Jaylen Brown knee surgery & what it means for Boston Celtics season

Jaylen Brown knee surgery & what it means for Boston Celtics season

jaylen Brown has knee surgery which gives us clarity for the start of the season it’s all right now on the Lockown Celtics podcast uh-huh yep y ready to see who else could it be what they going to say now screaming like JT coral we kept the madness every game every practice prime time white on the sideline rain and Jace how we started raising business how we finish locked on Celtics pod home of the winners hey Dave there welcome back to the Locked On Celtics podcast where it’s your team every day your team is the Boston Celtics and I’m talking about them Monday through Friday on every podcasting app that’s available it’s on YouTube watch the show there get into the comments section share your thoughts with me i’m John Corales i cover the Celtics for Boston Sports Journal and I’ve written a couple of books about the team tomorrow Friday’s show we’re going to try a little something different i tweeted this out so go to my Twitter my blue sky uh you can do it in the comments section i’ll try to I’ll try to keep up with that as well give me a topic any topic just put it in like four or five words we’re going to put on flashcards and then we’re going to Tom and I tomorrow going to pick three topics just randomly cold and we’re going to talk about these topics so put them in the comment section get on my Twitter or my blue sky and just let me know but we’re trying a little something different with the flash card Friday i don’t know we’ll see how it goes hey today’s show is brought to you by Game Time download the Game Time app create an account use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase today is about Jaylen Brown because he had surgery on his right knee to clear up that meniscus i’ll talk about the surgery in segment one segment two how that gives us clarity for the start of the season segment three Sham Shirania talked about trades trade rumors for Jaylen Brown Derek White and what the Celtics plan is so that’s how this show is going to go so let’s start with the surgery which Jaylen Brown had on Wednesday June 11th it as the Celtics put out they put out a very short release that said Jaylen Brown underwent a successful right knee arthoroscopic debridement procedure he is expected to participate in training camp without limitation debride what’s a debridement it’s like a removal of whatever that tear is it’s not characterized as a uh the what they minisctomy minusctomy I think is that the pronunciation whatever uh however you pronounce it that’s not what they characterize it as so this seems like a minor procedure it’s like almost like a a partial removal of what the tear was it’s not a full repair full repair means he would be out for months this means he’s going to be out for weeks at best so honestly this puts him right in that same timeline as if they had been playing in the finals and he would have taken a few weeks off in June and get started the beginning of July i fully expect Jaylen to be tweeting out or uh posting on Instagram workout videos within a few weeks beginning of July he’ll be back out on the floor uh I do not expect this to be a problematic recovery but there are some differences between the repair and this removal to whatever degree the removal was repair takes longer to recover from and it does not leave him as open to future you know arthritis or anything like that taking out a piece of the meniscus the meniscus for those of you who don’t know in your knee it’s basically a shock absorber it’s cartilage it’s a Cshaped cartilage in your knee so the two bones don’t hit together and if you remove any of it then the bones you know have the potential to hit together later in life and when bones hit bones that’s arthritis so there is a risk somewhere down the line um that he could develop that if there’s further damage to that meniscus that’s up to Jaylen Brown uh I don’t think this is that big of a risk because it doesn’t it doesn’t even seem like a full removal of that area so it seems like this is a a really best case scenario for him in which he’s not gonna miss any time he’ll be back on the floor soon he’ll be his normal self the Celtics expect him to be his normal self he’ll be back he’ll be Jaylen Brown which is great the repair would have taken months to recover from and that would have put the Celtics in a much different spot so the the news for Jaylen is is good and I didn’t expect it to be bad uh I thought Jaylen’s decision was I I I feel like he’s he’s you know weighing different options but let’s be clear on what Jaylen is is facing here to start the season he finally gets to be the guy on the Celtics and not that he has been pining for you know uh a shot at doing this himself he certainly hasn’t been like rooting for anything with Jason Tatum or anything like that but there’s no doubt that Jaylen Brown has felt slighted uh less appreciated than he should be so this is an opportunity for him to say “Okay listen i can I can be the number one guy and you know what he doesn’t have to be traded to be the number one guy this is good for everybody this ultimately is good for everybody and we’ll get to the trade stuff in the third segment like I said but just to touch on it a little bit now Jaylen has an opportunity to make himself look pretty good as the number one guy on the Boston Celtics for however long Jason Tatum is out and if the Celtics can keep floating you know near the top if they can be as good as they have been to some degree some 70 80 90% as good as they’ve been that puts them in a pretty good spot they’ll still be fighting in that top two or three if they’re in that that range and Jaylen’s having a good season the Celtics are winning a bunch of games that’s a good for Jaylen because he gets a little bit of vindication you know I’ve always known I can do this but for some people you know they needed to they needed some level of proof so if you take it as proof good for you but I always knew I could do this he gets to say that brad Stevens gets to say “Hey you know we do actually have to trade this guy because finances second apron the league doesn’t want two superstars on this with two super max players making about $60 million a piece you can’t have that and be a non-tax non-appron team so Jaylen’s going to probably have to go at some point well here you go nba here’s your whole you know almost full season of Jaylen as the number one guy and look at how good he’s doing so if that happens then Brad’s like “Yeah the the number of picks that it’s going to take to get Jaylen Brown has gone way up.” There’s potential here that the Celtics can finagle you know a a few picks i’m not looking at it like you know uh multiple firsts and swaps and all of that stuff uh although maybe maybe you can say “Hey if you’re getting all that from Male Bridges then what is Jaylen Brown worth?” But I don’t expect him to be uh that level of trade but maybe a team that was saying “Hey he’s only worth like a couple of firsts.” Uh this could be like “Hey couple of firsts and what a swap or two if he’s having if he has that kind of season.” Having the surgery now gets him right into position i was afraid that the meniscus tear was going to derail his preparation for the season but the surgery that he chose makes it very likely that he’s going to have a full summer to add to whatever he wants to this game to his game and he’ll be able to proceed and be the best Jaylen Brown that he could possibly be so now that gives us clarity I think for the start of the season i think that gives us a sense of what the Celtics are trying to do at the start of the season so let’s get into how this cleans up the Celtics plan to start the season that’s next today’s show is brought to you by Game Time game time’s going to get you to these live events these live uh you you can get hey if you’re in Indie or OKC and you got the cash it’s game time’s got the tickets they can be cheaper on game time but it’s still going to cost you 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through a normal off season jaylen will be there there will be a change in the the roster but now I feel good about okay Jaylen’s gonna be the main guy the Celtics can go through this East with Jaylen and presumably Derek White and whoever else they decide to keep is it Porzingis is it Sam Hower whoever it is the Celtics now I think they still have to make their moves to get to their financial goals but Jaylen as the number one guy I think sets you up for we know what this season is going to look like at least to start you heard Jiannis Tenzakmpo saying uh he’s not going to leave Milwaukee he he feels like he’s been given a lot by Milwaukee i I respect it i respect what what Giannis is saying so Giannis is gonna stay in Milwaukee how much how much does that give them a chance i don’t know they have a they have a crazy off seasonason coming and they have Damen Lillard with an Achilles injury that’s going to be a little bit different than uh Jason Tatum but there’s at least with Giannis they’re still going to be somewhere in the mix at least at least in the middle of the pack right so that that exists cleveland is probably going to try to run it back as best they can so you go from there who knows what the Knicks are going to do the Celtics are going to be in that mix so having Jaylen having that surgery done now you get Jaylen’s going to be the guy you you know that uh you’re you’re going in with people who know what the plan is uh Joe Mazula can feel good now about okay we we don’t have to do plans A B C and D you know uh A is just going without Jason Tatum b without Jason and Jaylen uh C you know after they come back after Jaylen comes back what do we do uh after the trade deadline what do we do after Jason comes back what do we do there’s just sure the trade deadline is potentially going to be there but if Jaylen can be good uh and number one guy worthy then there’s really not much trade deadline I think to worry about you just worry about when is Jason coming back how do you mix Jason in with Jaylen do you just say “Jason you’re going to have to deal with being the number two guy because you’re just never going to be 100%.” Or maybe Jason is 100% i I have no idea how his recovery is going to be but at least Joe can come into the season and say “We were building an offense a defense centered around Jaylen being our main guy.” So you can run different sets you can come up with different uh plans to to maximize Jaylen’s ability to drive you know you’re not running as much pick and roll necessarily you’re running some but you’re trying to maximize Jaylen and that’s different than maximizing Jason that’s different you’re taking you’re taking what Jaylen’s role used to be and giving that to somebody else and asking Jaylen to be uh more of a distributor you’re asking him to be a different player but you’re asking your team to play a little bit differently because his skill sets different than Jason Tatums so I I I think having to come up with that plan the plan you’re going to have to adjust to anyway later uh that I think gives the Celtics an advantage at least you know what’s happening at least you can joke and come up with okay here’s here’s the Jaylen plan and here’s the post Jason recovery plan and we got two books and that’s it so and that I think that that’s going to be good for the role players i think they’re going to understand like we have to enhance Jaylen Brown’s uh strengths you’re not going from Derek White as your main guy to Jaylen as your main guy to Jason as your main guy you’re just going to how do we enhance Jaylen that means shooters know where they’re going to be that means shooters understand okay Jaylen likes to drive i know that in these particular I know that he has a tendency to get himself into a little bit of trouble sometimes and so we need to make sure somebody is an outlet for for Jaylen in these spots when he drives left and gets caught in the air he will turn and look for somebody to pass to somebody has to be a cutter that that’s not something you normally have to worry about with Jason but with Jaylen you have to have somebody in that mid-range area so instead of a guy just lifting or or dropping from the wing to the corner you have to have a guy from the top kind of dive down around the elbow and just be available for Jaylen like those little things where you go to rebound the Celtics tend to crash to the middle crash to the nail on three-pointers if Jaylen is shooting a lot of mid-range shots you’re where you crash to changes nuance things those little things are going to be a focus in training camp so these little adjustments now like Joe and Brad and the coaches and everybody can be like “Okay we now have the clarity jaylen’s had this surgery he’s going to be ready here’s what we do.” So I like the fact that that little question mark has been taken away so now how does that impact these rumors there are rumors out there sham Shirania talks about offers coming in for Jaylen for Derek but what are the Celtics really trying to do now I think the surgery impacts these rumors i’ll talk about that when I come back today’s show is brought to you by Wayfair i am a regular Wayfair customer and they didn’t even have to give me anything to say that because I’ve already bought a bunch and I’m probably going to be buying more because we’re throwing a graduation party in a few weeks we going to have people over to enjoy our yard and our pool and that means I got to turn that backyard into a little bit of an outdoor kind of oasis wayfair has everything that you need if you’re like me so you want to pick up a new outdoor dining set or some lounge chairs uh that is all there you can do an outdoor bar fire pit uh don’t tell my wife hot tubs but they have them gazeos which sound interesting everything string lights you can make that backyard feel amazing delivery is fast free totally hassle-free even with the larger items and so now when I’m hosting I know in a couple months I get that stuff all set up it’s going to be really cool uh I’m going to get to enjoy it i’m going to be able to sit out in the sun uh maybe do a little bit of reading or just chilling out it’s going to feel great don’t wait make your outdoor space your dream oasis today with Wayfair and enjoy it all summer long head to wayfair downh.com right now shop a huge outdoor selection that’s wayfair w a yf a r.com wayfair every style every home thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day go check out that Lockdown NBA big board podcast so you can get caught up on everything draft raphael Barlo he’s the best you want to make sure that you’re listening to him talk about prospects you’re gonna get all caught up up tod date so make sure you’re listening to that uh Lockdown NBA big board podcast wherever you found this podcast so Sham Shirani was on the Pat McAfee show and he says quote “The primary focus from my understanding with the Celtics offseason has been Drew Holiday Christopheringa Sam Hower their trade markets now are teams making big offers and calling about Jaylen Brown and Derek White 100% the Celtics prefer not to trade them from my understanding okay which jives with everything we’ve been talking about for weeks now brad Stevens has said when he held his end of season news conference he said the north star that guides the Boston Celtics off season is contending for a championship with Jaylen getting the surgery and being back for the start of the season having Derek White who is at the peak of his powers you still have a core of guys that can handle a lot of the scoring that can handle some distribution that can handle some playmaking you have Payton Pritchard coming off the bench we’ll see how the Porzingis stuff works out the holiday stuff works out i’m sure at this point that holiday is gone but that trade will still bring back some players so who do you bring back in that scenario i know the Celtics are going to try to contend this season and again Jason Tatum’s recovery is a huge piece of this if they are keeping Jaylen and Derek to me that says Jason has the potential to come back at some point during the season if you’re going to contend if you’re going to try to contend when your superstar player your number one superstar player has an Achilles recovery you’re saying to me that we think that Achilles recovery is going to go well or has a strong potential to go well and you’re already looking at Tatum a few weeks after this the the injury after the surgery at the practice facility no boot at in the training room if he’s got no boot I see no crutches seems like he’s walking whether it’s gingerely or whatever he’s out there and doctors who who have done this procedure have said the sooner you start the rehab process the better the results are going to be so Tatum is undoubtedly going through this rehab process at 27 years old a guy who has been as durable as Tatum I feel confident i still feel confident my stance has never changed tatum’s recovery has the potential to go better than anybody expected there is potential that he can come back on the short end of the expected recovery you say eight months well it happened in May June July August September October November December January january is eight months can he come back and start ramping up in January can he start playing in February can he start feeling like his normal self in March the playoffs start in April why wouldn’t you give yourself a chance you know the second apron is going to rip your team apart you know that Jaylen Brown is probably going to have to be moved at some point why not keep him for one more season and try to give Celtics fans that one more title try and be something like the Spurs where you win a title you fall short you come back you’re motivated you win that next title you can do it there’s it’s still there for the taking we don’t know how this I still don’t know how the finals are going to play out but if OKC wins do they suffer a hangover there’s been you know people keep saying well OKC is set up to contend for a long time people said that about Boston you don’t know what’s going to happen you don’t know how that team that young team’s going to react to being a champion so who knows maybe they repeat maybe they don’t if they win it at all which they probably will keeping Jaylen keeping Derek makes sense moving Holiday moving Hower financially there’s a world where those two moves can get you close to or under the second apron depending on how the holiday trade plays out you don’t have to move Porzingis necessarily and if he’s back and healthy and not in that mystery illness thing and he’s playing you got him Jaylen and he and Jaylen are the combination that work well together derek Pritchard at that point I wouldn’t even be surprised if Horford comes back you’re almost running it back anyway and you’re running mostly a similar offense anyway so I understand why teams are going to be making their big offers this is not the summer for Jason for for Brad Stevens to be making the big trade for for Jaylen if Jason had a setback then we could revisit this at the trade deadline this summer no reason to trade Jaylen Brown no reason to trade Derek White trade deadline if Jason’s not going the way we thought he would if the season’s not going the way you thought it would if it’s clear that it’s not working and sorry you got to press the button on a rebuild or quick hopefully quick retool then you do it and then at that trade deadline with the pressure of a deadline teams can start ponying up for Jaylen Brown and making some really big offers if that’s the case then that’s the case but this summer no chance no chance you’d have to get some front office guys like drunk or held hostage to put together a deal that wows Boston to a point where they’re like “Hey look man sorry JB but we got to do this.” But I don’t see that happening maybe at the deadline crazy things happen at the trade deadline and if Boston is less than what they expected or Jason is behind schedule then put it out there have a bidding war and once you get a bidding war because Jaylen would be a hell of a player to add to a stretch run for some team then you can start extracting solid players good young players picks whomever assets that you can turn flip draft I don’t know but you can compile a lot you can kind of almost become OKC East in a you know a poor man’s OKC in the East so I think the the plan right now is Jaylen got the surgery he’s healthy let’s move forward with that see what you get for Drew Holiday see what you can flip see how that can go see if you have to move Hower and then you go from there all right again tomorrow we’re going to do something fun it’s going to be a flashc card Friday we’re going to pick random topics we won’t know ahead of time we’ll just pick them live on the show and we’re going to do we’re just going to do it off the top of the head top of the dome it’s like freestyling a podcast we’re going to have some fun with it so make sure you’re uh getting those in it’s on you can do it in the comment section uh but on my Twitter on my blue sky you can find me uh respond to my my posts there uh I would love it if you’re not a subscriber by the way would love to have you subscribed because we’re going to try to have some fun with this stuff all summer long if you are a subscriber if you are an everydayer if you’re with me every Monday through Friday thank you so so much everydayers are the best uh if you’re not an everydayer I hope to make you one because this podcast is free it’s Monday through Friday and we like to have some fun be informative and all that stuff so subscribe watch the show on YouTube get into that comment section and share the podcast tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics podcast here on the Lockdown Podcast Network it’s your team every day

Jaylen Brown’s knee surgery gives us some clarity on the Boston Celtics game plan.

John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal breaks down the implications of Brown’s procedure, from his recovery timeline to potential shifts in the Celtics’ offensive strategy. The discussion covers how Joe Mazzulla might adjust tactics, the impact on role players like Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis, and the latest trade rumors swirling around the team. Karalis also speculates on Jayson Tatum’s return timeline and how it could affect Boston’s championship aspirations.

Tune in for an in-depth analysis of how Brown’s surgery could reshape the Celtics’ path to NBA glory.

0:00 Jaylen Brown’s knee surgery
3:07 Implications of meniscus removal vs repair
6:11 Jaylen’s opportunity as number one option
10:46 Clarity for Celtics’ season start
15:56 Adjusting team strategy around Jaylen
20:02 Sham Charania on Celtics trade rumors
23:37 Potential for one more title run
26:41 Trade deadline scenarios for Brown

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Locked On Celtics is a daily Boston Celtics podcast by Boston Sports Journal beat writer John Karalis. It’s an inside look at the C’s from a former professional basketball player who is at practices & games.

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