LIVE Garden Report: Should Celtics Sign Damian Lillard? w/ Drew Carter

LIVE Garden Report: Should Celtics Sign Damian Lillard? w/ Drew Carter

Hard hat’s all about showing up to play hard, doing what it takes to win.
If you want to cement legacy, win another.
He’s your third center.
You don’t want to pump him up too much, but it’s hard not to.
This is maybe the most I’ve ever agreed with you. Hey, Bobby Manning here. Welcome to a Wednesday edition of the Garden Report and welcome back in by popular demand, Drew Carter. Oh, popular demand. Bobby,
you didn’t see the tweet? There was a tweet like a week or two ago. They were like, “You got to get Drew on the Garden Report.” I was like, “He’s been on a million times.”
Yeah, we go way back way back to Syracuse. But I’m I’m glad to be back on.
Stuff is happening, man. We’ve actually got uh not to like commandeer this for my own plug, but make sure you’re watching the off seasonason. We have another show coming up at 4 Eastern today, Wednesday. And if you miss it, you can catch the replay on our our YouTube and social channels. So, lot to discuss right now.
Yeah, those have been great. I think we’re all trying to go through it. I loved Was it on there? I forget if it was on there or NBC scale was like they’re never trading white. Not this year, not five years from now. That was on our show. Yeah, the off season.
Yeah, Derek’s Celtic for life here. And you know, that stuff came in past the Jaylen reports and the Derek reports. Who knows where that’ll go down the line, but it looks like for now they’re building around Jaylen, Jason, Pritchard, and and White.
White. Yeah. So, it’s been a weird offseason. We’ll get to a lot of that stuff, but we got to talk about the big news, and that’s Kenneth Loftton joining the Celtics Summer League game.
Right. Damn right. Summer League Hall of Fame, baby. Kenny, go get go get yourself 25 a night in Vegas. So, we know about like 10 of the names that are going to be on the summer league team. It sounds like Ugo Gonzalez is going to be on there in some capacity. Um, and then rookies Jordan Walsh. So, we’ll get to that later in the show, but obviously everyone’s interested in the Lillard stuff here. The Athletic reporting that the Celtics Warriors and Lakers could be in the mix for uh Lillard here. And I love it. I I think it makes a lot of sense. I was intrigued last time they were connected to him. And I think there was some legitimacy to that pursuit last time. Uh it would have been a more difficult addition then. It probably would have required Jaylen going out the door, but now given that the Bucks waved him yesterday and stretch his contract, they’re paying for him effectively here and he has the chance and I know that was in the reporting there too that it’s a unique opportunity for him to get paid by Milwaukee and then just focus on the basketball fit here going forward. And when I think about these three teams, the Lakers are trying to win now with LeBron, Luca. Lloyd’s probably out for most of the season. They’re trying to find a center. I don’t think this makes a ton of sense for them. The Warriors, it makes a little more sense.
Real quick, so are we. For the record, so are the Celtics looking for a center.
True. Very true. But yeah, and we’ll discuss it in a little bit. I feel like this year is becoming less pertinent than the year after that when Tatum comes back. So I think compared to the Warriors, compared to the Lakers, there’s a stronger case for bringing in a guy who’s going to be out for most if not all of this season than two teams that are trying to make the most of LeBron’s little time that he has left and Steph Curry’s remaining time in his career. And those are expensive teams, too. And again, Celtics are too, but I feel like this is a good situation for him to rehab for a year alongside Tatum, get back on his feet the following year, have the Bucks pay for it, and all of a sudden, you’re building around Lilard Brown and Tatum for at least the short term following this upcoming season. Yeah. You know, I guess I’m a little more lukewarm on it, Bobby, because, you know, if you think about, let’s just say if Lillard does come in and you mentioned how he and Tatum could rehab together and, you know, maybe miss the entire season, this is kind of the gap year for the Celtics. If you look ahead to to the 2627 season and you’ve got Tatum, Brown, White, Pritchard, fingers crossed, Hower still on the team. I don’t think I don’t think the Celtics are going to move him, but let’s just say he’s on the team. And then you and then you throw Lillard in there. I I don’t I don’t know about the fit. I’m not sure I love it. Um and at that point, like Damen L, we talk about Jason Tatum. I think we all expect him to come back and be really good, be Jason Tatum again. he’s in his mid to late 20s. Damen Lillard’s in his mid30s. Um so it kind of remains to be seen how effective he is post Achilles. Um and that that is even before you get into how he’ll fit with the current roster. Um I think you could look at it one of two ways. Number one, the Celtics have really good defenders everywhere, specifically with those guys I mentioned, White Brown and Tatum. So you can kind of protect Lillard on that side almost like the the Hawks have done with Trey Young with with surrounding him with really good perimeter defense and a couple of bigs to protect the rim and you can kind of mitigate his limitations on that side. So you can look at it that way or you could look at it, you know, kind of the way I’m thinking about it, which is uh our offense is going to be pretty good already. do we need to bring in, you know, a defensive liability um who’s going to who’s going to need the ball a lot when, you know, we have three pretty uh ball dominant players in the first place. And I think this season we’re going to see Derek White take on a lot more of that role and prove that he’s really effective in it. That’s something I think, you know, I’ I have wanted to see more and I think a lot of Celtics fans feel the same way. Is Derek White getting more opportunities handling the ball? Um, so, you know, for me, if we’re going to bring in Lillard and take this gap year, it would have to be on a pretty team-friendly contract. Um, so that’s that’s kind of how I look at that. But with with the whole news, it was it’s kind of a throwback, right? The the wave and stretch. We haven’t seen that in a while.
Who was the last wave
brought up as a possibility for KP and and that obviously didn’t happen, but the I feel like we haven’t seen the stretch in a long time.
Did Blake get stretched by the Pistons? That’s the one that comes to mind. I don’t remember. They might have just waved him and taken the hits in those two years he had left when they got rid of him. The last wave and stretch. I mean, it happens all the time with small contracts like they’ll just sprinkle the 90,000 over a bunch of years or whatever those minimum guys make. Sometimes they’ll put them out over like seven years. But the last significant wave and stretch, I don’t know. I’d have to look it up in the comment at one point. Yeah. Wave and stretch.
Let us know if you can remember when I don’t think it was Blake, but that’s the name that comes to mind.
Uh on Bobby Bonia Day. I did hear that. It’s not going to be quite that long. I think it’s five years here for Lloyd where he’s going to make and you know, let’s spell it out. 22 million a year. The next five years for Lloyd. Bucks are going to pick that up. I think there’s probably at most this off season a full mid level for him. But again, is a team that has a full mid level gonna do that for a guy who’s not going to play this year? I doubt it. Like I think Miami could probably offer that without checking. Um, and that was the first team that came to mind, right? Like he was interested in going there. That’s where he wanted to live.
That was when Jimmy Butler was there and they looked more like contenders. So obviously with his name not being on the list this time around or their name not being on the list, I think that’s probably in the past. But they could definitely pay him the most now or next year potentially. And that’s my question is, is he going to sign now and just get in the door on some team and start connecting with teammates and rehabbing in that team’s facility and all that, or is he going to wait till next summer when there’s probably more cap space around the league, when there’s probably more clarity on where every team’s going to be? And that’s the big question with the Celtics right now is where are they going to be a year from now? cuz we’ll get to all the moves they’ve made in a second here, but I don’t see a ton more flexibility for them next season unless they end up moving one of those core pieces. They’re still pretty expensive. They’re still building around two supermax guys. They still, as you mentioned, Drew, don’t have a long-term reliable center at the moment. So, in terms of going on to a team late in his career and having a ready-made chance to win, the Celtics are up there among the teams he could potentially join here, but there might be more clarity for him next summer in terms of all right, where am I going that’s going to give me the best chance to win and what kind of contract do I need to take to set that up?
And and the other factor here is, you know, everyone’s favorite talking point of the offseason, which is that the East is wide open. And we’ll see if that if that stays true heading into next season. And I think, you know, you’re probably right about, you know, having a better idea going into next year than we do now. Kind of seeing where the chips fall like and who knows what’s going to happen in the Eastern Conference this year. Like you might see young ascending teams take a huge leap like the Magic or
the Pistons or maybe the Hawks and all of a sudden going into next season.
I love the Hawks this year. Yeah, they they’ve had an amazing off seasonason. Give a lot of credit to their new GM Anie I think is his name. uh he has done a a magnificent job and one of the best things to do if you’re a new executive is just call up the Pelicans and see if you can them and that’s they have managed to do that now two years in a row with two different front offices uh for both teams but you know the East being wide open it’s a fun talking point and you can you can just say it if you need something to say but has there been a star in the NBA who actually took that into account and went to an Eastern Conference team to avoid the West. Feel like the answer is no. And that’s how we got here with the West being so much better. Like maybe LeBron back in the day when he was leaving Miami, but he
That’s what I was going to say.
But he was already in the East, you know.
Um and then he he stayed with the Lakers now for eight years, which is crazy to say that this will be year eight for him there. But he stayed with the Lakers. Kevin Durant wanted to go to a Western Conference team as far as we know. Now he’s he’s with the Rockets. like we really haven’t seen a star take that into account. Um, and maybe maybe Lillard would be the guy to do that to stay in the Eastern Conference.
It’s so weird how everyone’s been is is it the time zones or those I do like West Coast time, but
yeah.
Yeah. I don’t know why, but I don’t I don’t know. Maybe it’s just like, you know, they they see a more attractive situation, a better roster, and so they end up going to the Western Conference because there are more of those in the West than the East. I I don’t know. But if like if I were Damen Lillard, why would I want any part of the West right now? You know, definitely not. I don’t see the Lakers happening. I don’t know what’s going on there. I don’t know what their plan is. This whole LeBron situation so strange right now with him having a foot in and a foot out it seems like in terms of his commitment there. Or maybe that’s how they’re feeling about him. It could be the other way around. Um but I don’t see that happening for that reason even with Luca there. Warriors again. And we can get to Horford in just a second here. But the last thing I’ll say about Lloyd, I actually do like the basketball fit here. And I liked it last time around that we had this discussion. And the biggest thing to me, Drew, is think of how they use Tatum where he’s bouncing around screens. He’s pulling up for threes. He’s trying to draw the defense up. Lillard’s the king of that. I don’t think other than Curry maybe and Curry plays more off the ball, there’s a better guy at pressuring the defense with long range threes around screens and that can get Tatum in some different positions. Uh you mentioned White, like I think he’s good playing on and off the ball. I think Lil could play on and off the ball for this team. So I don’t think he necessarily needs to be a central part of their offense, but he can be and we’ll see where he’s at at that age coming off an injury. You have no idea obviously the combination of those two. I think everyone forgets with the ACL tear too that he had the blood clot situation as well which was
really scary there right before he went down with the Achilles. So he’s gone through a lot over the last year and next season he’ll be 35. The season he comes back he’ll be 36. So that’s the late late stages of your career. Last year I feel like he was generally who he’s been offensively but the defense is concerning there and was a big reason the Bucks struggled. So, there’s pros and cons to the basketball fit, but all I’ll say to that is if he’s going to be on a minimum, if he’s going to be even on a midle here, and I think that’s probably the most the Celtics can do now at the moment is clear out a little more cap, sign him to a mid-level for five, six million, and I don’t know, would that be two or three years? I don’t know if that’s enticing enough for him, but if he would do that, I’m super intrigued by it. And obviously the most fun part about it is that he and Tatum are going through the same situation here and can support themselves that if I remember correctly too, they seem to have a good relationship, don’t they? You’ll see them chatting after games and I think him and Jaylen as well have a pretty good relationship. So as uncompelling as the Celtics roster might be around those guys at this point, those two could play a role in recruiting him here.
Wait a minute, Bobby. You said just clear out some cap and then then you can get Damen Lillard. Now, how are the Celtics going to do that is the question. Like the Celtics,
if they end up, you know, actually adding the guys who have been reported, right, Minot and Garza, they’re back over the second apron.
So, the whole the whole idea of
getting rid of Holiday and Porzingis was to get under the second apron and now they’re back over. And I understand you got to fill out the roster somehow, but what does that mean? Does that mean the Celtics can’t keep Simons? Are they going to get rid of George Nang? is is my worst nightmare going to come true and Sam Hower’s going to be on the way out. I I just I don’t know what that’s going to look like.
Let’s get to some of the changes that have happened and some of the more that’ll surely follow because of what Drew just said right there. But first, I want to give a shout out to prize picks. And right now, still a great time to go over and play prize picks. There was a big women’s basketball game last night. I was interested in watching that. Even though Caitlyn Clark was out, when she’s back, I think that’s who everyone will be waiting to watch now that the uh men are done playing. And this this is a great opportunity for you to have more action on the line. And whether it’s the basketball or the baseball, which is going on every day, all the stars are out on the baseball field, whether Judge or Otani. And the best part about this, especially in the summertime, is you can cross sports here. So, you can make a daily fantasy team with Caitlyn Clark and Aaron Judge and go more or less on their projections. And that’s all you do over here on Prize Picks is pick more or less on two or more player projections for players and you have your team. That’s how they’ve made daily fantasy sports accessible, fun, and you can win up to 2,000 times your cash over there by making those picks and uh debating them with your friends and all that. It’s the best part of prize picks and all kinds of great promos going on as well. Taco Tuesday where you have great uh player projection discounts as well as uh flex Friday where uh you can hit the square there and if one of your lineups isn’t perfect uh you can still cash out over there. So all those promos are going out all the time. They’re always doing free squares too. Love that during the basketball playoffs that were going on just a month ago or so. And right now, if you head over there and use the code CLNS, play $5, get $50 instantly over there when you play your first lineup. That’s $5 to get 50 instantly over on Prize Picks with the code cls. That’s prize picks. Download today and run your game. So, where should we start here, Drew, with this roster and all the changes that have gone on it? Cornets’s out the door. It feels like Al Horford could follow here in the near future. They traded Porzingis. They traded Drew Holiday. We knew a lot of this stuff was coming, but still pretty shocking to take it all in a week or two later after a lot of these changes happened here. Which one to you just hit you the hardest being around this team and getting to call a lot of these guys?
Uh, Cornet is the one. And and he
I knew you were going to say that.
Yeah. And that that was actually a passive loss where the Celtics didn’t even have to make a move to lose him. He just he left for San Antonio. I guess Bobby, that’s because, you know, as we’ve as we’ve talked throughout this off seasonason now, which is a month and a half old, Porzingis and Holiday were the two most obvious candidates to be on the way out, right? With the money they make and the age and the injury history for Porzingis, it it just made sense. And I actually thought the Celtics did a terrific job with the return in both of those trades, considering everyone kind of knew those were the two guys who are most likely to be moved. Um, and it wasn’t as simple as pressing a button and saying, “All right, Holiday and Porzingis, let’s get rid of their salaries and get some good return for them.” You need to find a dance partner and Brad Stevens in the front office did a really good job doing that, I thought. Um, so it’s obviously a bummer. Like Drew Holiday is one of the classiest dudes I’ve ever been around who meant a ton to the championship team in 24. Christophs Porzingis is like a seven foot three walking smile for not only himself but everybody around him. Like the guy is just filled with joy.
Who are we gonna get quotes from now?
I mean he’s gone and now and now Luke’s gone. So like where where are the where are the jokes going to come from? Where where are the where’s the joy going to come from? That’s
that’s the question. And where do they have at center? That’s you know from a basketball standpoint. I love all that stuff too. I like the jokes and all that.
Well, I was
I went back and watched his video last night, the the Derek White one. Which one?
The one where he was campaigning for the Tommy Award.
Yeah. Oh, it was so good. It was so funny. And now, you know, unfortunately, he’s he’s gone. I think that’s part of the reason why this one, you know, hits so close to home, I guess, is, you know, what you get from Luke from a personality perspective and kind of being like, uh, the class clown in a way who’s really smart. Um, but also just I know the Celtics weren’t his first team and he had been around the league a little bit before he got to Boston, but he really became a bonafide NBA player with the Celtics. He found his role. He totally totally remade his game uh with the Celtics and you know give the player development staff a ton of credit for that and the sports science staff as he kind of reshaped his body. It was just an awesome Celtics story and he was an awesome Celtics player. So, it it hurts to see him go, but at the same time, you got to be happy for the guy because, you know, I’ve heard he took a pretty significant uh pay cut to stay with the Celtics last year when other teams wanted to poach him and came back, had his best season. I thought he was our most improved player even even more so than Pritchard.
Um because, you know, I think Pritchard took advantage of of new role maybe and minutes and
and he kind of did what I think we’ve always hoped for him to do in in an extended role. Cornet, everything was just like, is this guy gonna even be in the league? Is he a two-way guy? And then and all of a sudden, he’s a huge contributor for us and even even in the playoffs, he was like that. You’ll never forget the the game five against the Knicks where he turned into Bill Russell for a night. Um, so I I’ll miss Luke. Yeah, I I’ll miss Luke a lot and and I’m really I’m thrilled for him getting this money, but I just I wish it were coming from from the Celtics.
Yeah. Yeah, and I thought it made sense to sign him to a contract like this. If they could have carved out some additional money, they had his bird rights. But after trading Holiday, I’m sure they explored moving Simons again and creating some additional flexibility. But even I looked around the league at teams that would want Simons, and I think it makes sense logically given that the fact given the fact that Portland ended up trading him here and not in another deal that there just wasn’t much out there for him. And that’ll still be a question going forward what they can do with him. They might have to just take him into the year and you see if he can increase his value with the minute he’ll get there because I think that would have been the most direct route to clearing out the space to resign Cornet. You could have traded Hower, but I don’t think they wanted to do that just for capital leaf. I think a guy on a four-year deal with 10 million a year doing what he does is way too valuable to just get rid of. Let me just say this, Bobby, not to cut you off, but I I need to just say this because I know I’m biased because Sam Hower is like my best friend on the team and I I like hanging out with him. He’s a great guy. But Sam Hower at $10 million a year in the current cap climate with what he gives you is a really good value. You don’t just trade him. So your your trade machine is easier. You can click that name and be like, “Yay, now look who we have. If I can get whoever stop Sam H. I don’t think the Celtics are trading Sam Hower. I really don’t. I’m not going to be as definitive as Scal saying Derek White is a Celtic for life because I could always be wrong on this. I I could be totally misreading the situation. But if you’re looking to take the team down and get under the the apron or the tax or whatever and still want to compete, Sam Hower’s the perfect guy for that. He’s he’s not it’s not making $60 million a year. So enough with the the Sam Hower talk. If the Celtics want to make moves to take their payroll down, you traded for the guy earlier. It’s Anthony Simons. Sorry. Like, I’m really excited to watch him play in a Celtics uniform, and I’m a big fan of his game. But if the Celtics are looking to get under the tax, we’re not talking about the apron. I’m talking about the tax period to reset the repeater. He’s the guy. It’s It’s not Sam Hower. Yeah. And when I see Duncan Robinson moving to Detroit for the money he got. And who did the Hawks end up signing? Luke Canard. He got a decent amount of money, too. I can’t imagine that those teams wouldn’t have wanted Hower. I don’t think the Celtics would have had to attach picks to move off that money. And I don’t know what they would have gotten necessarily.
Yeah. I mean, that was the question, right? Are you going to have to trade picks to move salary? And I don’t think that would have been the case with I think those teams
Oh, how dare you even insinuate that? How dare you?
No, I’m just wondering I’m wondering reasons that they would they wouldn’t have moved him for the, you know, cap relief that they’re looking for here. They clearly value him and I think it’s the same case as White, Brown, all the different discussions we’ve had here is if a team gave them a significant offer for Hower, they would have entertained it, they maybe would have even done it. So, I think that’s where they’re at with him. I not that he’s on like the white brown level here, but I think they’re going to have to be swayed to move off a guy like that. So, I’d actually put him in the core alongside Pritchard and some of those other guys there and say that he’s pretty safe at this point. But, can you move Nang? Can you move uh Simons, especially at 27 million? I know it’s expiring, but who’s excited to take that on right now? Especially when every team has a guard around the league. So, I know they don’t want to attach picks to move off some money here, but could you have traded Nang into someone’s exception with a couple seconds? Yeah, I know you don’t want to do a first there, which would would have just been absurd, but you didn’t move a first to get off Porzingis. You got the Hawks to do it for you. So maybe you could look at as one first to move off both of those guys and keep Cornet because my biggest question now, Drew, is what are they doing at center? Looks like Horford’s about to walk out the door. We’ll talk about that in a second here. Uh Porzingis is gone. I like Kada, but they didn’t play him late in the year or in the playoffs. Uh they signed Luca Garza, who’s mostly been a GLeague NBA borderline player at this point in his career. center is such a hard position to find talent and this team was just overloaded at that position where you had three guys that could start playoff games for you and now to lose all three of them potentially here, not have a great fallback option, not have tremendous flexibility to add another guy, this position to me is more important than almost any in the sport because you still have to play a role defensively. you still have to do all the things that they want the Celtics want their centers to do offensively and Luke was great at that and Horford obviously had great chemistry with these guys. I don’t know how they’re going to fill this position long term and that to me was the biggest reason maybe you make some tough decisions to try to clear out some money for Cornet here because he reached a starting caliber level last year. This deal isn’t really enormous. It’s Hower’s money right here 10 million. I would have found a way to do this. I really would have. Not just cuz I love him and you know I’m his biggest advocate and all that. If you’re the biggest how your advocate, I’m the biggest cornet advocate. I think he’s a tremendous player. And you look at some of these stats that are flowing around Drew, he was like fourth in rim protection in terms of like field goal percentage against in the restricted zone up there with like Chat and Webyama who he’s going to go play with by the way. He was uh you know one of the better finishers in the league, top 20 in offensive rebounds despite being the third string center on this team. There’s so many stats you can throw around intangibly with him that show you how great of a player he is. I even saw one last night that blew me away. He was per minute the league leader in potential assists, I believe. 99th percentile for a potential assist per minute. And I know that’s just like a very obscure stat, but it shows the kind of subtle things he did that made this team much better. And then the big one last year was obviously him and Tatum’s pick and roll efficiency which was one of the best in the league up there with like Jokic and Murray. So this guy didn’t fill the stat sheet in a traditional sense but the way he made other players around him better I thought made him elite in his role especially with some of the you know stat sheet stuff he actually started doing this year.
It’s it’s I I’m with you. I think four years 41 is actually really good value for him. And you know, obviously the the Celtics are a bad example for this, but if I if I were a fan of another team and they doubled this contract, I would still be like, okay, you know, I’m fine with that for Luke Cornette because of all the stuff you just said. Like his his advanced numbers are are really good. And if you watch him play, it makes sense. Uh he the ball is not sticky in his hands at all. He moves it. He used to be a stretch five where he would shoot it if he were wide open. Now he he treats the thing like a hot potato. Get off of it as fast as he can. And again, that’s just such a credit to him. His smarts, his basketball IQ, the work he’s put in in the gym to be to change himself from like he’s basically completely moved from one end of the spectrum to the other where if this is a stretch five and this is like a rim running big who protects the rim a little bit, he’s gone from here to here. And I don’t know how many players you can say in NBA history who have actually done that. Uh Brook Lopez has really changed his game from like a traditional back to the basket, run your offense through him, big man to a 3 and D center. Um which by the way, if I were if I were the Bucks, I’m thinking why didn’t I just bring back Brook Lopez at 8 million a year instead of waving and stretching Lillard and then signing Miles Miles Turner for 26 million a year or whatever. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Uh, but anyway, Luke Cornet, the way he’s changed his game, he’s turned himself into a into a super valuable player. He and Webyama together are going to be, I think, incredible. And I’m I’m really excited to watch that. And the Spurs are going to be good, dude. Like, they are going to be good. It’s just a bummer for the Celtics when, you know, Cornet this season. We all know here in the Celtics bubble how good Luke Cornette was last year, and I think people around the NBA really like him. Like I said, he he turned down a bigger offer, a much bigger offer to come back to the Celtics last season. People around the league like him, especially now that as the Celtics have had such success for the last decade, their people are all over the league, right? In the front offices and coaching staffs everywhere. But to me, like Luke Cornett was still undervalued from a leaguewide perspective. That could have changed this season with the Celtics. He would have been the starting center. He could have had a Pritchardesque breakout this season. um and and if he had played, you know, 30 35 minutes a game for this team. So, it’s just a bummer, but it it’s the reality. And like I go back to I mentioned that offseason show we’re doing on on NBC Sports Boston. There’s another plug for you. Like we go back to the start of the year and it’s me, Chris Forsber, Kevin Oconor, and we’re sitting around being like, “This is going to suck. This is going to be painful. They have they’re 20 million over the second apron. Tatum’s out for the year. They have to do something. They’re not going to bring this roster back. gonna look different. You’re like, “Okay, I’m ready.” And of course, you’re just not you’re not ready. You’re never ready
for happen until it actually happens. And the whole thing just blows, man. That’s just it is what it is. The whole thing just blows. And the cornet one, I think, hurts the most right now
for now. And just wait. It looks like tonight, maybe over the next couple days here, Al Horford
might sign with the Warriors, which
it was unimaginable. you felt like at this point in his career he’s probably here and going to retire with the Celtics and you know talking to some people around him over the last couple weeks I felt like that was still something he wanted to do um with his career like being in Boston family all that so I’m starting to think of who who would he possibly consider leaving the Celtics for here and you know New York was floating around that’s close right not too far from Boston Atlanta you know finished where he started you know still has a home down there all that I don’t think that would have been too crazy of a This isn’t something I pictured from a basketball standpoint maybe, but going all the way out west, the San Francisco, the team that beat him in the 2022 finals, there’s a lot of reason that this one is
pretty bizarre, but you could tell after and I was there in the locker room drew the night Tatum went down. The emotion on his face was pretty stark and it was unlike anything I really ever seen from him before. After the season, he’s talking about making some tough decisions with his family. I didn’t know if that meant retirement or leaving Boston. And clearly it meant mentally preparing to possibly leave this team. If whatever reason, maybe it’s a contract, maybe it’s the ability to win at this point in his career. Could be any number of reasons that it looks like he’s going in this direction here. And this one again, stunning champion now, long awaited. He was the center for that playoff run. He’s really been this team starting center through Porzingis’ availability over the last handful of years here. And so I wonder what led them to this point here with him. Is it the fact that they’re going in another direction this season as it clearly looks like? Do they not view him as being? We’ll see what the contract ends up being here, but if it’s like three years, do they not view that as being his window? Because I think he plans to play for a long time, even beyond this season. So again, this is another one I look at it and say, would it have been worth the price of stability? Would it have been worth the price of this guy continuing to play starting minutes for you at center and keeping things afloat here? Clearly, it didn’t seem like they thought that was the case if this is the direction it’s going to go in here because again, I think he just knowing him would be really hardressed to make this decision and leave Boston. And it looks like where the that’s where this thing is headed. And I was shocked the first time when he left Boston for Philadelphia. That was obviously like a $130 million contract and hard to refuse at that time, but we’ll see what this ends up being here. And I like his fit in Golden State. I think he’s a really nice fit on that team from a basketball standpoint, but wow. Like, you knew they could lose Porzingis this off season. You knew Luke might end up getting a big deal out there and he did. You thought Horford would be back. And the fact that he’s on the precipice of leaving here, I think is probably the biggest shock of all. Yeah, I I’m with you. It seemed like a situation where he would finish his career with the Celtics like for real this time. Even if you thought that LA last time, it seemed like this this was going to be I mean, even, you know, after the championship, Bobby, it was we were thinking, is he just going to ride off into the sunset as a champ and not even come back? And now it’s like he’s going to switch teams. um you know the
he clearly views himself as having a lot of time left in his career. This isn’t just like a one-year ride out in San Francisco kind of thing. I think he views himself being part of this Steph Draymond core for a couple more years there. Yeah. So, and he’s kind of matches he matches their timeline and you know, more power to him if he if he sees that for his career like a few more years after this one. Good for him. He’s still an effective player. Um, but it is it is surprising. I think the the crazy thing is maybe the best basketball fit the team that could use him the most would be the Lakers, but I I think that would be a bridge too far. I I I don’t think Al would join the Lakers uh with with his
That one feels like a leverage play for me. And the interesting thing here too is the Warriors are still trying to figure out this Kaminga situation. They’re tight against the SE. So like you can build up some hope that maybe some things fall apart here or he has a change of heart or cold feet and ends up coming back. I don’t see it at this point, but this again surprise it. I I can’t believe it, Drew. We’re gonna keep talking about all the things that have changed here. 50 days ago, I think 50 days ago, as I was counted out, it’s the start of that Knicks series. Everyone thinks that Boston’s going to win it. Everyone still looks at them as unless something goes wildly wrong, the title favorites. No one’s thinking about Al leaving. No one’s even thinking about major changes with this team. and you’re still going to have Tatum and Brown core carrying you forward regardless of what happens. And then over the next two weeks, you lose Tatum, you lose those first two games. You exit the playoffs in pretty devastating fashion and then all these changes to this team. And I remember just 50 days ago thinking, how could someone beat this team? How could someone like it just looks so improbable that someone’s going to beat this team four times with all the great things they have and the roster they’ve built and all that? They’re probably going to be in the mix for years to come here, about as good as anyone. And then I’m stacking it up last night. I’m kind, you know, looking at all the moves people have made around the league. And I’m like, are they top 10? No. Are they top 15? Probably not. I got all the way down to like 18th to 21st in the league with where this roster is at right now, just where it stands. And that’s just stunning because they looked like they were
in a different universe as a team 50 days ago. and now they’re just another team. And that’s not the worst I’ve tried, you know, for the people who are freaking out. You still have Brown, you still have Tatum, you still have White. That’s a pretty good core comparatively to the league. Like, you’re not in much different of a boat than anyone else,
but man, did you come back down to earth over the last two months here?
Yeah. Well, I mean, I just I look at it going into this season, Bobby. I I still think the team is going to be pretty good. I I you know I would still take the Celtics to finish in the top six in the East. Would you? Not right now. They need a center.
The front court is tough. It is tough. But you know, I get excited about thinking about Brown having a you know
Well, that’s what bums me out. I was excited about him getting the chance to lead this team through this year and that was a big reason I wanted them to try to keep Porzingis because they obviously had great chemistry, right? And we can talk about Chris Staps for a second here while we’re on that topic. They obviously didn’t love where he was at. I’d have to imagine given the illness, given the sparce availability, expiring contract, all that. And they found a deal that got off 20 million, which like you said, that was always going to be a challenge. And they got the Hawks to give up the pick there. So, it’s a good trade moneywise, but you lost a really good player. And now that you’re out of front court options, that just makes it so hard on Jaylen, I feel like White this year for them to try to lead this team. there. It was already a tough situation without
Tatum
to not have a big man to set them up and be an outlet on the offensive end. It’s tough. Well, there there’s got to be I mean, the Celtics just have to make a move. There’s got to be a move. And and like we discussed, it’s easy to say, oh, you know, just shed some salary, get under the second apron. You still have to make tough decisions in order to do that. Uh because as it stands now, you know, doing the the cap sheet math, if all these moves go through, they’re still over it by like a few hundred,000, which is amazing to say, Bobby, because think about all the changes we’ve laid out and how wild it is, how different this team will look. They’re still over it. I mean, it’s impossible.
It is impossible to build a costefficient roster when you’ve got 60 million tied up in a guy who’s probably not going to play at all. It’s just impossible. And then you have another max player and then White making 30 million or so right there. Like you’re pretty close to the to the cap already. The cap is what in the 180 million range and and the Celtics are right there.
Um so you know it’s it is a bummer. It it’s all worth it because you know they won in in 2024. It’s all worth it.
That’s going to get people through for if you remember 2008 got fans through for 16 years or whatever it was. So
yeah. But think about it like after 08 the Celtics you I think if they didn’t have any injuries to KG or Perk they could have ripped off three in a row and nowadays with the new CBA are we are we ever going to see that? I mean like we’ve had seven different champions in seven years the Thunder seem as well positioned as anybody to you know put together a mini dynasty here. But we said the same thing about the Celtics last year. Maybe that was naive because like the this huge bill was coming, but even though even though the Thunder are like entirely homegrown outside of Caruso and Hartstein, there the Bill’s coming for them, too.
Um, and I just I wonder if if this is really what the NBA wants is, you know, teams being teams having a window of like three, four years as a championship contender before they have to take it down to the studs like the Celtics are doing.
Hasn’t been fun. And so many players have moved around the league that you wouldn’t have expected. Miles Turner and the Pacers obviously had a Celtics like situation with the
Hell. That was a shocker. I remember when that I was filming more of those car commercials for uh for 24 auto group and
we’ve been seeing them left and right
between takes. I looked down. I’m like, “Wait, what? Stretch Lillard and we were with Gonzalez and uh and you know the whole rookie crew over there.” And it was funny because I was, you know, looking around the room seeing who was there and uh Gonzalez’s agent who, uh, I believe cover, you know, represents a handful of players. He’s a relatively new agent. Uh, he worked with the Bucks in their scouting department and, you know, won the championship with them and all that. I’m not sure when he left the organization, but I’m sure he probably still has ties there and all that. So, I’m seeing him running in and out of the room. He’s on the phone. I’m like, “Oh, he’s just doing agent stuff.” he was probably hearing from his people in Milwaukee about like what the hell was going on because within minutes we’re seeing Turner signs with the Bucks and the Bucks wave loaded and that’s obviously what we’re here talking about and a lot of people want to discuss is a slowly possibility. Uh big changes with the Celtics across the board here over the last couple weeks. We’re still awaiting the Alford decision. I’ll hit on a couple of these guys because I’m sure you’re familiar with them. We’ll start with the guy I’m more familiar with coming over here and that’s Luca Garza. uh tremendous college player and oh were you at that Iowa Syracuse game? I think it was
Was that MSG?
No, it was it was in Q’s.
Oh,
I remember it well cuz I was really good that year and they had him Joe Whis Camp who was a great college player. Bo Hannan who was awesome at the guard spot there. That was a tremendous team and you know Q’s pushed them but ended up losing and he was just so great in that game and that year he was national player of the year, one of the best players in college. you knew he was a tricky fit translating to the NBA and I think he got picked in like the 50s to the Pistons floated around the G-League for a little while and then stuck a little bit with the Wolves who would use him in like a third string center role. But the reporting is that the Celtics have liked this guy for a while. He’s obviously not a replacement for Porzingis, Cornet, any of these guys, but I’ve always liked his game. Pick and pop abilities, post up games nice. The defense is a real question whether he can play the five in this league. But he developed in Minnesota. I’m sure they like the strides that he made and he’s going to get a chance to play the way it looks right now in this front court. He’s never really gotten that in his career between Detroit and Minnesota. I’m intrigued here. I actually like this move. I know no one’s going to enjoy it because of the guys who are going out the door and how obscure this name is here, but Kada, I think everyone want to see him play a little bit more last year than he did. He made some strides particularly early in the season. Tilman, who knows? I mean, he didn’t see the court after November. And then Garza here along with the rookie Amari Williams. So, we’ll see if more flyers, more guys come in in this front court to potentially fill out minutes here, but this is a guy that I like. I don’t know what your familiarity is with him or how much you like his game, but it’s a flyer. And when you’re where the Celtics are, you got to take some flyers. And I think this one might actually work with the style that they play. Well, I’m excited for him for a couple reasons. Number one, uh, he and Kada together, 55 and 88, very aesthetically pleasing. Uh, his contract you got up on the screen, 50 55 5.5, also aesthetically pleasing.
I am a huge college basketball fan, so my my first thought was kind of like yours. This guy was the best player in the country probably for two years at Iowa. Um, and I’m excited to see if any of that’s going to translate at all. He really is like an old school old school big. His footwork is sick. He reads the game at a high level
and he’s Oh, he’s so physical, so tough.
Yeah, he
pretty player.
Yeah. Here’s the thing. I don’t know if people realize, Bobby, he was a 44% three-point shooter his last year in college.
Um, he has not really shown that in the league. He hasn’t had a chance to play a bunch. But I do wonder if if you know the Celtics can revive that aspect of his game almost like a reverse Luke Cornet or you know with the Celtics Luke when he got good was when he stopped shooting threes. Maybe maybe the Celtics can tap into some of that with Garza. Um but the problem is I don’t know what he’s going to give you defensively. M
um and right now I think that’s that’s where the Celtics are just are just completely bare in the cupboard is is rim protection.
Yep. Yeah. He’s not a rim protector by any means.
You play him with Kada maybe, but you know, Mimi is not going to play 48 minutes a game. So, I don’t I don’t know where that is really going to come from. Maybe you go super small.
Um I think Luca Garza might be more of a four than a five
in the NBA because just because of his limitations protecting the rim. Um, but overall
playing double bags.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that was really effective last year. I’m just excited, you know, I’m just excited to see him get a chance to develop in in this system where the Celtics have done a really good job developing players and, you know, the best example is the guy Garza is going to try to replace here, which is Cornet.
Yeah. And they’ve done a good job shaping guys to their mold the way they want their centers to play. Kada, I think you’re seeing signs of that um over the last couple years that he’s been here. they’ve, you know, put him in handoff positions and the passing I think’s been nice from him and there’s just a lot I’m excited about when it comes to seeing him there. But they have a lot to replace in that front court clearly with the guys going out and I don’t know if these players are completely capable of that at least this year and you know if they’re not intent on competing this year and we’ll see where this roster goes. It doesn’t totally look like it at the moment. This is the kind of front court that could maybe do a soft tank along with some miss games and stuff like that. But I don’t think that’s their intention right now. And I think they’ll try to put together some kind of roster that can be competitive. But so far, it doesn’t look like that’s totally the priority this year above the financial things that they’re trying to accomplish here. And another guy who came in and filled out the roster yesterday is uh Josh
Minot. Nice.
I got it. I looked it up yesterday.
I’ve called some of his summer league games, so I’ve
Okay.
Yeah. Yeah, and I know you called the game he played a little bit against the Celtics in Minnesota last year. So, I’m not totally familiar with him. I remember him vaguely from that game getting a couple of rim runs and hitting a three. He didn’t play a ton in Minnesota. He’s still only 22. I look back at the athletics draft guy that year. He was like their 45th prospect and that’s about where he went in that draft that year out of Memphis. Looks like more of a small ball center than a wing, you know, the way he plays. So, what are the Celtics getting here? here. Is this a guy that could play for them?
I’d say might not. Why not, man? He can play. He can play a little bit. He’s Bobby, he’s crazy athletic. Um it’s it’s amazing how uh Penny Hardway and the Memphis College team produces all of these crazy athletic guys. Like it it feels like every year there are two, three dudes from Memphis who end up
uh kicking in the league. Uh Lester Kenyonz has played in the NBA for a few years now and he I think he finished his career at Memphis. Like they have uh they have a ton of guys who come through that program. Um Minot is is I think you’re you’re right. He’s like in a weird way. I think he’s more suited to play the five than Garza is.
Um just like
athletically. Yeah. And he’s a protector. That’s his game defensively.
Yeah. So I don’t know. You know, I I kind of like the fit. I think you’re you’re seeing the makings of a front court. I I don’t you know you you said the term soft tank there. I again we’ll like it remains to be seen. I’m sure how the beginning of the season goes will have something to do with with the decision making.
I’ve the verbiage I’ve I’ve shifted from like reset year, gap year, then it’s like is this a tanking’s tough. You need to do like the Wizards thing. Yeah. You need to go the Wizards Jazz direction to tank or you’re holding guys out of games which I don’t think you’re going to do. So, I I hesitate to use that term, but again, it doesn’t look like a complete roster right now. And again, maybe these centers that they’re bringing in will be better than we totally expect or they can mold them into some competitiveness at that position. But right now, they’ve lost a lot at this position and these guys that are coming in have not played a lot of NBA basketball, but this guy’s 22 and the only way you can develop is to play. And he didn’t get a ton of opportunities to play with the Wolves. Well, yeah. So, a couple things I have. I’m I’m looking back at my board. I’ve called a May not game each of the last two summer leagues and maybe I’ll get a chance to make that three in a row. Uh because
Oh, that would be cool. I don’t expect that because he’s done three, but if he plays, that’d be fun.
I mean, it would be I’m kind of with you. I don’t expect it, but maybe. I have a note on my board here. His nickname is the lawn mower.
Yeah. So, where’d that come from? I saw that reference.
It’s a quote that says, “Once I got going, just kept going.” So I guess a lawn mower like just keeps going.
He got the automatic one. Yeah.
Yeah. So yeah, exactly. So uh I guess I don’t know. Mine I think he has a high motor. I remember seeing that in the summer league. And again, he’s super athletic. And and I’ll also say this, you know, if you’re going to if you’re going to mine, no pun intended, if you’re going to mine a team’s deep bench, a team that’s made back-to-back Western Conference Finals and is run by Tim Connelly, who I think is is pretty well regarded as an executive in the NBA. Uh, I think that’s a good team to do it from. You know, it’s Yeah, May not and and Garza didn’t play a whole lot in Minnesota, but that’s a good team and and Tim Connelly knows what he’s doing. So, they had those guys in there for a reason. I I’m I’m excited to see them get a chance to develop. And like we said, they’re going to get minutes because they they are both front court players and the Celtics just don’t have a ton of depth there. So if you’re if you’re looking at it from like a depth chart perspective in the front court and I know people who are who have been rooting for a championship contender since like 2017 are going to maybe vomit at this but in the front court you know Kada Nang Garza May not as someone who gets to watch the team every day and and learn about these guys and help the fans learn about them in the process I’m actually excited about it. I I it’s obviously not a championship level front court, but you’re gonna you’re going to get a chance to get a good look at these guys and then after the the gap year, the reset year, whatever you want to call it, after it’s over, um they can they can still contribute for you just in a smaller role.
So, here’s what we got on the sum, Russ. And I guess I should throw my not’s name potentially in here as well. Um but you’re going to see Baylor Shyman who confirmed that to us. Jordan Walsh as well told us here in the Garden Report that he is going to play summer league. Miles Norris told me he intended to late in the season. So, those three are pretty set in stone. And there’s uh obviously the two rookies, Amari Williams, and Max Scholga. Um a handful of other college guys that they picked up here. Ben Greg, Aaron Scott, Hayden Gray, Zack Hicks. Not super familiar with any of them. And then throw Kenneth Loftton in here to the front court mix, which just happened over the last handful of hours here. So, what are you excited about with this team? You’re going to be out at summer league for a little bit catching this team play. It’s always exciting to see what could happen, who could earn a training camp spot, which strides these guys have made going into the summer. There’s a lot on the line for Walsh. Obviously, he’s going to go through the third one here, which is where you start wondering, you know, is this guy going to stick on? So, he’s got a lot to play for. Shyman is obviously going to have a much bigger role this year. I’m excited about Norris. I thought he looked tremendous with Maine after they signed him late last year. Huge body and a great shot. Very, very silky smooth, soft touch on his three-pointer. And he’s, you know, potentially a guy that could play this year as well. So, uh, up and down this order here. Obviously, Hope Gonzalez will play too. That seems up in the air after his season ended a week ago. Drew Peterson, I’d have to imagine, won’t be on the team this year just given the roster situation. And he was saying he may or may not play. So, I’d imagine we won’t see him. Um, but what are you most looking forward to in Vegas, Drew?
Well, couple things on that. Number one, if Drew Peterson’s not back, that’s a bummer for me because I love to tell people who don’t watch Celtics games that I’m Drew Peterson and I’m on the roster. Um, and they will believe it. Uh, number two, Baylor Shyman. His, you know, 30 points per game and major highlights will cure my hangover in Vegas. That’s for sure. for Vegas is a recipe for disaster in terms of a hangover with the heat and the sweat and then the
I will be drinking water.
Yeah, lots of water is necessary, but Baylor Shyman will he’ll like he’ll wake you up in a hurry because he’s got a serious flare for for the highlight. Um and he’s he’s the he’s the guy on this roster, right? I mean, it’s going to be him and Kenny Loftton like little twoman action and they’re both going to put up 30 a game maybe in the summer league. And then I also want to give a quick shout out just since you mentioned the main Celtics. Shout out to our guy Phil Pressie who’s the new new head coach of the main Celtics. Guy,
one of the nicest dudes on our travel party. I’m excited to see him succeed up in
I wonder if he’ll coach it. He’s probably in the mix to maybe coach this team. I know Matt Reynolds hasn’t done it yet. Um, a lot of the assistants have done it at this point, so they usually try to go with someone new. I think um DJ did it last year. Yeah, I feel like pretty much everyone else on the staff has done it. So, we’ll see. That’ll probably come out in the next day or two. But anyone we’re not talking about as much on this roster who intrigues you?
Amari Williams is huge, by the way. I saw him yesterday. Ginormous wings fan, height, giant guy. Bobby, just based on the conversation we just had about the front court and and the lack of depth there, he’s the one with the clearest path to playing time right now. I think even more so than Ugo Gonzalez, who was the first round pick. And and by the way, shout out to Gary Washburn who I think was the first to tweet out that that is the correct pronunciation of Ugo. The H is silent and Adam Silver of course drilled it on draft night because he always
Oh, he’s always got it down.
He’s always got it. Um I think
by the way, is it Hansen Yang or is it Yang Hansen?
That’s a great question. It’s I don’t I actually don’t know because I’ve seen both. I was at the draft and he had his name was different than everybody else because everyone would like say it was Baylor Shy would have been B. Shyman or J.Walsh. His was flipped
where it said Hansen dot or Hansen Y dot. So the
the abbreviated name was the second name. Yeah.
Or maybe it was I don’t even remember. It might have been Yang H, but I’m not sure.
Yang’s going to be on the jersey because Yao was on the jersey, right? Yao was on the jersey, too. But we said Yao Ming.
Yeah. So, I don’t I don’t know how that’s going to work, but I do think Amari Williams or Williams Amari, whatever you want to call him, I think he’ll be he’ll be in the mix like to play pretty quickly here. And and I’m again, I don’t know, he seems pretty raw. Kentucky guys always do. Uh, and I’m not going to tell you I watched a ton, but I’ve read about it and people seem to think he’s a pretty good passer. Got a good feel for the game and like you said, he’s massive. So, maybe he’s got a chance to play as a rookie. Yeah, Max Cho will be exciting, too. I I hear he can really shoot DCU.
We got another guy from Ukraine, right? Honoring this legacy.
Yeah, he’s got an interesting story. I don’t know if he’s going to crack the roster or eventually play. Obviously, he was the 57th pick, but uh he moved from Ukraine to Spain when he was like 13. Played high school basketball in Spain at an academy. Came over here to Utah State like last second. They it was co so they didn’t know if they were going to be able to get him a visa. They went to a bunch of different countries try to figure it out and they eventually got him over there. Kada was playing his last year at Utah State at the time. So they were teammates back then and he didn’t play much. Second year didn’t play a ton but really morphed into a you know decent ball handling shooting guard. And that VCU team was pretty good this year, weren’t they?
They were really good. They made the tournament. They lost to BYU. Uh he he followed the coach Ryan Odum
who
I’m about 90% sure about this was the coach of UNMBC when they beat Virginia
and then he went to Utah State and then then got to VCU and and Schulga followed him there. But he’s he’s a little older, right? He was five years in college.
Yep.
Yeah. He’d be 22 23
but good like really good college.
Same with Williams. He he started four years at Drexel. Yeah. So, but Williams was Kentucky after that, right?
Yep. Kentucky for the fifth year.
So, you know, I don’t know. It remains to be seen. I I think Williams again is the intriguing one to me because um just because of the the need for the Celtics in the front court right now. So, that’s that. Uh we will wrap it up here with the Lily conversation we started with. And again, reporting here that the Celtics uh Lakers and Warriors could have some interest in Lillard here. Again, Celtics roster’s full at the moment. Don’t know if Lillard’s going to sign this summer given that he’s going to miss most of this year here. Just waved by the Bucks yesterday. Uh you know, it’s stretch provision, which again, did we ever get uh any clarity on what the last stretch was here? We’re asking in the chat. I don’t think anyone came up with it. Bobby Marks tweeted that it’s the biggest stretch in history by far. And maybe the last one was Batum. Batum.
That sounds right.
It’s hard to keep track of Batum and where he was stretched because it feels like he’s played for half the league. Um, by the way, we should mention while we’ve been doing this, Mike Brown got hired by the Knicks.
I like that fit. I like that a lot for them, especially if they’re going to be more of an offensive team. I like some of the stuff he did offensively in Sacramento. Um, still don’t know why Sacramento fired him.
Still don’t know why New York fired their coach,
right?
Doesn’t make a whole lot.
These guys are just all trading sides right now. I wonder what Tibs is going to do this year. I know he did some TV that year. He was off with Minnesota
swimmingly. Supernatural.
Yeah. Not not his not his ideal role, I’d say. I wonder if the Celtics could bring him in in that consulting role that uh that Jeff Van Gundy was in a couple years ago. He was hanging I remember seeing him around the facility that year. He was uh waiting to get hired by the Knicks. So, I wouldn’t be stunned if that happens at all. I think he’s got pretty good ties to Boston as well as New York. Those are kind of his two homes organizationally. So, he’s going to get paid for three more years by the Knicks. And just like you might pay Lillard or the Bucks might pay Lillard to be here, maybe the Knicks will be paying uh Tom Tibido to be here. I would I’d love that. I’d love for Tips to come on the broadcast with Scal. You remember when you know he took that shot at Scallabrini?
Scal wasn’t even in the room, was he?
Oh, yeah. It was It was awesome. I I had to text him. He said his his phone was blowing up. Uh I’m I was just glad to hear that his phone works and can still receive texts cuz he he doesn’t respond to anybody. Um but yeah, he said his phone was blowing up. It was a funny quote. For those who don’t know, Tibs got asked about, you know, his time in Boston and what he thinks of the Celtics organization. He just waxed poetic for a solid minute given shoutouts out. Shouted out Jeff Twist, PR Maven, who’s been with the Celtics for over four decame this summer by the way. Yeah,
Jeff Twist the Hall of Famer talking about people in the facility around the stadium, etc. And then he said the only hole in the franchise is Scal. So I, you know, Tibs, I think Tibs is too, he’s too deadpan and actually too smart about basketball to work on television. Um, because I think he probably doesn’t have any respect for the people he’s working with and their basketball IQ. Um, and he can’t fake a smile, but he he’s I think there’s a lot of Jeff Van Gundy to him, right? And those guys go way back, I think. So, uh, maybe he would be a perfect fit for that consultant role. We’d love to have him
for sure. Yeah. And the Celtics, they’ve lost some coaches over the last handful of years here now. And Charles Lee’s down in Charlotte and, you know, a bunch of guys that Jeff went out to the Clippers and had a huge impact this season. So, I think yeah, this there’s always room to add more uh brain power to the bench. This will be an interesting year for Missoula, too. You know, given that they’re going to be working with new players and trying to figure it out without Tatum. Yeah. And
we’ll see what happens. Brad said he signed for multi more more seasons now. So, I think
that put that contract discussion to rest for now. And feel like he’ll get a extension at some point here. Um, we’ll hear from him at some point, I’d imagine. But summer league’s up next.
I would bank on that. Would bank on that, Bobby. I think he’s off the grid for now.
For now. Yeah. He’s been rounding the globe, I guess, apparently, according to Stevens, talking to coaches and getting some advice. And he might need it trying to figure out this this roster going into next year. And the pieces are still coming together here. Again, more moves to come. The Simons thing, I think I’d keep an eye on that. Uh Nang, was is he going to actually play here? They still need to figure out how to get below the second apron. There’s still $19 million over the tax line, which I’d watch for as well. Uh they got to clear some space if they’re going to sign Lillly this summer certainly. So, there’s another move at least to come here. Uh the summer league roster will probably be out in the next day or so. And we will have coverage of that out there. Uh the first three games of the summer league we will be in attendance for. I believe Noah’s doing all 10 days in Noah fashion. And Drew is going to pop in for a little bit as well. Um, I’m actually going out to Portugal, Drew, to see the May Kada’s camp after semi league. He’s doing a camp out there for local kids in Lisbon and making his return home. I know he went back at one point last summer after winning the championship. I wonder if he can get the trophy over there. I know he wasn’t able to get the trophy um over there for that trip. So, that’s going to be fun, man. Good for you. Enjoy that. You ever been to Portugal?
I have not. I’m a big Spain guy and I’m gonna hop over to Spain too um over there. Um love Madrid. Love the Gonzalez draft pick for that reason as well. So quick trip going to go see Kadis camp. We’ll cover that and then try to see some people who knew Gonzalez while he was playing at Real Madrid because I think he’s going to be in Vegas. He told me the other day whether he’s playing or not. So uh again, this is what you get excited about, Drew. like it’s not a championship contender anymore necessarily here, but some guys get some chances to play. The bar is going to be low in terms of expectations, so it’s going to be so easy to surpass that for them. I remember the year Hayward went down, which there’s some similarities here. Um, obviously timing is a little different in the injury and all that, but when he went down that year, everyone was like, “All right, they’re screwed. Pack it in.” You know, they’re not going anywhere this year. That team still had a lot of talent, especially the young guys who were there who stepped up. But they went to the East Finals that year, which no one would have imagined. And so, this team still has Jaylen, still has Derek, still has Pritchard, who’s going to jump into a much bigger role this year. I know the center thing is very uncertain. Uh, but you said at the top of the show, right? You wouldn’t be surprised if they’re top six.
I expect it. I I do. Um, I know I have green colored glasses and for my Frank frankly all of our sakes covering the team Bobby it’s just more fun when they’re good but I do think you’re on to something there you know this is my first this will be my first year covering the team where they’re not favorites to win at all I think it’ll be the first time really since that year you’re talking about that they’re not at least a contender coming into the season and a lot of it a lot of the success from this season will feel like a win almost like gravy. And I hate the term playing with house money because I think it’s overused. But you know, anything like any real success for the Celtics this year will be fun because it will be perhaps unexpected. Um, but that being said, I don’t expect them to be out of the playoffs or even in the plan. I think Jaylen’s going to have a massive year. I think D White’s going to average more than 20. Pritchard’s going to continue his ascent. Hower is going to play a big role and they’ll they’ll piece it together in the front court enough to in a weak Eastern Conference still be a top six seed. I I still think that because we’re talking about Bobby, the other teams we talk about potentially leaprogging them are so unproven, right? Like I I think Detroit’s going to be really good this year.
That Beasley thing really threw them for a loop though.
Is is the mojo going to be great around them missing Beasley? He was so important to them, you know, assuming assuming he’ll be gone. We still don’t know, but
Ivy’s coming back, who wasn’t there for that stretch run. Yeah, I don’t know what’s going to happen there.
We think they’re going to be good. I I I’m I’m with that, but it’s hypothetical that they’re going to leap the Celtics. The the Hawks, like we both love their off season and we think they’re going to be really
I’ve loved the Hawks for like five years and it’s never happened.
You’re not the only person who feels that way. Uh the Magic, we think they’re going to take a big leap, but it hasn’t happened yet. So, you know, those like the Sixers, like who the hell knows? Um,
Cleveland even the one thing with Cleveland is when you have a loss like that or multiple playoff losses like that and Garland’s got a big injury right now. You’ve seen teams go the other way and even though the talent’s still there, they took a tough L of this last postseason and then certainly the year before that. Uh, so sometimes it just doesn’t translate to the following year if the belief is lost a little bit or something like that. I think they’re going to be pretty good, but who knows? And
it’s definitely a wide openen east. I don’t like what the Bucks have done certainly as well. Pacers are missing Hallebert and now it looked like they had a chance to rule the conference potentially and they just lost Turner as well. So yeah, they’re going to go into this year with the intention of competing, I think. And where it goes from there, we will see. By the way, one more question before we wrap this. Do you think we’ll see Tatum this year? H uh before we started making all these moves, I thought maybe I thought maybe I was drinking the Kool-Aid which was partially served up by your colleague Noah about the you know getting the surgery quickly after the actual injury and how that will help with recovery. Um and I was like oh great he’s going to be back in no time. And I’ve kind of cooled on that a little bit. you know, that is I think that is correct that reporting, but it’s it’s probably a matter of, you know,
consciousness.
Yeah. Maybe and saving saving a little bit of time on the back end as opposed to like, you know, having his Achilles be fully healed by the time the season starts, you know. Um, so I I sort of think that the the plan for him is to is to sit out all year. You know, I I talked with a doctor who isn’t a specialist in Achilles, uh, but he’s a surgeon, and he said it’d be crazy for him to to play this year. Um, so I I don’t I don’t know. When I when I thought that the team would be more more similar to what it was last season in terms of the construction before we made all these moves, I thought maybe we could, you know, hang around in the mix for a top four seed without him and then at the All-Star break he’ll be ready and we’ll make another run at it in a wideopen conference. Now I’m a little more lukewarm on that and, you know, I kind of feel like he’s gonna he’s going to sit this year, but I don’t have any I don’t have any inside info on that.
He’s Drew Carter. You guys have a show coming up at 4 today, you said? Yeah, I gotta go shower and get over there the off season. Check it out on YouTube. You can join the chat. I I don’t know if we’re gonna have Beia on the show like Bobb’s gonna have on on this show, too.
Yeah. Yeah. But
I’m really looking forward to that. I I thought she was starting to show some skepticism with what was going on, but it was actually her curious about what Brad’s going to pull out of the hat. So,
it was just it was bait for you to respond and for her to get on this show. Everybody wants to come on the show, and I understand why.
She’s a giant Celtics fan. She might be top five most famous Celtics fans. Top 10 maybe. That’s a pretty good idea for a podcast for later on in the season after all this stuff quiets down.
We’re the most famous Celtics fan.
Bobby, when you have her on the show, just give me a call and I’d like to jump on for a few minutes. I’ll just I’ll use this same link and I’ll try it and I’ll I’ll jump in.
Feel free. Everyone’s welcome. Yeah, we’re gonna get be on the Garn Report soon if anyone missed it. Again, Drew Carter, appreciate you stopping by. uh love the work you do and he’ll be on some lacrosse broadcast coming up over the next handful of days here as well. So, always look out for him on ESPN. You still doing Sports Center these days, too?
Little bit. I’m not sure about the rotation this year. I did a bunch last summer. I actually pulled an all nighter after we won the championship and drove straight to Bristol after that. So, I don’t know. Stuff’s always changing over at the Worldwide later. So, I don’t ask too many questions. But, we got a PLL All-Star game this weekend. So, stay tuned for that.
And again, a shout out to our sponsor prize picks here. Go check them out. A lot of great games going on still even with basketball and hockey over. Love the women’s game. Love the uh baseball going on right now as well. Uh got to get going get to go over to Fenway at some point. See some games going on over there. And again, more fun when you use CNNs. Play five, get 50 on your first lineup over there. Uh prize picks run your game. And of course, check out all our channels right now. Pat’s training camp is right around the corner. So, check out the great coverage over on our uh Patriots press pass channel. Subscribe for an inside look at the rookie introductions yesterday over here on Celtics All Access. Some great footage from our videographer Rich Lay as well as interviews with all the rookies yesterday up there as well. Check out Bruins rinkside. They just drafted a top 10 prospect and I guess he was over showing off at the facility there as well. So, some coverage of that available now as well. And whenever news breaks and we’ll see what happens with Horford here today, tomorrow, whenever that happens, uh we will be live instantly to react to whatever ends up happening here. Maybe there’ll even be a surprise lawyer announcement over the next couple weeks here. So, turn on your notifications for that. Thanks again to Drew. Thanks for everybody who watched here live on our YouTube channel. And we will be back when news breaks. It’s the holiday weekend, so I think everyone’s going to get away a little bit here. And hopefully there won’t be any phones blowing up on the fourth, Drew, as tends to happen sometimes. But, uh, I will be ready. I’m on call even on my little mini trip I’m about to take if something happens. So, I always got you guys covered. And that’s it for us here today. We’ll keep track of all the news that keeps happening over on cnsdmedia.com. And we will talk to you soon. Peace.
No one’s sneaking a vegan brownie by me. I’ll tell you that.
Okay. You know what, Don? We’re going to do it. You have to feel that way, too, Bobby. I have to feel that way. A side over and and make Luke your first center.
Bobby, we gave you Luke hour earlier. We are not going to end this on a damn conversation about Luke. [Music]

Bobby Manning welcomes Drew Carter to the Garden Report to talk about the Celtics losing Luke Kornet, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday with Al Horford seemingly on the verge of departing too. What can the Celtics do next to rebuild their roster around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown?