The Boston Celtics could look very Different after Free Agency

The Boston Celtics could look very Different after Free Agency

[Music] [Music] what’s up everyone and welcome in to your Celtics source where LeBron James is robbing the Lakers blind of 52 million austin Reeves is opting out faster than a Red Sox fan in the eighth inning at Fenway Park and the C’s well they’re trying to duck the second apron like a pothole on Kamad but we’re going to get into all of that we’re going to talk about Al Horford we’re going to talk about Luke Cornet but I want to start with the NBA draft and you know just sort some sort sort of the drama around it um specifically Ace Bailey right ace Bailey um he told teams well first of all he didn’t uh work out for any team right he’s the only top 10 player that didn’t work out for any teams um obviously you have um highlights and whatever from him in college right so it’s not like nobody’s seen him everyone’s seen how he plays but you know still it’s you know it’s sort of a bad look to just not um you know work out for any team um and then he specifically told the Utah Jazz that he didn’t want to be drafted by him uh by them right and you know I understand that right it’s not about you know the Jazz being a bad team because when you’re a top lottery pick like he is you’re going to go most likely to a bad team unless you’re uh you know Cooper Flag somehow you know landing with the Mavs who are you know ready to win now probably one of the favorites to win the uh title this coming year but it wasn’t you know about the how bad the Jazz were it was more about you know he wants to be on the East Coast because he was fine going to Washington Charlotte which are you know just as bad as um as the Jazz maybe even worse right who knows um especially in the Eastern Conference right the Jazz obviously in the much harder Western Conference so maybe if they were in the Eastern Conference they would have won a couple more games um but you know I understand that right all the action is on the East Coast you don’t really want to be out in the middle of nowhere uh with Utah but Utah you know it’s actually a great place for a guy like him to land because he’s going to get the ball in his hands they’re going to develop him you know basically they’re going to develop the team around him because he’ll be really the only option right and he’s very you know he has a high upside but definitely he is raw and needs to be developed and you know having that much um sort of I would say you know freedom to do what you want because you’re the number one guy on that team i think it’s huge for a young player uh trying to be de developed right obviously Cooper Flag is you know a generational talent but you know he’s not going to get the ball in his hands 24/7 like an ace Bailey would on the Jazz because you have you know obviously Kyrie is injured right now but you have a lot of veteran guys you have um Anthony Davis who plays a very similar you know kind of game that Cooper does right obviously Cooper you know is a little bit better of a shooter and he’s more of a you know point guard than a um center but he’s definitely a tall forward that does a lot of his work in the paint um floaters and um sort of high-flying um sort of uh NBA offense which is what AD does so right you’re going to have to split time with that you’re going to have to split time with um you know all the centers and all the uh guards that the D Mavs already have which is one disadvantage uh to going to a team like that um but you know if you’re the uh if you’re HBO like it’s one thing to be upset but you cannot dwell on it right you want your contract if you want to play you’re going to this team so may as well suck it up don’t complain about it go you know um basically um you know try your best you know don’t complain about it put on your best uh work and know eventually you’re going to if you really want four or five years you’re going to move on to another team um if you really if you don’t want to sign a contract extension with the um Jazz which you know maybe by then he’ll actually enjoy it maybe he’ll want to stay um but you know it’s not like you can just ask to go to a different team like if he wants to play in the NBA he’s going to the Jazz um and you know you have to give a lot of credit to um Austin A you know the audacity to draft him despite him you know openly not wanting to come there right obviously it’s Austin A’s first you know um time as like the head GM right coming over from the Celtics um but um you know I give a lot of credit to him for trying to you know basically take the best player still on the market or still on the uh board at that time at number pick number five despite you know all the controversy around it um but you know I’m going to move on to um the Lakers right LeBron James he um opts into his uh 52.6 $6 million contract extension uh you know LeBron James I he could really play No if he really really wanted to he could really play you know five six more years if he really wanted to assuming you know no injuries or whatever right at a uh at a steady decline obviously right he’s not going to be what he is right now in 5 years and you can already see right the def he doesn’t play you know fullon on defense he saves his energy for moments um you know um on the offensive end right sometimes you see right in the fourth quarters he gets tired and you know sort of the offense collapsed right so the uh JJ Reic who I think did a great job by the way for his first time uh first year as a head coach right obviously they fell short I think that was mostly because they just didn’t have a center right you the Lakers they know that’s their number one priority go out and get a center after that Mark Williams trade uh fell through um at the trade deadline but um I really think you know if you’re the Lakers everyone knows by the way that you’re going out to get a center so it’s not going to be easy right obviously we’ll talk about um who they could sign in free agent free agency right obviously the Celtics have two centers on who will be going to free agency so maybe they would draft one or they would um you know sign one um but if you’re LeBron James how much longer do you really want to play right obviously the team is you know building around Luca not building around you and you’re still a key part of it at the moment but you know all the players that they bring in are for Luca Luca’s type of offense not yours which you can still contribute but you’re not going to be the main guy in right and he knows that he’s not you know he’s not being as high maintenance as he used to be obviously right he has demanded a lot from GMs and whatever now he realizes you know he’s at the end of his career it’s time for him to you know hand the keys over to Luca um but right I don’t know if he wants to play four or five years right obviously he’s going to play this year i don’t know if he’ll play another year um this could be his last year um you know I think he wants to end on a high note um obviously if you go to the NBA finals that’s a easy high note but I don’t know if the Lakers are right there i probably have at least four teams ahead of them in the West um yeah I’m probably going to take the uh Thunder Mavs Rockets all above them maybe I’d have this team fourth in the West right now um but you know why would you why would you keep playing right you’ve done everything you’re going to do you’ve you can do for this uh league right there are already young stars that have basically taken over everyone’s eyes uh Anthony Edwards uh Tatum even uh obviously um Sheay and you know um Brown and um other young stars Tyrese Halleurn um just unfortunate all these Achilles injuries by the way um but I think you know if you’re LeBron I think this should be your last year and then you know you can still be a celeb around the game if you want or you can go and live your own life stay away from the game and just show up for you know big events um but I still think you know I think I would I would wrap it up after this season just because you know what else are you going to do you’re just risking you know long-term injury at this point um obviously he thinks maybe he can win one more championship but if you can’t win it this year I would hang hang up the keys um and you know sit back enjoy the rest of your life watch your son who you know obviously at the moment right it is just his rookie year and he did show some signs of you know key offense he’s a great defender i think he needs to work on you know just con getting more consistent on the offensive end and you know he made huge improvements um this season right obviously you know at the start of the season he he looked like he couldn’t even last a minute on the court and then at the end of the season he was you know handling the offense um extremely well so you know watch your son develop um sit back enjoy the rest of your life and not worry about you know continuing to play obviously he’s going into a record-breaking 23rd uh year in the league um but you know I’m going to move on to the Celtics here um you know Austin Reeves obviously he um you know he’s uh opt out this was sort of expected right he’s going to renegotiate for a larger contract um you know other moves right um Julius Randall signs a you know I think it was like $152 million contract something like that i’m not exactly uh sure on the exact money um for three years something like that maybe it wasn’t 150 maybe it was like in the hundreds maybe 108 something like that um but uh you know he signs one um lot of other players um not you know not any big stars renegotiating contracts despite uh besides LeBron James um you know some minor contracts around the edge a lot of people uh players going to free agency including Luke Cornet and Al Horford and you know I have two different opinions on both these players right luke Cornet he is a you know a starting caliber center on some teams right and he could definitely start for the Celtics and the Celtics are in need of a center right obviously they drafted Amari Williams but Amari Williams is not ready to play in the NBA by any stretch right i don’t even know if he’s going to make it out of G-League before getting cut or spring training right he might not even go to the G-League he might just get cut we’ll see uh how he performs in summer league but obviously that is not any indication of how he’s going to perform in spring training or in the G-League or in the NBA when he gets there um same with Max Schulga but you know going into next season assuming that Amari Williams is you know at least starting in the G- League right he’s not on the actual team you only have two centers Namias Kada and Xavier Tilman who I think Lucernet is twice as good as both of them right um you know he right you know he opted in for one more year last season coming into the season and then he had a great season and obviously he could go out um and sign for like 15 $15 million something like that right that would be a perfect center to put on uh with Luca Donri and the Lakers obviously he’s not you know you know a super high log threat right that’s not his type of game obviously um obviously the Celtics didn’t need that they didn’t play that kind of way but you know he could develop that right he has the skills for sure to be a lob threat and he’s a great you know he’s uh he he was pretty great uh defensively this year as well right obviously he struggles a little bit out on the perimeter as you know most centers do um at least you know tall lengthy centers that are not you know that are over 7 feet tall right skinny and tall centers they struggle guarding the quick guards on the perimeter but you know that would be a perfect center for the Lakers to go out um especially because the Celtics they are may they are maybe you know six 7 million under the cap uh luxury tech the second apron right And obviously you know I think that they’re not done for the season uh for the offseason they’re going to make some more moves i think they probably will get rid of uh George Kneing somehow you know maybe they’ll keep Anthony Simmons i actually like Anthony Simmons we talked about this uh on an earlier video but I like the offense that he brings um obviously he does need the ball in his hands which you know is going to take away from Brown and White so I don’t know how that works uh as like a culture fit or whatever but you know he definitely has a you know the offense to um sort of make up for Drew and you know obviously he doesn’t have the defense at the moment um but he can get a little bit better and I think you know the Celtics will be able to hide him a little bit better um but he definitely has a much better offensive game than Drew did especially at this stage in Drew’s career right and you know I feel bad for Drew obviously um going to a team that you know I don’t think is quite ready to contend despite making such a aggressive move i’m not sure why you do this if you are the Trailblazers because you still are like a 12th team in the West at best right um but you know as for the Celtics right the perfect guy to keep is if you could get Al Horford on you know a veteran minimum for like $5 million something like that right and obviously he’s not going to be nearly as productive as Luke is uh given his age um but you know I also think he is not going to want to take a $5 million sension maybe he would to finish out his career in Boston you know he’s probably going to the Hall of Fame maybe he wants you know just to finish out his career um you know with a team that he’s been with for so long um and he would you know take a small contract just to stay with the team but if I’m at Horford and I know that this team is not going to be contending for a championship next year why would I you know want to stay here when I could go you know get a big salary finish out my career somewhere you know warm maybe down you know in Florida my maybe Miami would be good you know obviously he’s from around there um you know that’s where he went to school um but you know right maybe he goes there maybe he goes somewhere another place but like you know he has to decide whether he loves Boston enough to take a tiny contract and finish out his career or he just wants to get the big salary as you know a guy like him obviously he’s not worth the salary anymore but like when you’re a veteran that’s been in the league for so long and you you know you win a championship and you mean so much to any team you’re on you deserve that kind of contract right same with LeBron same with Kevin Durant right lebron James definitely not worth $52 million a year for sure right he is nowhere near as productive as a you know Jaylen Brown or Jason Tatum when he was healthy right now um right obviously he’s making just a little bit more than they are um or maybe just less i think Brown is making 55 tay making 56 but you know obviously you know when you’ve had that kind of career you get to make that kind of money despite you know you maybe not being worth it um you know productively um so that’s the same with Al Horford right maybe he takes like a you know a 15 20 million um maybe one or two two more years right and we’ll have to see right i think it’s going to be you know up to the Celtics to um convince him to uh you know try and stay in Boston right obviously he um you know he’ll have to decide whether he wants to stay in Boston for two three more years um but my guess is he’s probably going to look somewhere else which is unfortunate because you know the Celtics could need need any kind of center depth they can get um even if it’s only for you you know 12 13 14 minutes a night you need some sort of thing to you know take a little bit away from a uh you know from Namias Kada from uh you know a Xavier Tilman from Amari Williams especially if you can’t get Lucronette and Luconet’s the harder one because Luknet right obviously he wins a championship but he’s not this town does not mean as much as it does mean for Al Horford because you know he’s played for a multitude of other teams and you know he wasn’t part of the I would say the culture and bringing up Jason Tate and bringing up uh Jaylen Brown so I don’t know if he wants to finish out of his career here and obviously he could be so productive he could go out and win another championship with some teams that are only a center away um but yeah I’m going to wrap it up here uh thank you guys so much for watching uh follow on social media uh obviously you can uh listen to the podcast on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast um we will be live throughout the summer with any breaking news and covering um you know summer league um free agency all of that which starts tomorrow um so we could be see we could be live again tomorrow night if the Celtics make a big move uh move or maybe you know they the Luke or Al sign somewhere else we’re going to talk about that at the moment I don’t have any you know scheduled um you know live streams coming up just because I don’t know what’s going to happen it’s going to be more on a day-to-day basis based on um what goes on and obviously if there’s any breaking news we will go live that night to talk about it um but yeah follow on social media and uh until next time go Celtics
it’s over time to say it again boston anything’s possible banner number 18 has been secured

In episode #026 of Your Celtics Source, we break down the biggest NBA offseason stories, starting with the drama surrounding Ace Bailey’s draft saga and his refusal to work out or play for the Utah Jazz. We dive into why the Jazz took a chance anyway and how it could impact their rebuild. Then, we shift focus to LeBron James opting into a massive $52.6M deal, Austin Reaves hitting free agency, and the Lakers’ hunt for a center. On the Celtics front, we analyze the futures of Luke Kornet and Al Horford, the team’s cap situation, and potential offseason moves as Boston looks to build off Banner 18.

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0:00 Introduction
1:01Jazz Draft Ace Bailey
5:37 How Much Longer will Lebron Play?
11:26 Al Horford and Luke Kornet
18:45 Final Thoughts

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