Why are the Celtics interested in Damian Lillard?

Why are the Celtics interested in Damian Lillard?

According to the athletic, Sam addict an others in the athletic, they report that the Warriors, Celtics, and Lakers are among the teams that have interest in doing a deal with Dame Lillard sooner rather than later. Sources tell us they say that Lillard received calls from several contending teams quickly after the news of his Bucks ending broke. The question is whether he wants to sign with the team now and rehabilitate while under their care or wait for next summer to reassess the situation. Again, Dame Lillard ruptured his Achilles in the first round of the playoffs about a month before Tatum did his. So, uh Lillard again uh may miss the year, but if he comes back on Tatum’s timeline should be ready in maybe February, January, February. In or out on Dame Lillard Maz, I’ll start with you. in. 100% in. Absolutely. I think he would be a good compliment at this stage of his career. Uh cuz they’re still going to want to shoot threes. That isn’t going away. Now, again, I’m not telling they’re going to shoot him like they did last year, but he would be a good compliment to Tatum and Brown and a guy that’d be able to, you know, I view him now as a spot-up shooter. He’s not a centerpiece guy, and he’d be a good spot-up shooter on this team.
Out 100% out. I don’t know. I don’t know how this would work cuz a score first point guard has proven not to work with Tatum and Brown. Case in point, stupid Kyrie Irving and going back with Kemell Walker like five years ago. It works best with combo guards that play a lot of defense like Drew Holidayiday. So, no. And he’s going to be 35 in like two weeks. No thanks.
I don’t think he works on the floor. I don’t. Uh he’s so ball dominant and it’s not just spot-up shooting. I mean, I don’t know how great of a spot-up shooter he is. I think he’s used to game time and pounding the ball into the ground and step back and like that sort of thing.
He definitely is. Does it have to be different than the way he plays now?
And I can blame Giannis as much as I can blame him cuz I think they’re both bad team ball players. I don’t think they I think they’re both ball dominant. It’s got to go through them. So like I’ll blame them both in equal parts, but he and Giannis didn’t work for like one second. Like I it almost never worked with those two. It they just took turns. They just traded off possessions, traded off quarters, and they never really played well together the entire time Lillard was there. From the second he got there, it never worked. Not for a not for a minute did it work. And so I blame him. I blame Giannis. I don’t know to Murray’s point how much it would work with him and Tatum either. Is Tatum going to be comfortable playing off the ball consistently? I don’t think so. That’s I just don’t I mean we have proof again with guards like this that are like pounded into the ground and it’s my time and it’s like it doesn’t it doesn’t work that way. Never mind the fact I don’t think he’d want to be here. Correct me if I’m wrong. Like as soon as he got to Milwaukee just even off the court he was miserable. Right.
Never wanted to be there. His family and kids and all that have remained in Portland.
So prior to that anyway like when those trade rumors were going around he was on social media and I remember Tatum being in like in his chat on Instagram being like we get it. You don’t want to come to Boston. Because people were peppering him with questions like, “You want to be a salty? You want to be a salty?”
Yeah. Didn’t he laugh?
I had Jimmy pull it.
Oh yeah. Who was that guy that laughed in their face? Chris Haynes.
Go ahead.
I do not envision a possibility that he he would be traded to a Western Conference team. What if we did this though, Chris? What if I’m the Boston Celtics and I signed? No. No.
He’s not He’s not doing Boston. He doesn’t want any part of Boston. Okay. All right.
I don’t see.
Okay. So you you can confidently report that that Dame would not want to go to Boston. Is that what you’re saying?
I think that’s pretty safe to say. So they laughed at the idea.
Oh yeah. No, I remembered it instantly as soon as his name popped up.
Good one.
I said, you know, he didn’t want to come here. He wanted nothing to do with it. Now is that And again, look, I’m Everything you guys are saying about Lillard is right. I just think he’s got no leverage. He’s going to be cheap and because he’s getting paid by Milwaukee, he’s not going to play until next year. So, I’d roll the dice. I would. But, but I and I think he I also think he’s not going to be a significant piece of the team or at least, you know, nobody’s building around Lillard anymore. He’s he’s closer to being cashed. I also think he’s kind of a loser. And I say kind of like it’s small L. He’s not James Harden. He’s not Carmelo Anthony. He’s not one of these guys. He’s total, you know, team killing bums. He’s not. But you do wonder, is he just one of those guys that’s more happy scoring 38 points with the ball in his hands for a okay team than he is being a role player and doing the little things to win on a really good team.
Maybe
he’s that first thing.
Yep.
I mean, that’s how we played in Milwaukee. And that’s maybe what Giannis is, too. Again, I I don’t want to just totally blame Lillard for that because I think Giannis has unfortunately come to embody a lot of those things as well. I think Giannis might be happier contending for MVPs on a mediocre team than having mediocre numbers on a great team and winning a championship. And I think Lillard’s the same way. So, small L loser is what I think Lillard is. So, I don’t think he’s a fit on the floor. I don’t think he’s a fit culturally, you know what I mean? So then why are they why are they pick up the phone and why are they already in on Dame Lillard? You know why?
Buzz cheap.
He’s cheap. Not to cross sports, but this is a player the Patriots would be on. Definitely.
Do you know why?
Cheap. Well, give me go one step further.
No guarantee. All right.
The other team’s paying his salary.
Bingo.
The other team is paying his his his freight. But I admit this is part of the reason I’m intrigued because he’s not a big investment. And again, if he’s willing, and I’m not telling you he is. I’m just saying Golden State wants him too. I think they have a winning culture there cuz I think they’re going to say to him, “It’s Steph Curry’s team. You’re not going to be the guy.” And that’s going to be the deal. Do you want to do you want to get in on it or not? And I would hope the Celtics are doing something similar. They don’t have quite the clout that Golden State has, but Tatum’s still going to be under 30 when he comes back. So they can look at him and say, “Look, we have a good thing here. Do you want to buy in or not? If you don’t, see you later.”
Here’s my problem, and this story ties in perfectly with my latest crusade, and that is fans and media being way too quick to let the Celtics off the hook for the money and the luxury tax and the way they’re managing their finances. I think fans and most media are cheerleading the fact that they are trimming salary, cutting money, saving money, and getting out of the luxury tax. And that is a dangerous game to play people. The analogy I made last night is you did this with the Patriots. The Patriots, uh, starting with them, but with great help from the local media, uh, put it in your head that teams that spent money were stupid. Look at all the stupid money everybody else is spending. And look at how smart we are for not overspending. And you helped create a monster. You gave Craft and the Patriots the leeway, the cover to not spend money because you thought that was smart and it’s all blown up in your face. It’s proven not to be smart. It’s proven just to be a way to make money. And now all that lack of spending and investment by the Patriots has caught up to them in a big way from top to bottom. Their lack of spending has caught up to them. And you helped enable it by cheerleading their reluctance to pay money, their reluctance to spend. And half of me can see why because they were winning. So it’s like, yeah, this is why they win. It’s not why they won. And you know it now. You know that’s not why they won. They won because of the brilliance of Tom Brady and Bill Bich when he had his fast ball in was good and made shrewd moves on the field and off, but their lack of spending had nothing to do with it. And now that those guys are gone and it’s just their lack of spending, they epically suck. So, but you helped create that monster. You gave Craft the runway to not spend. Don’t give these Celtics owners the same thing. Don’t don’t act like they’re geniuses for not spending. That is dangerous. Like that’s my overall warning to fans. But other than that, half the stuff you’re being told isn’t really true, by the way. That if you keep spending into the tax, you lose your flexibility. That’s not factually accurate. And I’ve been looking at it. B- Rob just wrote something on Mass Live that sort of backs this up. The Golden State Warriors have been in the tax uh I think five straight years they have been in this repeater tax. They’re currently in the repeater tax which is what you’re trying to get out of like this whole thing Forsber wrote the other day. Gasper’s been talking about it that they want to be out of the luxury tax two straight years to get out of these repeater tax penalties. You understand people, the repeater tax penalties don’t come with any basketball penalties. You don’t lose draft picks. You don’t lose mid-level exceptions. You don’t have to freeze your draft pick in seven years. All your owner has to do is pay a little more money. But yet now you’re being told that it’s smart for the Celtics to get out of the repeater tax. Why? Why? Why are you so interested in saving Bill Chisum money? Answer the question. Like why is that? But I think the basketball media is sort of helping you with this. Like it’s just smart to get out of the T. What if the the the basketball penalties are the aprons, not the taxes. There’s different levels. There’s the cap. There’s a cap level uh which next year is going to be 154. There’s a tax level which is 188. The first apron is 196. The second apron’s 208. You You’re telling me you want to get out of the second apron the year that Tatum is hurt? Okay, that makes sense. Are you following me?
Of course.
Or is everybody zoning out?
No, no, no. I got you. I mean, again, there’s a difference between the apron and the tax. The apron is where the second apron in particular is where the penalties are.
Okay. So, like, listen, I think there’s a different path. You could bring everybody back, wait for Tatum, get healthy, and make a run at it, but you’d be in the second apron. So, that’s a big gamble with Tatum coming back hurt. So, you want to tell me we’re going to reset one year to get out of the second apron while Tatum is hurt? Okay, you like I’m not going to put up a big argument on that one. That makes sense. But now there’s this whole thing that they have to get out of the tax. Correct.
Two straight years,
right? Why?
No. No. So, this one I’m with you on. Go ahead.
Because you’re worried about saving Bill Chisum money,
right? Cuz Chisum wants him pocket more money. That’s all that that is. You’re not losing any flexibility by just being a taxpaying team. You lose flexibility in the aprons. Okay? So, you if you get out of the aprons and you’re just paying the tax, you have all your draft picks, all your exceptions, all those things at your disposal. Why now am I getting by Forsberg and Gasper suggested it but Forsberg who I’ll blame because he’s part of Pravda and the Celtics you know the Celtics media industrial complex
the green army
the green ar why am I getting shoved down my throat now this need to get under the tax two straight years
cuz the owner wants to cash in
so now that’s there’s no basketball reason to do that. The basketball reason is the second apron. Fine. Two straight years out of the tax is just saving the owner money. But now Stevens tells me it’s about flexibility. And Forsber says we got to get out of that. Don’t let them get away with that. Celtics fans, don’t let them do that. Don’t cheerlead that.
They will.
The way the Patriots fans cheerleaded Craft holding on to his money. That cheerleading allowed Craft to skimp on the team and it hurt him. If you give an owner an excuse not to spend, he won’t spend. So don’t treat him like a genius or don’t be like duped into saying that you have to get out of the tax to save to for basketball reasons. It’s not. It’s purely financial. Ah landing the plane. Why are they interested in Dame Lillard? Because in two years the Bucks are paying his salary. You can bring him in on one of these forka exceptions. He doesn’t count against your tax. You can obstensively contend, not be a taxpaying team, and that’s how you maximize it. Cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap.
It’s to save Chisum Doe.
Yep.
He doesn’t fit on the floor. He doesn’t fit with your culture. He’s a one-man band. He’s a guy that wants to put up big numbers on a mediocre team. He doesn’t play a lick of defense. His defense is disgusting. He’s a little guy on top of it, but he’s not even like one of those little guys that tries. Like you watch Pritchard, he tries like he engages and if
Steph Curry
some nights, yes, and they get away like Golden has figured out Steph Curry how to get away with that and Pritchard I think sells out and tries.
No, no, Curry tries. I mean Curry tries. Lillard. It’s a joke. Him on the defensive end and he’s not a team basketball player, but all of a sudden, all of a sudden, we want in on Lillard because we want to save the owner money. Really, that’s what we’re doing. I would take Lillard again because because of the shooting. That’s why I would take Lillard. So, again, everything you’re saying about him is right. But look, it doesn’t I just I’m not going to eliminate a cheap player just because he’s cheap like, you know, and again, I’m I’m But but his role’s got to be different here. I hear you. But this whole thing about being flexible, the flexibility, you’re still flexible if you’re a taxpaying team. The the Warriors have been a taxpaying team for seven of the last eight years. They’re in the repeat tax, I think, for the third straight year. Uh the Clippers, the Bucks, the Lakers, these are all repeat tax teams. How is it the Bucks as a repeat tax offender has have just signed the biggest free agent on the board? Because it turns out there’s even loopholes in the NBA thing that you didn’t even realize. They waved Lillard and stretched his salary. The the Warriors again are repeater tax team for like the third straight year. They traded for Jimmy Butler last year and are in on Al Horford and now Lillard. It seems to me like they’re still pretty flexible. The Lakers are a repeat taxpayer team. It feels to me like they just swung a big trade last year and are in on Horford and other guys this off seasonason. It still feels to me like they’re kind of flexible, don’t you think?
Definitely.
They’re just willing to pay the tax. So, don’t let these basketball guys dup you into thinking that paying the tax hurts your flexibility. It doesn’t. It just hurts the owner’s wallet. The aprons, that’s a different deal. The taxes, don’t let them get away with it. So, there’s my thing. That’s but that’s why they’re in on Lillard because the Bucks are paying his money.

Fegler and Mazz ponder why the Celtics are in on Damian Lillard, especially after the team’s recent salary cuts.

Thumbnail photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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