something that I know has been in front of mind for fans, I would just say from
11:32my standpoint, and I've seen some people that understand this better than me
11:35echo this, so I feel comfortable saying it. But from my standpoint, you have
11:38to just accept the fact that this is the payroll and appreciate that as a
11:42fan, you don't have to worry about this. And it's not something that, you know,
11:45it doesn't cost you any money doesn't cost us any money. And at the same time,
11:49it gives people, you know, there is this continuity and this sense on this team
11:53that players aren't playing for a contract. And I do think in the past,
11:56that's been that sometimes the number one issue in a locker room on a team is
12:01that players aren't playing are playing for a contract and everybody here is
12:04going to be locked up for the next couple years. And you know, Drew Holiday
12:08has his has his contract extension, Derek White and Jason Tatum both got
12:11theirs. Jalen Browns goes into effect next year. Al Horford is the only one
12:16that's going to be a free agent at the end of this year. He signed a two year
12:18extension a couple years back. And I don't know, maybe he'll come back and
12:22sign a minimum, maybe he'll ask, maybe he'll retire. Really hard to say. I have
12:27a feeling he's not going to retire. But who knows that maybe it'll depend on how
12:31this year goes. He's been really healthy knock on wood for the last few
12:34years. So obviously, that's something that you can't take for granted either.
12:41Okay.
12:44I have a question here about if I have any exciting guests lined up for the
12:46coming weeks. I have a couple guests that I'm excited about other media
12:50members. But I also want to bring I also want to kind of go with some people
12:54that some voices that you guys haven't heard from I know, especially in the
12:58CLNS network. It's a lot of a lot of media people that we hear from a lot of
13:01similar voices and things and you guys are they're great and everybody hears
13:04from them. But trying to think of how I can get some people that are not
13:07necessarily media members. So if there are any requests on people you want me
13:11to try to get on, I can certainly try. But obviously, you know, we're, you know,
13:18it's it's tough because for players and things that's almost impossible to get
13:21on podcasts, at least at this point, and where this podcast is out, but I will be
13:26trying to get some former players because I do think we can bring really
13:29valuable perspective. So we'll keep you all posted. We'll probably tease
13:32someone's they're lined up. But the goal is to have every Wednesday a guest.
13:38Question here about JD Davison. It says it was interesting to see JD Davison
13:42come back on a third two way. Do you think he had opportunities to get more
13:45minutes elsewhere or he really wanted to come back to Boston? So my
13:50understanding and I talked to some scouts and agents at summer league that
13:53kind of gave me further this understanding is that I do think JD
13:57Davison would have preferred to get a fully guaranteed contract anywhere. As
14:03you could imagine, you don't really need sources to confirm that obviously, if
14:06you can get a fully guaranteed contract that pays you and you're on the two way
14:11and you're not shuffling back and forth from the G League team, that's what
14:14you'll do. I don't think he was able to get any of those. And so that's why he's
14:19on this two way with Boston. He's the first player ever to be on three
14:22consecutive two ways. I did ask him about it in Vegas, I asked him about
14:26whether he wanted to come back to Boston. He said he really wanted to come
14:30back. And he said, absolutely, that that was his plan. And obviously, I think
14:36he's only going to say positive things. I do think he's loved his time in Boston
14:39and he's loved being with the other Celtics players and obviously being
14:42there with the championship run, I'm sure that was a particularly fun
14:45experience. But someone like him, ultimately, like he does want, he does
14:50ultimately want a fully guaranteed contract. That's every player's goal.
14:54And three is the most you can have as a two way. So this is his last year as a
14:57two way. So it's kind of a make or break year for him. He was drafted really
15:01young, he probably entered the draft too early, maybe not. But it certainly
15:05seems like you know, he's had his fair share in the G League. And he was a
15:10great G League player last year, he was on the all G League team, he helped
15:13lead the main Celtics to the championship game to the finals. And I
15:17thought that in summer league, he looked really, really good, much improved
15:20from last summer league. So he's somebody that I think that's the
15:24Celtics are high on. Brad Stevens brought this up almost unprovoked, when
15:28we had a media availability with him before, before the draft, I believe, and
15:32we asked him about kind of resigning Sam Hauser and other players, and he
15:36brought up JD Davidson on his own accord. So that's something that stood
15:40out to me. And that's something that is really interesting that he was able to
15:45kind of, you know, he brought up wanting to bring him back, despite the fact that
15:48we really haven't seen JD Davidson at all play in Boston. And so, yeah, he's
15:54been spending all this time in Maine, you know, I cover a lot of main Celtics
15:56games, I'll be up in Maine quite a bit this year, especially monitoring the new
15:59two way players, Anton Watson and Baylor, Baylor Scheinman is on two way, but
16:05which is monitoring those guys, and sort of the both spent a lot of time in
16:08Maine, as well, Jordan Walsh, James Springer, I don't think will be in that
16:12group. But JD Davidson probably will be if he's on the two way. So I think one
16:15thing to look out for is, is he going to spend, is he going to be a two way like
16:19Nimesh Kedar was last year, where he's actually spending time in Boston? Or is
16:22he going to be in Maine pretty much all year the way he was these last two
16:25seasons? I think that'll really kind of help shape what his next year or years
16:30look like. So yeah, I'm a fan of his, though, I think he plays, he's a very
16:35smart basketball player. And the key thing with him is just going to be the
16:37shot, you know, can he consistently shoot NBA three pointers, and that has not
16:42been the case throughout his two years as a Maine Celtic. So I think if he's
16:45able to showcase the fact that he's a much improved shooter this year, that'll
16:49really go a long way.
16:54Got a question here about whether fatigue will play into the Olympians
16:58from the Celtics. I think it definitely will. You'll probably see the guys that
17:02play Olympic basketball early on rest, and maybe not play back to back, play
17:07more limited minutes. But at the same time, I think guys like Jalen Brown and
17:11Jason Tatum don't like to sit out and Jason Tatum definitely does not like
17:15to sit out and he's not getting a whole lot of minutes right guy, you know, I
17:18think something that's forgotten is that when he has DNPs, and when he has games
17:23that are, you know, he's playing limited minutes, then those are minutes that
17:27aren't, you know, or not, you know, he's not experiencing that physical toll. We
17:30already saw Drew Holiday didn't play this most recent game, he's dealing with
17:33an ankle injury. So fatigue will play a role. I think just playing in the finals
17:38and having a deep playoff run alone plays a role into kind of impacting your
17:42following year. And we saw the year with a lot of, you know, years of the lockout,
17:46years of COVID, the teams that play deep into the year and don't get a rest, like
17:49it does impact their abilities to repeat and to play. So I'm sure that's going to
17:53be a huge priority of the Celtics coaching staff and front office is to
17:57keep those guys, you know, those three in particular, you know, Derek White, Drew
18:00Holiday, and Jason Tatum's minutes somewhat limited, and at least in the
18:04beginning. But you don't forget, you know, they do have second half of August and
18:08September off. So they will have some time to get their legs kind of full
18:12recovery and rest. Got a question here about whether I will be a regular member
18:18of the Garden Report. I don't know that I'll be on an every Garden Report, but I
18:22definitely will be on more regularly. So I've been going on the CLNS postgame
18:26show, which is called the Garden Report, after all the Olympics games, and I also
18:30was doing that for all the Summer League games. I don't know that I'll be doing
18:33that for all these Celtics games, though. I think it'll depend. So, but yeah, it's
18:38been fun to be able to jump on and just kind of debrief in real time. But I will
18:41be doing the podcast and discussing games and all that. So regardless, I'll
18:45be doing lots of coverage and also lots of coverage with Bobby Manning and doing
18:49postgame hits. So you will, I promise you will be able to hear from me more than
18:52you will want to. Question here about whether I cover Team USA women's. I do.
19:00So actually, last year I was doing a full-time job in politics alongside all
19:05my Celtics coverage. This year, my full-time job is actually covering
19:08women's basketball, covering the WNBA, and I'll be covering the playoffs and
19:13everything and also covering Team USA women's. So I've been watching both games,
19:17both the men's and women's, watching three on three for both. So it's been,
19:21yeah, it's been a good first couple weeks because obviously the Olympics are super
19:23fun to watch. And the Team USA women's, you know, they're super fun
19:28to watch. They're very effective. I think a lot of people have thought, you know,
19:31if Kaitlin Clark was there, then people, more people will be watching. And in turn,
19:35I think people are almost like not watching on purpose now. But if you do
19:38decide you want to tune in, this is the week to do so. They have quarterfinal
19:43games. They have semifinals. Everything is going to be this week, same as men. They
19:45all wrap up this weekend. And this is a team with, like, just phenomenal players.
19:50And I think they've really figured out, they didn't have as big of a learning
19:52curve as the men's team as far as figuring out how to play together. And I
19:55think it's, a lot of it is because they actually play together, you know, for the
19:57World Cup, for off-years as well. So it's not like as new of a group of people.
20:01The way that the men's team kind of feels like the Avengers have assembled.
20:04And this is their first time playing together. But yeah, Jackie Young of the
20:08Las Vegas Aces had 19 points today. She's, she's one of the best two-way guards
20:12in the WNBA. And she's really someone that is fun to watch. And she kind of had
20:16to break out a game today. So, so yeah, we're going to take a quick ad break.
20:22And then I'll be right back to answer some more questions.
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21:16Okay, so yeah, I do actually, I do actually use GameTime quite a bit. So
21:21it's a very legitimate ad. Okay, I'm gonna continue to answer some of these
21:25questions. Question here about Keita, is Keita expected to be in the rotation
21:30next season? I do think that Keita will be in the rotation next season. And the
21:34reason I think that is because, A, he was almost in the rotation last season,
21:38like he was very much on the fringe. And there was even that road trip around
21:41Christmastime when he was still a two way that he played critical minutes on
21:45Christmas Day and against the Lakers and was really kind of instrumental in some
21:48of those wins. I thought whenever he was in Boston for extended minutes, he looked
21:52really good. He played summer league, he played a couple games and DJ McClay,
21:56who's the head coach of the summer league team and is one of the top
21:59assistants on the Celtics. He kind of talked a little bit about this and said
22:04that the part of why they wanted Keita to play summer league is that he could
22:08practice different defensive schemes. And so they kind of tried a lot of
22:13different changes and going from different kinds of defenses to kind of
22:16keep him up to speed on those things. And I think that they're they're doing
22:20everything they can to prepare him to be a rotation player. They signed him to
22:23a three year partially guaranteed contract from the beginning, I think
22:27from when he was a two way and they talked about kind of how much they like
22:30what he's bringing to the table, you know, the defensive ceiling and also the
22:34rebounding, the ability to follow his own shot to be a lot of threat. I think
22:37there's a lot of things to like about him. Really hard worker was super
22:41dominant as a G League players. I think he's made clear that he'll be an NBA
22:45player as well. So we'll see Porzingis being out opens the door for some of
22:50these players. I don't think Tillman is a guy that's going to be playing super
22:53extended minutes. So I think Keita, Tillman and Coronet are going to be
22:58sharing the frontcourt minutes and Keita will probably play a significant role
23:02there. Okay, question about Jaden Springer and are you high on his
23:08potential to impact winning for us this year and beyond? I'm super high on
23:12Jaden Springer. I've talked a little bit about this. I've shared about how I
23:16think he is defensively an NBA, not only like an NBA ready player, but I think
23:21he's like an elite defender in the NBA already. So if he started playing more
23:25significant minutes, I think we'd see that right away. But at the same time, I
23:29think offensively he's much improved and it's a limited sample because he
23:33didn't even really play in the G League this year. He played one game with the
23:37main Celtics and that was only because they were already in Atlanta for a kind
23:40of two-game stint. But then he played one summer league game and in both of
23:44those games I saw that he can definitely score very effectively at the G League
23:48summer league level. And we already know that because he was a finals MVP from a
23:52couple years back and so he's shown offensively that he can keep up with
23:56anybody. If he can start shooting and consistently hitting threes, then I think
24:00he has a spot on the team right away, honestly, in some capacity to alleviate
24:03minutes from the guards who are both coming off Olympic runs. I think he's ahead of
24:08like a JD Davison type player and so it's, you know, Pritchard's gonna have a
24:11big role this year. But Springer might have some minutes to augment here and
24:15there if they're really limiting Drew Haldane and Derek White. That's gonna
24:18kind of what it's gonna come down to. There's a chance they don't limit them
24:21that substantially, in which case I don't know that Jaden Springer has minutes to
24:26play this year. This is a really tough team to break into the rotation. So I
24:31think for him it would be great if he was able to play on like the Pistons or
24:34play somewhere where there's like a whole lot of opportunities, but that's
24:38not where he's at right now. And so for me, I think Jaden Springer is somebody
24:42that is ready for NBA minutes, but here is just maybe not the place where you
24:46can break through. But if it's not this year, I think in the next few years he
24:50will be an NBA player in a rotation kind of making a significant impact. So I'm
24:57really high on him. I've talked about this a little bit. He's one of the
25:00players that if I had to like place a bet, I would say he's gonna make it in
25:03the NBA and he's gonna make it as a really effective role player. Like I
25:06don't want to say Avery Bradley because that's a really high, that's a high bar,
25:09but I think he's a good enough scorer in theory. Like he hasn't shown that yet in
25:14the NBA, but defensively he's really where he's gonna make his mark. And
25:17before he got traded to Boston, I don't know if people remember this, but he
25:20guarded Steph Curry and Luka in back-to-back games and was super
25:24effective in both of those games. So you know he has a track record when you put
25:28him on a star, that he has the physical tools, and it's really obvious when you
25:31watch him in Summer League. Like he's a guy that makes people miserable
25:35defensively.
25:39Over 55 wins. I'm gonna say it's gonna be around 55, but if I had to guess I'll
25:44say under. That'll be my prediction.
25:49Question about what are you most excited about for this upcoming season. I think
25:54honestly what I'm the most excited about is being able to cover basketball full
25:57time. Because last year like I was at the NBA Finals and I was also working
26:01full-time for my nine-to-five job. So I was getting up really early and it was
26:04just really crazy. And I think there were a lot of stories that I wanted to pursue
26:08that I wasn't able to because I was just juggling so much. And I think just
26:12covering basketball full-time this year, I'm excited to be able to dive deeper
26:15into things. I'm not gonna have like conflicts with practice or there were a
26:19lot of times where I would like go to practice that I have calls I need to
26:21take, so I wouldn't be able to cover things. And so yeah excited for that on a
26:25personal level. I think on a team level that's maybe more applicable to you guys.
26:30What I'm really excited about is the ability to watch a team that doesn't
26:35have to constantly deal with like the criticism of this isn't a championship
26:39team. Because they're literally bringing back the exact same team. So even if they
26:45don't win this year, even if they have a much worse season than they had this
26:47last year, you can't we can't say from like a discourse standpoint like this
26:51team can't win. Because they've already shown us that this exact group has won.
26:55It has won the championship with ease at a pretty historic level. You know after a
26:59pretty historic season. So that's what stands out to me. That's what I'm
27:03excited about is being able to just watch this team. But honestly like I
27:06thoroughly enjoyed this past year and I just I'm just ready to get back into it
27:09honestly. Being able to kind of be a TD guard and it's my favorite thing, my
27:13favorite part of all of it is just being able to be there, be at games, and be able
27:16to tell stories that aren't aren't necessarily being told. There's a lot of
27:19philanthropic work that I'm excited about. I'm sure many of you guys saw
27:23Jalen Brown announced his new charity Boston Exchange, which is kind of going
27:28to help provide grants to underserved communities. And he's partnering with
27:32True Holiday who's done some really amazing philanthropic work for a couple
27:36years now. So all that to say I'm excited for everything that we experienced this
27:41past year. But I think with a little bit less doubt this this upcoming season, I
27:44think it's fun to be able to just talk about basketball and talk about games
27:47without having to like proclaim that like Tatum isn't a winner or Brown can't
27:51be on a championship team because those all those narratives I think are are
27:55done now.
27:59Okay, looking through some of these questions.
28:06Question here about do you think KP being down through December or longer
28:09could open the door for Tatum to put up MVP type numbers?
28:14I think the only thing that will make MVP Tatum be like an MVP, a real MVP
28:20candidate is if he starts shooting a really effective clip, like if he starts
28:26to hit his threes at a really good rate, like if he goes to like a 40% from three
28:29season next year, then you're going to see him put up MVP type numbers. And I
28:35don't know that that has to do with Porzingis being available or not.
28:38Certainly, he's going to get more shots and that helps. But I think the knock on
28:42him compared to other candidates is that offensively, he's a little bit less
28:45efficient. And he does take some difficult shots. And that's part of it.
28:49And there is way more to the game than just scoring and just shooting and just
28:52field goal percentage. But I think unless he's able to put up, like he's able to
28:56shoot at a really effective clip, then yeah, I just don't think that he's going
29:01to be able to really make a strong case. And it certainly doesn't help that his
29:05own teammate, you know, Jalen Brown was finals MVP last year. It doesn't help
29:09that he has so much talent on his roster. And I feel like people are only going to
29:12appreciate and recognize that talent even more next year now that Drew Holiday and
29:16Derek White are kind of showcasing at the Olympic level just how effective they
29:20are and how they're maybe some of the best guards in the world really, which I
29:24don't know people realize that six months ago. So I don't see that I don't
29:28think Porzingis being out is going to be enough to really convince the world that
29:32Tatum is an MVP type player. But I do think that if he can start shooting threes
29:36at a really high clip, which he hasn't for a while, that'll really go a long way.
29:40So that's kind of the main thing there. Question from RJ Johnson about do you
29:47think Jake Scrub will work his way up to a contract with the Celtics this year? I
29:52don't know that I do. The one two way that I think is a little bit in flux is
29:58Drew Peterson. He is a second year on a two way with the Celtics. And I think
30:03he's a guy that I see his potential. I think he's a kind of a guy that can do
30:07everything well. But he has to show that he's a an outstanding main Celtic player
30:14to be able to keep that two way I could see a world where maybe Jay Jay scrub
30:17replaces him. For those of you that don't remember Jay scrub, he was a standout
30:21from summer league last year. He was maybe even the most impressive player on
30:26the summer league team. And this was right before I started covering the team.
30:28But I remember watching all the games and saying like, this guy has to be an NBA
30:31player, right. And he actually I saw Bobby Manning did a Boston Sports Journal
30:37piece on Jay scrub. He spoke with him exclusively. And I think he's signing an
30:42Exhibit 10 contract and talked about how what went wrong last year, which if you
30:46guys don't remember Jay scrub, he was he did get a two way. He was on the Celtics.
30:50And then during preseason, during training camp, I believe he tore his ACL.
30:55And so he was immediately waived. I think he still hung out around the team quite a
30:59bit. But obviously, if our player like him, that's so devastating to be in that
31:03position where you are just barely in the NBA, you know, if a guy is a star
31:08tears their ACL, like the team, obviously, we'll wait for him and believe in him.
31:12But I think a guy like Jay scrub was waived. And I didn't know if we were gonna
31:16see him again. I know fans have asked about him quite a bit. His agency posted
31:19on Instagram a couple weeks ago, I shared that out that I'm hoping returning to
31:23Boston and so think he'll be a guy that's in Maine quite a bit. So anything can
31:27happen once you're up there. So maybe he does nag one of those two ways. Maybe he
31:31plays really well with the main Celtics and some other team signs him. So they've
31:34got that second option is probably more, more likely. But yeah, he seemed like a
31:39great player. He was just a very electric score. That's what I remember most about
31:42him. And then he really impressed during his time with the main Celtics last year.
31:52The question here from Celtics digest. Do you think people see something similar to
31:57last year with 14 guys and then three two ways and then saving the last spot just
32:01in case a two way guy stands out similar to Kata? I do think that the one roster
32:06spot that's open and available right now will remain open and available. I actually
32:11asked Brad Stevens about this in summer league and I was when it was like his
32:15last media availability I think since until training camp. And he said that
32:20that last roster spot I asked him specifically about O'Shea Brissett and if
32:23he might return and it sounded like that was a no. I think O'Shea Brissett is kind
32:27of kind of me that seems you know, also me that seemed like it was a no on his
32:29blog recently. But I think they want the 14 spots with one open in case somebody
32:35goes down, somebody gets injured, maybe they need another frontcourt player if
32:39Kata and Cornette are not doing their you know, are not sufficiently filling up
32:43filling that gap that Porzingis is going to leave. Or maybe somebody else gets
32:48hurt knock on wood again, I don't want to put that out there. But that's always a
32:51possibility. So I think they like the flexibility of keeping that spot open.
32:56And then when you're able to when you're doing kind of midseason thing, whether
32:58that's a midseason trade, it gives you a little bit more flexibility that you
33:03have that spot. The other thing is, is that maybe they will convert one of the
33:07two way guys. I see a world where JD Davison is like really trying to get a
33:12full a full contract spot. I don't think that he's going to get it in Boston, but
33:15it's a possibility. So Kata, I think from the beginning, everybody was kind of
33:19like, when is this guy's contract going to get converted because his there was
33:23just a need for his style of player on this team. I don't think we're going to
33:27see something like that here. But at the same time, you know, I do think they'll
33:32keep that spot open, whether that's for two way or otherwise. Okay, I see some,
33:38this is from a while back, but I was talking about Jaden Springer and Avery
33:41Bradley, I see other people are seeing that comparison. Question about what's
33:46the biggest threat to the Celtics going into next season? I think the biggest
33:51threat is, again, I think I mentioned this, but health and just not getting
33:57complacent, because last year, there was this like collective unity around, like
34:02we are going to win a championship, we're going to do everything we can to win a
34:05championship. And it became like an obsession where nothing else mattered,
34:10individual accolades didn't matter. There was full buy. And you can see that from
34:14by one through 15. And so to be able to maintain that is difficult. And so I'm
34:19curious about whether they'll be able to. And so I think health is obviously
34:24number one, because, you know, they've been relatively healthy in recent years,
34:27even Porzingis being out like everybody else, everybody else healthy, that puts
34:30them in a good position. But yeah, oh, I'm just realizing this question says,
34:34who's the biggest threat? Okay, who's the biggest threat? I guess that still gave
34:39you guys some some perspective. But who's the biggest threat, I would say is
34:44probably whoever they see in the finals, wherever that ends up being, whether
34:48that's the Thunder or the Nuggets or the Wolves, like that, to me is probably the
34:52most formidable opponent. In the Eastern Conference, though, the Knicks stand out
34:57to me the most. The 76ers just don't scare me, honestly, watching him beat in
35:01the Olympic play. He hasn't been terrible, but he's not really instilling fear as
35:06an opponent. And I think the 76ers obviously have Max, who I do think is a
35:10going to be a tremendous player and already is. But I would pick the Knicks
35:14and the Eastern Conference is the most likely team to eliminate this other just
35:18because they don't they don't really have any major weaknesses. They have a
35:21very deep roster and guys that have already shown that they step up at the
35:24moment. A question about what I only cover basketball. So I just cover the
35:32WNBA in the NBA offseason. I cover the Olympics when that's happening. So I
35:37just cover basketball, professional basketball year round, both WNBA and and
35:42NBA.
35:48A question here about what Jalen and Jason can improve the most as they move
35:53into their primes. I think for me, the number one thing that they can both
35:58improve on, for Tate, actually, I think it's probably two different things. But
36:02for Tatum, it's probably the outside shooting, just the efficiency. And he's
36:05not that he's even that inefficient. But I think the the number one thing that I
36:10I think for him has been a weakness is games where he's struggling to score.
36:15And you look at individual games where he's like, two for 10 from three. Those
36:19are the kinds of things where either he's going to just become a better
36:21shooter, which I don't know if that's the case. He's obviously been struggling
36:23of late, or he's just going to eliminate a few of those shots. So it's not a
36:27massive thing. I don't want to nitpick his game because I do think he's a
36:30little bit unfairly discussed sometimes. And unfairly scrutinized. And certainly
36:35as of late, he's been unfairly scrutinized, I think with this whole
36:37Olympic run. But I think that he's improved a lot as a passer has improved
36:41a lot as a defenders rebounding is elite. He was the top rebounder for the
36:44US Olympics team yesterday. So the number one thing that I would say is
36:49just if he can trim down some of a couple of those bad shots a night, just
36:53become a little bit more of an efficient player. And then probably maybe number
36:57one for him is down the stretch. He was I think he didn't hit a game winner this
37:00year, he attended quite a few. So whether that's him hitting those game winners
37:03down the stretch, or it's him passing to somebody else and not missing those
37:09shots like that's I think that the one state on his season that he had this
37:11year was the fact that he wasn't the most efficient when it came down to
37:18late late game shots. And that was something the public's actually were
37:21pretty good at, especially in the playoffs, they won all those close
37:23games. But I think as an individual, that's one thing for him to improve on.
37:28The other thing for Jalen Brown, it has to be free throws, I actually was, I was
37:32certain that his free throw struggles were at some point going to come back to
37:35bite him. And they didn't. And so there was never a game where he lost a free
37:40throw in the play. You know, he missed two free throws in the playoffs, he
37:42actually hit some clutch free throws in the playoffs. But that is the number one
37:46thing that I think he has to improve on just because a guy like him is going to
37:48continue to go downhill quite a bit, he's going to continue to get hit,
37:51continue to get fouled. And the fact that he is able to draw that contact, you
37:57want to make sure that he can then hit those free throws. So that's the number
38:00one thing for Jalen Brown.
38:04Question here about Sam Hauser and Peyton Pritchard. Obviously, they both
38:08are, you know, Sam Hauser signed a contract extension this offseason,
38:11Pritchard signed right before the season. So they both have that long term
38:14security. I think you're gonna see a lot of what we saw from them last year. Sam
38:19Hauser got better defensively last year, that's going to be a key point for him
38:23is to continue to get better. Pritchard, I think it's going to be all about
38:26running that second unit. And maybe he's going to see increased minutes with
38:29Drew Holliday and Derek White coming off an Olympic run, which they're both
38:33kind of major contributors in. So maybe Pritchard plays even more, but I don't
38:36see it, I don't expect like a huge jump from either of them. I think they both
38:39were at a pretty good place last year, and were able to kind of contribute and
38:42be effective playoff contributors, which was the most important thing. But yeah,
38:47I do think that Sam Hauser and Peyton Pritchard are both guys that are going
38:51to be really, really instrumental to what this team is able to accomplish
38:54this year, especially as they worry as they think about kind of the load
38:57managing minutes. And there's going to be some surprise contributors. I think
39:00Keita is one that I'm expecting to play real minutes and to make an impact, but
39:05Hauser and Pritchard solidified themselves as two of the most important
39:08bench pieces last year, and I think they'll just kind of continue to build
39:11upon that. I'm going to just do, I'm going to answer one more question, and then
39:18we'll wrap it up, and then this will be posted on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast.
39:23So again, please do subscribe if you're able to. You've Got Boston is my YouTube
39:29channel. You can also subscribe on CLNS Media, CLNS All Access, and
39:34then there's obviously this on Spotify and Apple. So yeah, I really appreciate
39:37everyone tuning in. I'm going to just do one more question. I see a couple
39:40questions here about the coaching staff. One is about, with the loss of coaching,
39:44obviously they lost Charles Lee, which was the big one, but Jermaine Bucknor,
39:48they also lost. The Maine Celtics head coach, Blaine Miller, also went to
39:53Charlotte with them. So a couple guys left, but everybody else was pretty much
39:56the same. I was kind of surprised with the crew that was in Summer League. It
39:59was a lot of the same players, a lot of the same coaches. Sam Cassell is still
40:03in the mix. DJ McClay is going to be up there. He was up at the coached Maine,
40:07so that's a big kind of show of confidence in him. Matt Reynolds is
40:13someone that I got to know at Summer League. I didn't know much before, but
40:16obviously he's in charge of the timeouts and the challenges, so people kind of
40:20know him for being the challenges guy. But he's somebody else that I
40:24think is really veteran. He's the most veteran guy on the coaching
40:28staff, 11 years, so that certainly stands out. Tony Dobbins is another one that's
40:33very veteran, eight years. So those are all guys that people are going to become
40:37increasingly familiar with. Obviously Sam Cassell is one that's going to move up
40:40immediately with Charles Lee being gone. And they're going to bring in probably a
40:45few new coaches, but that hasn't been announced yet. And I don't know that I
40:50have like a specific person in mind that I'm like, this person is what they're
40:53missing. I think they really want to show, they really want to, one thing that
40:56Brad has talked about quite a bit, is that they want to bring people on and
41:00then kind of move people up the totem poles. Rather than bringing somebody to
41:04become the lead assistant, I think that their goal is to bring somebody in and
41:08kind of build, develop them the same way that the players are being developed. So
41:13we shall see who those new additions end up being. Yeah, I just want to thank you
41:18all for tuning in. This is going to be every Sunday a mailbag edition. If I
41:22didn't get to your question, feel free to message me. I can answer on Twitter as
41:26well. And I will be, you know, if you're just tuning in, you can go back and watch
41:30the full stream. This will be posted on YouTube, on Twitter, everywhere, so you can
41:35find everything there, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. But again, really appreciate you
41:39all tuning in. I'm sure there's going to be more and more questions as the year
41:42goes on and there's more to talk about. But the Olympics are pretty entertaining
41:44and we have a lot of Celtics players that are kind of right in the middle of
41:47things that make this really exciting. So appreciate you all tuning in. Like,
41:51subscribe, comment, share with your friends, and have a great rest of your
41:54week.