Eastern Conference Tour: Detroit Pistons JUMP Fallen Boston Celtics | Can Celtics WEATHER the Storm?

Eastern Conference Tour: Detroit Pistons JUMP Fallen Boston Celtics | Can Celtics WEATHER the Storm?

In today’s episode of Locked on Pistons podcast, we are joined by John Carouse of the Lock on Celtics to figure out is a big step back coming for Boston this year and are they behind the Detroit Pistons? Now we’ll talk about today’s episode locked on Pistons podcast. Let’s go. You are Locked on Pistons, your daily Detroit Pistons podcast, part of the Locked On network. Your team every day. What’s the deal? Welcome back to another episode of the Lockdown Pistons podcast. Per usual, I am your host Cu Hill. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons for the last four years for the Lockdown Network and Credential Media member over the last three years. And I appreciate all of you guys who make Lock on Pistons your first listen every single day. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel, hit that subscribe button, or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is closer than you think. Actually, it’s tomorrow, first game, Thursday Night Football. And right now, new customer can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets. Download the FanDuel app at fanuel.com to get started today. Today we are joined by friend of the podcast, John Corales, locked on Celtics host. We’re going to be discussing are the Celtics taking a major step back this year? What are the goals for Boston this year in a year without Jason Tatum? And has Detroit passed Boston at least for this year now? So John, before we get into it, how you doing, man? Thank you for coming on. It’s my pleasure. It’s my pleasure. Yeah. Yeah. This is this is my uh comeuppance tour. I’m going to all of the teams that, you know, all the fan bases who were like, “Oh, that guy’s an arrogant jerk.” And like, “Okay, yep. Now the Celtics are taking a step back. Everybody can, you know, laugh at me and and the Celtics.” I was going to say, “Welcome, welcome to the middle of the pack. It’s been a long time since Yeah, man. Welcome back.” It’s It’s interesting to be sitting there and like 40 wins, 41 wins. I mean it, you know, like Yeah. Yeah. Um my my off season just got a lot longer. So, um yeah, it’s Hey, you know what? It happens, man. It’s it’s cyclical and the Tatum injury kind of changed a ton and and you know we’ll we’ll see what they do with it because you know to to your point here about the big step back right away for the Celtics like yeah big step back right now for the Celtics but but is it I think maybe the biggest question is how big how long lasting is it just a temporary thing and and I think That’s the big thing for the Celtics this year. Yeah, I I that’s the question obviously we’re going to open up with. I wanted to ask you because they moved on from Christos Porzingis. They’ve moved on from Drew Holiday and obviously there’s been a lot of noise about the Celtics trying to get underneath the second apron, trying to get under the aprons, the luxury tax, whatever to save some money, which they’ve done a good job of. I think they still have some salary to offsh if they really want to get completely underneath the luxury tax. Don’t know if they’re actually going to do that or not, but sounds like they they’re I saw a report last week that maybe they could still be moving off of Anthony Simon. So, who knows what’s going to happen? I’m sure you probably are plugged in more than us. But question I have is with all that happening, like you said, just how big of a step back is coming for Boston this year? They don’t have Tatum now because Tatum I mean unfortunately obviously no one wants to see anyone go down. He looks like he’s going to miss the full year. They obviously like because of Tatum going down like I said they’ve moved on from Chris Stops Drew Holiday big contracts and brought in some guys you know I look at the front court on this team I’m like uh it’s not looking great. Um they still have they still have Brown. They still have Derrick White. How big of a step back are you guys expecting from the Boston Celtics? So I I just look at it like the Celtics are are not as good as the good teams in the East. You Cleveland, New York u and then you know who’s next? Is it is it Detroit, Orlando? you know, who who’s in Atlanta, who’s in that mix after that. The the Celtics aren’t quite as good. Certainly not as the top two teams and and and probably not as the whoever the third, fourth seed, but they’re not as bad as your tanking teams, Washington, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Toronto. Probably not as bad as those teams. And they’re probably, like you said, middle of the pack. So, it’s from where they were, it is a big step back. Uh, but they they do have, like you said, Jaylen Brown, Derek White. I don’t know how long Anthony Simons is going to be around. Uh, but they they will have Payton Pritchard off the bench. They have Sam Hower off the bench. They they have guys that have been around that are good and are super competitive and they’re not they’re not going to throw lineups out there where you’re like, “Oh, that’s that’s who you’re playing.” Uh, so unless obviously something happens, so they’re not going to go into like fullon tank mode. Now, if I don’t know, Jaylen Brown sprains an ankle, you know, pulls a hamstring, misses a month, now we’re talking a different story. But a a a healthy team, relatively speaking, is going to be a mediocre team. And the the thing that is is most important is maintaining the health of these guys long term. and and figuring out what you have around these guys because I think the Celtics are going to start going kind of I think Indiana Pacers are are becoming and you know OKC to a degree but Pacers are kind of like becoming the model of depth and you know good solid players that can be your third, fourth, fifth, sixth best. you know, there’s a debate and all of these you you got four or five guys that can all be that good. I think that’s where the Celtics are trying to figure out and that’s why they brought in a bunch of like, you know, guys that were cut, maybe didn’t get this the right opportunity. So, it’s it’s a it’s a big step back from where they were. Uh, but what they’re hoping is that they can kind of plant that foot and take that big step forward next year. Yeah. And before we wrap up here, I want to ask you this. Is there any within the community? Is there any like hope for like maybe a surprise? Like everyone is penciling in the Celtics to just take a major step at I think that’s like universally what everyone’s expecting. Is there any like within the community whether it be fans, whether it be players, executives talk about, coaches talk like is there any belief that maybe the Celtics could actually surprise with Brown, White, Pritchard and these players that they brought in despite losing Tatum and players we mentioned earlier? Well, there’s, you know, we all do it. Best case scenario, right? And it best case scenario almost never happens. But the best case scenario for Boston is that, you know, Nimish Kada, who was their third string center last year, hey, he’s playing okay for Portugal at Euro Basket and and maybe he he’s developing, you know, he picked up basketball late. Maybe he’s just picking up some things. uh a little bit later in his career and and maybe he’ll be a passable, you know, decent defender and you got Chris Buchche and okay, maybe there’s maybe that a a big man rotation that I was I’ve been saying is maybe the worst in the NBA. You say, “Hey, well, look, maybe they they actually can do a little something because Buché has blocked a couple of shots in his career. Kada is a big seven foot guy. He he blocked some shots. If you can get some rim protection, you can play fast.” Well, Jaylen on his own, excuse me, I think this past season has done a, you know, he did a really good job of handling things when Tatum missed a few games here and there. If he can be the accepting the double team, draw guys out, kick it to the right guy, let let his teammates play four on three, maybe give and go, they can cut, they can play faster, they can up their field goal attempts. If all of that stuff comes to pass and Derek White is great and Pritchard has a, you know, a sixman of the year off the bench or whatever, if he’s a starter, who knows? If if all of these things come together, then you’re like, well, hey, look, not not a top two seed, but depending on how the rest shakes out, I think after Cleveland and New York, there are a lot of teams that you’re going to start making a case. This team has a chance. Detroit has a chance at the three seed. Orlando has a chance. you you can even like talk yourself into, you know, Milwaukee or Atlanta or like some of these. So, all of this is a long-winded way to say that if a lot of these things go Boston’s way, acknowledging that things like this never come to pass. But if then there is a chance of surprise, and I didn’t even mention that, I do believe that Tatum will come back during the season. I don’t think his entire season is out because I think he’s a little bit ahead of schedule. I think that, you know, at 27 years old, the type of shape he was in, he got that surgery the very next morning. He was lucky to be in New York with the number one guy there with an innovative kind of new surgery that’s that’s shown to get guys back faster. I just feel like there’s and I’m not saying this is like, hey, Tatum’s going to come back and lead them into the playoffs, but I’m just saying that we might I I’m going to say it’s a a decent chance that we will see Jason Tatum put on a Celtics uniform at some point during the season. Even if it’s like glorified rehab, somehow I think we will see Jason Tatum on the floor for the Celtics. And again, if everything goes right, you’re like, “Whoa, he comes back, he does well, the Celtics get into the playoffs, he finds his way somewhere during the playoffs, and it’s like, oh crap, now we got to play the the Celtics in the playoffs, and they’re like the seventh seed, but Tatum looks okay.” And and Jaylen looks great and and oh no. So that’s the ultimate best case scenario. Yeah, that’s interesting. If Tatum comes back next year, I think that would be I mean, everyone’s hoping for a full recovery for him, but if I get to watch Jason Tatum basketball next year, I’d be happy for that because Jason Tatum is one of my favorite players to watch. So, if he comes back fully healthy next year, that’d be a lot of fun. Um, coming up though, goals for the Boston Celtics this year. I don’t know if the goals are technically win the championship. So, from a team that has been championship or bust really the last few years now, what are the goals now for the Boston Celtics? We’ll break it down coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is almost here. Starting tomorrow, Thursday Night Football, Cowboys, Eagles, and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. 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That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet and you’ll get $300 in bonus bets if your bet wins to use across the app. That’s fuel.com to download the app. Bet $5, win $300 in bonus bets with FanDuel. So, I want to thank you guys again for making Locked On Pistons your first listen every single day. We’re free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Locked OnPist, hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review, whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. another great way to support the podcast. Today’s episode is the first one we’re doing of the Eastern Conference preview. We’ll be talking with all the e Eastern Conference teams. Yes, even the Brooklyn Nets. We’ll try to talk with them if they want to talk about the Brooklyn Nets. I don’t know. Sorry. But we’re talking with John. We’re talking with John Lock on the Celtics first here. We’re gonna get into the goals. The goals for the Boston Celtics this year. Um John, obviously over the last few years, Celtics won a championship two years ago. It feels like really like I don’t know if championship or bust is the right word, but since Tatum and Brown have really been in Boston, they’ve been a contender every year. So maybe not the first few years it’s been championship or bus. But the last few years it feels like every year the goal has been win a championship, win a championship, win a championship. And they’ve had two finals appearances. They’ve been close. A lot of people thought they had a chance to repeat this past year. They’ve been a fantastic basketball team. But like we talked about earlier, Tatum goes down, a lot of these players leave, things change. So, what are the goals now for the Celtics this year? Because I don’t think it’s championship. So, what are they looking forward to accomplish this year? I think ultimately it’s finding pieces that fit well around Tatum and Brown. Um, and you know that’s why they went out and got Luca Garza and Josh May not and you know Anthony Simons or whatever Anthony Simons you know becomes after a trade. They’re looking for guys that can fill a role that you might say really that guy and you know you he becomes you know one of the you know I don’t know pick a pick a pacer that you’re like that that guy’s burning us right now. And so I I do reference the Pacers a lot in my analysis of this year’s Celtics because I think in the second apron era that’s going to be I think the the blueprint to kind of follow where scouting departments become more important than ever and you you obviously have to hit on your number one guy right Tatum Cade your your guy that you’re writing you know Shay Shay Gildis Alexander right and You hope that maybe one of the guys in the middle of the draft becomes your, you know, number two that you can, you know, however he develops, he develops. But then it’s the rest is fit. And if you can put together a roster that just fits well, is a bunch of tryards, and, you know, is all on the same page, that that’s going to be, I think, the the team that is at the top of, you know, the the odds. And so I think the Celtics see this opportunity. Jaylen Brown is 29 this year. So this is his final year in his 20s in the NBA, which is, you know, kind of scary. Uh because there’s not there’s really not much time that that time in your 30s goes quick. Tatum is only a couple years away. Uh Derek Wei is already in his 30s. So I think the Celtics need their goals are to you got to find the guys that fit. And you know, I won’t rule out the possibility of like Jaylen Brown going and you know, being traded this off, you know, next off season to help facilitate the fit. You know, I I don’t know if it’s going to be Tatum and Brown for the next two, three years, which it easily could be, or if it’s going to be Tatum. Brown goes off, like, let’s say Brown has an amazing year and he’s like, “Look, I’ve spent all this time as the number two guy. I just had an amazing AllNBA year as a number one guy. I turned 30 next year. I need to be able to go lead a team for the next, you know, few years into my early 30s. I need to know what that’s what that’s going to be. So, could be a mutually beneficial somebody’s looking for a number one guy. Jaylen has proved it. The Celtics say, “Okay, we’re going to, you know, try to get our center that fits around Tatum, that fits around White, and we can kind of cobble that together.” So, the goal is the fit, figuring out the fit. And it’s not about how many wins. I’m sure there are guys like Jaylen and, you know, Joe Misoula that want to prove people wrong and be like, “Hey, we’re going to win 48 games.” Sure, go for it. Um, but that’s not the goal. They’re not winning a championship this year. They’re going to be a middle of the pack team probably. Uh, so it’s about championship next year or if you want to give Tatum a full year under his belt after the injury the following year because then after that second apron CBA, the Celtics are going to have to fall into the rebuild at some point. So it’s it’s about fit in in the next two maybe three years of like squeezing the last ounces of contention out of this roster. Yeah. In speaking to the fit, I had a question concerning that, you kind of mentioned maybe moving Brown next year if he has a great year and maybe he wants to become a one and he’s like, “Hey, I’ve been doing this my whole career. I want to go see what it’s like to be a one and you know, whatever.” Um, the question I had was, is there any way that this year, because I’ve seen a lot of reports about what the Celtics want this year to be? They’ve mentioned the fit. I’ve seen some people suggest maybe the Celtics should just rebuild. They should do what the Mavericks did and tank a year or take it the end of the year and try to get a top pick and then come back. Whatever. Whatever. Is there any possibility I have two scenarios I want to throw at you. Is there any possibility one that the Celtics try to use this year midyear to try maybe sell off of White and or Brown to try to get a lot assets back to rebuild a team moving forward around Tatum once he’s back healthy? That’s one. And then two, is there any way possible that the Celtics try to use this season as kind of more take chances on some guys that are maybe like not second contract guys, but maybe trade for some guys that like, hey, you know, we want to take a chance on maybe they blow up with us. Maybe they go crazy for us and now we have something moving forward. Like which one do you do you think either of those options are possible? And which ones do you think is more likely? Are either of them not possible at all? I think I think it’s the second one. Right. I don’t think they’re tanking. Like I they I I just don’t see it. Um and and maybe they are. Maybe they do. I can’t rule anything out, right? If if Jaylen is having an awesome year and someone at the trade deadlines like this is a deal. Here’s the this is a godfather offer the Celtics have to consider it. Um but I don’t think the goal is to just outright tank because then, you know, you might as well move off of Jason. you might as well move off of everybody. Um, and I I I I just don’t think you get a core like this. You don’t get your Jason Tatums all the time. And I know he’s coming off that, you know, terrible injury, but he’s again, he in his prime, all of the things I laid out earlier, I feel like he can come back and be pretty close to, if not back to his normal self. Like, this is not the the Achilles injuries of 15 years ago. innovations in the surgery, the recovery, all of that stuff are making it easier to recover and you can come back and be your old self depending on how you play. So, I don’t think they want to give up on Tatum and I don’t think tanking is the way to go when you got a guy already in his prime. If Tatum was 24, maybe we’d be having a different conversation. The way I think the Celtics are approaching this is you’ve got Tatum. If you can keep Brown, great. I Either way, I’m I’m kind of cool with I can see good results either way. You keep those few guys that you have and then, you know, Minnesota cuts Garza, boom, bring them in. Somebody cuts somebody in a buyout, someone, you know, if the uh kaminga thing pans out where somebody has to cut salary, the Celtics can maybe hop in and like, we’ll take that salary. And maybe that’s just a guy that needs more opportunity. It’s it’s like you have the nice blazer and maybe the pants and you’re you’re you’ve got like limited funds to go get your shirt, your tie, your shoes, all the accessories. So you’re like, “Okay, I got a couple of nice pieces. Now I’m going to the clearance racks to see if I can dress this up and make, you know, have my other pieces make the other stuff look better than they actually are. So that’s I think where the Celtics approach is. All right, fair enough. Coming up, I want to talk with John about Boston verse Detroit. Is Detroit finally better than the Boston Celtics? We’ve waited a long time. Is that finally Is that finally something we can argue about? We’ll talk about it coming up. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on Pistons your first listen every single day. We are free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel, locked on Pistons, hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review, whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. Boston verse Detroit, John, who would have thought that you’d be in 2025 arguing and arguing Detroit better than Boston. But I guess we’ll get right into it. Yeah. I believe that the Pistons will finish ahead than the Boston Celtics this year in the Eastern Conference. I think the Pistons will be fighting for a four five seed in the East um with Atlanta. That’s how I’m seeing it shake out. Do you believe Boston one is better than Detroit or two could finish higher than Detroit despite the fact that they’ve went through all the changes we’ve obviously discussed over the last 20 minutes or so? No, I I agree with you. I think the Pistons are going to finish. How much did that hurt to say the Celtics? I mean, listen, man. It’s It is what it is, man. It is what it is. It lit. Look, I’m not saying this just because I’m on the Lockdown Pistons podcast, and it’s kind of weird coming from a Boston guy considering the Celtics and Pistons history, but I have a ton of respect for the progress that this Pistons team has made. I think the, you know, starting going back like two seasons ago, maybe three, the Pistons have just been a pain for the Celtics. No matter how good the Celtics are, I just always look at the Pistons like, oh man, this is not going to be easy. If the Celtics aren’t playing right, they’re going to lose this game. And they’ve lost a couple to the Piston. I’m like, this they’re just, you know, this is a a tryhard team. Cade’s good. Like, he’s going to figure it out. I think the Pistons are kind of in that like they’re they’re taking that next step this season. Like I I like where they’ve gone. I I my my loyalty, as I say all the time, is to the game of basketball. And so I will give credit where credit is due. The Pistons are are earning this uh praise uh for all the work that they’ve done. They should finish. I think they could finish in the top four. I think that’s a home court in the first round of the playoffs is is certainly possible for the Pistons. The Celtics, I think they’re probably going to be like a six or seven seed. Um I don’t want them to be in the playin, but you know, if if they’re if they’re teetering on the in the plan, I’d rather at that point just like, okay, let’s just if Jaylen has proven what he needs to prove. Has he gotten his 65 games? Good. sit him, you know, just like at that point if you’re I’d rather just at that point tank than be fighting for that seven seed. Uh but I still think the Celtics are going to be good enough considering how bad the East is uh to be in that in that mix. So, but the Pistons, yeah, man, I I don’t know what else to say. The Pistons are going to be a good team and I and I I think they they will beat the Celtics plenty of times this upcoming season. We’ll see. We’ll see about that. Uh I do want to get I know people people are expecting to be like, “Oh, great. The Boston’s guy Boston guys on here. He’s going to be a jerk. We’re going to boo.” And I’m like, “No, man. Respect. I got I got, you know, it is what it is.” Like I can’t look at what’s happening on the on, you know, this off seasonason and be like, I can’t lie. I’m not I’m not Stephen A. Smith, man. I’m not going to come on here and be like just yelling for the sake of yelling. Like, no, man. Pistons are good, man. So, I want to get your thoughts on the Pistons before we wrap up from an outsiders point of view. The Pistons obviously like you mentioned last year had a finished in six seed, had a really good first round series. Cade kind of blew up kind of getting that respect now across the league. They come back this year. From an outsiders point of view, what are your questions about this team? Do you have any like, oh, I don’t know about this or I need to find out I I need to know if they can do this before I really believe in them or do you believe that they act they’re going to be really this? What are your thoughts and maybe questions concerning this team from an outsers’s point of view heading into this year? Um, I don’t know, man. I just I feel like I’ve seen like steady steady progress with these guys and so, you know, I I am kind of curious as to like, you know, how’s Duncan Robinson going to do and, you know, like the Caris Lever like like those guys. Uh, but I don’t know. I just I don’t I don’t sit there and and first of all, I’m not like breaking down everything about the Pistons, so I’m not getting granular like you are. Um, I like I like their roster. I obviously I like Cade. I think, you know, Assar Thompson is, you know, he he’s pretty good and he’s he’s going to, you know, make an impact. And you know, you’ve got you’ve got like you got bigs, you’ve got wings, you’ve got a point guard, you got a big physical point guard. Like you’ve got all the pieces. I I my biggest question about the Pistons is, you know, having it all come together. Like again, we talk I talk about fit so much like how’s this fit going to be this upcoming season? And and that’s that’s the thing like you know what moves are there to be made in the middle at the trade deadline if they need to make a move. So, um I I’m just more looking for them to take the next step to gel for Cade to take that next step and be like, “Hey, you know, be be the central uh you know, willing this team to, you know, he which he’s done, but willing them to more success and and just being that the kind of guy that um can, you know, like the the heat from that heliocentric kind of player. Can that really kind of light everybody else up? I don’t know another way to say that. So, yeah, it’s it’s I think I think the Pistons are are when I said before they’re taking that next step. Like I want to see that that cohesion, that like execution. I want to see them, you know, they they have like the attitude. They have I think the plan. I just want to see like less mistakes. I want to see it more fluid. I want to see them kind of like the confidence in each other to just be like, “Hey, we we know what we’re doing now.” I just feel like I feel like that’s where they start to take off. Yeah. And I think that’s where their president of basketball operations, Tan Link’s at with it as well. He’s talked about all offseason about wanting to find out answers about these young guys. Jaylen Duran, Jay Ivy, are both up for extensions. They haven’t been extended. I don’t think they’re going to be. I think Traan’s walking into this year kind of like what you’re mentioning. He just wants to know, do all these guys fit together? We had a fun year last year, but I don’t want to commit all the money and all the resources to a one oneoff fun year where you didn’t see Ivy for half the year and you just want to know, can all these guys fit together before we commit long term? Is this the roster of the future? So, I I’ve said this before on the podcast a lot all off seasonason. I think the Pistons and Traion are looking at it like if they take a step back win loss-wise, but they get answers about the rest of the core moving forward. I think he’d take that. I think he if it results in more wins, I think he’d take that, too. But I think he’s more so just trying to figure out, hey, does Assar Ivy Duran fit with Kade? Does Ron Assar Duran fit with Kade? Does is Ivy the back court mate of Cade? Like, is that where I want to go? Because again, they’re up for extensions this offseason. Assar is up for an extension next offseason. K’s extensions kicking in already. So, you kind of got and like you mentioned earlier with the second apron now, you have to be smart about your financials. And I do agree with you that I think it’s gonna be teams are going to be built now more like I mean OKC is hard to say because they’re just, you know, crushing every pick they make. But like Indiana is a very deep team of just really good role players who all play well together, play the right way, and fit with each other. I think teams are going to go that route. So I think that’s where Traion’s trying to figure out this year. They’re hoping that results in a lot of wins and the young guys take steps forward, but I think they’re trying to figure out the same thing you mentioned. They’re just trying to figure out the fit of these guys and what what’s it going to look like when they all finally get a good sample size together, which they just haven’t been able to have due to injuries over the last few years. But Pistons, I do think we’ll finish above the Celtics. But I think I think the Celtics will be back to contention next year. I I very much am a fan of Tatums. I think you guys will be right back to contention soon. I think so, too. I think the Celtics will figure it out. And like like you said with the with the Pistons and their extensions, like the way the CBA is, you can’t you can’t miss. You if you’re going to give the guy the extension, he he needs to be worth it. And you have enough talent here where if the fit isn’t there, you can make a move and get talent back. Like the Pistons can’t be afraid of doing that. Like the number one mistake the Pistons can make is what you said is like getting caught up in the well this group is ascending and and not like understanding like each year is its own thing and the player pick a player right Jaden Ivy Jaylen Duran what he was last year or the last two years or whatever doesn’t necessarily mean that next year he’s going to be this and and if there’s fundamental problems that you know fitwise You have to be willing to make a move, even if the guy’s somewhat popular just to get that fit right and just deal with the fan backlash. Because if you screw it up and give too many extensions to the wrong guys, you’re it’s you’re just basically attaching a boulder to Cade Cunningham’s neck and saying, “Okay, now now go try to play basketball.” And you can’t you can’t do that. So, um I’m looking forward to the Celtics and the Pistons being at the like a a playoff series, you know, that would be a lot of fun. Yes. You know, maybe a conference finals somewhere, old school Celtics Pistons. That would be a lot of fun. I want to see that in the next couple years. Yeah. Hopefully the Pistons can improve their roster and these young guys can take a step forward to where when Tatum comes back, they can compete with the Celtics. I I I love the example you brought up or the point you brought up about not being scared to move off of a guy that maybe is a fan favorite. I mean, Boston did it with Marcus Smart. They went out and traded a guy who was loved by the fan base and loved by the city. Got Chris Stops and went on and win a championship. So, sometimes you got to make moves like that. But, we’ll wrap it up there. John, let everybody know where they can find you and your work and the podcast, all that good stuff. Uh my written work is at Boston Sports Journal. So if you want to uh check that out there, obviously the podcast is locked on Celtics and uh locked on NBA Game Night on Friday nights. So uh that’s on on Twitter xj_corales. Uh let’s see. You’ll find me from there. You’ll find me. Fair enough. Fair enough. Actually, last thing I want to say just real quickly. Does Luca Garzo have a chance? He’s a former Piston drafted by the Pistons. His family’s really fun. I had his dad on the podcast. He’s a good guy. They’re good guys. But, you know, he’s gonna get it. He’s gonna have a chance. He’ll be given a chance to prove himself. That that that’s that’s like the number one thing for the Celtics. He’ll get minutes and he’ll have a chance. Like my number one thing for Joe Missoula is don’t get caught up in winning these games in November, December, January. They don’t matter. you are you’re this is a two regular season season right for the Celtics where this 82 games is like the first half where you’re trying to let’s figure out if Luca guards you got to give Luca that opportunity so then in the next 82 games which is the second half of the season to me you can have Tatum back and make your run so yeah he’ll get he’ll get time um and then it’s up to him all right we’ll see vers Luca the best best of luck Pistons fans still follow him. Wish him the best. His dad’s great. I’m sure. That’s a good sign. That’s a good sign. I like that. Yeah. If if they play well, I’m sure you’ll hear from his dad. His dad’s but All right. Appreciate all of you guys making Lockown Pistons your first listen every single day. Hit that subscribe button to the YouTube channel. Leave us a fivestar review. Whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s John from Lockdown Celtics. I’m Coo Lockown Pistons. And until next time, I will see you guys later. Stay safe out there everybody.

Celtics face unexpected challenges: Can they overcome roster shakeups and injuries to stay competitive?

Host Ku Khahil and guest John Karalis analyze the Boston Celtics’ projected performance decline for the upcoming NBA season. They discuss the impact of Jason Tatum’s injury and key player departures on the team’s prospects. The conversation shifts to the Celtics’ evolving goals, focusing on building around Tatum and Brown. Khahil and Karalis also compare the Celtics to the Detroit Pistons, exploring each team’s potential in the Eastern Conference. The episode examines the Pistons’ roster additions and their path forward under Trajan Langdon’s leadership.

Please tune in for expert insights on how the Celtics and Pistons are navigating crucial turning points in their respective rebuilds.

SUBSTACK: kukhahil.substack.com

TWITCH: twitch.tv/kukhahil7

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