More big moves to come for the #Celtics this summer? Celtics insider Meghan Ottolini joins! Is Dame a good fit? Simons to stay or go? Update with Al Horford? #NBA
00:00During They Said It, we heard from Derek White, who is delighted to still be here as a Boston Celtic.
00:05And I, as our Celtics insider at this radio station, wanted to ask you about whether this, you believe Brad Stevens is done.
00:14Is this, when you look at this roster now, is that how they are headed into next season from what you are hearing?
00:21My personal opinion is that they're not done.
00:24And mostly it's financial.
00:26Like if you look at, it's clear one of the goals of this offseason was to be under the second apron of the CBA.
00:34And they're a little bit over the second apron because of what they got back in trades and what they did in free agency.
00:42So even if you're like being, I don't know, very cynical and saying, well, the goal of the Celtics was to offload these salaries and have a down year in terms of getting under, maybe even getting under the luxury tax and not be a tax repeater.
00:56They still haven't done that.
00:58So like they could still move somebody like Anthony Simons.
01:02He's on a $27.7 million contract that is an expiring contract.
01:06So it's easy to move.
01:08Like even if they wanted to add more to their front court, get another big because they don't have anybody on the roster right now who's a traditional starting big.
01:16Like they could flip Simons, open up some of that space, and then maybe bring back a smaller piece financially who would be a starting big.
01:24So I don't think it's going to be anything that's like giant fireworks in terms of a core player like Jalen or Derek moving.
01:32But I also think that it's just pretty obvious that they have to make some other moves before you get to the beginning of the season.
01:40You're in favor of doing the Dame Lillard deal.
01:44Absolutely.
01:46Yes.
01:47Yes.
01:47To me, it is the most obvious thing.
01:49I don't understand an argument against it.
01:51It's basically like found money.
01:53I mean, this guy is maybe going to cost you $5.6 million if you do the mid-level tax exemption.
02:02That's nothing.
02:04He won't play this year.
02:05Nope.
02:05He'll come back the following year, hopefully be somebody who's kind of like a luxury piece for you, very cheap.
02:12He can be a volume scorer off the bench.
02:14You have Peyton Pritchard as your starting point guard, and then you bring Dame Lillard in off the bench.
02:20It's such an unusual circumstance for you to be in with a player of that caliber.
02:25Yeah, he's getting older.
02:27Yeah, he's coming off of a dramatic injury, but the risk is so low.
02:31It doesn't even count against your tax.
02:33And just the player that you look at that he could be, and not he's going to be the Dame Lillard that we all know,
02:40but he'll still have some of that late-game Dame Dollar where, and we were talking about this yesterday,
02:47where the league has become, you know, try to get to the paint and then dish to open guys to spot up in the corner.
02:54And one of the callers said, well, what about Russell Westbrook?
02:56I would say, give me Dame Lillard because when you've got Tatum driving or Jalen driving,
03:01he kicks out to Dame Lillard in the corner for one of them open threes.
03:05I would much rather have that guy who I know can knock shots down like that.
03:11And I'm with you on this one, Mago.
03:13It is a no-brainer that you add a guy for that cheap and low-risk, high-reward,
03:21could be a guy that in, you know, a playoff game or two or a couple,
03:25goes out there and scores 27, 28 points.
03:28Who can you get from a big perspective if you're throwing Simons out there?
03:33So, I mean, at this point, most of the free agents who would be a big impact player are gone or signed.
03:40So, it would have to be a trade that you'd execute.
03:43And even then, if you look at what Cornette and what Al Horford are,
03:50what Al Horford's probably going to get with his next team,
03:52like, because those guys are in that $10 million a year range,
03:57you have to imagine, Brad Stevens told us the other day that they made offers to both of those guys.
04:03They're looking much lower than that in terms of what they're paying.
04:07So, I mean, I've always been a little intrigued by Mo Wagner from the Orlando Magic.
04:14He's somebody who has been a free agent because they didn't pick up his option for his final year.
04:19But even that is just, like, very, very rich for this offseason.
04:23What about the guy from Chicago?
04:25His name is Vucevic.
04:28Is that how you say it?
04:29His name has kind of been thrown out a lot.
04:31But does he make a ton of money, though?
04:34I don't have his contract in front of me.
04:36I'm not sure.
04:37But, like, is it possible that they run out Namias Keita and Luka Garza,
04:42their new acquisition, as their starters?
04:46And you get, like, Xavier Tillman as a bench piece.
04:50It's just, it's hard to imagine that they're completely finished there.
04:55But I think whoever they add in that big spot is not going to be somebody like, I don't know,
05:00like a Jonathan Kaminga level, like, huge name that you would know.
05:04And where do they end up with Jalen Brown as your alpha and as currently composed?
05:13What do they end up, are they a playoff team?
05:15Are they, are they, what seed do they end up being at?
05:19I say that they're either a sixth seed or in the play-in.
05:23I think that that's kind of where they're at, realistically.
05:26It'll be interesting to see, Wiggy and I were talking about this during the break,
05:29a couple of breaks ago, it'll be interesting to see if they keep Simons.
05:34That would indicate to me that they are so heavily leaning towards being an offensive powerhouse team.
05:41Because they're basically going to say, our strength is an offense, we're continuing with the Missoula ball,
05:47we're going to try to score as much as we can and kind of play defense through our offense.
05:53If they move on from Anthony Simons and they bring back somebody else,
05:56I think that that may look a little different.
05:59But I think, I don't know, I'd like, I think a sixth seed feels like the most accurate,
06:05but at the same time, I don't think that the Eastern Conference has gotten better in the wake of the finals.
06:10Yeah, and the Nikola Vucevic, he's like $21 million, so it's like flipping Simons is basically the same amount of money.
06:17I don't think they'd go for that.
06:18But you're right, when you start to look at this team, but I'm cool because my expectations are not high.
06:27Like, as a Celtics fan, I'm not looking at this year for them to go in and compete for a championship.
06:33Like, my expectations are not high.
06:34So if you're a five seed, a six seed, you're in the playoff round, like, all right, that's what I expected.
06:39My thing is, all right, how are you setting up the year after?
06:45I don't even want Tatum playing at all this year.
06:47Okay, okay.
06:47So, Wiggy, what happens if they get past the second round of the playoffs and Tatum says he's good to go?
06:56Like, what if Tatum has played very sparingly?
07:00He's like on a Kristaps Porzingis playoff plan where he's played like two games.
07:05Do you have him playing in the playoffs?
07:08So you said if they get past the second round?
07:10Yeah.
07:10So then that means they're headed into the Eastern Conference Finals?
07:13Do you play Tatum?
07:15Tatum says, I am good, guys.
07:17I'd have to see how he looked, Nat, when he's playing sparingly to see what he looks like.
07:23You know, because I, and I don't, like, I don't equate him to Kevin Durant, you know, but I look at the Kevin Durant model of Kevin Durant when he blew his Achilles out.
07:38I know Tatum is much younger when it happened.
07:41I think Durant might have been 31 at the time where, you know, where Tatum's, what, 27?
07:46So I still expect Tatum to come back and be Tatum that we've seen before.
07:52The 774 texter on the Subaru of New England text line, and I hear this frequently, says they can win the East without Jason Tatum, which is, I don't think so.
08:03I think it'll be tough to get past Cleveland and New York.
08:07But, I mean, even the Hawks have gotten a lot better.
08:10But at the same time, the Pacers have gotten significantly worse.
08:13Right, but you were probably going to lose the series against New York with everybody.
08:20So now you really are going to have Jalen Brown, Derek White, P. Pritch, and maybe Simon, and then however you patch the rest of the team together.
08:30So, and it looks like New York could potentially get Giannis or they could get better.
08:35I don't really see how you, how they can say that about this Celtics team.
08:40Yeah, 978 texter all over your insider status saying they should be higher than a six seed and calling you out on being an insider.
08:50I mean, you're there all the time.
08:51That's what I consider to be an insider.
08:52Look, if you want them to be higher than a six seed, I love that.
08:56Like, I would love the more optimistic perspective.
08:58I'm just, I think I got two feet on the ground and I'm looking at it and saying,
09:03I don't know who the starting big is and that's just a big question.
09:08Right.
09:08So we'll see.
09:09Maybe, maybe the roster, like I said, I don't think they're done.
09:12So what does the roster look like when you're in September, when you start heading into training camp?
09:16We'll see.
09:17You want to come out, Meg, oh, you got to go through Shine.
09:19There you go.
09:20And then Wiggy and then Jackson.
09:23And if necessary, I mean, I do wear glasses, but I would be the, I would be the line of final defense.
09:28Okay.
09:28What's that person think?
09:30I give, if they're, so do they think that this team's going to be a fourth seed?
09:34Because I feel like they could fall anywhere between four and seven.
09:39But does he think they're going to, or she, do they think they're going to be a one or a two seed?
Be the first to comment