Lebron James and Steve Nash officially uploaded another “Mind the Game Podcast”, where they discussed major NBA Trade Deadline moves, the state of the Lakers, and the Nikola Vucevic to the Boston Celtics trade.
“For us to be 11 games over .500 and a top-six seed in the West is pretty damn good considering the situation we’ve been in, but we have to keep going. The West changes daily.” – James on the Lakers.
After the Lakers discussion, towards the end of the episode, Nash brought up the Celtics, and James raved about their ability to shoot the three ball, as well as going in-depth on how he would fit with the squad.
Let’s break down Vucevic’s impact as well as what James discussed about the potential of the 2026 Boston Celtics.
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“Everyone was saying Al Horford is gone, Jrue Holiday is gone, the championship DNA is gone. Well, they still have guys on the team who have won a chip and a championship head coach. They’re a sneaky, hanging around, dangerous team, and it looks like JT is ramping up to return.”
Immediately James is giving his respect to this Boston team that is 35-19, sitting at second place in the Eastern Conference. He recognized that with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and company, this was never a team that was just going to roll over and tank.
“This is a team over the last couple years that has led the league in three point attempts. You add Vooch, another stretch five who can stretch the floor, catch the ball in short pockets. you cant really switch a lot of smaller guys because of his ability to duck in and go over his right and left shoulder in the paint area. He’s also a very good passer and a guy who just knows the game.”
This is the golden nugget for Boston Celtics fans, and something they should hold their hats on because of his early returns in a three game sample size. The first two games were somewhat shaky, but in a size mismatch against his former team in the Chicago Bulls, he just turnt it on.
Vucevic shot 4/5 from three, and his ability to space the floor, similar to what Luka Garza has done, was a massive lift to the team. In addition to his shooting, his offensive game is well rounded, as James said.
The Celtics utilized the former Bulls center at the top of the key, and he made a couple beautiful passes for some assists. In addition, in the pick and roll game, he was often switched onto a smaller player who he absolutely punished.
The only real concern here is his absolutely horrid defense. Nikola just has absolute cinder blocks for feet, is extremely slow in retreating in drop coverage, and does not have the foot quickness at all to defend the pick and roll.
Once again, this move is not an end all be all because of his free agent status in 2026, but I will push back on what Lebron said because of the defense. His offense is fantastic, but I can’t see this being more than a one season rental, especially given the fact that he’s 35 years old currently.
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