Charles Bassey to Celtics still a POSSIBILITY? | You Got Boston w/ Noa Dalzell

Charles Bassey to Celtics still a POSSIBILITY? | You Got Boston w/ Noa Dalzell

We are they went brown with the flush. Tatum the drive. Tatum the finish. It is 18. The mission commanded is mission accomplished. What’s up everyone? This is Noah Dzelle and I’m here with another episode of You God Boston. Uh a news edition where in which I followed up on a story that I think fans are were somewhat interested in after summer league and that’s the story of Charles Bassie. um who wasn’t initially on the summer league roster and then is just there for the first game and you know I was in Vegas and all of a sudden we’re like who is that guy? Um and then we figured out that was Charles Bassie who has spent the last three years of his NBA career on the Spurs uh the previous year with the Philadelphia 76ers. Um and effectively he came in and was the best player on the team for three games. And so you know he was he wasn’t expected to play the entirety of summer league. So, he wasn’t with the team for the final two games. Um, but I was still just kind of intrigued of like what was that about? Um, and is there a chance that they sign him moving forward? And then the last couple of days there have been a lot of reports uh that he is, you know, probably going to go overseas. Um, that partisan Belgrade, a Serbian club, was interested in him. Um, and so I talked to some people u that are kind of familiar with the situation, familiar uh with kind of a lot of the dynamics at play here. And I just wanted to report a couple of the things that I learned. Um, one, he’s not currently planning on going overseas. That seems to be pretty unlikely and almost like a last resort type of thing. Um, and right now I think, you know, he feels pretty confident that he’s going to play in the NBA next season. Um, so I just saw a lot of headlines that were like, you know, Charles Bassie uh is is not going to, you know, he’s he’s headed overseas. He’s heading into partisan. Like he I don’t think that that’s that’s currently the case. Um, and so he currently still views the Celtics as like a top destination and and really really wants to end up in Boston. Um, and that’s not me saying that that’s going to happen. Um, but that that’s a top priority uh for him. He loves the culture. He loves the fact that they’ve been in the playoffs routinely. It’s a culture of winning the coaches. Um, he really enjoyed his summer league experience. He talked about that with us on the record right after the first summer league game that he played. um in which he came in and had like he was seven of eight from the field in 18 minutes and everybody was like who is this guy because he outplayed the Celtics other front court rotation players. Um so he really wants to come to the Celtics. You know we’ll see whether it it works out. Right now Boston has one remaining roster spot that’s open. Um but JD Davidson is you know was waved to clear that spot and they’re just below the second apron. They are not going to go into next season I don’t think above the second apron even though they can make moves during the year but I just don’t I don’t see why they would do that because like Brad Stevens told us uh Christoph Porzingis Drew Holiday those trades happened because of the second apron because of the basketball penalties associated with the second apron. So for now now for the Celtics to go ahead and and you know sign guys to get above that I don’t think that’s going to happen. Uh there is some concern just around the league around his injury history. He’s suffered multiple knee injuries, ACL tear, uh patella fracture. Um last year he suffered an MCL sprain. So he’s had kind of a long history of knee injuries. Um and sometimes that can spell like this is going to be the rest of your career. Sometimes you have that and then you know by age 25 26 you find a rhythm uh in a groove and you’re not you know you don’t continue having those injuries. So I don’t know what the rest of his career is going to look like. He did play in a backtoback with the Celtics at summer league. So, he did kind of demonstrate that he’s able to do that and obviously with guys with various injuries, like that can sometimes be a challenging thing, especially knee injuries. Um, so that’s kind of the sadness with him right now. Uh, if the Celtics were to sign him, they would probably have to make some additional moves. You know, guys right now like Anthony Simon, George Ning, that when they first were acquired by the Celtics, I didn’t necessarily think that they, you know, they were going to keep those guys. Now we’re in August. I think the chance that they’re staying with Boston long term much higher. Um so we’ll see. But they need to shed some additional salary if they’re going to sign a 15th uh person to the roster. Um Charles Bassie to me is an intriguing candidate for a number of reasons. First just if they’re trying to be competitive at all, which I know there’s a lot of dispute around here whether whether or not they are because obviously it kind of makes sense from a team building standpoint like okay kind of tank a year, get a good draft pick and then come back the following year. But at the same time, they have a lot of talented players on the roster. Like they keep Anthony Simons like that. You know, they have Derek White, Jaylen Brown, um Peyton Pritchard, who I think is gonna have a really good year. Like George Ning, I know people don’t are not like obsessed with him, but he’s a 40% career three-point shooter. Sam Hazel, like there’s a lot of talent on this team still. Um you still have the identity of a championship organization. It’s the same coach coaching staff, Joe Mazoula, everything. So I’m probably a lot higher than some of you guys on where this team could be next year. Um, therefore, I think the team’s going to be better than people expect. And so, we’ll see what moves kind of happen. But if they want to be decent, the front court is the biggest question by far. Um, and Bassy’s to me seems like one of the best options out there. We’ll see uh whether another team grabs him. If he does end up going overseas, it’s not, you know, obviously right now. Uh, it seems like that’s less likely from, you know, from kind of what the people that I’ve spoken with. Um, but he may end up going overseas if opportunities don’t present themselves. I’m sure guys like O’Shea Brced and Lamar Stevens and Lonnie Walker also thought that they weren’t going overseas. Um, so things can quickly change. Um, but right now it’s Nia Kada and Luca Garza and Xavier Tilman and you know Xavier Tilman had a knee procedure last year. Nia Kada and Bobby Manning reported had a knee surgery this summer. Um, and Luca Garza really has not been a proven NBA player at all. Um, you know played very small small doses. So to me like I do have a lot of hope in Kada. I think Kada can be a 1212 guy. Um, if given the opportunity and right now it looks like he’s slated to be the team starting center. Like that’s kind of where things seem to be headed. Um, but he did have offseason knee surgery. Obviously, just being that size, you’re more prone to injuries. And so if Kada goes down with something, even if it’s a sprained ankle for a month, hopefully that doesn’t happen, but that happens. Like they’re really really thin in the front court. So to me, Charles Bassie seems like he’d be a great option. Um I’m not sure how realistic it is from the team standpoint, but I had kind of thought the ship had sailed and that he was definitely headed overseas and that’s not the case. So just wanted to go on here and report that. Um if you look at his per 36 numbers, I looked at this yesterday from last season. Um they’re pretty impressive. Like per 36 minutes last year, Bassie averaged 15.1 points, 14.6 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game. Um, and just for reference, and I don’t want to put these two guys against one another because they’re in two different situations, but Kada averaged 12.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per 36 minutes. Um, Kada played a little bit more, too. So, his sample size is probably closer to being accurate. Um, but Bassie was looking pretty good. He appeared in 36 games last year. Um, and then he suffered a knee injury mid-season, and that’s kind of been the biggest concern with him. Um, through four seasons in the NBA, he’s appeared in 113 games. he was drafted 53rd overall uh by the 76ers. And so it’s been a lot of just trying to stay on the court for him. But when he has been on the court for extended periods of time, like there have been a lot of good moments. And he’s the second player in NBA history to have 14 rebounds, four blocks, and four assists in less than 20 minutes played. Uh he did that with the Spurs last year. He’s the first player in league history to do that off the bench. So, you know, there’s potential. When I was watching him at summer league, I was thinking to myself like this is a guy who clearly, you know, plays with a ton of energy, can rebound the ball, can block shots, he didn’t belong in summer league, and that makes sense because he’s played in the NBA for four seasons. But I think from a showcase standpoint, it made sense to show the league, to show the Celtics that he’s healthy. Um, and he came in and and through three games, I think he really showed that. And, uh, now we’ll see if anybody picks him up. Um, but he’s very much looking to make an NBA return next season to continue to playing in the NBA. Um, and I think from what I saw, he looked like an NBA player. Um, and you know, obviously these backup bigs, they’re all flyers. They all have something fundamentally like that you’re not sure about. Otherwise, these guys would get bigger offers. I mean, you saw what Cornet commanded this summer. Like, if you’re a solid center without any big red flags, like you you get a, you know, 30 $40 million deal potentially. So, Charles Baski is certainly not looking at that. I would imagine that he’s looking at more of a a minimum contract. Um, but I think he’d be a great minimum minimum signing for the Celtics because you have him, you have Kada, you have a little bit more injury insurance for both of those guys. They do have two of them. Um, so it just depends on whether they make any additional offseason moves and whether they view him as the most serviceable backup big right now. Um, Amari Williams, who had a pretty rough summer league, but you know, I don’t read too much into that stuff, but he had a pretty rough summer league. He was drafted 46. He has yet to sign his two-way contract with the Celtics. Max Schulga officially signed his this week. I don’t think that’s I think they’re still planning on signing him. So, it’s not I don’t think that’s a red flag or anything, but he’ll probably spend a lot of time in Maine. Uh he’s a little bit more raw. Um he doesn’t have right now like the rebounding prowess, the you know, he just seems like he’s a lot younger. Um and he’s not that young, but he’s just new and it’s going to be a learning curve for him. So, I don’t think he’s going to come in right away and play minutes in Boston. So, we’ll see how that looks. But to me, you know, you have Nia Skada, you have Charles Bassie. Uh that gives you a little bit more flexibility. Obviously, Luca Garza is somebody that they believe in. They prioritized signing him right away. Uh Xavier Tilman, we’ll see if he can revert back to like the first, you know, his earlier years. He obviously didn’t play much last year. Um and and seemed a little bit hobbled just when he did. So, he dealt with some knee injuries as well. I mean, it’s tough with, you know, these bigs, you know, it’s it’s hard to stay healthy. And so the ones that are really durable, it’s a great, you know, it’s a great thing because on top of being talented and 7 feet tall, like if you’re routinely available, that’s a separator. That’s why I think Al Horford is one of the most valuable, you know, non-star bigs in the NBA because he’s very available. He’s very dependable. Um, and all indications point right now uh to Al not being in Boston next year and signing with the Warriors. So uh we’ll see what happens there. But where Bassie has been the last three years with the Spurs, it seems like that chapter is closed. They obviously they signed Luke Hornet, so they have their backup big. Um, and so it would be kind of funny if you know the Celtics swapped Luke for Charles Bassie. Um, but I think the injury thing is is a real concern. Um, and that’s, you know, that’s what, you know, teams could potentially be worried about is just if you look at his history, there’s been a lot going on, but he’s healthy right now. Um, and so that may be enough. That may be enough to give him the opportunity to stay uh in the NBA. You know, once you go overseas, it’s a lot harder to come back. I talked to Jared Singer about this a couple years ago, but he’s had a an incredible career in China. Um, and if he was in China, I think that you would see, you know, you know, if teams were going back to players in China and bringing them back, Jared Soler would have already been back in the NBA. So, it’s not that once you go overseas, you can’t come back, but it’s just really hard uh once you’re out of kind of the NBA ecosystem. So, he’s right on the cusp right now. Um, I’ll I’ll continue following up on this story for those that are interested. um would just be another guy in the front court that could give you some athleticism, some energy, some run protection, some burst, all of that. Um and I liked what I saw out of him at summer league. I thought he played hard. Um and generally played well. The first two games were definitely better than the third. But still, you know, I think there was a lot to like about just the way uh he impacted winning on the floor. And when I looked back at it and I was like, no, no, nobody really had a great summer league for the Celtics, but they still won four out of five games. Um, I think he was a big reason why they were able to kind of find their footing early on and beat a Memphis team. Um, beat be beat a New York team that both pretty pretty talented teams with NBA players. Um, so that’s all for now. That’s just my news report on the Charles Bassie story. Uh, still not sure just exactly how interested the Celtics are. Um, but I don’t think that door is completely shut uh the way that it appeared. But I I do think that he’s still uh eyeing a return to the NBA next season after four years uh playing playing in the NBA. Uh that’s all for now. We’ll have more reporting coming in the coming days here and thanks you as always for watching at Boston.

Celtics reporter Noa Dalzell reports the latest on Charles Bassey, who is currently still eyeing an NBA opportunity and is drawn to the Celtics as a top destination. Noa reports the latest on the Summer League standout, and how he might fit with the Celtics.

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to You Got Boston on CLNS Media!
🍎Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mpsv8kj7
✳️Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/5xx2tudn
📺YouTube: https://youtube.com/@CLNSMEDIA

Visit our MERCH Store: https://shop.clnsmedia.com
Join Our Discord Server: https://clnsmedia.com/discord

CLNS Media is Powered by:

💰 Prize Picks – https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS
Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to The Garden Report on CLNS Media!
🍎Apple: https://bit.ly/44NYVRP
✳️Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/svjft9sk
📺YouTube: https://youtube.com/@CLNSMEDIA

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Cedric Maxwell Podcast on CLNS Media!
📺YouTube: http://youtube.com/@CLNSMEDIA
🍎Apple: http://tinyurl.com/2ajuv4f8
✳️Spotify: http://tinyurl.com/3nbmja9z

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the BIG NBA Podcast on CLNS Media!
📺YouTube: http://youtube.com/@CLNSMEDIA
🍎Apple: https://tinyurl.com/24n2h6fx:
✳️Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/8f9e756c

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to You Got Boston on CLNS Media!
🍎Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mpsv8kj7
✳️Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/5xx2tudn
📺YouTube: https://youtube.com/@CLNSMEDIA

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Bob Ryan & Jeff Goodman Podcast on CLNS Media!
📺YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@CelticsCLNS
🍎Apple: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/37f5jhwj
✳️Spotify: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/mvbvywpe

#celtics #NBA #BostonCeltics
The CLNS Media Network is the leading provider for video/audio content. CLNS is a fully credentialed member of the media with access to all NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB teams & venues.
———————————————————————————

CLNS’ rebuilt their YouTube community in less than 12 months, during a pandemic that attacked sports.

Visit the Official Home of CLNS Sports Coverage – https://clnsmedia.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/CLNSMedia
Celtics – https://twitter.com/celticsclns
Patriots – https://twitter.com/patriotsclns
Bruins – https://twitter.com/bruinsclns
Red Sox – https://twitter.com/redsoxclns
Non-Sports – https://twitter.com/northstation
Facebook – http://facebook.com/clnsmedia
INSTA – http://Instagram.com/clnsmedia
INSTA Celtics – http://Instagram.com/celticsclns
INSTA History – http://Instagram.com/nbahistoryclns