The Celtics could build the next title contender

The Celtics could build the next title contender

[Applause] Oh, knocked loose. White dive on it. This is twice now the Celtics have been first to the floor and they saw a save with Harford. Unbelievable. Boston first to the floor. So good. Brown fakes, fires up the three. Bang. Tatum dives on the floor. Everybody dives. Brown with the flush. Blocked by Porzingis. He’s doing it all. Tatum spinning, driving. Washington drives. Blocked by White. Oh, what a block from Derek White. First to the floor podcast. Wayne Spoony here after a Celtics 12118 uh victory over the Clippers. Uh not as close as the score, but I’m here with Jake Eisenberg. Jake, what’s up, brother? Not too much, man. Another another clutch game for the 2025 2026 Boston Celtics. Oh man, if this was another year, I would have been [ __ ] in my pants watching um James Harden take that last three-pointer. Good boy. Awesome. Great. Ty Lou or maybe Jeff Van Gundy, whoever drew that one up, that was that was epic. Yeah, another you felt like they won this game three separate times. Yeah. between the first quarter, was there a third quarter, and then there was they were up like 13 with five minutes to go. And each time the lead evaporated really, really quickly, both of which coincided with um some bench players coming in. Uh a variety of them, I think, contributed to the collapses today. And Simons is clearly a lightning rod topic. That seems to be the thing that’s dividing a lot of Celtics fans right now. Um, but what did you think Spoony? Big big big thoughts coming out of another matinea W for the Celtics. Yeah. Hey, it’s a win uh for better or for worse. So, uh, like lot of really good things in this game. Like it really feels like Pritchard’s starting to get Yes. Um, his shooting touch back. Still a little I mean like Derek made his threes. still a little bit worried. Like I just not worried, that’s not the right way to describe it. He just isn’t a primary ball handler and he’s just always going to look awkward in that role and he’s going to be awkward in that role all season. Scout was talking about it and I think he was right. It looked like Pritchard was being asked to initiate more at least um this game and with Derek off ball which I really like. I think Derrick’s just so damn good off ball or like operating from the weak side against a rotating defense or running sort of the secondary action. Um and he will get his assists. Like he had nine today. Yeah. Um and Pritchard just looks super super comfortable being that initial guy and if they, you know, run that initial pick and roll. If they go under, fire away. Um, but yeah, dude, the third quarter, I marked it in my head because I watched the game late and I was like, how was this like a three-point game? Because we’re up 20 with six minutes left in the third quarter and then the bench comes in, namely Gar like this particular run in the third quarter was very Garza specific. Like he came in and they just immediately paraded to the rim and got wide open threes. And it could have been worse because the Clips missed a few threes. But I think the PP renaissance is probably the most important takeaway from this game for me. Yeah, it was a good call out from Scout cuz at first I’m like, is Scout just saying stuff and then you watch it, it does it did feel like he was on the ball more? I’ll have to kind of go back and and and watch it and see look at some of the usage numbers, but um absurd performance. Eight for 13 from three. And this is kind of some of the stuff that we expected to see. And he’s been getting the mid-range stuff going, some of the stuff closer to the basket. It was bound to happen. Yeah. And just like how my shot has come around uh at Wreck League, Peyton Pritchard eight for 13. I mean, he had that one where he was backpedaling and caught it and fired it in the That was That’s such a ridiculous shot. That’s such a hard shot. Like he’s not typically like a movement shooter, but man, when he has it rolling, the shot making is is out of control. But while he’s not maybe technically as athletic and clearly not as big as Derek, he’s definitely better at getting to his spots just with his strength and the low man wins mentality that he operates with. He Yeah, he just gets his pads lower than than everybody else and he’s able to get to spots, bump guys off, and help comes. I’m not sure help should come a lot of the time. Like today, I thought Pritchard was able to get the defense in rotation. I was like, I I probably just let Pritchard kind of burrow his way down there and contest as opposed to um having guys help off the corners. cuz I bet Van Gandhi was kind of pulling whatever was left of his hair out. But yeah, I think that’s a good adjustment from Missoula who he’s not going to win coach of the year cuz he’s not going to win enough. Um, and a lot of people wanted to see what does Missoula look like without a stacked roster and people are going to see a 500 record and be like, “See, he’s not a good coach.” I think he has his team playing awesome connected the defense. I’ve been completely wrong about it. like I said they could get a top 10 offense and I got bullied out of it um in the Discord and I have the receipts. They’re now eighth in offense and where are they? They’re down to 12th in in defense here, but that’s kind it’s all very close kind of right now. Eighth overall in net rating. It’s an impressive coaching job from Joe. Yeah, I I definitely think so. Richard was getting trapped on the pick and roll like 30 feet from the basket a couple possessions. That’s just madness. Like that’s like that’s I get like the argument is like we’ll trap him. He’s not tall so he can’t throw it over the top. But like you’re just basically putting yourself into rotation. And Pritchard I think the big difference between Pritchard and White and you’re right Low Man wins. He’s like Maurice Jones Drew when he’s like right like that little like muscle hamster Doug Martin style. Um and and like Pritchard’s handle is just better than Derek’s too. Like his handle is ridiculous. He had this one setup on the pick and roll where Harden was on him and Kada flips the screen. Pritchard between the legs left, does that little hesy and then comes back right and just rams Harden right into Kada’s screen and he gets a wideopen pullup three that he buries. He’s just gotten so good with the handle and using yeah his strength and he’s not slow. It’s not like he’s unathletic. He’s just not like a an elite athlete by any means. So um I think that’s part of it too. So, just a incredible performance by Pritchard. Unfortunately, was out there the couple times some of the bench guys came in and the Clips went on runs. I don’t think they were his fault at all. Um, so the plus minus looks pretty bad, but not representative of what I saw in this game from Pritchard. So, I thought he was really awesome. ABP, uh, thank you for the super chat. I appreciate Garza’s offense atoning for his bad defense. I I I just don’t think it does. I’m sorry. Like I I think I’m gonna do a breakdown on the defense because yeah, I I feel like it’s the way they’re playing defense is just not sustainable. I think a lot of teams come in expecting like the Celtics of of old where it’s just like they’re not going to gamble. They’re going to keep you in front of you. They’re never going to foul. And like the way we’re playing defense is so he helter skelter. It’s so hectic. It’s so aggressive that it catches teams off guard. I’m I’m worried that teams are gonna be like, “Wait a second, Anthony Simons is out there. Why are we like letting them like dictate things to us and I feel like we’ve get gotten a little lucky with like they the the Clips in the first half missed a ton of wide openen threes.” So, uh, this game could have been a lot closer and then we probably lose it if they shoot the ball a little bit better in that first half. So, um, anyway, I that was like seven different points. I’m all over the place. Go ahead. Save me, Jake. Well, well, I was going to say like I the clips did shoot 40% from three overall, but then at the same time, a lot of that was like hardened making all those shots at the end of the game as well. So, kind of goes both ways. Gaza is it’s funny, my friend, uh, shout out to Johnny, he’s like, I haven’t been able to watch that much Celtics. What’s the deal with Gaza? He’s he look he looks pretty cheeky. And I think if you catch the highlights or if you’re not really like re-watching or breaking it down, you can get lulled into a false sense of security with Gaza. Like if he’s going to make threes, I think he could be a very capable rotation. Third big with Tatum. I think he’d be really really [ __ ] good. I think the offense with Gaza out there because I want to see him shoot more threes, but they’re just not generating the same amount of pick and pop threes as they do with Tatum as they were with like Tatum and Allan Tatum and KP. Obviously, Gaza is not the same level of shooter as as uh Paul Zenis, but that’s been his whole thing. Super high three-point rate. And the three-point rate’s actually pretty high still when he’s out there, but I want to see them find him more. And he he gets the offensive rebounds. He’s got good touch around the rim. Like I think as a third guy that can play a little bit, I’m with you. That’s different to this is our backup big man for the playoffs cuz you’re right. I am constantly asking myself why are teams not attacking Simons in particular and then putting Gaza into the action as well. And I we’ll see if that comes around, but that can sometimes just be the reality of the regular season and like a Western Conference team on a long road trip like playing a ton of games. They probably just aren’t super locked in on the on the game plan. Like this is a scheduly type loss for the Clippers, right? Like afternoon game for James Harden. My anecdotal brain is probably telling me he doesn’t have an awesome record in those games. Complete tangent. Have you watched any of the Starting Five season 2? I have not. No. Ironically, my wife’s actually watched more of it than I have because like Oh, nice. It’s And I think which is the point of the show. It’s kind of more um inclusive from that perspective, but I was watching it yesterday and the James Harden thing. One, he has a son I had no idea about. Two, he has like a long-term partner that I had no idea about. And this whole different side of James Harden. I was like, maybe maybe he actually is getting sleep these days. Um, but yeah, Luka Gazer and Anthony Simons can’t play well. We’ve probably gone too long here without talking about Jaylen Brown. And I know 33 points on 33 shots is not efficient. And the efficiency is kind of starting to come back down. The three-point shot is has kind of gone haywire after a hot start. But I’m so glad that they won for him tonight. Like he played 39 minutes. He’s looking really healthy and the dude’s relentless. Like to all the tanking stuff aside, like like I just don’t get the people that are Celtics fans, how can you not love Jaylen Brown? Like he’s he’s killing himself to drag this team to a seven and seven record. I don’t know if he’s going to be able to survive, but he’s already played through one hamstring injury and he seems to be getting stronger as time goes on. Missed a couple of free throws tonight, but 13 rebounds, only one turnover tonight. like some solid defense. He was doing a pretty good Tatum impression and just the way that he was attacking the rim going like right into the body of guys. I just I was just so impressed. I know it’s not going to pop out on the true shooting percentage numbers, but I was like that’s that was a Celtics pride performance I thought from JB. Look, man. He’s out there with lineups where it’s like May not and Walsh, you know, and and Kada and Kada has like the job he’s being asked to do, he’s doing [ __ ] awesome at it, but like he is not a dude that you can like has a part of your hub of your offense, right? Like he’s not like Zubot or Jokic or something like that. He’s just kind of a pick and roll, get downhill, catch lobs, finish around the rim guy. He he has to just Jaylen just has to generate shots in some way, shape, or form. And he can get to that mid-range anytime he wants. And the fact that he’s been so uber efficient on it is crazy. Like that’s going to come down. There’s no way he’s going to shoot like 55% from mid-range all season. Like that’s just a bananas. That’s like KD is like the only dude who does that um on his volume. But he remind reminds me like the way he’s playing this year reminds me of Giannis with like he’s just so downhill. Everything he does is downhill. He’s not messing around. Like if the defense is rot in rotation when he gets the ball, he punishes it immediately. If it’s a pick and roll, he’s just like one crossover getting to my right. If he gets held up in the mid-range, he makes a move, maybe a counter move, and then gets up in the shot or moves the ball. He just seems really really confident in like what his role is on this team and what he’s being asked to do. And like I love that Joe without Tatum out there, he’s really been able to be like clear out, let Jaylen Brown operate empty sideo and like nobody can stay in front of him. He they’re going to have to bring help. like several possessions. Jaylen had empty side and Zubox just ignoring Kada and Jaylen’s hitting him for like these little flip shots and he missed a couple, made a couple, but um it’s just really easy offense that you really don’t have to rely on. Like, okay, is the screen set? Oh no, they switched it now. Getting to the second, it’s like no, clear out, give it to Jaylen, let him go, get to the rim. Um and look, he makes a couple free more free throws. he makes one of those threes like all of a sudden it’s like a 40point game on 33 shots and it’s it’s crazy. So I I thought he played great and he is playing great. Yeah, I I’m really enjoying the Jaylen Brown experience. Like it’s great to see him healthy. I’m intrigued to see if he can carry this load. I know I’ve mentioned it maybe even twice, but like the usage is bordering on like Giannis Luca levels and I know we talked about it like maybe I don’t know five plus games ago and we’re like this is good. This is this is like 31% usage. It’s like higher but not too much and we’ve gone but it’s by necessity. I don’t think he’s overdoing it cuz I like they have no choice as you just said like with these lineups with I love the way that Walsh is playing and my not’s been a revelation but yeah they they can’t create shots. I do think Walsh maybe at some point can contribute to some kind of offensive generation but right now he’s still a little hesitant. Jaylen has to do this on the mid-range stuff. So, obviously the NBC Sports broadcast was, you know, feeding us the mid-range propaganda. Um, as they should. That’s their job. Uh, it’s it is maybe a little bit of a worry cuz the three-point shot, I don’t know. I don’t know what the real level is on Jaylen’s three-point shot anymore. Like, he’s been it’s been kind of trending down for the past couple seasons. I know he can make big shots and open shots. the mid-range is got is unless he like is able to sustain this KD level shot making as he said if that comes down this team is going to be in trouble a little bit because if he’s if his efficiency has been trending down from like 64% true shooting it’s probably sub 60 now which is kind of more in line with what he usually does if that continues to kind of if the last five games is more what the the next 50 look like I think that that could be that could be trouble. But yeah, I don’t know if what you think about that. The mid-range is that cuz it’s it’s it’s fun, but it’s probably a worry. Yeah, it’s fun and it looks awesome. But as a team, this is not just a Jaylen thing because Derek and and Pritchard are getting into a lot of mid long mid-ranges, too. And and it’s not just the mid-ranges in general. It’s it’s how deep these mid-range shots are. We are first in long mid-range shot frequency in the NBA very very easily as a team and we’re sixth in accuracy and like outside of like the and the Knicks aren’t even in the top five in mid-range long mid-range jumpers and they have Brunson who kind of lives on that shot. I I just I’m not sure we can keep up that volume. Crazy easily league leading volume at the six most accurate almost 46% for mid-range which as a team is a pretty bananas number. Um so I I think that to me is like even if Jaylen keeps pretty close to this, you expect probably Pritchard and Derek are going to tick down a little bit and then it’s like where are those shots coming from? They’re probably still going to come from the mid-range. And it it feels like maybe like a a tower of cards here some ways offensively, like a little bit of smoke and mirrors that these shots are going in. Um but I don’t really know what the other option is. Like it’s, you know, Tatum’s not just going to show up and be like, “Don’t worry guys, we’re now going to lead the league in wideopen threes again and this is going to be super easy.” Um, we just have to take them. And there’ll probably be some ugly nights and there’ll be some nights where we look like Carmelo, you know, five Carmelos out there. Um, and that’s how you end up around 500 in the NBA. I know. We keep wanting to push into the top six or drop into the top 10 and we’re going to end up like the overunder was set at 41 and a half and they’re going to end up being between 39 and 42. That’s what it feels like right now. just they’re they’re talented enough, they’re playing hard enough, they’re connected enough to not be bad to drop into those teams, but just not good enough to like this team, this Clippers team has been horrific. And their biggest win of the season was like that double overtime win against the Mavericks, who have been the one of the worst teams in the Western Conference. So, which I don’t really understand like this this Clippers team is not that different from last season. Like I they were playing a lot of guys. I haven’t watched any Clippers outside of some highlights and I was like, um, Jordan Miller, Kobe Sanders, hey, all right, that’s probably not good. But those guys are playing 20 plus minutes tonight. Um, I actually thought they were okay, but um yeah, we should probably take a quick break and uh wrap up the Clips game here. All right, prize picks time. Let’s do it. I think Jaylen Brown more on points is just the way to go here when it comes to prize picks. Whether it’s uh Drake May, the MVP season rolls on. Unfortunately, the Seahawks couldn’t quite get the win for us. Um that would have really helped the Drake May MVP campaign, but Tayvon Henderson in the Garden today as well. Let’s go more on Trav on yards unless Raandre comes back and Mike Vrabel goes back to his old ways. But Derek White rebounds, assists more. He continues to kind of stuff the stat sheet. A lot of ways that we can go here. Don’t forget price picks off his injury reboots. So if you one of your players leaves the game in the first half doesn’t return, price picks won’t count as a loss. Download the app today. Use code CLNS to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Download the app today. Use code CLNS to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. It’s good to be right. All right. Um, prize picks. Ton of fun. Sprinkle some juice all over your Sundays or whatever days. You’re on mute, big dog. Yeah, I got it. I But uh too much juice being sprinkled over here. Forgot to happens when the juice gets sprinkled. I like the chat’s been ridiculous with the PPS and the loads. I know. Rivens is going off. Yeah. Um I appreciate it. So, we will get to Hower as well. There’s I just want to pull this comment back up because he was on my notes to talk about it. I know you guys don’t want to talk about it, but with the way this team’s being constructed, I don’t think Hower has long with this team, I don’t know if that’s a shot at us for being uh Hower tinted glasses when it comes to this podcast, which probably true. Um, we’ve been right, we’ve been right about him. Yeah, he is in a horrific cold spell right now. Um, Anthony Simons played 11 minutes in 12 basically. Yeah, 1157 and it’s Yeah, people are there was like should he be starting over Pritchard? Um there’s Joe Mazoula has ruined this player. I It’s not a mystery why Anthony Simons is not playing. He doesn’t play hard and Joe is like you you if you’re not making shots, you better [ __ ] rebound. You better get some deflections. You better get to a loose ball. He doesn’t do any of that [ __ ] Why? and when everybody else that’s out there. Even even Baylor Shyman’s playing his tail off when he’s out there. It’s not always leading to good stuff. But Anthony Sims, if the shots go in, he just maintains like net neutral impact. If the shots are not going in, it’s a disaster. And how can you give minutes to a guy when the rest of the team is playing so hard and when rebounding is one of your Achilles heels? You need guys out there to be flying around. He came in there in that first half and looked like he was just happy to be I don’t even happy to be he like he had to be there. He played seven and a half minutes in that first half and was team worse minus 11. Impressive stuff. And we didn’t see him again basically. And Joe brought him back when they kind of felt like they needed a little bit of offense. Came in missed his first three. Like brutal. He He’s a He’s a good tank commander. I wrote about how him and guys are good tank commanders. They kind of proved me wrong for a couple nights. Um, feel good about that still. Yeah, I would feel very good about that. Um, so well I I was on the How about Them Celtics pregame show today and we had this same we had this discussion about Simons where Jack was like, “How do you feel about him?” Cuz like so Jack is not a Simons guy, which I feel like Jack is a everybody guy. So I was surprised. Yeah. Um and and basically we all agreed it’s like if he’s white hot then he’s barely a positive and if he is not white hot he’s a negative like every time he’s involved in a pick and roll we send a third defender every single time it’s like Joe is like I’m not even going to let like I know to not even bother letting you try to get over the screen because there’s zero chance it’s going to happen. So, we send the third defender. Sometimes he’s supposed to peel switch it and go to that guy’s man. Doesn’t always happen. Sometimes it turns into like a pseudo trap. Often it just turns into an open shot for the opposing team. And that is completely untenable. Like pick and roll is the most common play in basketball. You cannot have a guy where every time you have to send help immediately because you just put yourself in rotation 7 seconds into the shot clock every time you’re on defense. And then if you have Garza out there too, it kind of compounds the problem. So look, I I just I did not watch a lot of Portland. You know, you the the highlights are intoxicating. You could make a highlight reel of his Celtics tenure and it would be like this guy’s the best player in the NBA and then you actually watch him every game and like the the sum is so much less the than the part. I don’t know. Wait, it’s Yeah, you know what I’m trying to say. Like the skill set just does not add up to winning basketball despite the fact that he is an elite not elite. He’s not elite. He’s not an elite scorer. He’s like a good scorer. He’s an elite shooter. Yeah, he’s an elite shooter. Yeah, because this is just so bad. Go ahead. Sorry. Like like the true shooting the fact that he the fact that he’s shooting like 41% on threes and is still at like a 55% true shooting. It’s like he just has to be has to be hitting threes because inside the arc he’s not effective. The rim pressure is non-existent. The defense is bad. Doesn’t rebound. Doesn’t play make. Like what’s the argument for him to be playing real big minutes outside of other guys? I’ve seen him be comped to when Schroeder kind of got scapegoated in the first half of that 2021 2022 season. Even Schroeder in that first half of the year when they were like six games below 500 had a plus 1.6 net rating in all of his minutes. He still rebounded and played defense. He played hard. That was purely like a bad fit. And even then he I I was never like fully out on Shooter. He wasn’t a good fit, but he was pretty solid when when he was here. Uh clean music lover in the chat. Then trade him. Good luck, dude. Good luck. Yeah, Poland’s been trying to trade him for multiple years and the league had decided the True Holiday was going to be washed and turns out he’s like still a fringe allstar. Um, you’re not going to be able to trade Anthony Simons. I don’t I unless I I can’t even think of a Unless it’s one of these fire sale deals that we’re talking about and it’s more salary filler and you’re the the value that you’re sending out is picss because he has no value. $27 million, dude. the it’s like he’s kind of just a like a movement shooter that can hit some pull-up threes, but he’s not an elite enough pull up three shooter for it to matter. Yeah. Not a not a Celtics, not a Missoula player. Yeah. And and Derek, who I know listens all the time and I think is in the Discord. Uh Derek, I don’t know, man. This anger doesn’t feel warranted or directed properly. Schroeder is better, though. Yeah. I mean, I’m not mad at Simons. It’s more about like the frustration of people wanting him to play over Peyton Pritchard is really that that it’s like Simons is who he is, right? And he has a role in the NBA. He’s going to be in the NBA for a long time. Um I I just like the defense is just really really bad and there’s no really way around it. If the defense wasn’t bad, he would be like a $40 million player, right? like the guys who that shoot that at such a at such a high level and can like attack a closeout and that are plus defenders are like some of the best players in the NBA. So, it’s tough. Um, but I don’t think it’s just effort with him. That’s part of it for sure, but it’s just like he’s really skinny. He’s really weak and he just does not read the game defensively. So th this was obviously his worst performance of the year and he’s had good performances and he’s had runs where we’ve needed him and he’ll have more and he’ll have some games where he looks awesome. But I just think on balance like I I just don’t think he can be a legitimate guy in a playoff rotation. It’s not just effort and we said it coming into the offseason. I you know people want to talk themselves into you get him into the Celtics culture and Missou ball and he’s going to play better defense. It’s too late. Guys that are bottom 10 percentile defenders for their entire careers, five plus years of it, that’s not turning around. It’s like D’Angelo Russell saying he wants to be Derek Quite. The the ship sailed. That [ __ ] that [ __ ] gets built when you’re 14, 15, 16. You’re building you you’re away. you’ve got to fight your way through D2, the Derek White path, the Peyton Pritchard path where you had to deal with like you you might not get to play basketball as your career unless you provide all this other stuff because you’re not big enough, strong enough, more athletic enough. Anthony Simons has probably been a bucket for so long. I’m not familiar with Anthony Simons’s high school and college careers, but I would venture a guess that he was a flamethrower for a very long time and wasn’t asked to play defense. A lot of the Jaylen Green type vibe like it’s hard to learn that at this point in your career and so um not mad at him. Yeah. Yeah. Part of it is unlearnable. Like there are just guys who get it, who just like can read the game at a different level and there’s there’s degrees of that, right? Like there’s guys who can read the game really well and are not Luca Donuch or Yokic or something like that, right? But they still have that innate ability to just kind of know where to be on the defensive end. Look at Ugo. Dude stepped on an NBA court and already has really good defensive instincts for an NBA player. Obviously, he’s got the size and strength that Simons doesn’t have. Um, but just from like a where to be, Simons is it’s tough, man. And he is really really bad at screen navigation, like really bad at it. And that partially feels innate, too. Like some guys are just really have the knack to like get that leg up and over and get through the screen. Um, you know, I’m sure they practice that, but part of it just kind of like the dude like some dudes are just good at that stuff and and Simons isn’t. So, he’ll have some fun games. Uh, but this was a disappointing one. And the Clippers are not good. They’re horrible defensive, too. Yeah. Um, Rubi in the chat, remember White was off his first few months. He can he can’t turn around. I’m assuming he means he can turn it around. Um, but that’s the that was the thing and that was a good litmus test um for ball knowing was Derek White couldn’t make a shot for the whole first year that he was here and he was still awesome because Derwis does everything. rebounds, takes charges, block shots, playmakes, connects, just very simple like hit ahead passes type stuff. Always in the right spots, doesn’t have your defense get into rotation as much. Um, making shots is not the only uh thing. It’s important and actually kind of funny to listen to Kevin Durant on starting five be like, it was like, you know, that thing that went viral about anyone can bend their knees and play defense, but it’s all about making shots. It’s like, oh, don’t know about that. Um, couple little things before I mean we can kind of tie this into the trade stuff, but Sam Hower um struggling and Ugo not playing is interesting. It’s like I’d rather give those 11 minutes to Ugo right now than than Anthony. Um, I don’t begrudge Baylor getting a shot. I think it’s fair that he gets to mix in with like the May not and uh Ugos even though I would personally rather see them go to the younger wings than Baylor but he’s played well enough I think in his minutes to get a shot here but Simon’s Hower the young wings are playing well hower can’t shoot defense I thought was pretty bad from him at times today as well um with the resurgence or the resurgence not resurgence the resurgence of the young wings of Minot Ugo and Walsh. Is there a Hower plus Simon’s trade? Is there multiple trades? Do you feel the same thing about H same way about Hower? I just threw so much at you. I’m so sorry. No, no, no. Um, so am I am I worried about Hower like shooting wise or like how he’s going to playwise? Like no, he look Hower is one-dimensional offensive player. Uh, with all respects to Ben in our simillo joke, like he’s extraordinarily onedimensional. Like if the shots aren’t going down, he really just gives you nothing on that end. And he’s like a fine defensive player, but he’s not like a big plus defender or anything like that, right? So, it’s always going to look pretty ugly when the shots not going down. So, I don’t want to overreact to that, even though it has been tough recently. It has been tough. Um, but I’ll say like if if Walsh is real or if May not’s real or if Ugo’s we real and I I thought Baylor was really solid today and I feel like he’s been playable body these last couple games. Um, if that you know if you really trust one or two of those guys like Hower has a very tradable contract and he has value around the league. There’s no doubt in my mind like 6’7 elite shooters who can defend their position at 10 million a year like a great great contract have a lot of value. So if you’re going to attach him to Simons that gets you to about $37 million a year you can kind of go big game hunting man and then you can throw all the picks you want at it and see what’s out there. So I would not be against trading Hower U. But that would be only depending on if Brad and Joe truly trust the guys behind him. Yeah, I’m I’m with you. I think that it it’s scary and I want to see more from the young the young wings cuz like it’s fun right now. And again, Walsh, we didn’t even he is just playing so well that we didn’t even talk about him today. Another 33 minutes from him and the defense the defense is legit. The rebounding is [ __ ] legit. He’s everywhere defensively, which is awesome. Another three steals and a block tonight. Um, but I’ve seen Sam Hower be like really good in the NBA finals. That’s it’s a pretty high bar. Yeah. And so it would scare me to be like, “Okay, we’re going in on these backup wings without seeing more.” It’s been 14 games to put your eggs in those three different baskets is somewhat concerning or terrifying. Um, especially when none of especi especially when you think about like regular season versus playoffs and like no one’s guarding any of them in the playoffs. Like even if missed his last 10 shots, he’s still getting guarded in the playoffs. That’s just who he is. And so that that would be my concern. But yeah, if the right trade does come along and that maybe is the transition here, Zubos doesn’t even require you to attach both of them if that is happening. Um would you trade for a vita to Zubots? Yeah. Yes, I absolutely would. I I don’t really know what the Clippers think they are or what direction they’re headed. So I guess yeah, we’ll move on. We’ll move on from the Clippers game. The Clippers are bad. This was a really fun game. Um, so like we’re this next section we’re going to talk about like teams that are playing really really horribly to the point where some of their pieces might be available for trade. And like it makes sense. Let’s start with the Clippers. They’re now uh four and nine I believe. Um, and like Zubach is like a pretty obvious dude who might get moved depending on what the Clippers think where they are and like what they do with Kawawaii and Harden. So, I suspect they will not be interested in trading him. Um, but if he were available, I think we would be crazy not to go for him. Well, the the other piece of it is that they don’t own their own pick. And Oklahoma City, of course, owns their pick. And we may as well we might have to start a Patriots podcast if the [ __ ] Thunder get um one of the top three guys in this draft because like there’s going to be no point at that point. Um, so I’m not sure why the Clippers would do it cuz it’s like unless you get unless you get an over overpay and I’m not sure the Celtics are going to overpay in this season. I guess I ask you this. Would you do just I know money work. Would you do Simons and your 2026 first round pick this year today for a Vita Zubats? You don’t get to be like I wonder what our record is. you you it’s like we’re leaving Zubats in Boston. He’s not coming back. He’s We’re not We can’t afford his extra weight on this flight. Oh man, dude. That’s a really tough one. So, his contract’s pretty ridiculous, right? It It’s 20 million a year. It’s like Yeah. Yeah. Like 19 million a year annual value. Blocked up for two more years after this one. Age appropriate for this team. 28 years old. Um, and then the second you acquire him, if it’s just for Ant, you bump Kada into backup center and he will be an awesome awesome backup center. Um, I prefer like I really wish we could find a five that could space it. But Zoo has the passing chops. He’s an elite rim protector. He’s an elite finisher around the rim. He’s a great screener. Um, so like man, he’s like super He’s like Luke Cornet on steroids. Yeah. Yeah, basically. That’s a great point. Yeah, that’s a good one. I think you got to do it, man, because it gives you that Tatum window. It gives you a legitimate like borderline star. I mean, yeah. Um, center that’s, you know, going to be in his prime the next few years. Yeah, I have to do it. I know like we talked about at the top here, the Celtics are just not going to be bad enough unless they sustain bad like injuries to fall into the top nine. And like that’s where you need to be in order to get like a 20% chance at a top four pick. If you’re below that, your odds of jumping into the top four are below 10%. And I get that the Mavs have jumped in. And I get that the other that’s too low of a percentage for me to roll a dice on to pass up trading for someone like Zubats because that is a very clear need on the future version of this team is the big man spot. And if Zubats is available, that’s the move. I think this is probably an offseason move though if it does happen which creates more complications because you don’t have the Simon’s contract to trade and then it becomes do you trade Derek White is it a three tame Derek White trade for Vita Zubats and you probably have to say yes honestly sadly I don’t know yeah I’d have to we’ll see how Dererick plays for the rest of the season man that’s tough that’s a tough one that would really give me pause to move Derek um Steve Zilla Spoon is describing young Al. Al could always switch and that was what made Al Horford gamebreaking is that he was a great rim protector and he could switch. He was basically like Bam but with like a more complex offensive game. So Zoo can’t do that. Um but I have no concerns about Zubach. Like I think he would be awesome on this. Imagine him with Tatum. How good like Tatum makes like these guys look incredible. He made Caner look playable. a defensive lineup of Tatum, Jaylen, Walsh, Ugo, Zubats, and Tatum just run Tatum and Jaylen just run the offense. Like, you put Pritchette in there as well. Uh, it’s just he was he was a legit defensive player of the year candidate last year and anchored one of the best defenses in the NBA and had a legit case for all NBA last year. That’s how that I’m really really high on Zubats and maybe I’m higher than Consensus. like I I view him as on a very very short list of big men that you can look at and be and and say that can be our big man for the next decade. Yeah, that that’s like that’s the big man for the next era of Jaylen and Jason basketball done and he’s on a good contract for the next couple years. Um speaking of speaking of center for the next decade, Jake, let me bring you back over to the East Coast. Oh, here we No. Yeah. The the the younger sibling of the New York Knicks, the the Brooklyn Nets are a long way from being any good. And they happen to have exactly one guy who is pretty good, and that’s Nick Claxton. I’m not the hugest fan of Clax. Uh he makes $25 million a year though and the Nets have cap space. So you could actually Simons and him just works period. But you could also like add in something else and cut some salary and get under the tax. Like if you just added Hower to that trade, I believe we would get well under the tax, which would be huge. Um so trading with the NEX has that kind of added benefit. Um, but my concern with Clax is always, it always will be his free throw shooting. I hate centers who can’t make free throws. Like, it’s just brutal to me. But he is shooting 70% from the line this year. Um, and he’s added a little extra to his game. He’s almost at four assists a game and I watched a little nuts and I thought he looked really, really good. He’s still only 26 years old somehow. It feels like he’s been in the league forever and like I would say a plus defensive center too. Yeah, for sure. Um, and like at 26, he’s still young, but he will be old by the time the Nets are ready to compete, right? Like I I think it makes sense for them to move him and just try and figure out whatever the hell this team is. And he’s locked up on a really, really good number. A declining contract, 25 this year, then 23, then 20 until 27, 28. Um, so you can lock in like a young solid starting level center. He’s definitely overpaid, but Mhm. man, it it is it’s just hard to see where the big man comes from cuz like it’s definitely not I’m not jumping out of my seat to smash the to turn in the card to pick in to that’s drafting. Nice try. Um, yeah. Like, but at the same time, I do think that he would look really good next to Tatum and these guys. Like, the fact that he’s able to be productive and impactful on some of these Nets teams says a lot. It kind of reminds me of like uh when Daniel Gaffford went from the Wizards over to the Mavs or when PJ Washington went over to the Mavs. like a guy that’s been good on a team that is just so horrendous like that probably, you know, indicates he could do that here. And the stuff you can see is being translatable and unlike Simons where you’re not going to ask him to take 15 shots a game when he comes over here. It’s like, okay, can you envision him in the infrastructure with the Jays? It’s like, yeah, big rangy athlete that can rebound. Um, he’s a little skinny, but yeah, you’re right. He is shooting 70% from the line, 55%. It also his by far his highest volume as well, 4.8 this year. His next closest was a few years ago at 3.2. So that’s a good indicator. Um, dude, watch some of his highlights. He’s putting it on the deck this year. Like I I think he might be taking a leap. Like I don’t know how real it is. It’s only been 12 games, but I was like, who is that? when I watched a little bit of a Nets game and I was like Claxton just took two dribbles and euroed somebody and got an and one like what is happening right now. Um so like I think he might be like in the like during like right now hitting a mini leap and that kind of changes who he is as a player. So like now would be the time to strike. I’m surprised he’s not a better free throw shooter because like his overall touch and like catching lobs around and like touch around the basket is pretty good. And man, if Kada had better touch, I this the ceiling would there would be none. But like early in the game today, he hits two of those like little Luca Gaza Yaka Purle floaters, you know, in that five to seven foot range. And I’m like, okay, is he figuring it out? And then he just missed so many shots that were close to the basket today. What do you end up? He ended up seven for 16 as so many and they’re all right around the basket. Like he just doesn’t have the touch it. And it’s not necessarily his fault, but if he did, whereas Claxton in his 22 23 season led the league in field goal percentage like a guy that’s got short hands around the basket. So, I think gun to my head, Simons Hower for Claxton, I think you probably, assuming you don’t have to attach any picks, I think you probably do it. And then you you look to draft another big man with your 19th overall pick, 17th overall pick, first overall pick, whatever it is. Um, yeah, I I’m You’ve sold me. Okay, awesome. Yeah, I I think we probably have to include a first, but I don’t think it I don’t know. I I don’t know what the Nets value him at, but I don’t think it would have to be this year’s. Yeah. Yeah, Ben, four assists to those bumps is impressive. That’s That’s a damn fact. Yeah. I mean, yeah, Steve in the chat. I wish Rob was a real option. Rob, Al and Porzingis on two vet mins and a and the taxpayer mid-level exception will uh or the non- taxpayer will be our center rotation next year and everyone’s going to like it. It’s going to be just all nostalgia and all people in street clothes. Hell yeah. Um okay, you want to move on? I I Let’s Let’s save the the guy out in California for last. Um, I have one that I think we can move on from really quickly. Um, I don’t know how how like legitimate it is, but the Washington Wizards. It’s not Alex Sar as much as I want it to be. Alex Sar, I thought that’s what you’re going to say before I saw this comment in the chat. Yeah, I would love Sar. He they I think he’s going to be like I think they probably value him as like a pillar of their team right now. The Wizards like Sar’s been really good this year. So, okay, he’s 26 years old. They already traded a guy who is like 24 25 because he was not he was just like gonna be too old by the time they were ready to play. Elite three-point shooter Corey Kisspert makes 14 million a year. You can send them Simons and take back Kispert, Malachi Brham, and and Will Riley. So like nothing essentially. Um and you actually save $5 million which gets you really close to getting under the the tax. It might even get you under there. and you probably have to throw in something. I don’t know what, maybe a first. Um, but Kasper, elite three-point shooting wing. I I’m not sure it’s worthwhile given kind of the construction of the roster, but he’s good, man. Like, I think he’s really good. Oh, I Yeah, big Kiss guy. I thought I I was like, Kisper’s not a big you were going. Um, but also Brandham, you like him, man. I’ve seen some flashes uh over the years where was he with the Spurs and the Hawks maybe? Uh, yeah. Look, that that’s fine. I think I I think I’d be I’d be in for it. I just don’t know. Like the both with Claxton and the Wizards, why are you trading away these guys? You’re already this bad. Do you need to also trade away good players? I guess like the the idea is that they won’t be part of your by the time you’re actually good. So get the most you can. They traded Denny. They traded. That was the old front office though if I’m not mistaken. I think it was the bad one. I feel like I feel like they’re better run at this point. Um so I’m in but at at some point [ __ ] you got to keep someone on the team that’s good. I agree. I I totally agree. Um like I said, I think we can move on from this one really fast, but I was like, the Wizards are so bad. Who knows what they might be willing to do. Um and it clears some money off their books because Simons is expiring so they can get off of Kissert’s uh contract and get some value back from him. So, I thought, you know, worth discussing. Okay. I think this is a big one. And I think probably the one that’s most realistic, the modest Sabonis. Oh, boy. Yeah. So, it’s tough. It’s tough to make happen. Um, so obviously you start with Simons and then I think it’s got to be Hower and Pritchard if I’m not mistaken unless you start adding in Derek White. Yeah. Um, so where you at generally on Sabonis and like are you willing to like is Dererick White on the table? Are Hower and Pritchard on the table? Where are you at? The offense would be so good with Sabonis. True. The offense would be so good if with Simonus, but with like with Claxton, it feels like you can you can kind of get out of it if you need to. And Sabonis is a guy I can see you getting stuck with. Like if it doesn’t work, you can you can probably flip him, but you’re not going to be able to like maximize the value in the return. So, while I think it’ll be really fun to have an offense, I I love the I would love to use him as a as a hub and I think the pace would be really good for the team. Like having having him get the ball at the high post and make quick decisions and find guys would be would be awesome, but I think your ceiling is just capped. And defensively in the playoffs, I think that’s going to be a problem. I’m just not I’m not about I don’t I don’t like my big men to have defensive holes when it comes to players. I was going to say Achilles heel again, but I know Ben’s in the chat. Um, I don’t want to give PTSD PTSD too many times. But yeah, to for your fatal flaw to be defense as a big man when you’re a team that’s trying to win at the highest level, I’m just not pulling the trigger. Yeah, I think that’s fair. Okay, you can make it work with um just kind of the Celtics poo poo platter. Well, not poo, that’s mean, but Hower, Ugo, Baylor, and Tilman. Like Simons and then those four guys does work. Um as well. So like there are ways to do it without Pritchard, but I I’m with you. I’m not a Sabonis guy. Absolutely never have been. Um I just think the defense is too bad. He doesn’t have a position on the defensive end. And we’ve never seen like when is when has a guy like that been one of the best players on a championship team? Like people will point to Jokic like as similarly like defensively challenge. Joic is a good rim protector. Like he he’s not a great one. He’s having a tough rim protection year this year. I just saw some stats. But for the most part, he is a good rim protector. Sabonis is not. He can rebound. Great. Um, and he kind of just like envelops your offense and you like have to play sure Damatus Sabonis offense. You can’t play in another way. It’s got to be the Sabonis post up handoff game because he can’t shoot and he needs the ball in his hands to be effective. And like I do think it would work really well, but it I feel like it just makes it kind of one-dimensional when he’s on your team. So I I am I’m just not a Sabonis guy. I like the rebounding. That would be good from a defensive side of things. But yeah, no, I’m not not about it. I He He’s like a big man Anthony Simons. But I will give Sabonis credit. He plays as hard as he can. I think Sabonis is like is like maxing out who he can be as a basketball player. Yeah, the Jokic stuff. I watched the Timberwolves Nuggets game and great game. great basketball being played uh over the weekend. Uh but yeah, the Yogic’s defense has gotten worse over the past couple years, but he’s somehow making up for it because he’s getting better and better offensively somehow. I don’t know if that’s possible, but yeah, uh I’m out. I’m out. Uh Gaffford, I know in the chat from Ruie, is a guy that we’ve talked about a few times. I don’t know what they’re going to do, but yes, I would I would also He’s getting paid a bit more now. I I would you rather go um Caffford or Claxton? Uh I I don’t know if I trust Claxton’s free throw shooting, although I don’t think Gaffford’s particularly good either. Um I think I’d probably go Gaffford. I don’t know, man. I feel like that’s a tough one. 60 68% career free throw shooter. So much better than Sabonis. 82% this year. Well, they’re having a career free throw shooting year off between Gaffford and Well, we’ve seen we’ve seen Gaffford be impactful at the highest level, but being a lob threat with Luca is a lot of guys can be successful there. He’s He’s cheaper though, right? If I’m not mistaken. And he How old is he? He’s 27, so he’s younger. Wow. I thought he was older. Um Yeah. So Clax is 26, Gaffford’s 27, Zoo is 28. Yeah. What’s Sabonis? 26. Oh, I want to say older. And Gaffford is cheaper. 14, 17, 18, 19 million. But that’s a really Yeah, but similar to Claxton. Um, Amari Williams. Yep. That’s the answer, baby. Shout out Shout out to RJ. Yeah, RJ, Nick MBA, those that are following along in Maine and showing us some Amari Williams highlights and highlights is strong if I’m being honest. They’re good players, which is good. And I’m just never trusting the G-League again really. I love big men. Shout out for anyone. JD Davidson won MVP. I just can’t do it. Yeah, I think it’s time to end it there. Spoony. Once we get to Amari Williams, I think is usually that’s the cue. Um, yeah, I I said, “Hey, look, okay, $5 foot long giving me crab.” Okay, Joic is not a good rim protector. That was too much. But he’s not like a massive negative defensively. And I think Sabonis completely undermines your defense. That’s the point I was trying to make. You’re right. He’s not a good rim protector. I’m sorry. Take him down. No, no, he’s right. I’m I was wrong. I’m admitting that that was a mistake when you talk as much as we do. Sometimes you’re not totally thinking. Oh, yeah. I’m with $5 foot long. I’m telling him to get you. I’m like, good. Oh, yeah. All right. Yeah. Kill me, bro. Take him down. Um, yeah. Amari Williams. I don’t see it. Whatever. I hope he’s good. Um, guys, uh, but I just don’t. JD, you’re Sydney King, says Ben. Hell yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. He’d cook in the Australian League. He would dominate. All right, let’s get the hell out of here. Jake, is a pleasure as always, buddy. We are out. Peace. [Music]

Several fire sales are underway around the league that Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics could take advantage of.

Plus, reactions to Celtics vs Clippers, Jordan Walsh’s continued improvement, and much more.

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