LIVE Garden Report: Celtics Media Day Preview + Leftover Ownership Questions
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 Saturday edition of the Garden Report. Chris Gasper on hand from the Boston Globe and we’re just a day and change away from media day for the Celtics. Get to meet the new players, hear from some of the old ones, talk to Joe, see where he’s at after a pretty quiet summer for him. And uh Chris was there for the ownership in introduction on Thursday, which was a nice warm-up uh press conference for us all as we get back into the Celtics coverage here. So, we’ll talk about that. talk about his outlook for this team this year. Jason Tatum’s media tour. A lot of stuff to get to here and we’ll even sneak in a little socks. I just got back from Fenway. Chris, where’s your mind at going into Celtics season? What are you hot on? Uh I I’m really curious. My number one thing that I’m most curious about, and I think a lot of people say, “Oh, you know, how does Jaylen Brown perform as a number one?” I want to see how Anthony Simons performs on this team, what they envision his role as. uh how committed they are to him for this year. If they feel like he’s not a fit or he’s not helping the team enough, will they move that contract to try and get under the luxury tax? Is he somebody they look at with the pieces they had to peel off and Chris Porzingis and Drew Holiday and then we expect Al Horford obviously to sign with Golden State any day now make that official. uh do they see Simons as potentially a long-term third star for this team or you know fourth guy depending on how you feel about Derek White. So Simons is interesting to me because I’m just sort of curious what their plans are for him if they even know or if he has to play his way into a role both shortterm and potentially long term for this team in the last year of his contract. Yeah. And we’ve talked a ton about it. Where’s he at on it? I think that’s going to be interesting too. This will be the first time we hear from him since arriving in Boston. And you’ve seen him a little bit at the Hourback Center. Some positive um you know reactions to you know the work he’s putting in over there so far and and just who he is and all of that. So I’m intrigued by him. I think out of all the things that happened this off season, his arrival is really the only thing to get excited about with all the departures and injuries and everything else going on. And you know before they dumped Porzingis and some of the other guys that went out the door, you actually felt pretty good about getting back Simons. And I know it was two seconds at the time, but that that felt like a pretty good trade glo contract and bringing back a guy like that who led the Blazers in scoring last year. So you know, we’ve talked a ton about it. If do you want to see him start? That’s been a big debate, him or you know, that’s a great question. I think with with Jason Tatum out, I do probably want to see him start. And I also think maybe that gives him the best chance in terms of, you know, getting comfortable defensively as well, which I think is one of the big questions about him. I think if he’s starting and he’s on the floor with Derek White, maybe that helps him a little bit. Obviously, you can get into different rotations of guys who are out there, but yeah, I think I would actually like to see him start and I think they could probably use the offense. So, in terms of getting comfortable in a Celtics uniform, being able to get some of his shots up with that first unit and then defensively getting in a groove and maybe not getting exposed and sort of learning what they want from him, it probably helps if he’s out there with the first unit, too. And then, you know, however the rotations go, the rotations go after that. And there could be times he’s out there with a a second unit as sort of a number one or number two option, and maybe that gives him a little bit more space eventually. But I I do think I want to see him start. Yeah, that’s where most people seem to be at. I’ve been on the Pritchard bandwagon. Want to see more of him. Want to see what his ceiling is this year in a starting role in a large role. But they’re going to have to balance lineups a little bit. I think that’s a good argument for maybe him coming off the bench. Simons, I think your defensive ones pretty valid there when it comes to concerns about him on that end. So, yeah, they’ll mix and match. We’ll see what happens there. Um, I think we’ll probably see a lot of different starting lineups this year. That’s where I’m at. Like they’ve had some pretty steady starting units in recent years. This is the kind of team where makes sense to have various different options there. So, uh, that’s a big question. I think the biggest one though is where Tatum’s at. And we heard a ton about that this week. Uh, him doing the media rounds with a bunch of different publications. I I’ve never seen a media blitz like that, Chris, from a guy who’s not super into media coverage. So, I I have two questions for you. Where you at on him playing this year? And why do you think other than the sponsorship, which is obvious there, why do you think he went on such a massive media blitz this week after really not talking since his Achilles tear? Yeah, I would say, you know, one, I haven’t ruled him out playing. It seems like he’s making great progress in all across sports here, even though it’s a different injury. But I think we’ve made some medical advances here. I look at Stfan Diggs. I never dreamed he’d be participating in training camp or ready to go week one for the Patriots with a torn ACL, you know, basically, you know, 10 months after he tore it. So, I think they’re making advances. You see that with ACL’s. I think there are some advances happening with the Achilles. Obviously, uh the had the benefit of being in New York, they did it that night. The the Center for Special Surgery in New York, they were able to do that. Hospital for Special Surgery, whatever that’s called, able to do that. And it seems like he’s making a pretty quick recovery. It definitely seems like he has a date in mind. And even when I I’ve been throwing this conspiracy theory out there, when I look at the schedule the Celtics have, it sort of struck me. I’m like, wait, they don’t play the Bucks until like February, you know? So that makes me wonder if the league has some sort of idea of like Tatum’s gonna come back and it’s gonna be that would be hilarious if they knew or March or something like that because it does feel like at this point he’s going to come back. If he feels like he’s good to go then, you know, I don’t have a problem with it. In terms of the media blitz, obviously he’s getting paid in terms of that sponsor with the uh you know, painkiller um you know, whatever that company is. But I think it’s also a little bit of probably he’s feeling optimistic about things and he wants to let people know that. I think he probably also wants to tell the story a little bit about, you know, it can be lonely and isolating when you’re injured and this is really the first time he’s had to deal with that. This is a guy who basically is the center of the Celtics universe and people are a lot of people were sort of talking about this year like not even including him, not even think he’s going to play. And so that’s a huge emotional adjustment. So I think he kind of enjoyed being back in the limelight and reminding people that, you know, he’s still here and he’s still the center of the Celtics universe. That was the big one for me. And I that’s what I could feel from his comments and even just his demeanor in these is I’m still here. Don’t forget about me. And I think that’s probably a part of the reason he got out there so vocally. And I I think the first take exchange showed that too cuz Stephen A was almost like, “Yeah, you know, they’re not going to have you this here and then Tatum’s like, I haven’t said I’m not playing this season. And in another interview, he said he say he has a date in mind specifically too as you referred to there. So, I came out of this and I know my co-host John didn’t feel this way because of just the timeline on something like this, but I I feel like he’s going to be good to go, too. I don’t think you’re this confident and this outgoing about the potential return unless you’re feeling really good about the timeline right now. Now, is it too early in the process to actually be able to know if he’s definitively going to be able to come back? There’s been some talk, too, of like, oh, if you’re in it, you maybe comes back. If you’re out of it, maybe you give it more time. Yeah. I don’t know if that’s actually how the consideration will go. And, you know, I want your thoughts on this, too, because Brad obviously got asked about it at the press conference in th on Thursday and was like, “We’re not putting any timeline on it. We’re waiting for 100%.” Um, you know, I think he said it’s going to be Jason’s call to some degree, but there’s going to be other people in that room, too. So, I almost wonder too if Tatum was advocating for himself against the team’s cautiousness um going into this year and where where they wanted to be because I felt like this team has left the door open, but they’ve tried to be as cautious as possible and Tatum’s the kind of guy who’s going to want to get back as fast as possible just knowing him. Well, I think one thing, Bobby, is you don’t want to take that carrot away from him. I think they realize even if you look at it and say, you know, discretion is the better part of Valor here that if they give him that carrot of you could potentially play, it probably works to motivate him in terms of the rehab. Like one of the things I know he talked about and I’d heard this you know before he mentioned you know being in the facility six days a week and you you know you’re hearing stuff I Mark Bertran had the report on 985 the sports hub talking about how the Celtics are very pleased with his rehab and how even when he goes on like a trip you know he does like a little trip he does like weekend trips and he comes he’s right back at the facility to go with the rehab. So, he’s clearly really into it. And if you take that finish line carrot away from him of potentially playing this year, what’s the real incentive motivation to rehab as hard as you can? So, even if they at some point are going to have to tell him, “No, it’s not worth it. We’re not doing it. You know, we we we’re looking at 20 26 20 27.” You don’t want to tell him that now. You might want to tell him that five months from now, but you don’t want to tell him that now because I think it can be beneficial uh to you to have him as motivated as possible and as focused and fixated as possible on the rehab process. Yeah. And that’s where it’ll stand until I don’t know what are we talking about here. January will be 8 months if I’m doing the math correctly. February 9, you know, it just gets a little bit closer as you go along there. But, you know, as you get into April will be 11 months. And so that’s a pretty good amount of time for him to be able to recover and do you know I think he said he’s doing a 20 minute onc court workout right now and you know able to run up and down the floor a little bit like we’re four months out of this thing and if I remember correctly Dejante Murray who got hurt in like March more give or take he’s already dunking and that’s what like just a couple months more than Tatum. That’s that’s that’s basically six months. Yeah. So, you know, that’s six months. He’s a couple months ahead of of of Tatum. Yeah. And some of the football players, I know a different sport and all that, too, but you know, you’ve seen guys come back like six, seven months from that injury now in football. I don’t think anyone’s done it that fast on the basketball court for whatever reason, and the best results have seemingly been guys who take a little bit longer, take take their time. Durant, the biggest example of that. Um, but this thing seems to be advancing and his doctor talked about that in the story and you know how he’s doing calf raises faster than anyone’s ever done them before and all that. And you’ve heard about the speed bridge technique. Like there’s just a lot that’s changed with this injury that used to be a death sentence to a career. Yes. And now you’re wondering like is he just going to be obviously not immediately, right? There’s going to be a ramp up process and all that, but is he just going to be able to go right back to where he was previously in some amount of time once he gets back? That’s the best case scenario obviously. Yeah, it is. And I I think part of it is, you know, what’s his time like, for example, you know what I wouldn’t do? What I wouldn’t do is if he can’t make it back until say early April and then he’s not getting a lot of regular season time and then you’re going to throw him into the playoffs potentially. and the most physically, mentally exhausting basketball where you’re exerting yourself the most. If he is going to come back and play potentially in the playoffs, I think he needs some runway there. Some regular season runway. It can’t just be like two weeks. In my mind, he would need about a month of regular season. And that doesn’t mean he plays in every game, but like about a month of the regular season where they figure out a rhythm, a rotation, what he can do, what he can’t do, where he gets back in basketball shape, like game shape, and then, you know, hopefully you’re in the playoffs and you do it and then he can play there and and you never know what can happen. But if it’s like he’s not cleared for games until early April, at that point, I’m not I’m not bringing him back in the playoffs because I think you’re just inviting injury. He would need more runway than that to ramp up for me to play in the most intense basketball at the most intense time of the year. Want to get into some other storylines here going into camp. Uh first I want to give a shout out to prize picks as the weekend gets going here and you got all the college games rolling already tonight even. I’m sure there’s some yet to kick off. 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How do they how do they plan to fill the center position? And what is that? Are you all in on Kate or is it going to be by committee or, you know, where are you at there? It’s a good question. So, I I am I am not all in on Kada. That doesn’t mean I don’t want him to be potentially even a starter. I think he’ll be a big part of this thing, but I’m not putting all my eggs in that basket. I think it has to be more by committee. There has to be an opportunity for some other folks. You know, Luca Garzer here. Uh Chris Bush, I really like that signing. I know he’s a he’s he’s we haven’t talked a lot about him and I don’t think it was so late in the offseason, I feel like a lot of people didn’t even notice they brought him in on a minimum. Yeah, I like him as a player. He’s not your traditional center. I mean, he’s he’s slight of build, but he’s a shot blocker and he can make threes and that suits the Celtics in my mind. I think he can have a role on this team. Now, who knows, maybe something happens, you know, he gets in Joe’s doghouse, he’s the next Xavier Tilman, they feel like they’re not using him, whatever. But that I thought that was a sneaky good signing for the Celtics and could help them try and fill that hole in the middle. Yeah. And he’s in an interesting place in his career. He’s a veteran. He’s in his 30s now. He’s going to be 33 this year. Uh he’s been pretty steady with that Raptors team, but never really broke through as a starter. So he’s been playing 17 minutes a game for his career. The per 36 and it doesn’t always work out this way, but per 36 for his career. 18 and 10. You mentioned the three-point shooting, 34% for his career, but coming off a 36% season where he shot eight per 36. So, you know, when he played, he got up a lot of threes. 21 points per 36 last year on a pretty bad Raptors team. But, you know, for the first time in his career, is he going to be pushing 20, 30 minutes can even get there? And I think that’s a big question with all these centers, too, is they have a bunch of guys who’ve never really played big minutes every night roles in their careers. And that’s what they’re going to need from at least one of these guys. and Buché just given what he’s done in his career so far. Championship, all the different stuff he’s done up there in Toronto, might actually be the best bet for that role. But as you mentioned, dinner guy. Yes, probably not as tall as you want to be at that center position. So, can he actually play center? I have him slotted in as the starting four right now on this team next to Kada. I think that’s how they’re going to roll there. Yeah, that’s interesting. And that’s what I look at. you do you have some lineups where maybe you go a little smaller and it’s Buchche even maybe my not you know if you’re going small because that’s another wild card here too like he’s another guy who’s not really a center but he’s maybe your second best shot blocker yeah and so when I look at do you want to put someone who maybe and I haven’t seen a lot of Garza but do you want to put somebody out there who maybe is not exactly a great fit for what you do but is a center or would you rather put somebody out there who maybe is not a traditional center or an ideal center but is fits what you want to do and you know what I will say this about Buchche I mean Buchet again he he is smaller in terms of slight of build but he he can protect the rim and if that’s you know what you’re looking for uh you know three and D type of guy I think he fits that a lot more than Garza who doesn’t really have a lot of range. Yeah and I think they’re going to have Garza put him up this year. the defense is the question with him. Again, shorter center, hasn’t played many NBA games in his career to this point. So, it it’s it’s a very thin position for them right now, more than any other on this roster, and it definitely is one of the bigger questions there. Um, before we move on to some other stuff, where you at on Jaylen? We we’ve talked about it a little bit, you know, in some of our previous episodes coming out of last year, even, you know, once Tatum toss Achilles in that season. It was interesting. best game of his career maybe in game five after Tatum went down, one of the worst ones of his career in the game six following out and the seven turnovers and all that. And I think that’s so emblematic of what he’s about to face this year where it’s going to be on him to produce every single night now. And we know he can reach that game five level, but there’s also the game six lows, too. And if he’s riding that wave a little bit this year, it’s going to be a difficult season. But there’s also a scenario where he has an MVP level season ascends this team to, you know, a top seed in the East and all of a sudden it’s like, whoa, you know, Jaylen can lead a team. I think that’s going to be fascinating to follow all year. Yeah, I think that’s going to be one of the number one narratives, talking points all year long. And when I look at it, I think the challenge for Jaylen will be not getting his own points. I I think he’ll be able to do that. and the efficiency. We’ll see how that works out. It’ll probably go down a little bit, but you see even on bad teams, there are guys that get their points. My biggest question, what tell you like is is he going to come through and have a massive year? Is it going to be like oo this is what it looks like as a number one for him? My Yeah, you know, I it’s funny. I I feel like it’s probably going to be, and I’m not trying to cop out on this, probably somewhere in between. And the reason I say that is cuz I’m just not sure about the supporting cast. And that’s my that’s my biggest question mark about him is is he the type of player that can elevate a supporting cast and and I I I don’t know if he can get to that point. He certainly has made improvements every year. And even if he is the type of player who can elevate a supporting cast, can he elevate this supporting cast? You know, it’s we all guys who have never played. Yeah. We all talk about Jaylen having to ascend in role, but I think I have more confidence in him ascending from where he was at as a two or one a to a one than I have in some of the other guys. Like, so now I’m asking Derek White to go from like a three to a two maybe or like a four to a two. You know, you’re asking Pritchard, you’re asking a lot of other people to sort of step up. And I have more confidence in Jaylen being a because he’s done it at times even with Tatum on the court, you know, and and on the team. He’s there are times, you know, obviously Eastern Conference Finals MVP, NBA Finals MVP, where he has been the best player, uh, you know, in a given game. So, I I feel more confident in him, Bobby, ascending to a number one role than I do in some of the people behind him having to go up, having to level up. That’s sort of the way I feel about it. You know, I remember 2021 and, you know, I was thinking about that the other day. Is this team better, worse than that 2021 team? Because that was a pretty frustrating group. end of the year 500, lose round one, and they had Tatum and Brown all year. Um, but you think back it was like Rob Williams, a little bit of Romeo Langford, N Smith never really stuck that rookie year he had there, and it still ended up being a 500 team through some highs and lows. This team doesn’t have Tatum. Couple interesting pro, you know, younger guys. Pritchard’s ready to step up. like it’s probably a pretty comparable roster this time around, but you don’t have Tatum for a lot of the years. So, does that send you closer to like 38 wins, 35 wins, which I mean, you’re asking me for my gut. As of as of now, I look at the Celtics and I’m I’m predicting 45 to 48 wins. So, you’re on the high end of things, I’d say. I I I think that because I don’t think and and it’s not just about them. I don’t think very much of the East to be honest with you. I mean, I was thinking today, Philly three times in the first month. They don’t even know if Embiid’s ready. Hero goes down with a foot injury. I I hate the Bucks roster. You’re dead on there. Like this. The Pacers are missing Hallebertton all year just like you are with Tatum. Yep. And who knows with the Knicks, you know, it’s some inconsistency. Obviously, there they made the coaching change. How do they respond to Tibido not being there? Their coaching search was a disaster. uh you know, we saw the best and the worst of that. And that’s a team last year that team blew a lot of leads and lost a lot of close games and they were not a good defensive team with with Cat and and and Brunson, Jaylen Brunson, they are susceptible defensively. So, while I like some of their pieces, so when I overall look at the East, you know, I like Orlando. I’m a big Desmond Bane guy. I really like that. I’m big on Orlando. Michael Peina came on here and said he has Orlando winning the East, and I love that take. Yeah, I could see it, too. Especially if you have if Paulo Bonero and and Vagner continue to take steps forward. Obviously, they got Bane because they need more shooting it. But it’s not just about Bane. Bane has to knock down shots, but Bonero, Vagner, you know, those guys have to knock down more. I They’re such a tough team and such a good defensive team. If they can just knock down more perimeter shots first round. Yeah. They’re in business, you know. Yeah. And that was I like the addition. They got a lot of criticism for the amount of picks they gave up. I don’t really care about the picks when you’re trying to pivot toward winning. And that was the kind of player they needed. And you think he’ll be the third option there. Like he’s not even going to get all the defensive attention. He might have more room to operate there than he did in Memphis. So I think that’s going to be a grand slam. Um we’ll see the craziest stat. Zack Low says this all the time. They’ve had a bottom 10 offense for 12 straight years in Orlando. Is that true? That’s the first time I’ve heard that’s unbelie That’s I think that and the other thing I’ll say too is you know I like they were 27th last year crazy oh that’s brutal I thought before he got hurt Jaylen Suggs was making some strides that’s a guy I’ve always liked obviously he has to become more of a shooter but one of the reasons I think their offense has been like bad is you know the lack of a a point guard and I think if he’s healthy he was making some strides last year I think he could set some of those he might be ideally really suited if he can stay healthy to be like a fourth option on that type of team. I love their pieces. Good group to be around too. I really enjoyed covering that team during the first round. Their coach is awesome. Yeah, that was a fun team and I think they’ll surprise some people this year. Want to get to the ownership stuff. We were both there on Thursday. We talked about it a little bit. I want to shout out first though game time. If you want to get over to I hope this playoff games at Fenway and there’s not any guaranteed right now, but if they can get to the ALDS Patriots tomorrow, that’s the big one. Want to head down to Gillette tomorrow, see if the Pats can give a better effort. Game times, get your tickets, and I love all their features over there. Fees included, know your total up front, no surprise fees at checkout. Zone deals, so you save even more when you choose a section like Game Time choose your seats. new ticket deals. When you pick your favorite teams in the app, you’ll get alerts and even some special deals that and no one else finds out about. Uh you will with your favorite teams picked in the app. And the panoramic view, your seat is my favorite. Lowest price guarantee or game time will credit you 110% of the difference. Lots of great stuff over there. Most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry. And it’s a great time to go over there. Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with game time. That’s of course going on every week now. Baseball playoffs, basketball games coming up as well. Preseason, and use the code CNS to get $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem code CNS for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go, download the Game Time app today. And as the season gets started, uh we get a lot out of supporting our sponsors. So, please go over there and use that code CNS at game time to let them know we sent you. Uh so, you’ve had a few days to think about it, Chris. I I think I don’t know how much fans care about this, but this ownership thing just from a story perspective and how it’s going to play out over the next handful of years here is so interesting because I came out of that thing on Thursday and we’ve known like Chisum’s this Celtics fan and you know he’s really into it and I think he’s the face of this group that has a lot of people and a lot of different groups involved here. So how’s that actually going to play out? How’s it going to work? How much are they going to spend? Those are the big questions out of this thing here. But what surprised me, even though it was part of the deal and part of the story early on, was just how big of a part Wick was of this thing. And I don’t know if I expected him to be there, but he was there um alongside the um Adidas, the Steel Mogul, who’s part of this group as well. Rich God, also an alternate governor. Yeah. So I, you know, there’s a lot of people involved and one of them a big player in fact, Wick Grossback and, you know, he was interjecting on answers, you know, he was, you know, making sure to say what a big part of this group he is, how much he bought back in, and you know, here for the next five years. I I I I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I’ll say it’s a bad thing in that this thing’s going to be complicated and there’s a lot of voices and there’s just going to be some messiness to this thing, but it it actually does make me feel good that works here because I, you know, out of all these people, you know, he’s going to advocate for basketball. So, that was something that stood out to me most out of Thursday. What stood out most to you? Yeah. So, I wrote a column about this that’s going to be in the Sunday Globe and my big takeaways, you know, in basketball and we both love basketball. the the twoman game is a big part of the game. You see that all the time, but you don’t normally see it at the ownership level. And this is this is Chisum and Wick trying to run the twoman game. And what’s the is this going to be like Stockton and Malone? Uh is it going to be more like Damen Lillard and Giannis where it doesn’t really work. I I think in the short term this is a good thing. It gives Chisum a little bit of a safety net as a new owner. Uh it lets cut the bullet for him. You know, we stillending, right? So you noticed that too. You not like immediately Wick went human shield mode and said, “Well, whether there was a sale or not, we were going to have to make these moves because of the second apron and divest some of these guys.” I noticed that too. I thought that was really interesting that he basically like went human shield mode for for Chisum and the new group. Yeah, for sure. And that was probably part of his role coming in. think there’s no doubt in my mind now as we learn more about it and we see how this is playing out that a significant reason and they probably had the better offer right by a hair with you know there’s some stipulations on money that could get this thing to like 7 billion I think but the biggest reason I think this deal got done with this group is that this group and Bill specifically were amicable to Wick sticking around and having a sizable role in this ownership group into the future cuz you know we heard as such at the, you know, event on Thursday. Wick didn’t want to sell this team. It was out of his hands and he came up with a plan to stay in the picture here. And so, is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? Time will tell. And Bill said it himself. They’re going to have to prove themselves as a new group here. And that’ll come from the spending and how much they invest in this team versus making it a business prospect here. Yeah. And it’s interesting because I think if you’re a here’s what I would say in the short term if you’re a fan you should be happy about this arrangement with Wick sticking around because what’s happening here is you have some continuity right so the 23 years that Wick owned the team along with Steve Peluka by the way that was one of my big takeaways no references of Pags like by name he alluded to Wick alluded to him he alluded to him he said with my partners but he didn’t mention him by name I thought that was kind of interesting thank you or anything like that but but their owner ship. Obviously, they won two NBA titles. They went to two more finals. So, and they they were passionate about the team. They care about the team. So, as a fan, I think keeping that continuity is is good. Do I think that this is a tough cell that this is a long-term arrangement. It just is. You don’t spend this kind of money on a team. This is like the ultimate toy, any of these sports franchises. You don’t spend this kind of money on the ultimate toy for somebody else to tell you how to play with it. You know, that’s just you don’t do that. and and you look at the situation with the Mavericks and obviously Brad would never Nico Harrison stab Wick in the back, but the reality is they wanted to do the same thing down there and it didn’t work out because at the end of the day when you’re spending this amount of money, you know, you you want to have the control and so I think in the short term this can work for a couple of years, but long term I I don’t see it being this particular ownership arrangement. I think Wick plans to stay in and he said that he plans to be in forever. He’s keep in forever. Forever. He’s going to keep his shares. I could see that. But but the whole handinhand shoulderto-shoulder partnership thing, I I don’t think that’s meant to last for five, six, seven, eight years. I I just I can’t see it. Another small thing from this, and we didn’t get a ton of clarity on it, the arena thing. You know, we’ve talked about that a ton. It’s a fun conversation. I thought it was significant. He said the Bruins and Celtics meant to stay together. Um, fans like the Garden. You know, those two things stood out to me and made me think more likely in the short term this group is going to try to buy the Garden rather than try to put an arena together quickly. I think long term you’ll see an arena, but to try to get some money back in the short term for themselves and I don’t know if the Bruins are amicable to this, but they might try to buy the garden first and foremost. I can’t see the Jacobs selling the garden just cuz it’s a cash cow for them with all the concerts, the other things that come in through that building, the concessions, all that stuff, having the control of the dates. I I could be wrong. I mean, look, if they make him an offer, they can’t refuse. The the other element of that, Bobby, is I sort of look at and say, well, what else is he gonna say knowing the Celtics have a lease to play at the Garden through 2035 36? There’s not really much they can do. Now, maybe maybe what happens is they give a a ton of money to the Bruins to try and get out of the lease, but I don’t even think the Jacobs family and the Bruins would do that because then they know they’re getting out of the lease to build another arena. And they don’t want that other arena in this area. And it’s not because the Celtics are going to play. They’re going to lose the Celtics as a tenant. Although that’s not great for them. It’s it’s competition for the concerts and the shows and the ice capes and the circuit and all these other things that they int I do think look when you spend this amount of money and you have this many people in a group those people want ROI. They want return on investment and the only way to get that is to have another revenue source and to have your own building. So, I think eventually they’re going to try and do their own building, but again, they’re locked into the garden. As far as as far as I know, they’re locked into the garden through 2035 36. So, that’s a long ways away. Yeah. And for now, it makes sense. You know, I don’t love any of these other wacky ideas. I mean, you don’t think about it. Think about it, Bobby. You don’t want to move in and start off by pissing off your landlord. So, if you’re Bill Chisum, you’re not going to start off right away and start, you know, pissing off the Jacobs. don’t you don’t want to piss off your landlord, you know, right off the jump. So, I thought he was very diplomatic about it. But this is just me regardless of his answer based on this group and the this these people who’ve made money. You know, you don’t make money by accident. These are smart people. You got to do what Golden State did and get your own building and and get it and get that revenue stream to be competitive. Same for the Clippers. It just long term I don’t see it. And also, I’m not dumping on the garden. It’s fine. It’s fine. But people forget it’s it’s 30 years old. I mean, it opened in 1995. I mean, I know you go to other arenas around the league. Like, it’s it’s a little bit more cramped and and crowded and smaller in sort of the bowels of the building than a lot of these other newer arenas. Yeah, for sure. And they don’t let arenas get as old as the Boston Garden did anymore. Like they they rebuild and, you know, open up new places now pretty quickly. Um, the only other thing too, and you know, I have an open mind about Bill in this group, and you know, I’m going to watch and react to their decision- making as as we go here. He didn’t get a ton of clarity on it, but if they’re the reason that this WNBA thing that Pegu was trying to get going here got thwarted, that’s a bummer to me, you know, because they want to bring them in 2033. And if they’re able to do that, great. Um, you know, I think one way or another, if the W’s able to get to Boston, that’s awesome. But if they were going to be able to get here in two years with the momentum of the sport right now and you know how much momentum there’s for basketball in Boston right now too that stinks and you understand it right they want the Celtics and this W thing probably together and the league seems to like this Chisum group more they’ve said as such. So, I get it. But that’s a bummer that if PGs was willing to do this thing and get it moving fast and have them here in 27 and this group’s more likely 2033, that stinks. Yeah, I I don’t think this group is to blame. I really don’t. I mean, I have a little insight into this because I I’ve written about it and talked to some people in the WNBA league office. Um, I’m not sure people in the WNBA league office will admit it or put it this way, but at this point, again, I’ll use the term again, I think the NBA owners in the league look at the WNBA success and say, “We have subsidized this for a number of years, and now it’s popular, and it’s now it’s it’s ROI time for us.” and they are trying to funnel these franchises to current NBA owners to the point that even people that have been NBA owners like Pags, like uh Mark uh uh Lazarri who was willing to spend 325 million and move the team to Harford, they’re like, “No, you know, there are other NBA owners in line before these guys that want a franchise. These things have become an asset now. So, no, we we want to reward our owners, our current NBA owners before we do uh anything with anybody else. And so, I think that’s really it. I don’t think it’s specific to Chisum and his group saying, “Don’t give it to Ps.” I think it’s just the NBA as somebody I I won’t name um said to me uh related to the WNBA and the NBA. They said it’s the WNBA. Emphasis on the NBA, which is basically the NBA’s way of saying like, look, this thing’s associated with the NBA and it has to benefit the NBA on some level and we feel like this is how it can benefit funneling these franchises to current owners. And I think that’s I don’t agree with that. I don’t like that, Bobby. I’m with you. It should be Pags, but I don’t think it has anything to do with Bill Chisum and his group. I think it’s much higher than that. It’s it’s Adam Silver. It’s other owners in the league who now look at the WNBA and say it’s time for us to get our our piece of this growing pie. So, there you have it. Celtics ownership change official. Got to meet them the other day. You can check out that press conference over on CNS Media. The uh media day is coming up on Monday 10:00 a.m. We’ll have that live here as well. Before we let you go, Chris just came back from Fenway. Red Sox have clinched. It’s It’s a fascinating season that we followed along here with and all the different steps and things that have happened along the way. So, I want to see more than just a playoff appearance here given what this team has, but it is pretty crazy they’re here. De’s trade, Cassis injury, three starters essentially down the stretch here. Like every twist and turn of the season would have made you thought that they were not going to be here. I’m thrilled that they are and it was a pretty cool celebration last night being there. No, it was a cool celebration. And you also you left out remember say what was it April May people said like maybe you should fire the manager. Uh, you know, people were kind of low. People were pretty low on Kora. I mean, I I think he should be American League manager of the year for what he’s done. When you look at look at this, look at it this way, Bobby. If you think about it, the first half of the season, he lost his best hitter. They traded Raphael Devers. You can argue the second half of the season, he lost his best hitter in Roman Anthony to an injury and he still got the team to the playoffs. Yeah. And you have that revelation and then to lose them and you know go off the rails a little bit there for a couple weeks and look like you might not make it and now make it pretty comfortably with a walk-off too. And I love that it was Raphael because nobody struggled more than him and then to have that kind of hit was pretty awesome there. How far you think they’re going to go? I think it depends on the matchup. You know they have certainly played well against the Yankees this year. They’ve been the better team against but the Yankees are really putting it together. They’ve won seven in a row. they seem to stabilize the back end of that bullpen. They have a deeper lineup and if all three of those, you know, all three of those games would be at Yankee Stadium. I think that’s a tough matchup for the Socks. Now, if somehow they end up in a scenario, you know, maybe, and I’m not suggesting you intentionally lose tomorrow, but if you end up in a scenario where you’re facing, you know, Detroit or or Cleveland, um, in that that might be more advantageous to you ultimately than facing whoever doesn’t win the American League East between Toronto and the Yankees. They’re tied now, but the tiebreaker goes to Toronto, so New York’s in the wild card spot. I just think that that that’s the crazy thing about this, too. And I’m not tremendous season for the Red Sox. I’m happy they made the playoffs, but if you think about it, they still are going to finish third in their own division. So, when you look at those teams that are ahead of them, those are those are pretty good teams. And and again, all three games would be at the other team stadium, that could be a challenge to win one of those series. Whereas, I feel like Cleveland still negative run differential. Detroit absolutely limping to the finish line, spiraling. If you could somehow get one of them in the first round, I think you could do some damage. Yeah, I thought it was so Detroit. I mean, like the Socks rested everybody today. Rookie pitcher on the mound and they still almost lost. Detroit did. So, not looking great for them. I don’t think the Socks can play them at this point. I think it would be Cleveland out of those two, but um they’ll be decided tomorrow 3:00 the Socks. I’m sure a bunch of other teams are playing in the afternoon, too. So, uh we’ll have official word on that. Just from an intrigue standpoint, I hope it’s the Yankees. We’d love to drive down New York, catch those games next week. Tuesday through Thursday is that series. Crochet will be on the mound Tuesday. They line that up well and uh we’ll see what happens there. I don’t love that all road series, but you know, it’s done baseball well and has added some intrigue there. So, socks are in the playoffs. Check out our Red Sox coverage over on Red Sox Clubhouse. Celtics all access for our Celtics coverage and check out the Pats guys down at Gillette tomorrow at Patriots Press Pass. Subscribe CNS Media as well for all our content here. Thanks for stopping by, Chris. Always appreciate you. Uh coming on the Garden Report here. You can check out all his work over on the Boston Globe. I was listening to you guys earlier at Gasper and Murray. Gasper and Murray Sportsub. Be on 985 tomorrow for Patriots preview. If you’re driving around your car before the game, we we start at 10 a.m. We’ll be down at Gillette. You got them tomorrow. The Patriots winning? Yeah. Yes, I do. I do. But, you know, I don’t think it’s quite the slam dunk that everybody thinks it. They’re still a young team, the Patriots, and so, you know, no opponent is a slam dunk, but yeah, I think they do. Carolina is pretty banged up. Uh, Patriots have a talent advantage and and the Patriots should should be able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides. So, but there are no gimmies for this Patriots team at this point in the season as they try and as they try and forge their identity and and break some of their losing habits. I know. And it’s like we’re watching the same team like five years in a row now. penalties, turnovers, like Stephvenson’s still there. Yeah, it feels that way a little bit. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. Well, all right. We’ll talk to you, Chris. And, uh, thanks everybody for watching tonight. We will be back uh maybe tomorrow, but more likely Monday on media day. So, turn on notifications and you’ll find out when we’re live here. See you then. No one’s sneaking a vegan brownie by me. I’ll tell you that. Okay. You know what, John? We’re going to do it. You have to feel that way, too, Bobby. I have to feel that way. fight 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 Christopher Gasper to the Garden Report to discuss the leftover questions from Bill Chisholm and the Celtics’ ownership introductions and what they’re looking forward to from media day on Monday.
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1 comment
Great show