October 26, 2025 • 45 mins
Adam Taylor joins the pod to discuss the Boston Celtics, who have a lot of decisions to make over the coming months.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hi, and welcome to the NBA Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
My name is Morten Jensen, and today we'll be discussing
the Boston Celtics through the lens of what are they
going to do long term and also frankly short term
because there are a lot of question marks hovering over
this franchise and I know for a lot of people
like a full episode on the Celtics. Yeah, but listen,
their situation is pretty unique. They could go in and
(00:40):
become a major force in the Eastern Conference by next
year already again, but there's also a bit of a
wild card factor about the draft that we have to
get into. And given that we're talking about Boston, obviously,
I have Adam Taylor back on the show.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Adam, how are you, sir? I'm good. I'm good, A
happy when I get to jump on the NBA Podcast
with View and Water, and I'm always happy when I
get Celtics basketball.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
So today is a good Friday. Yeah, I appreciate it,
and yes it is. You know, Fridays are very rarely bad,
so let's celebrate Fridays. I will say this episode is
gonna come out I think Sunday though, because I have
a couple episodes ligned up. However, that shouldn't deter us
from getting straight into the thick of things because Adam, look,
(01:25):
we know Jason Tatum is presumably out for the rest
of the year. He has opened the door to a
possible return, but let's be real. You know, if he's
gonna come back, it's probably gonna be late in the
year anyway. He's going to have to ramp up. So
even if he does return in the final I don't know,
ten to fifteen games of the season is probably not
(01:47):
going to change the outlook of the Celtic season all
that much. So we're looking at a at a gap
year in many ways now before we go into the
long term.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I'm just gonna get Drake through it. Here.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
They have their own draft pick. The Celtics can go
into this season and say, well, priority to winning is
not really the one that we're going to apply, because hey,
there are very good players available in this draft this year.
If we sit at around five hundred near the trade deadline,
(02:22):
perhaps we should be sellers. Is that an a grecious
thought process given their current situation.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I don't. I don't think so. I know those members
of the fan base that do believe that that shouldn't
be the plan. But I think that especially after the
opening night against the Sixers, where you see how much
of a boost vj Edcomb's already given them, and despite
it being just one game. I mean him and Tyrese
Maxi combined for like seventy two points on that night,
(02:50):
and he's somebody that they got because they had the
foresight to be like, hey, this season is a crapshoot.
We've already lost thembad, Paul George's out Let's basically yank
Tyrese Maxi two and Will three fall out of the playoffs,
and their reward is now their back court of the
future is completely not only set, they have a framework,
and I think that when you're looking at the Celtics
(03:12):
and you look at where they currently stand in terms
of over fifty percent of their entire cap is allocated
towards two guys in Jalen and Jason, it's going to
be really difficult to construct a roster as dominant as
the one they had and then broke up over the
summer the notion of adding a high level draft piece,
(03:32):
somebody that's got a high, low level amount of potential
that could be a potentially top five lottery pick depending
on how bad things go. That shouldn't be anything to
sniff at, because not only are you giving yourself cost
control talent, you're also giving yourself a through line between
Jason Tatum and whoever you draft, right, I think there
(03:55):
needs to be a level of understanding that, hey, this
isn't This wouldn't be a two timeline kind of mentality.
This would be a Jason Tatum plus in a year
or two, a guy entering his third year when we're
probably ready to contend again. Properly, that could be a
real dominant piece for us on a Rockie scale deal.
(04:15):
I don't think it'd be a bad way to go,
but it's really tough to sell people like Derek White,
Jalen Bran, Peyton Pritchard on a season where you need
to lose enough to be a lottery.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Team, right, and that they're in lies the challenge, And
I think that ties into the fact that the Celtics
are a little over twelve million above the tax line,
Like in a year where they don't perhaps envision themselves
as a championship contender, they would be rightfully motivated to
(04:47):
potentially get under that line. Also just to avoid the
repeater tax down the line. I mean, there are just
so many benefits to not going that route of staying
over the tax this specific year. There are a lot
of moving parts in Boston, and like, I think one
of the main attraction levels of the draft and why
I bring it up, is that top three. Man it
(05:09):
looks it looks good. Darren Peterson obviously like the primary,
you know, perimeter prospect. Cameron Boozer is going to be
an other worldly fore man. AJ Debants. I'm not really
sure how to pronounce that last name. I think Debanza,
and I apologize. I apologies if I butchered that Aj.
(05:31):
But like that those three are so far at least
considered the top three for next year's draft. All three
are viewed as potential franchise players, so I think there
is merit in chasing those guys. I understand that the
NBA is anti tanking. I get that. I also understand
(05:51):
the Boston itself like as an organization, they're not too
fond of the idea of tanking, and I respect that,
I truly genuinely do. But in a season like this
where Tinam is down, you're trying to shed money it
just feels as though you can go the line without
sacrificing like integrity or instilling like a loosing culture, because no,
(06:14):
like you won the championship like five minutes ago. It's fine,
Like I don't I don't believe that one year of
being strategic in the long term outlook is going to
somehow undo. You know the history of competitiveness they have
behind them.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, and it's you can look at it as like
managed decline, right, like you understand exactly what you need,
and if you decide that the best route to go
is via a soft reset, which involves the tank, then
you can do that, as you said, while keeping your
integrity intact, because you're doing it for the right reason
(06:50):
in terms of, hey, our best player is not available
this year, and if he does come back, he's not
going to be the version of himself that we need
him to be to make any meaningful difference in the postseason.
So if he does come back and he elevates the team,
maybe now you get through to the second round, but
then you're out again, and now you picking towards the
(07:11):
back end of the first round, where you're just picking
another utility guy that may or may not hit versus Okay,
we're going to manage ad decline throughout the year to
ensure that we're in that lottery space. There's no value
to this team right now in being a playing team.
There's no value in being a first round exit. This
team has had so much playoff success recently that a
(07:36):
shorter season might not be the worst thing for Jalen
Brown's knees. It might not be the worst thing for
Sam Houser, who struggled with backspasms at points last year.
It gives Jason Tatum extra time to work on his
actual cardio and his fitness after being cleared, have a
whole summer to be able to rebuild up. There's so
many positives to actually looking towards chasing that lottery pick,
(08:01):
but it's obviously the hard part is doing that in
practice because to do that, to manage such a decline,
you need to be very intelligent with the rotations that
you put out there so you're still competitive. And we
get to a point then where it's like, it's not
the integrity of the team, but it's the integrity of
the games. You really want to be a team that's
trying to lose. I mean with everything else going on
(08:24):
around the NBA right now, I'm sure that would be
frowned upon quite severely.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, and therein lies the challenge, and I fully concede
that it's not a one size fits all for every
organization as well.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
I do understand that there could be.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Some some let's just say, some stakeholders within the organization
who'd be like, what are we doing? Like why are
we going this route? Especially after winning a championship. But
this is just how this is the way teams are
constructed nowadays, and it has been for a while. Like
building through draft. I mean the Celtzic themselves is a
(09:02):
great example of that, Jason Jalen, I mean, those guys
came through the draft. If you can find another element
to add to that, I just wouldn't reject that notion.
Now I have seen Adam, I've seen Celtic's fans also argue,
like in the opposite direction where they say, okay, well,
given the fact that we do have our own draft pick,
(09:23):
perhaps there is an idea of making a trade, like
using the contracts of Anthony Simon's and Sam House, or
like combining those those get you up to like thirty
seven point seven I think a million, and then adding
like the twenty twenty six draft pick, that that could
possibly get you a star of sorts. I go back
(09:48):
and forth of that ideology, because if you're going to
trade for a star like near the deadline, presumably he's
gonna make the team better. And so the teams trading
that star would know that, and why would they settle
for the draft pick? And then Simon sen Houser like there.
It just seems like that's that's an ideology that I
(10:09):
struggle with a little bit.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
It's the two K ideology right where it makes sense
on a computer game, but in real life, as you said,
once you make that trade, the value of the incoming
draft pick and now diminishes quite drastically. And the reason
the Celtics would do that and go down that route
would be because they believe Jason Tatum is going to
get to a level where he can help them contend
(10:31):
this year. Yeah, now there is a world where that
could happen, and I don't think we can ignore that.
But for me, I don't understand how you can expect
a guy to come back off of a tonicilles ramp
up to NBA fitness and then reach an all NBA
level in a quarter of the season. Yeah, right, that
(10:51):
feels like such a drastic expectation on his shoulders. And
then that expectation could lead to him pushing himself too
hard and react the injury though his body could break.
You're just so many negatives that can be associated with
that trainer for it. I think that if you were
going to go down that route, you would actually be
better served making the draft pick and then trying to
(11:13):
flip the player himself, or flipping the pick on draft
nights so that the the receiving team can tell you
who they want you to draft, so they still get
to pick the player and you get some in return. Now,
the downside is you're not competitive this year. And the
other argument is who's available that a package of Simon's
(11:35):
Houser and a draft pick is really going to get you,
that's going to really elevate you that much higher. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So the one name I've seen thrown around, not like
overwhelmingly so, but I've seen a few people bring him up.
That's Tree young like and that you would have to
expand it a little bit because he's earning forty six million,
so you'd have to find a way because right now
the Celtics are over the first ay prints, so they
can't take a single sent more back than they sent out,
(12:02):
So you would have to expand the trade, and like
suddenly you're looking at a three for one in the
middle of the season, which is.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Just that is extra difficult to pull off.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
At the same time, to Atlanta really want to take
on that deal or take on you know, you know,
just accept that trade because they're still trying to hashit
things out with Trey in the terms of like the
contract negotiations and the extension talks. But like that's one
name that I've least seen associated with that kind of logic.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I will say that I think any big deal with
Atlanta like that will likely involve for Jailenbran. That's his
hometown team. He has spoke recently, and obviously he was
being polite because he was on Atlanta media. He's on
a radio station in Atlanta, right but he noted how
his family would like to see him represent the Hawks.
(12:55):
He's going to be entering the third year of his
super Max deal next year. History of issues, it's going
to be in his thirties soon, and the back end
of his prime, ready to get into that slow decline.
Maybe the Celtics are like, hey, the best way we
can rebuild is to lose somebody that's on I think
(13:15):
I don't remember the exact percentage, but let's just assume
it's thirty five percent, right, So we can trade Jalen
Brown a three up thirty five percent of our salary cap,
or we can replace him with a guard such as
Trey Young. Now I'd be against Trey Young due to
the defensive limitations there. Yeah, I think that you saw
how long it took Atlanta to find a defensive guard
(13:37):
to put next to him that actually made sense in
Dyson Daniels. They tried it with de Jeante Marie didn't
work out as too much bar handling responsibilities being shared.
I think that would be the same issue with Derek
White in Boston. So I'd be against that. But I
do think that if it was a deal with Atlanta,
that Jalen Brown's name would emerge, And I know a
lot of Celtics fans are expecting that to become a
(13:58):
reality regardless of whether that's a deal with Atlanta, But
just because of the fact that nobody expects Jalen to
see out the end of his deal in Boston. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So I don't want to beat around the bush here.
I did not like his contract, like I like Jalen Brown.
Don't think I don't, But I do think that this
was one of those situations where an organization perhaps overvalued
a player to a certain extent because for what he did. Like,
I'm not going to downplay the fact that he was
(14:32):
an integral part of winning that championship. So based off
of that, you could argue, hey, look, we're gonna pay
everything to just get that one ring, and that's fair.
I will buy that argument every single day of the week.
That said, when you look at his production level, when
you look at his age, when you look at the
fact that the athleticism part is still something that is
(14:54):
prevalent in how he gets his points and how he
gets to his production level, who would be slightly worried
about entering in, you know, the final years of that
contract in Boston. Like I this sounds harsh, but I
do think that if you could flip him, especially for
something good, something younger, even, you might actually save your
(15:16):
own ascid little bit in Boston.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
And You're not the only member of the fan, like,
you're not the only person to believe that a large
section of the fan base is very much on board
with you. I mean, I've just pulled up his numbers
on spot track, right, his contract numbers, So the thirty
five percent guess wasn't actually that far away. He was
thirty four point four right, yeap for this season, and
then it'll thirty four point four again next season, then
(15:39):
nine to thirteen. But he's twenty nine this year, earning
fifty three point one million. He's going to be.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
The he's twenty nine today, we're talking about training his
ass on his birthday. That's yeah, God, happy birthday, Jayleen Brown.
Get the hell out of Boston.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Luckily, when this releases, he won't be that's true birth there,
that is true.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
This is this is going to release when he's twenty
nine years old in two days. That look, we got
out of it good. Yes, no, but you're right, twenty nine,
go on. My apologies for interrupting you.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
This year he's going to be the number one option
on the statics, trust now, and it's the perfect year
to put him, as they would say, in the shop
window and be like, this is what Jalen Brown can
do when told to lead the team. Now, if he
has an exceptional year career numbers across the board, I'm
talking truly exceptional fit within the confines of it being
exceptional based on his production up to this point, not
(16:36):
exceptional in comparison with the league, but in comparison to
his own production. If he has an exceptional year and
then he enters age thirty season next year, earning nearly
sixty million dollars with another two years of team control
under contract, Buston would be in a very strong negotiating
position if they then decided to explore his trademarket. Yeah,
(16:59):
because he's Brown. Would have a proved that he can
be the number one guy in the team. B is
a champion. C is still within the kind of apex
of his prime. You'd have a year or two before
the decline really truly set in, barring an injury, and
D would potentially be able to attach a draft pick
(17:20):
if we were doing this at the trade deadline or
not trade deadline, sorry, undraft night or whatever it may be.
There is a world there where you can maximize having
Jalen Browann be part B the leader of this quote
unquote bad Celtics team and then use him as the
way to start rebuilding. And if you don't assign this
year's pick, you could always assign a future pick. Not
(17:42):
only would you get your retire for Jalen Brown, but
you'd also have whoever you pick up in hopefully what
will be the lottery. And so you kind of rounding
out a rasta by making one move that would be
difficult to stomach, but would reset your cap sheet considerably.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
And there is a team out there that I do
think will keep taps on this situation pretty thoroughly. And
I understand that the Celtics fans listening in here will
will vomit a little bit when I say that, but
that it's the Lakers. It's the Lakers. If Lebron decides
to leave or if he retires, that's suddenly fifty two
(18:19):
point six million dollars right off the cap. Roy Hatimorri
is an unrestricted free agent, so like you, if he leaves,
all right, that's even more money freed up. Austin Reeves
is going to opt out, but he's got a low
cap hold. Like you can pretty easily get there in
terms of like the salary, matching.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Then you just need to align value.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
That's where the tricky part comes up, because they only
have like late future first, Like they don't really have
a ton of draft equity to send Boston's way, but
like there there are there's at least a conversation there
where they can offer something, especially if they make a
move at the trade deadline for additional young players, like
(18:59):
because that this roster as it is in Los Angeles
doesn't seem pride to end the year the way it
looks right now, So they could be picking up additional
assets potentially to look at a Jalen Brown. And I
wouldn't hate that pairing of Luca and Jalen, to be
quite honest with you, I feel that's got some juice
(19:20):
that kind of makes sense. So it comes down to
what can the Lakers offer, But just getting off of
that deal alone in Boston and having to potentially regroup
around guys who are more financially viable and embracing Tatum
when he does come back, and well we also have
to acknowledge that there is a world where he doesn't
(19:42):
come back and is the same player, just because we
saw it with Kevin Durant. It doesn't automatically mean that
we're gonna see it with Jason. That's something that also
has to be like in the back of our minds.
But if they assume so, I just think it opens
up a world of interesting possibilities, like what Boston could use,
you know, Gelan's salary slot, Like how they could otherwise
(20:03):
fill that raster up.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
And that's kind of where my mind's been with it
for a while. In terms of the way the league
is constructed. Now, you're actually better off having one guy
on a supermax, yeah, rather than having like two highly
maxed out guys, because all of a sudden, your hands
are so tired. I mean, between Tatum and Brown, you're
talking seventy percent of the cap is tied up. Yeah.
(20:27):
Finding ways to then construct a roster that is one
viable long term without the risk of being a second
Apron team and eating those penalties, and two is talented
enough to be a contending team is really difficult with
that much rope around your hands. I think if you
move off from Brown, you have Tatum taken thirty five
(20:48):
percent of the cap, you still then have enough room
to round it out with like high level role players
and you look over it Indiana, And what they've done
that's kind of the mentality they've taken is like, hey,
we've got Halliburton and we know that eventually I cannot
remember for the life for me what his deal is
right now, but eventually he's going to be their super
mats guy. But what we're going to do is we're
(21:09):
going to get as many high level role players that
fit the style of play we want to then be
supporting him so that we can chump and change. And
you've seen how Matt well it's working. Like They're probably
still going to be a very good team without Halliburton
this year because they've gone for depth, fit and overall talent.
(21:31):
And I think that Boston could follow a very similar
if Like blueprint doesn't need to mean that you play
the same way. You can construct a raster to play
however you want, as long as you have that blueprint
and you work within the confines of it. Unfortunately, the
easiest path forward is moving on from Jayla Brain. Now
that doesn't mean it will be the path they take.
(21:52):
Pairing moving on from Brown with getting a high draft pick, however,
is incredibly enticing. We will take a short commercial break
and when we return.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I have a type of trade idea that I want
to bounce off of you that I've been thinking about
as a flate. All right, Adam, So there is an
idea that's been forming in my head for a couple
weeks now, and this is the first time I'm airing
it out in public. So I might get crucified, But
(22:23):
it was it was speaking into one of your earlier
points about leaning into debt. You used the Pacers as
an example. Now I've been thinking the same thing about Boston,
like how could they get deeper? And one of the
things looking at Jalen's salary currently this year it's a
fifty three million, next year it's fifty seven. I was
thinking in sort of a different mindset, like, Okay, what
(22:46):
type what two players could you go in and get.
It doesn't have to like align perfectly with fifty seven million.
It can be a little bit more, it could be
a little bit less, but like two players who go
in and like fit that scheme within the final antil aspects.
And Miami is a team that came up because we
know that Heat have been star hunting for years and
(23:07):
years and years. I wonder if a deal centered around
Tyler Hero and Andrew Wickins would make sense for Boston
if they relinquish Jalen Brown. Like Hero would fit the
Jason Sorry, Jason Tatum timeline perfectly. I think Andrew Wickins
would so too, Like, yes, he's a little bit older,
but unlike when he came into the league when everything
(23:30):
was relying on, you know, athleticism, he's developed a floor
game and an actual floor game, which I think is
going to allow him to age pretty gracefully. Is that
a framework that would be interesting to you, like Tyler
Hero and Andrew Wickins for Jalen Brown, Like you probably
need to add something in that deal from Boston's side though,
(23:50):
like just to make the salaries work.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, I find it. I find it tough because from
a Celtics standpoint, and I'm going to say this because
if I don't put this out there or will get
killed by Celtics fans. That's fair. You'd expect a better
player to headline a return than Tyler Herro. And that's
no disrespect to Tyler Herrow because I think he's actually
a really talented player, but Celtics fans will be expecting
(24:16):
I don't know who to name here, but something a
little bit bigger right now, if we're just talking about depth,
then I think Andrew Wiggins is an ideal addition. The
forward rotation at the moment, specifically in Boston is quite thin,
and I think Wiggins gives you that three and D
prototypical wing that could really help plug and play. Hero
(24:37):
would fit well, I think next to Derek White, and
I think that he could pick like inverted pick and
rolls between Jason Tatum and Tyler Hero will ben teams
anyway they won. But I do think Celtics fans would
would to make that deal work. I think they would
rather bring him Bam than they would Tyler.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Okay, And I get that because the need for a
big especially with KP Gon now is pretty obvious, I
would say, so, I get that. I definitely get that
from a value perspective. I still don't hate the idea, Like,
I understand your point of view, and I understand why
(25:17):
Celtics fans would look at that. But like scenes through
the lens of how NBA teams are constructed nowadays, like
just getting a guy like Tyler Hero and who I
think would fit the system, at least the offensive system.
I know he's got some defensive weaknesses, but offensively, just
the emphasis on the three pointers, like the quick decision
making the ball, the quick ball movement which we saw
(25:39):
last year was like a major step up for him.
He would be such a nice offensive addition. Also to
a point where you might be able to tell Jason Tatum, hey, look,
you're coming back from the Achille stare. We're not gonna
ask you to go out on average thirty. In fact,
we're gonna ask you not to. We want you to
(26:01):
take your time to get back to the point where
you feel a one hundred percent comfortable and healthy and ready.
And adding in Tyler Hero and Andrew Wiggins is definitely
going to help take some offensive pressure off of you.
Hell defensively too, from Andrew Wiggins's point of view, like
he could take over some of the tougher matchups. So
I think there's some logic there, but I do hear you.
(26:24):
A BAM oriented deal would be a lot more fitting.
And it's also easier to look at a situation next
year because he signed an extension, he's at thirty percent
of the cap going into next year. Like a deal
centered around Jason Oh, sorry, Jalen and BAM I don't
hate that. I wonder if Miami would ask for more, though, I.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Mean, the other part of this from Boston standpoint is
you can sell the Celtics fan base on that deal.
Because of bam Adeboyo and Jason Tatum's friendship, well then
they're very known, well known to be close off the court.
They have group chats with each other. Spoke about that
to the media multiple times. I think that Bam would
be the closest things you're getting to an Al Horford
(27:07):
replacement in the post Al Hawford. Yea, And I think
Celtics fans would be willing to give up what was
necessary to.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Make that happen. That's an interesting point of view because
you're absolutely right. I definitely see like the Horford comparison,
Like Bam is is better, even even better than a
prime Horford, who I loved, by the way, I still
think to this day, a prime l Horford was dramatically
underrated all around the league. But bam is is no
(27:37):
He's he's that guy right like, he would be that
that secondary one. Defensively, he would fit the system beautifully.
It's probably the one organization that would turn Bam into
a more comfortable three point shooter like he takes them
now in Miami, but I still feel as though at
times he's doing so reluctantly in Boston. I'm pretty sure
(27:58):
Joe Masula would be able to rewire that tendency in
him to a point where he just goes, oh, yeah,
I'll take eight threes per game.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
And I warned you in bad an Eye and that
a bit of hope, like, because then you are replicating
what you lust in Hawford with a player that, as
you've correctly mentioned, is an upgrade. Yeah. And I think
that the friendship he has with Tatum means the fit
works quite quickly. I think it becomes seamless because he's
entering a situation where he's already got a close friend there.
(28:28):
I think that he fits the way the Celtics want
to play. He gives you some playmaking at the five.
And one of the ways that Luke Cornett thrive for
the Celtics over the last few years being a non
three point shooting big was his ability to be an
offensive hub through screening, through dribble handaffs, through short role playmaking.
He found a way to live within a five hour
(28:49):
offense without being a shooting threat, and for Bam to
transition into slowly becoming more of a three point threat
would be gradually enough due to the way the Celtics
would use him, due to his playmaking and other aspects
of his offensive game, that he wouldn't necessarily be under
pressure to ramp up that three point volume within a year.
(29:10):
It could be over a two year, three year period,
which would be better in terms of making sure his
techniques right, making sure he's getting that comfortability level, and
you slowly increase those three points. I actually think the
fit would work really well, and there's a blueprint on
how to maximize him until he's at that free point frequency.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
That you'd be Yeah, I think that's a really good point.
I wonder actually, now that I'm looking at his contract,
it would be significantly easier to trade for Bam this
year because he's earning forty seven million, like his extension
bumps it up to forty nine point eight almost fifty
million next summer. So technically, if Boston were to try
(29:50):
and make a play for him, financially speaking, it would
be easier to execute something this season. That's where, how however,
I see some challenges just because it's it's always easier
to make a deal in the off season because then
you have time to hash things out, You can look
at situations, you can carry more players, So even if
you do like a three from one or something, you
(30:12):
can carry twenty players on the roster for a time being.
Here you probably have to minimize it a little bit.
So I wonder if there's a deal out there that
could get done like this very season to make it
more realistic.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
I'm currently playing with the trade machine to try and
figure this out. Yeah, so my mentality is what you
want to give, what you want to send to Miami
is Jayen Brown and then ideally some a way of
giving them some cap relief at the end of the season,
right right, so they can become players where they need
to be. So I've got like, at the moment, and
(30:49):
this trade doesn't work, so I'm still kind of tweaking it.
But at the moment, a deal like Jaynen Brown and
Fernie Simon's for Adebio and Wiggins, now that doesn't work.
The money doesn't match up, right, Okay, But that in
my head as like a framework is like you get
your your staff for now that can fill a void
left by Jimmy Butler that plays in a similar way
(31:10):
in certain aspects to Jimmy, And then you get on
Ferny Simon's that you can either keep around long time
as a potential replacement for Tyler Hero if you move
on from him in a separate deal, or you can
let him walk in the summer and clear nearly thirty
million dollars off your cap sheet. Right, and you have
a little bit to play with in free agency. Now.
(31:30):
The problem is obviously figuring out how to make the
rest of that deal work. And I'm not going to
do that while we're on this podcast because then obviously
the conversation would suffer because of it. But that would
that would be the mentality that I'd approach things with.
He's like, Hey, we're going to give you a star.
I'll send you a young guy maybe too. You know,
do you want Baylor Shyman? You can take Baylor Shyman.
(31:50):
Do you want do you want Hugo Gonzalez? Would you
prefer Josh minor Luk? Who do you want? You tell
us who you want out of the young group that
we've got, and we'll send you one of those a
future pick, and we'll make the salaries work. Would Miami
be willing to do that considering how important Bam is
to their system. That's a discussion that you need to
(32:13):
have with Miami heat person.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
I'm guessing they would ask for the pick, and I'd
be okay with that. Yeah, because if you get Bam
in there, he's gonna dramatically, you know, improve that situation immediately.
So like the value for that draft pick, as we
talked about in the first segment, will just naturally decline
in value.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Yeah, And I think that you give them the pick,
you ride out this year the way you were going
to anywhere. Next year, you start the season with a
Bam Ada Bio, Derek White, Jason Tatum core. You have
a high level guard, like a borderline All Star guard,
and a borderline All star big man potentially, like you know,
you could call him a guaranteed All Star in Boston
(32:56):
if you wanted to, and a top five player in
Jason Tatum who and he gets back to that level, right,
That to me is enough of a core to then
build around and potentially become a contender.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah. See, I don't disagree with that. I think that
that is a logical approach. And I wonder if that's
how Boston is thinking of it. But I do want
to throw you a curveball, like a real curveball on this.
So for a while now everyone has sort of just
pitch andholed Anthony Simon's into being, you know, the guy
who is dealt because of his contract and because oh
(33:31):
he's not necessarily a great defender, YadA, YadA, YadA and
so on.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
And I get it.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
However, what happens, like we've only gone through one game
so far, like we're one game into the season, things
can change. What if he suddenly pops And when I
say pop, I don't mean like, oh yeah, he's a
you know, twenty one twenty two. Like let's say he
just starts bawling out, he becomes a twenty seven point
player and like a high volume three point shooter who
(33:57):
cashes in almost forty percent of his threes, and the
system just turns him into like a legitimate star. Then
what are we looking at a situation where Boston has
to keep him to pair him with Tatum or do
you sell high?
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I think luck comes down to again, it comes down
to Jalen Brown. Anthony Simons is an expiring contract. If
you keep him, you only have thirty percent left of
your non luxury tax salary cap available, Like how much
do you want to give up to keep Simons around?
So it's then do you want to build around Tatum
and Simons? Or do you want to build around Tatum
(34:36):
and Brown? Because I don't think there's a world where
you can do both and have enough financial maneuverability to
put out a contending ruster in terms of depth. Now,
in an ideal world, he balls out and you maximize
your return. But again, it's very hard to maximize the
return and unaspiring contract because teams it's always a bit
(34:58):
more difficult. So it's it's a tough situation to be
you could so he.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Can't be extend he's extension eligible. You can't extend him
to one hundred and forty percent of his current value.
Now I haven't really done the math on this, so
let let's let's just just do that. I mean, it's
a new contract at most starts at thirty eight point six.
I don't think that's too egregious, Like you can work
(35:27):
with that number, especially as the cab increases, like that
that's below forty Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
I mean it's not a bad pay, But would he
would he signed for that? That's the question, right?
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I mean again, it's because look, if let's say he
balls out and you're looking at that contract extension discussion
or negotiations, and let's say he's been bawling out for
like three months at the time or at that point
in time, does he like he has a lot of
data on his own career? He and his agent like,
(36:02):
could they go back and look at it and go, look,
you've never played like this before. Should we just grab
whatever amount of dollars we can get right now, like
right freaking now? Or do we want to go into
free agency where everything has become a major crap shoot
and like, whenever we hear that nine teams will have
cap space, it ends up being like two because that
(36:23):
too is like a real issue for guys. That's why
they don't enter pre agency. A lot of these players
they just don't want to get into that situation where
they think the money is out there and then they
find out, oh no, it's not. I can choose to
sign with the Brooklyn Nets, who are going nowhere until
you know their guys develop, and they wouldn't even be
(36:45):
interested in a guy like Simon's because of the age anyway,
like what is out there in terms of realistic options.
I think that's a fair question to ask as well
as a player as an agent, if Boston offers him
an extension that starts at thirty eight point six million,
(37:06):
I think that's a discussion at least.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
I think the other angle to look at this front,
as well as the free agency market angle is teams
are very accustomed now to guys over performing on final
you in contractions, and I think that the contract year
bump in production is a real thing for a lot
of guys. And you would hope that front office is
are now savvy enough to understand that paying a guy
(37:31):
based on his contract year production doesn't guarantee that's the
production you get moving forward. Yeah, And I think that
once you incorporate that withint your decision making and then
you weigh up how the rotation would how you would
fix the rest of the rotation, Because in my head,
if you've got this, if you take the Celtics team
it's currently constructed, and you put an all NBA version
(37:55):
of Jason Tatum back into that rotation, can they win
a championship right now? And my answer would still be no,
due to the lack of talent at the five. Right
And if you re sign Simon's and you extend him
for near like thirty five to thirty eight million dollars,
how do you then go and fix the glaring issue
(38:17):
at center and the lack of depth at the four
enough to be a contender. Because some Celtics fans will
believe that you insert Jason Tatum back and the world
is good again and we're going to win every game again.
And I'm like, there's two positions right now that are
major problems, the center and the power forward. Tatum coming
back will solve a lot of the issues at the forwards,
but at the far at the four, but you still
(38:40):
need viable depth behind him, and right now that looks
like it's Sam Hous who's being miscast in a role
that he should be playing at the three. And you've
got no one who's a starting caliber five. So I'd
be really cautious about committing that much money to Simons
knowing that the other areas are the floor that needed.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Well, that's and that's what Jaylen Brown is going to see.
We're gonna circle back to Jalen Brown all the time
because of this, because he, at the end of the day,
is the lunchpin here. I mean, if Simon's pops and
you extend him, then it's the Jylen Brown contract. You
can sort of split into several pieces where Okay, let's
see if can you get a bam at a bio.
(39:19):
Maybe if you can't, there might be other centers out
there who could be of interest. Like, it just comes
back to me all the time to Jalen Brown, because
I don't think you're training Derek White on this contract.
That would surprise me at least if if White was
even considered, Like it would have to be such a
slam dunk in terms of getting value back.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
On the Derek White deal for him to.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Be moved because he's you know, he's such a key
player in terms of the three point shooting. He doesn't
need a specific amount of shots. Defensively, he's right up there.
The playmaking is also better. Like I think you could
even make it an argument that not over a course
of a full season, but on a game to game basis,
there are a lot of examples where Derek White has
(40:07):
been far more influential than Jaylen Brown. That's not to
say a bad word about Jailen Brown, but that's just
the fact of the matter. It just I don't want
to simplify this, but we keep coming back to the
Jaylen Brown deal, to being the one that needs to
be quote unquote sacrificed.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
That's been a conversation amongst Celtics fans all summer. Yeah,
and I think it's been a conversation amongst Celtics media
behind closed doors. I'd assume is as much as Jalen
Brown is a great player, a top fifteen guy, top eight,
top twenty, top fifteen, wherever you put him, I've got
him around that top twenty range, his contract is quite
(40:46):
constricting for the Celtics and in order for them to
be able to become the team that they're going to
need to become to win another championship. The word you
use sacrifices, right, he may need to become the sacrificial
trade piece. But I think that was always a known,
unspoken truth from the moment he signed that deal. I
(41:07):
don't think anybody expected him to finish that contract in
Boston before they won a championship. Now that they've won one,
I think that it'll be a lot easier to be like,
well that core one. We built around these two guys
and we've reprove them right, and now we're going to
maximize our return on Jalen Brown. He's in his peak
right now. If you trade him this year on next
(41:28):
his head the best he'll ever be in terms of
like physical attributes. You can maximize that return to the
to the hilt. You can ask for a ridiculous package
in return and probably get it. And I think that
that's a world that the Celtics front office needs to
truly explore. And that's not to say I like Jalen Brown.
I think he's a great player. Sometimes you like, as
(41:51):
you said, sometimes you need to sacrifice the queen to
win the game, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Yeah, but that, But like I also say this, when
you do make that sacrifice, it has to be the
right one. Like that, if you mess up a Jalen
Brown deal, oh boy, like that's going to set you
back years. So I also get why the Celtics might
be hesitant to do so because the amount of pressure
(42:16):
that would be on them to nail that freaking deal
and to make sure that some of the key players
coming back are like win now guys who have been
in the show before and knows how to win. I mean,
I don't envy the position there.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
No, And I think that that's the that's always going
to be what creates a tentativeness in making that final decision,
right is because for all we talk about how it
could revolutionize the team or unlock the next championship rotation,
it could, as you said, it could also pull the
rug on everything. And if you make, if you make
a mess of a Jalen Brown trade, then unfortunately, in
(42:58):
a year or two you're going to be having to
have a discussion is about adjacent Tatum trade. And we've
seen how it is when you try and wild will
and deal your way back to success. You went, there
is a risk you end up like the Milwaukee Bucks.
Right now, I think I think Brad Stevens is a
far better president of basketball operations, I think, and I
(43:18):
think that the chances of things going that drastically wrong
are a lot lower. I think there's a lot of
talent in Buston's front office, but sometimes situations outside of
your control, injuries, trades with other teams around the league,
things that you have no control over can occur that
make your decision making look questionable, and that is always
(43:39):
a big risk.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yeah, it's it's certainly an interesting year that the Celtics
are heading into right now. There's to play on the court,
which first and foremost, we're only one game in. We're
going to see how that looks in about two months,
and then I assume the organization is going to regroup
if they're struggling, try to figure out, like what do
(44:01):
we want to do here? Do we want to lean
into perhaps a draft ideology? Do we want to make
ourselves better for the short term? So that's one aspect,
but they also have to think long term, and they
had to have like one hundred meetings internal meetings about
the Jalalen Brown contract and like how can we move
forward on this?
Speaker 1 (44:21):
Like what can we do?
Speaker 2 (44:23):
So it's going to be one of those teams that
I'm going to keep my I on a fair bit
because they're just in such an interesting position right now.
It's pretty unique, honestly, given that they just came off
a championship. Their primary player or their best player is
injured presumably all the year. They have a potentially high
draft pick, they have a guy with trade value who
(44:44):
might still be a little bit overpaid. They have major
expiring contracts on good players, Like they're literally all over
the place, which just makes this entire situation so freaking intriguing.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
Or if you're a Celtic expense, so stress inducing.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
This is true, Yes, I could definitely see that being
the case. Adam Taylor, thank you so much for joining
the show, and thank you for providing your insights into
the Boston Celtics long term and short term. The reason
we did, you know, a full episode on one team
here is because, like this will have ramification around the league.
I don't even think this is an episode specifically just
about Boston. It's about how can other teams also look
(45:24):
at this situation learn from it? Like who are the
players that maybe other teams covet that?
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Now? What kind of framework could the Celtics be looking for?
Speaker 2 (45:33):
And other teams say, yeah, I want that framework, but
I don't want that like that specific player within that framework.
Like there's just so many layers to this that I
find super, super exciting. But thank you so much Adam
for joining the program. To everyone listening in, thank you
for doing so. And until we speak again, have a
good one and stay safe.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
Everyone,
Hi, and welcome to the NBA Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
My name is Morten Jensen, and today we'll be discussing
the Boston Celtics through the lens of what are they
going to do long term and also frankly short term
because there are a lot of question marks hovering over
this franchise and I know for a lot of people
like a full episode on the Celtics. Yeah, but listen,
their situation is pretty unique. They could go in and
(00:40):
become a major force in the Eastern Conference by next
year already again, but there's also a bit of a
wild card factor about the draft that we have to
get into. And given that we're talking about Boston, obviously,
I have Adam Taylor back on the show.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Adam, how are you, sir? I'm good. I'm good, A
happy when I get to jump on the NBA Podcast
with View and Water, and I'm always happy when I
get Celtics basketball.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
So today is a good Friday. Yeah, I appreciate it,
and yes it is. You know, Fridays are very rarely bad,
so let's celebrate Fridays. I will say this episode is
gonna come out I think Sunday though, because I have
a couple episodes ligned up. However, that shouldn't deter us
from getting straight into the thick of things because Adam, look,
(01:25):
we know Jason Tatum is presumably out for the rest
of the year. He has opened the door to a
possible return, but let's be real. You know, if he's
gonna come back, it's probably gonna be late in the
year anyway. He's going to have to ramp up. So
even if he does return in the final I don't know,
ten to fifteen games of the season is probably not
(01:47):
going to change the outlook of the Celtic season all
that much. So we're looking at a at a gap
year in many ways now before we go into the
long term.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I'm just gonna get Drake through it. Here.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
They have their own draft pick. The Celtics can go
into this season and say, well, priority to winning is
not really the one that we're going to apply, because hey,
there are very good players available in this draft this year.
If we sit at around five hundred near the trade deadline,
(02:22):
perhaps we should be sellers. Is that an a grecious
thought process given their current situation.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I don't. I don't think so. I know those members
of the fan base that do believe that that shouldn't
be the plan. But I think that especially after the
opening night against the Sixers, where you see how much
of a boost vj Edcomb's already given them, and despite
it being just one game. I mean him and Tyrese
Maxi combined for like seventy two points on that night,
(02:50):
and he's somebody that they got because they had the
foresight to be like, hey, this season is a crapshoot.
We've already lost thembad, Paul George's out Let's basically yank
Tyrese Maxi two and Will three fall out of the playoffs,
and their reward is now their back court of the
future is completely not only set, they have a framework,
and I think that when you're looking at the Celtics
(03:12):
and you look at where they currently stand in terms
of over fifty percent of their entire cap is allocated
towards two guys in Jalen and Jason, it's going to
be really difficult to construct a roster as dominant as
the one they had and then broke up over the
summer the notion of adding a high level draft piece,
(03:32):
somebody that's got a high, low level amount of potential
that could be a potentially top five lottery pick depending
on how bad things go. That shouldn't be anything to
sniff at, because not only are you giving yourself cost
control talent, you're also giving yourself a through line between
Jason Tatum and whoever you draft, right, I think there
(03:55):
needs to be a level of understanding that, hey, this
isn't This wouldn't be a two timeline kind of mentality.
This would be a Jason Tatum plus in a year
or two, a guy entering his third year when we're
probably ready to contend again. Properly, that could be a
real dominant piece for us on a Rockie scale deal.
(04:15):
I don't think it'd be a bad way to go,
but it's really tough to sell people like Derek White,
Jalen Bran, Peyton Pritchard on a season where you need
to lose enough to be a lottery.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Team, right, and that they're in lies the challenge, And
I think that ties into the fact that the Celtics
are a little over twelve million above the tax line,
Like in a year where they don't perhaps envision themselves
as a championship contender, they would be rightfully motivated to
(04:47):
potentially get under that line. Also just to avoid the
repeater tax down the line. I mean, there are just
so many benefits to not going that route of staying
over the tax this specific year. There are a lot
of moving parts in Boston, and like, I think one
of the main attraction levels of the draft and why
I bring it up, is that top three. Man it
(05:09):
looks it looks good. Darren Peterson obviously like the primary,
you know, perimeter prospect. Cameron Boozer is going to be
an other worldly fore man. AJ Debants. I'm not really
sure how to pronounce that last name. I think Debanza,
and I apologize. I apologies if I butchered that Aj.
(05:31):
But like that those three are so far at least
considered the top three for next year's draft. All three
are viewed as potential franchise players, so I think there
is merit in chasing those guys. I understand that the
NBA is anti tanking. I get that. I also understand
(05:51):
the Boston itself like as an organization, they're not too
fond of the idea of tanking, and I respect that,
I truly genuinely do. But in a season like this
where Tinam is down, you're trying to shed money it
just feels as though you can go the line without
sacrificing like integrity or instilling like a loosing culture, because no,
(06:14):
like you won the championship like five minutes ago. It's fine,
Like I don't I don't believe that one year of
being strategic in the long term outlook is going to
somehow undo. You know the history of competitiveness they have
behind them.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, and it's you can look at it as like
managed decline, right, like you understand exactly what you need,
and if you decide that the best route to go
is via a soft reset, which involves the tank, then
you can do that, as you said, while keeping your
integrity intact, because you're doing it for the right reason
(06:50):
in terms of, hey, our best player is not available
this year, and if he does come back, he's not
going to be the version of himself that we need
him to be to make any meaningful difference in the postseason.
So if he does come back and he elevates the team,
maybe now you get through to the second round, but
then you're out again, and now you picking towards the
(07:11):
back end of the first round, where you're just picking
another utility guy that may or may not hit versus Okay,
we're going to manage ad decline throughout the year to
ensure that we're in that lottery space. There's no value
to this team right now in being a playing team.
There's no value in being a first round exit. This
team has had so much playoff success recently that a
(07:36):
shorter season might not be the worst thing for Jalen
Brown's knees. It might not be the worst thing for
Sam Houser, who struggled with backspasms at points last year.
It gives Jason Tatum extra time to work on his
actual cardio and his fitness after being cleared, have a
whole summer to be able to rebuild up. There's so
many positives to actually looking towards chasing that lottery pick,
(08:01):
but it's obviously the hard part is doing that in
practice because to do that, to manage such a decline,
you need to be very intelligent with the rotations that
you put out there so you're still competitive. And we
get to a point then where it's like, it's not
the integrity of the team, but it's the integrity of
the games. You really want to be a team that's
trying to lose. I mean with everything else going on
(08:24):
around the NBA right now, I'm sure that would be
frowned upon quite severely.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, and therein lies the challenge, and I fully concede
that it's not a one size fits all for every
organization as well.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
I do understand that there could be.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Some some let's just say, some stakeholders within the organization
who'd be like, what are we doing? Like why are
we going this route? Especially after winning a championship. But
this is just how this is the way teams are
constructed nowadays, and it has been for a while. Like
building through draft. I mean the Celtzic themselves is a
(09:02):
great example of that, Jason Jalen, I mean, those guys
came through the draft. If you can find another element
to add to that, I just wouldn't reject that notion.
Now I have seen Adam, I've seen Celtic's fans also argue,
like in the opposite direction where they say, okay, well,
given the fact that we do have our own draft pick,
(09:23):
perhaps there is an idea of making a trade, like
using the contracts of Anthony Simon's and Sam House, or
like combining those those get you up to like thirty
seven point seven I think a million, and then adding
like the twenty twenty six draft pick, that that could
possibly get you a star of sorts. I go back
(09:48):
and forth of that ideology, because if you're going to
trade for a star like near the deadline, presumably he's
gonna make the team better. And so the teams trading
that star would know that, and why would they settle
for the draft pick? And then Simon sen Houser like there.
It just seems like that's that's an ideology that I
(10:09):
struggle with a little bit.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
It's the two K ideology right where it makes sense
on a computer game, but in real life, as you said,
once you make that trade, the value of the incoming
draft pick and now diminishes quite drastically. And the reason
the Celtics would do that and go down that route
would be because they believe Jason Tatum is going to
get to a level where he can help them contend
(10:31):
this year. Yeah, now there is a world where that
could happen, and I don't think we can ignore that.
But for me, I don't understand how you can expect
a guy to come back off of a tonicilles ramp
up to NBA fitness and then reach an all NBA
level in a quarter of the season. Yeah, right, that
(10:51):
feels like such a drastic expectation on his shoulders. And
then that expectation could lead to him pushing himself too
hard and react the injury though his body could break.
You're just so many negatives that can be associated with
that trainer for it. I think that if you were
going to go down that route, you would actually be
better served making the draft pick and then trying to
(11:13):
flip the player himself, or flipping the pick on draft
nights so that the the receiving team can tell you
who they want you to draft, so they still get
to pick the player and you get some in return. Now,
the downside is you're not competitive this year. And the
other argument is who's available that a package of Simon's
(11:35):
Houser and a draft pick is really going to get you,
that's going to really elevate you that much higher. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So the one name I've seen thrown around, not like
overwhelmingly so, but I've seen a few people bring him up.
That's Tree young like and that you would have to
expand it a little bit because he's earning forty six million,
so you'd have to find a way because right now
the Celtics are over the first ay prints, so they
can't take a single sent more back than they sent out,
(12:02):
So you would have to expand the trade, and like
suddenly you're looking at a three for one in the
middle of the season, which is.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Just that is extra difficult to pull off.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
At the same time, to Atlanta really want to take
on that deal or take on you know, you know,
just accept that trade because they're still trying to hashit
things out with Trey in the terms of like the
contract negotiations and the extension talks. But like that's one
name that I've least seen associated with that kind of logic.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I will say that I think any big deal with
Atlanta like that will likely involve for Jailenbran. That's his
hometown team. He has spoke recently, and obviously he was
being polite because he was on Atlanta media. He's on
a radio station in Atlanta, right but he noted how
his family would like to see him represent the Hawks.
(12:55):
He's going to be entering the third year of his
super Max deal next year. History of issues, it's going
to be in his thirties soon, and the back end
of his prime, ready to get into that slow decline.
Maybe the Celtics are like, hey, the best way we
can rebuild is to lose somebody that's on I think
(13:15):
I don't remember the exact percentage, but let's just assume
it's thirty five percent, right, So we can trade Jalen
Brown a three up thirty five percent of our salary cap,
or we can replace him with a guard such as
Trey Young. Now I'd be against Trey Young due to
the defensive limitations there. Yeah, I think that you saw
how long it took Atlanta to find a defensive guard
(13:37):
to put next to him that actually made sense in
Dyson Daniels. They tried it with de Jeante Marie didn't
work out as too much bar handling responsibilities being shared.
I think that would be the same issue with Derek
White in Boston. So I'd be against that. But I
do think that if it was a deal with Atlanta,
that Jalen Brown's name would emerge, And I know a
lot of Celtics fans are expecting that to become a
(13:58):
reality regardless of whether that's a deal with Atlanta, But
just because of the fact that nobody expects Jalen to
see out the end of his deal in Boston. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So I don't want to beat around the bush here.
I did not like his contract, like I like Jalen Brown.
Don't think I don't, But I do think that this
was one of those situations where an organization perhaps overvalued
a player to a certain extent because for what he did. Like,
I'm not going to downplay the fact that he was
(14:32):
an integral part of winning that championship. So based off
of that, you could argue, hey, look, we're gonna pay
everything to just get that one ring, and that's fair.
I will buy that argument every single day of the week.
That said, when you look at his production level, when
you look at his age, when you look at the
fact that the athleticism part is still something that is
(14:54):
prevalent in how he gets his points and how he
gets to his production level, who would be slightly worried
about entering in, you know, the final years of that
contract in Boston. Like I this sounds harsh, but I
do think that if you could flip him, especially for
something good, something younger, even, you might actually save your
(15:16):
own ascid little bit in Boston.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
And You're not the only member of the fan, like,
you're not the only person to believe that a large
section of the fan base is very much on board
with you. I mean, I've just pulled up his numbers
on spot track, right, his contract numbers, So the thirty
five percent guess wasn't actually that far away. He was
thirty four point four right, yeap for this season, and
then it'll thirty four point four again next season, then
(15:39):
nine to thirteen. But he's twenty nine this year, earning
fifty three point one million. He's going to be.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
The he's twenty nine today, we're talking about training his
ass on his birthday. That's yeah, God, happy birthday, Jayleen Brown.
Get the hell out of Boston.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Luckily, when this releases, he won't be that's true birth there,
that is true.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
This is this is going to release when he's twenty
nine years old in two days. That look, we got
out of it good. Yes, no, but you're right, twenty nine,
go on. My apologies for interrupting you.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
This year he's going to be the number one option
on the statics, trust now, and it's the perfect year
to put him, as they would say, in the shop
window and be like, this is what Jalen Brown can
do when told to lead the team. Now, if he
has an exceptional year career numbers across the board, I'm
talking truly exceptional fit within the confines of it being
exceptional based on his production up to this point, not
(16:36):
exceptional in comparison with the league, but in comparison to
his own production. If he has an exceptional year and
then he enters age thirty season next year, earning nearly
sixty million dollars with another two years of team control
under contract, Buston would be in a very strong negotiating
position if they then decided to explore his trademarket. Yeah,
(16:59):
because he's Brown. Would have a proved that he can
be the number one guy in the team. B is
a champion. C is still within the kind of apex
of his prime. You'd have a year or two before
the decline really truly set in, barring an injury, and
D would potentially be able to attach a draft pick
(17:20):
if we were doing this at the trade deadline or
not trade deadline, sorry, undraft night or whatever it may be.
There is a world there where you can maximize having
Jalen Browann be part B the leader of this quote
unquote bad Celtics team and then use him as the
way to start rebuilding. And if you don't assign this
year's pick, you could always assign a future pick. Not
(17:42):
only would you get your retire for Jalen Brown, but
you'd also have whoever you pick up in hopefully what
will be the lottery. And so you kind of rounding
out a rasta by making one move that would be
difficult to stomach, but would reset your cap sheet considerably.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
And there is a team out there that I do
think will keep taps on this situation pretty thoroughly. And
I understand that the Celtics fans listening in here will
will vomit a little bit when I say that, but
that it's the Lakers. It's the Lakers. If Lebron decides
to leave or if he retires, that's suddenly fifty two
(18:19):
point six million dollars right off the cap. Roy Hatimorri
is an unrestricted free agent, so like you, if he leaves,
all right, that's even more money freed up. Austin Reeves
is going to opt out, but he's got a low
cap hold. Like you can pretty easily get there in
terms of like the salary, matching.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Then you just need to align value.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
That's where the tricky part comes up, because they only
have like late future first, Like they don't really have
a ton of draft equity to send Boston's way, but
like there there are there's at least a conversation there
where they can offer something, especially if they make a
move at the trade deadline for additional young players, like
(18:59):
because that this roster as it is in Los Angeles
doesn't seem pride to end the year the way it
looks right now, So they could be picking up additional
assets potentially to look at a Jalen Brown. And I
wouldn't hate that pairing of Luca and Jalen, to be
quite honest with you, I feel that's got some juice
(19:20):
that kind of makes sense. So it comes down to
what can the Lakers offer, But just getting off of
that deal alone in Boston and having to potentially regroup
around guys who are more financially viable and embracing Tatum
when he does come back, and well we also have
to acknowledge that there is a world where he doesn't
(19:42):
come back and is the same player, just because we
saw it with Kevin Durant. It doesn't automatically mean that
we're gonna see it with Jason. That's something that also
has to be like in the back of our minds.
But if they assume so, I just think it opens
up a world of interesting possibilities, like what Boston could use,
you know, Gelan's salary slot, Like how they could otherwise
(20:03):
fill that raster up.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
And that's kind of where my mind's been with it
for a while. In terms of the way the league
is constructed. Now, you're actually better off having one guy
on a supermax, yeah, rather than having like two highly
maxed out guys, because all of a sudden, your hands
are so tired. I mean, between Tatum and Brown, you're
talking seventy percent of the cap is tied up. Yeah.
(20:27):
Finding ways to then construct a roster that is one
viable long term without the risk of being a second
Apron team and eating those penalties, and two is talented
enough to be a contending team is really difficult with
that much rope around your hands. I think if you
move off from Brown, you have Tatum taken thirty five
(20:48):
percent of the cap, you still then have enough room
to round it out with like high level role players
and you look over it Indiana, And what they've done
that's kind of the mentality they've taken is like, hey,
we've got Halliburton and we know that eventually I cannot
remember for the life for me what his deal is
right now, but eventually he's going to be their super
mats guy. But what we're going to do is we're
(21:09):
going to get as many high level role players that
fit the style of play we want to then be
supporting him so that we can chump and change. And
you've seen how Matt well it's working. Like They're probably
still going to be a very good team without Halliburton
this year because they've gone for depth, fit and overall talent.
(21:31):
And I think that Boston could follow a very similar
if Like blueprint doesn't need to mean that you play
the same way. You can construct a raster to play
however you want, as long as you have that blueprint
and you work within the confines of it. Unfortunately, the
easiest path forward is moving on from Jayla Brain. Now
that doesn't mean it will be the path they take.
(21:52):
Pairing moving on from Brown with getting a high draft pick, however,
is incredibly enticing. We will take a short commercial break
and when we return.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I have a type of trade idea that I want
to bounce off of you that I've been thinking about
as a flate. All right, Adam, So there is an
idea that's been forming in my head for a couple
weeks now, and this is the first time I'm airing
it out in public. So I might get crucified, But
(22:23):
it was it was speaking into one of your earlier
points about leaning into debt. You used the Pacers as
an example. Now I've been thinking the same thing about Boston,
like how could they get deeper? And one of the
things looking at Jalen's salary currently this year it's a
fifty three million, next year it's fifty seven. I was
thinking in sort of a different mindset, like, Okay, what
(22:46):
type what two players could you go in and get.
It doesn't have to like align perfectly with fifty seven million.
It can be a little bit more, it could be
a little bit less, but like two players who go
in and like fit that scheme within the final antil aspects.
And Miami is a team that came up because we
know that Heat have been star hunting for years and
(23:07):
years and years. I wonder if a deal centered around
Tyler Hero and Andrew Wickins would make sense for Boston
if they relinquish Jalen Brown. Like Hero would fit the
Jason Sorry, Jason Tatum timeline perfectly. I think Andrew Wickins
would so too, Like, yes, he's a little bit older,
but unlike when he came into the league when everything
(23:30):
was relying on, you know, athleticism, he's developed a floor
game and an actual floor game, which I think is
going to allow him to age pretty gracefully. Is that
a framework that would be interesting to you, like Tyler
Hero and Andrew Wickins for Jalen Brown, Like you probably
need to add something in that deal from Boston's side though,
(23:50):
like just to make the salaries work.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, I find it. I find it tough because from
a Celtics standpoint, and I'm going to say this because
if I don't put this out there or will get
killed by Celtics fans. That's fair. You'd expect a better
player to headline a return than Tyler Herro. And that's
no disrespect to Tyler Herrow because I think he's actually
a really talented player, but Celtics fans will be expecting
(24:16):
I don't know who to name here, but something a
little bit bigger right now, if we're just talking about depth,
then I think Andrew Wiggins is an ideal addition. The
forward rotation at the moment, specifically in Boston is quite thin,
and I think Wiggins gives you that three and D
prototypical wing that could really help plug and play. Hero
(24:37):
would fit well, I think next to Derek White, and
I think that he could pick like inverted pick and
rolls between Jason Tatum and Tyler Hero will ben teams
anyway they won. But I do think Celtics fans would
would to make that deal work. I think they would
rather bring him Bam than they would Tyler.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Okay, And I get that because the need for a
big especially with KP Gon now is pretty obvious, I
would say, so, I get that. I definitely get that
from a value perspective. I still don't hate the idea, Like,
I understand your point of view, and I understand why
(25:17):
Celtics fans would look at that. But like scenes through
the lens of how NBA teams are constructed nowadays, like
just getting a guy like Tyler Hero and who I
think would fit the system, at least the offensive system.
I know he's got some defensive weaknesses, but offensively, just
the emphasis on the three pointers, like the quick decision
making the ball, the quick ball movement which we saw
(25:39):
last year was like a major step up for him.
He would be such a nice offensive addition. Also to
a point where you might be able to tell Jason Tatum, hey, look,
you're coming back from the Achille stare. We're not gonna
ask you to go out on average thirty. In fact,
we're gonna ask you not to. We want you to
(26:01):
take your time to get back to the point where
you feel a one hundred percent comfortable and healthy and ready.
And adding in Tyler Hero and Andrew Wiggins is definitely
going to help take some offensive pressure off of you.
Hell defensively too, from Andrew Wiggins's point of view, like
he could take over some of the tougher matchups. So
I think there's some logic there, but I do hear you.
(26:24):
A BAM oriented deal would be a lot more fitting.
And it's also easier to look at a situation next
year because he signed an extension, he's at thirty percent
of the cap going into next year. Like a deal
centered around Jason Oh, sorry, Jalen and BAM I don't
hate that. I wonder if Miami would ask for more, though, I.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Mean, the other part of this from Boston standpoint is
you can sell the Celtics fan base on that deal.
Because of bam Adeboyo and Jason Tatum's friendship, well then
they're very known, well known to be close off the court.
They have group chats with each other. Spoke about that
to the media multiple times. I think that Bam would
be the closest things you're getting to an Al Horford
(27:07):
replacement in the post Al Hawford. Yea, And I think
Celtics fans would be willing to give up what was
necessary to.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Make that happen. That's an interesting point of view because
you're absolutely right. I definitely see like the Horford comparison,
Like Bam is is better, even even better than a
prime Horford, who I loved, by the way, I still
think to this day, a prime l Horford was dramatically
underrated all around the league. But bam is is no
(27:37):
He's he's that guy right like, he would be that
that secondary one. Defensively, he would fit the system beautifully.
It's probably the one organization that would turn Bam into
a more comfortable three point shooter like he takes them
now in Miami, but I still feel as though at
times he's doing so reluctantly in Boston. I'm pretty sure
(27:58):
Joe Masula would be able to rewire that tendency in
him to a point where he just goes, oh, yeah,
I'll take eight threes per game.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
And I warned you in bad an Eye and that
a bit of hope, like, because then you are replicating
what you lust in Hawford with a player that, as
you've correctly mentioned, is an upgrade. Yeah. And I think
that the friendship he has with Tatum means the fit
works quite quickly. I think it becomes seamless because he's
entering a situation where he's already got a close friend there.
(28:28):
I think that he fits the way the Celtics want
to play. He gives you some playmaking at the five.
And one of the ways that Luke Cornett thrive for
the Celtics over the last few years being a non
three point shooting big was his ability to be an
offensive hub through screening, through dribble handaffs, through short role playmaking.
He found a way to live within a five hour
(28:49):
offense without being a shooting threat, and for Bam to
transition into slowly becoming more of a three point threat
would be gradually enough due to the way the Celtics
would use him, due to his playmaking and other aspects
of his offensive game, that he wouldn't necessarily be under
pressure to ramp up that three point volume within a year.
(29:10):
It could be over a two year, three year period,
which would be better in terms of making sure his
techniques right, making sure he's getting that comfortability level, and
you slowly increase those three points. I actually think the
fit would work really well, and there's a blueprint on
how to maximize him until he's at that free point frequency.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
That you'd be Yeah, I think that's a really good point.
I wonder actually, now that I'm looking at his contract,
it would be significantly easier to trade for Bam this
year because he's earning forty seven million, like his extension
bumps it up to forty nine point eight almost fifty
million next summer. So technically, if Boston were to try
(29:50):
and make a play for him, financially speaking, it would
be easier to execute something this season. That's where, how however,
I see some challenges just because it's it's always easier
to make a deal in the off season because then
you have time to hash things out, You can look
at situations, you can carry more players, So even if
you do like a three from one or something, you
(30:12):
can carry twenty players on the roster for a time being.
Here you probably have to minimize it a little bit.
So I wonder if there's a deal out there that
could get done like this very season to make it
more realistic.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
I'm currently playing with the trade machine to try and
figure this out. Yeah, so my mentality is what you
want to give, what you want to send to Miami
is Jayen Brown and then ideally some a way of
giving them some cap relief at the end of the season,
right right, so they can become players where they need
to be. So I've got like, at the moment, and
(30:49):
this trade doesn't work, so I'm still kind of tweaking it.
But at the moment, a deal like Jaynen Brown and
Fernie Simon's for Adebio and Wiggins, now that doesn't work.
The money doesn't match up, right, Okay, But that in
my head as like a framework is like you get
your your staff for now that can fill a void
left by Jimmy Butler that plays in a similar way
(31:10):
in certain aspects to Jimmy, And then you get on
Ferny Simon's that you can either keep around long time
as a potential replacement for Tyler Hero if you move
on from him in a separate deal, or you can
let him walk in the summer and clear nearly thirty
million dollars off your cap sheet. Right, and you have
a little bit to play with in free agency. Now.
(31:30):
The problem is obviously figuring out how to make the
rest of that deal work. And I'm not going to
do that while we're on this podcast because then obviously
the conversation would suffer because of it. But that would
that would be the mentality that I'd approach things with.
He's like, Hey, we're going to give you a star.
I'll send you a young guy maybe too. You know,
do you want Baylor Shyman? You can take Baylor Shyman.
(31:50):
Do you want do you want Hugo Gonzalez? Would you
prefer Josh minor Luk? Who do you want? You tell
us who you want out of the young group that
we've got, and we'll send you one of those a
future pick, and we'll make the salaries work. Would Miami
be willing to do that considering how important Bam is
to their system. That's a discussion that you need to
(32:13):
have with Miami heat person.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
I'm guessing they would ask for the pick, and I'd
be okay with that. Yeah, because if you get Bam
in there, he's gonna dramatically, you know, improve that situation immediately.
So like the value for that draft pick, as we
talked about in the first segment, will just naturally decline
in value.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Yeah, And I think that you give them the pick,
you ride out this year the way you were going
to anywhere. Next year, you start the season with a
Bam Ada Bio, Derek White, Jason Tatum core. You have
a high level guard, like a borderline All Star guard,
and a borderline All star big man potentially, like you know,
you could call him a guaranteed All Star in Boston
(32:56):
if you wanted to, and a top five player in
Jason Tatum who and he gets back to that level, right,
That to me is enough of a core to then
build around and potentially become a contender.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah. See, I don't disagree with that. I think that
that is a logical approach. And I wonder if that's
how Boston is thinking of it. But I do want
to throw you a curveball, like a real curveball on this.
So for a while now everyone has sort of just
pitch andholed Anthony Simon's into being, you know, the guy
who is dealt because of his contract and because oh
(33:31):
he's not necessarily a great defender, YadA, YadA, YadA and
so on.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
And I get it.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
However, what happens, like we've only gone through one game
so far, like we're one game into the season, things
can change. What if he suddenly pops And when I
say pop, I don't mean like, oh yeah, he's a
you know, twenty one twenty two. Like let's say he
just starts bawling out, he becomes a twenty seven point
player and like a high volume three point shooter who
(33:57):
cashes in almost forty percent of his threes, and the
system just turns him into like a legitimate star. Then
what are we looking at a situation where Boston has
to keep him to pair him with Tatum or do
you sell high?
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I think luck comes down to again, it comes down
to Jalen Brown. Anthony Simons is an expiring contract. If
you keep him, you only have thirty percent left of
your non luxury tax salary cap available, Like how much
do you want to give up to keep Simons around?
So it's then do you want to build around Tatum
and Simons? Or do you want to build around Tatum
(34:36):
and Brown? Because I don't think there's a world where
you can do both and have enough financial maneuverability to
put out a contending ruster in terms of depth. Now,
in an ideal world, he balls out and you maximize
your return. But again, it's very hard to maximize the
return and unaspiring contract because teams it's always a bit
(34:58):
more difficult. So it's it's a tough situation to be
you could so he.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Can't be extend he's extension eligible. You can't extend him
to one hundred and forty percent of his current value.
Now I haven't really done the math on this, so
let let's let's just just do that. I mean, it's
a new contract at most starts at thirty eight point six.
I don't think that's too egregious, Like you can work
(35:27):
with that number, especially as the cab increases, like that
that's below forty Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
I mean it's not a bad pay, But would he
would he signed for that? That's the question, right?
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I mean again, it's because look, if let's say he
balls out and you're looking at that contract extension discussion
or negotiations, and let's say he's been bawling out for
like three months at the time or at that point
in time, does he like he has a lot of
data on his own career? He and his agent like,
(36:02):
could they go back and look at it and go, look,
you've never played like this before. Should we just grab
whatever amount of dollars we can get right now, like
right freaking now? Or do we want to go into
free agency where everything has become a major crap shoot
and like, whenever we hear that nine teams will have
cap space, it ends up being like two because that
(36:23):
too is like a real issue for guys. That's why
they don't enter pre agency. A lot of these players
they just don't want to get into that situation where
they think the money is out there and then they
find out, oh no, it's not. I can choose to
sign with the Brooklyn Nets, who are going nowhere until
you know their guys develop, and they wouldn't even be
(36:45):
interested in a guy like Simon's because of the age anyway,
like what is out there in terms of realistic options.
I think that's a fair question to ask as well
as a player as an agent, if Boston offers him
an extension that starts at thirty eight point six million,
(37:06):
I think that's a discussion at least.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
I think the other angle to look at this front,
as well as the free agency market angle is teams
are very accustomed now to guys over performing on final
you in contractions, and I think that the contract year
bump in production is a real thing for a lot
of guys. And you would hope that front office is
are now savvy enough to understand that paying a guy
(37:31):
based on his contract year production doesn't guarantee that's the
production you get moving forward. Yeah, And I think that
once you incorporate that withint your decision making and then
you weigh up how the rotation would how you would
fix the rest of the rotation, Because in my head,
if you've got this, if you take the Celtics team
it's currently constructed, and you put an all NBA version
(37:55):
of Jason Tatum back into that rotation, can they win
a championship right now? And my answer would still be no,
due to the lack of talent at the five. Right
And if you re sign Simon's and you extend him
for near like thirty five to thirty eight million dollars,
how do you then go and fix the glaring issue
(38:17):
at center and the lack of depth at the four
enough to be a contender. Because some Celtics fans will
believe that you insert Jason Tatum back and the world
is good again and we're going to win every game again.
And I'm like, there's two positions right now that are
major problems, the center and the power forward. Tatum coming
back will solve a lot of the issues at the forwards,
but at the far at the four, but you still
(38:40):
need viable depth behind him, and right now that looks
like it's Sam Hous who's being miscast in a role
that he should be playing at the three. And you've
got no one who's a starting caliber five. So I'd
be really cautious about committing that much money to Simons
knowing that the other areas are the floor that needed.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Well, that's and that's what Jaylen Brown is going to see.
We're gonna circle back to Jalen Brown all the time
because of this, because he, at the end of the day,
is the lunchpin here. I mean, if Simon's pops and
you extend him, then it's the Jylen Brown contract. You
can sort of split into several pieces where Okay, let's
see if can you get a bam at a bio.
(39:19):
Maybe if you can't, there might be other centers out
there who could be of interest. Like, it just comes
back to me all the time to Jalen Brown, because
I don't think you're training Derek White on this contract.
That would surprise me at least if if White was
even considered, Like it would have to be such a
slam dunk in terms of getting value back.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
On the Derek White deal for him to.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Be moved because he's you know, he's such a key
player in terms of the three point shooting. He doesn't
need a specific amount of shots. Defensively, he's right up there.
The playmaking is also better. Like I think you could
even make it an argument that not over a course
of a full season, but on a game to game basis,
there are a lot of examples where Derek White has
(40:07):
been far more influential than Jaylen Brown. That's not to
say a bad word about Jailen Brown, but that's just
the fact of the matter. It just I don't want
to simplify this, but we keep coming back to the
Jaylen Brown deal, to being the one that needs to
be quote unquote sacrificed.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
That's been a conversation amongst Celtics fans all summer. Yeah,
and I think it's been a conversation amongst Celtics media
behind closed doors. I'd assume is as much as Jalen
Brown is a great player, a top fifteen guy, top eight,
top twenty, top fifteen, wherever you put him, I've got
him around that top twenty range, his contract is quite
(40:46):
constricting for the Celtics and in order for them to
be able to become the team that they're going to
need to become to win another championship. The word you
use sacrifices, right, he may need to become the sacrificial
trade piece. But I think that was always a known,
unspoken truth from the moment he signed that deal. I
(41:07):
don't think anybody expected him to finish that contract in
Boston before they won a championship. Now that they've won one,
I think that it'll be a lot easier to be like,
well that core one. We built around these two guys
and we've reprove them right, and now we're going to
maximize our return on Jalen Brown. He's in his peak
right now. If you trade him this year on next
(41:28):
his head the best he'll ever be in terms of
like physical attributes. You can maximize that return to the
to the hilt. You can ask for a ridiculous package
in return and probably get it. And I think that
that's a world that the Celtics front office needs to
truly explore. And that's not to say I like Jalen Brown.
I think he's a great player. Sometimes you like, as
(41:51):
you said, sometimes you need to sacrifice the queen to
win the game, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Yeah, but that, But like I also say this, when
you do make that sacrifice, it has to be the
right one. Like that, if you mess up a Jalen
Brown deal, oh boy, like that's going to set you
back years. So I also get why the Celtics might
be hesitant to do so because the amount of pressure
(42:16):
that would be on them to nail that freaking deal
and to make sure that some of the key players
coming back are like win now guys who have been
in the show before and knows how to win. I mean,
I don't envy the position there.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
No, And I think that that's the that's always going
to be what creates a tentativeness in making that final decision,
right is because for all we talk about how it
could revolutionize the team or unlock the next championship rotation,
it could, as you said, it could also pull the
rug on everything. And if you make, if you make
a mess of a Jalen Brown trade, then unfortunately, in
(42:58):
a year or two you're going to be having to
have a discussion is about adjacent Tatum trade. And we've
seen how it is when you try and wild will
and deal your way back to success. You went, there
is a risk you end up like the Milwaukee Bucks.
Right now, I think I think Brad Stevens is a
far better president of basketball operations, I think, and I
(43:18):
think that the chances of things going that drastically wrong
are a lot lower. I think there's a lot of
talent in Buston's front office, but sometimes situations outside of
your control, injuries, trades with other teams around the league,
things that you have no control over can occur that
make your decision making look questionable, and that is always
(43:39):
a big risk.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yeah, it's it's certainly an interesting year that the Celtics
are heading into right now. There's to play on the court,
which first and foremost, we're only one game in. We're
going to see how that looks in about two months,
and then I assume the organization is going to regroup
if they're struggling, try to figure out, like what do
(44:01):
we want to do here? Do we want to lean
into perhaps a draft ideology? Do we want to make
ourselves better for the short term? So that's one aspect,
but they also have to think long term, and they
had to have like one hundred meetings internal meetings about
the Jalalen Brown contract and like how can we move
forward on this?
Speaker 1 (44:21):
Like what can we do?
Speaker 2 (44:23):
So it's going to be one of those teams that
I'm going to keep my I on a fair bit
because they're just in such an interesting position right now.
It's pretty unique, honestly, given that they just came off
a championship. Their primary player or their best player is
injured presumably all the year. They have a potentially high
draft pick, they have a guy with trade value who
(44:44):
might still be a little bit overpaid. They have major
expiring contracts on good players, Like they're literally all over
the place, which just makes this entire situation so freaking intriguing.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
Or if you're a Celtic expense, so stress inducing.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
This is true, Yes, I could definitely see that being
the case. Adam Taylor, thank you so much for joining
the show, and thank you for providing your insights into
the Boston Celtics long term and short term. The reason
we did, you know, a full episode on one team
here is because, like this will have ramification around the league.
I don't even think this is an episode specifically just
about Boston. It's about how can other teams also look
(45:24):
at this situation learn from it? Like who are the
players that maybe other teams covet that?
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Now? What kind of framework could the Celtics be looking for?
Speaker 2 (45:33):
And other teams say, yeah, I want that framework, but
I don't want that like that specific player within that framework.
Like there's just so many layers to this that I
find super, super exciting. But thank you so much Adam
for joining the program. To everyone listening in, thank you
for doing so. And until we speak again, have a
good one and stay safe.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
Everyone,
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