🚨NEW Celtics Free Agency REPORT On Damian Lillard + Celtics SIGNING Summer League Standout?

🚨NEW Celtics Free Agency REPORT On Damian Lillard + Celtics SIGNING Summer League Standout?

[Music] What’s going on, green teamers? I am back reporting all the latest Boston Celtics news and rumors after a week’s vacation and a lot has gone down even though the Celtics haven’t necessarily made a move in my absence. On today’s show, we’re going to talk about Jason Tatum recruiting Damen Lillard to Boston as he remains a free agent. And then on the back half of today’s show, we’re going to go in depth about a Celtic summer league standout that I think could be a pretty nice signing for Boston as they are pretty thin in the front court. But speaking of summer league, we’re undefeated through two games, beating the Grizzlies and the Knicks. And if you’re enjoying the Celtic summer league team so far, go down below and hit that thumbs up icon. Like today’s video. We’re undefeated, so everybody watching today’s show should go down below and hit that thumbs up icon. All righty, let’s get into it. Jason Tatum recruiting Damen Lillard to Boston potentially. As Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, one of the most tapped in individuals around the seas, says that Jason Tatum is quote unquote active in Damen Lillard recruitment. Now, we remember way back when when Lillard originally got dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks in the summer of 2023. Tatum was recruiting him back then as well. And we had heard and upon the Milwaukee Bucks waving and stretching Dame Lewis’s contract that the Celtics would be a team that was 100% interested in bringing him in after they lost Drew Holiday and are looking at a pretty weird season upcoming here without Jason Tatum. And obviously Damen Lord suffering the same torn Achilles tendon. And then we heard from a Celtics insider Noah Dozel who’s on site over in Summer League saying that she she got two takeaways from what she’s heard so far. and that one of them is that Boston appears to be a very viable destination for Damen Lillard. So things could be heating up here around Dame to Beantown. Also noted that people I’ve spoken with are overwhelmingly uh stress that you keep Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown together as long as you’re able to. So if anybody in in the comment section is trying to break up the Jays or anything like that, it’s not happening. And the Celtics should not do that anytime soon. They want a championship and these are the best wing duo in the entire league right now. But back to the Lillard front, right? Because the latest that we’ve heard is that like Lillard’s taking his time with this whole decision-making process. Like he’s not really going to be playing all of next season. He’s wants to do his rehab and all of his work with his family up in the Portland area and you know people he’s been kind of far away from over the past couple years that he’s been playing in Milwaukee. Wants to rebuild those relationships and and get back to 100% health with the people that he’s most comfortable with. Now Damen Lord also doesn’t have the most robust market out there because of that situation, right? like with him missing all of next season, with him having probably a couple of demands for this forthcoming campaign at 2526 where he won’t be a part of the team and he’ll probably be like away from the the team building for a lot of the time. So, his market is limited. There aren’t too many teams that are willing to bring him onto their books or really have any reason to as it really seems like it would only be a contending situation that Lillard would want to come around to. The Celtics also reportedly have interest in a multi-year deal to bring Lillard here for not only next season, but the season after to pair him up with a hopefully healthy Jason Tatum and a fully healthy rest of the Celtics roster with Jaylen Brown and Derek White headlining. Also, we heard, like I said, the Celtics are on the list of teams that Dame Lillard has said he’s open to, you know, heading to this summer and beyond. Now, he he they stated or the reports that we’ve heard stated that Lillard has mass massive respect for the Celtics and their organization and their championship, you know, caliber uh history. And then he also has a bunch of respect for Jason Tatum, who he spent multiple all-star weekends with and multiple summers with as part of Team USA playing in the Olympics. And Tate, we know Tatum recruited him back in 2023, and he continues to do so now. So, it really seems like the Lillard free agency legs, it it really seems like it’s most connected to the Boston Celtics to this point. The other teams we’ve heard about are the Los Angeles Lakers. We’ve heard about the Golden State Warriors. You know, he’s a Bay Area native. We’ve heard about the Miami Heat as well as they were the most interested team back in 2023 and they still have interest now. But it seems like there’s the most rumors are flying around about Dame to Boston. And like I’ve mentioned previously, Chris Haynes have reported and he is the most like tapped in reporter when it comes to Dame stuff. I think he is like close friends with Dame or or Dame’s wife or something like that. but he’s super tapped in and whatever he he he he says or whatever comes out uh of his Twitter is probably the Bible when it comes to Dame uh free agency stuff. So he says that he’s content taking his time and is in no rush to really make a decision here over the next couple of weeks or potentially months here. We could see this go all the way into next season potentially. And if Dame’s going to sign at all this summer, he said that it will only be happening under quote unquote the right conditions. So like that team allowing him to spend time with his family, be up in the Pacific Northwest, like kind of do whatever he wants to do this 25 26 year and then come back into the building next off seasonason when he’s 100% healthy and can contribute to whatever team that he’s going to sign with. So it’s no there’s no guarantee that Lillard ends up signing with anybody this offseason, but if I had to, you know, say the team that I’m most confident that he would make a decision to sign with this summer, I would have to say it’s the Celtics at this point, just from what we’ve all heard to this point so far. And with that being said, I want to ask you guys this awesome question. Do you want team on the Celtics? Do you want number zero? Well, wouldn’t be number zero in Boston in Beantown. Let me know in the comments section. Yes or no? I’m trying to hear what the Celtics faithful thinks about bringing Dame to Beantown. And if that happens, if the Celtics make any move, because they really haven’t made much free agency action over the past couple of weeks. If they make a move, you know, we’re going to make a video and break it all down. So, make sure you are subscribed to the channel. We just passed over 53,000 subscribers. So, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for supporting the channel. And uh if you guys want free content every day, go down below, hit that red subscribe button. 100% free. All right, let’s move on to the meat and potatoes of today’s show cuz I mean, who doesn’t want to talk about Charles Bassie on a Monday, July 14th? Like, look, why not, man? Like, the Celtics front court is looking thin and Charles Bassie is making a statement to be a part of this roster next season. Only two summer league games played so far for Boston, but Bassie has straight up dominated in those appearances so far. in the first game against the Memphis Grizzlies. And to be fair, like I’ll preface it with this. A guy like Charles Bassie has been in the NBA over the past couple of seasons. So naturally, he’s going to be at a probably a higher skill level, a higher level of physicality than maybe the guys that are trying to get their foot in the NBA door right now. Like Bassie’s been around the league already, so he’s going to be, you know, dominating some of this weaker competition. But I’m glad that he did. He puts up 14-1 against the Grizzlies. Two blocks as well. Super efficient. And only 18 minutes play, the guy’s a plus 20. And then he does the same exact thing in game two against the New York Knicks. 22 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks, a plus 15 in 22 minutes. Like he was making a serious serious impact. But I mean this might not be might not be a name that a lot of Celtics fans are very accustomed to at this point. He hasn’t got a ton of burn in his NBA career even though he spent the past couple of seasons getting some spot minutes for the San Antonio Spurs. But this is a 24 year old player who still has a lot to offer in his basketball career and I believe at the NBA level. date back all the way back to 2019 2018, excuse me, when he graduated high school. He was actually the number nine overall recruit in high school that year. It went out onto the Western Kentucky Hill Topper. Shout out to them. Good good college program there. And he was honestly, you know, supposed to be a guy who was going to translate very quickly. He’d be a projected first round pick in the NBA, but fell all the way back to pick 53. Spent the last couple years with the Spurs after originally being drafted to the uh 76ers. He was with their G-League affiliate for a little bit and then he got added to the Celtics summer league roster this off seasonason and it was really a lastminute addition. It did not seem like he was on he was not on the roster originally when we had speculated who was all going to be on it and when the initial roster came out his name is not on there and the next thing you know the first game comes around and this guy Bassie is making big time plays down low for the Celtics and he kind of explained the situation and how it all came to be here. He said it was real last minute. I got a call from my agent and flew out the next day and started training camp and then it’s been good, man. Like, it’s been good having from training camp to today’s game. The energy has been great, vibing with these guys and coaches. It’s been fun and everything’s been good. Well, it’s been good to watch him uh in his two Celtics summer league debuts so far. All right. Look, man. This is a guy who has not shown a ton over his NBA career so far. But I’ll be honest, like this is eerily similar stat lines to the ones that we’ve seen from guys like Luca Garza and a Josh might not. Like the players who Boston has brought in this summer via free agency, like this could be a guy who they already kind of have in house right now, like looking for a veteran minimum deal, trying to get on a roster next year. And with the Celtics having, you know, thin, not really much talent in the front court to be quite honest with you, like this could be a guy that you you kind of find a diamond in the rough here with Bassie. hasn’t really amassed more than six points uh per game in his career so far, but can rebound the basketball, can can shot block as well. Just does a lot of great work around the rim. And honestly, like one of these back dating back to the 2022 23 season, he had a crazy statline kind of he said is the Spurs tweeted this out back in the beginning of the 2223 campaign saying Charles Bass is the second player in NBA history to have 14 rebounds, four blocks, and four assists in less than 20 minutes played. And he’s the first player in league history to do it all off of the bench. So, just kind of like showing you guys a little bit of what what Bassie is all about. When he gets the opportunity, he makes the absolute most of it. And as for the archetype that he provides, like I said, he operates around the rim. But I I’ll let you kind of I’ll let him kind of explain it for himself. He says, “Great effort, rebounding, blocking shots, rim protection. I just play my role. I know what a team needs from me and I know what they want from me and I do it every night.” This isn’t a guy who’s going to try to be something that he’s not. He’s going to play to his strengths. And for a Boston team that’s going to be hurting on the glass next season without Jason Tatum cuz yes you did lose Luke Cornet, you lost Al Horford, but the real kicker when you talk about the Celtics battling on the glass is losing Jason Tatum, the leading rebounder on the entire roster. So like even with the additions they made in the front court, like the Celtics are looking to be pummeled in the rebounding category next year. So I I think it would be probably a pretty solid addition if they went out and got Bassie here. just another body to compete in training camp and and go toe-to-toe with some of these bodies that the Celtics have signed to this point at the center position. But you tell me, should the Celtics sign Charles Bassie after these two standout performances in summer league? Got to see a little bit more, but you let me know what your initial thoughts are right now in the comments section, yes or no on if the Celtics should sign Bassie or not. Yeah, I’d sign him today. like what’s what’s the hurt of of signing Charles Bassie to a deal when you’re not bringing back Al Horford, you lost Luke Cornet, you don’t have Jason Tatum, your best rebounder, and the centers that you have in town right now are just not all that great. So, like it makes total sense to bring in a guy who you kind of just lucked into here in summer league um to a deal, at least a training camp deal or something where he can compete in order to make this roster because I think he’s as good as maybe any center that the Celtics have at this point. We’ll talk more about the prospects of him actually joining Boston in a moment, but make sure you guys get hooked up with this awesome deal with our friends over at Fanax. I was looking through the website and I was like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. They’re offering 25% off like everything.” So, I said, “Okay, let’s look at this Jason Tatum jersey right here and let’s get it for $30 off. 25% off this Jason Tatum jersey with our friends over at Fanatics and this link right here, chatsports.com/tatom sale. But you got to use that code code home run at checkout. When you go and you add this to your cart, you got to use code home run to get 25% off this fresh Tatum jersey. This is a new like this these are the ones they wear every season. This isn’t on sale cuz they’re getting rid of it or nothing like that. It’s a full price Tatum jersey 25% off with the code home run at this link right here. chatports.com/tatam sale. And I know that’s a lot. So I put it all in the comment section and description of today’s video for you guys. So just click that link and go get yourself a 25% off Tatum jersey today. All right, let’s talk about it. How do the prospects of a Celtics signing for Charles Bassie actually look? Because it goes way way way way way beyond summer league production and like all all that stuff like how does he actually fit and what does what does the front office think of him at this point through the first couple of games that they’ve seen him wearing green? Brad Stevens said this on Bass. He said, “Charles has played a lot of NBA minutes over the last couple of years. Like several other guys, he made the decision at the last minute to participate in a practice or participate in a series of practices and ultimately played with the team. I thought he did a really good job yesterday. Look, the Celtics cannot really afford to be like stingy when it comes to the front court. Like they can’t be gatekeeping guys out of like fighting for a spot to be their center cuz the guys they have in town right now are really all not that good. like they signed Luca Garza, you have Nemia Kada still in the mix, but I question whether or not he is an NBA player or not. Xavier Tilman 6’7 and and he can’t even move half the time. And and Amari Williams is a rookie. Look, I through the first couple of summer league games for him, I’ve seen some nice flashes, especially as a passer from the top of the key as well. Um, but you can’t count on a late second round rookie to carry the weight for you in year one, especially when you’re still trying to be fairly competitive in a wide open Eastern Conference. And Brad Stevenson said more of the more on Bassie here. He said, “I don’t want to speak for him what his goals might be. He’s a guy who’s probably playing for what’s next. I think he’s a guy we’ve paid attention to from afar for a long time. We’ve watching all these guy all these guys all the time and I thought he did a really good job yesterday. He was probably the biggest reason we won the game. I thought look, I mean, it’s it’s he’s not praising him too much, but you could see like Brad Stevens kind of warming up to the idea potentially of bringing Bassie to Boston. Only time will tell, but he’s absolutely leaving his mark on on on this team. Like there’s no doubt in my mind that the Celtics are in a position where they can afford to bring in another training camp body. And and look, Bassie might be one of the best like as far as guys you can go get other than in the summer league circuit that are veterans, like guys who you you believe can contribute right away, like he might be the cream of the crop when it comes to the guys who are playing summer league right now. So, I I would sign him and I I wouldn’t waste much time uh in doing so before another team scoops him up. And that will do it for today’s edition of Sully Today by Chat Sports. Make sure you are subscribed to the channel because if they sign Bassie, if they sign Dame Lillard, you know, we’re going to bring you guys video. If they sign Dame Lillard, we might just go live here on the channel. So, lock us in, hit the subscribe button. We’ll see you guys on the next one. And as always, let’s go C’s. [Music]

Boston Celtics News Today comes with a new report from Celtics Insider Gary Washburn who relayed that Jayson Tatum has been active in recruiting Damian Lillard to the Boston Celtics, and the Celtics Summer League roster has a standout player that could be a key Celtics signing before the 2025-26 NBA Season. Damian Lillard news has been pretty quiet, but the Celtics free agency rumors have not yet quieted down around bringing Lillard to Boston. Boston Celtics Summer League highlights have been dominated by a late addition to the Celtics roster in Charles Bassey who could find his way into the real Celtics depth chart next season after impressing Brad Stevens and the Celtics front office in Las Vegas through two games. Celtics Today host Tyler Smith breaks down all the latest Celtics rumors and news during 2025 NBA Summer League on today’s Boston Celtics YouTube video.

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Damian Lillard Signing With Celtics Latest Rumors:
– Gary Washburn: Damian Lillard market is “limited”
– Brad Stevens, Celtics interest in multi-year deal
– Celtics on Damian Lillard’s list of teams
– Jayson Tatum recruited in 2023 & now

Charles Bassey Celtics Summer League Highlights:
– vs. MEM (18 MIN), 14 PTS, 11 REB, 2 BLK, 7/8 FG, +20 +/-
– vs. NYK (22 MIN), 22 PTS, 13 PTS, 3 BLK, 8/12 FG, +15 +/-

Check out some of our other Boston Celtics YouTube videos:
– MAJOR Celtics Rumors On Payton Pritchard, Jaylen Brown & Center Rotation | Celtics Mailbag – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEVtzcvasU4
– Celtics Fans Get MAJOR NEWS On Hugo Gonzalez, Amari Williams & Max Shulga Before NBA Summer League – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=204AsFt4q5o
– Celtics Make 2 Roster Moves + MAJOR Damian Lillard Free Agency UPDATE – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVgJMiQZkfI

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Charles Bassey Summer League Player Profile:
– 24 Y/O, #9 HS recruit (2018)
– 2021 2nd Round Pick (#53), spending last 3 years with SAS
– “Last-minute” addition to Celtics SL roster

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Celtics Today is a give and take show! We give you these questions and you give your takes in the comments below:
– Do you want Damian Lillard on the Celtics? Yes or No
– Should the Celtics sign Charles Bassey? Yes or No

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