00:00You know, LaMela Ball was chosen over Jalen Brown.
00:02It sounded like the team wanted to go one way or the other to make a trade,
00:06that being the Timberwolves.
00:08And then they didn't bite, the Bucs did not bite at what was being offered up,
00:15essentially Jalen Brown and a couple of picks from Brad Stevens.
00:18Do you think that maybe the Celtics have overestimated Jalen Brown's value
00:22in the eyes of other teams?
00:25I mean, it's possible.
00:27I've talked to people around the league, and his value is supposedly still very high.
00:31So I've seen a lot of people in Boston say, well, if his value is so high,
00:36then why haven't they traded him yet?
00:37It doesn't mean that there aren't good packages out there that would bring back value.
00:41It just means that there's not a package that's been worth pulling the trigger for yet, right?
00:45It's possible they're considering various things.
00:47The Celtics keep things very close to the vest.
00:49So I wouldn't be, you know, it could be this hour where all of a sudden he gets traded
00:52for a haul, and we're all kind of wondering how we had that conversation.
00:55But the return on LaMelo Ball, in my eyes, was pretty weak.
00:59It's effectively Nas Reed and a first-round pick and a couple of pick swaps that might
01:03actually not pan out because I don't know that Minnesota is going to be a worse team
01:08than Charlotte in those years, right?
01:10So it's effectively a first-round pick and Nas Reed, who is a high-level role player,
01:14but somebody who has been coming off the bench, right?
01:16So it's very possible that Boston would have scoffed at that return and wanted much more
01:21than that for Jalen.
01:23I would be surprised if they would have accepted that return.
01:26So I've seen the reporting of, like, they chose the LaMelo package over Jalen, but, yeah,
01:31we have no reason to think it's for the same value.
01:33And I do know that his value is much higher now than it was a year ago at this time.
01:38Like, many people I've spoken to have said, you know, teams were very impressed by what
01:43he was able to do during this past season without Jason Tatum as the number one guy,
01:47the kinds of performances he had, and because it ended so sour, I think a lot of people
01:51even locally have forgotten what that year looked like and how effective he was and how
01:57many big-time performances he had.
01:59But because at the end of the day, all that matters is the playoffs in Boston, right?
02:01Like, we don't care about January, but teams were impressed with how he played.
02:05So I'd be surprised if they do move him if it's for a weak return.
02:09Noah, there's been a lot made about Jason Tatum and his influence or maybe impact on all
02:15of these proceedings.
02:16Any word on Joe Mazzula and if he's had any sort of input on these potential trade packages
02:22or anything like that?
02:23Is he part of this?
02:24Is he someone that they're sort of going to to get input on?
02:29Yeah, I mean, Joe and Brad have a very close relationship, and they have for a long time.
02:34It's a unique dynamic because, obviously, he was one of Brad's assistant coaches.
02:38And so they have – it kind of goes all the way back to that.
02:42And I know that they've been in regular communication.
02:44I know that they've both been in the building.
02:46And it's like any decision that the Celtics make is not made in a vacuum, right?
02:50Like, they've committed to Joe long-term.
02:52And I think that he is somebody that is very much a decision-maker, just like Brad.
02:55Obviously, he's not the ultimate guy that's pulling the trigger.
03:00So I'm not sure exactly where he kind of lands on all of this.
03:02But I will say the Jason Tatum stuff is interesting because it would just be so out of line
03:10or out of left field for him to get publicly involved in this sort of thing.
03:14Like, I'm not sure.
03:14And I know that they're actually both, I think, in the same city in Europe right now, Jason and Jalen.
03:19I have no idea if they've had conversations or not.
03:21But I've seen the pressure of, like, oh, why isn't he tweeting or why isn't he speaking out?
03:26But when have we ever seen anything like that?
03:28And especially for somebody like Jason Tatum, who is so buttoned up and so PR trained
03:32and never really says things like that.
03:34Like, if there is a back and forth right now between Brad Stevens and Jalen
03:37and an open line of communication and they're trying to figure out what's best
03:40and where both parties want to go, for Tatum to get publicly involved would be, like, pretty unprecedented.
03:45So I'm not sure why that became, like, a big theme and critique both in Boston and nationally
03:51around kind of how he should behave right now.
03:53How would you characterize their relationship, then?
03:57Tatum and Browns?
03:58Yeah.
03:59I think highly professional.
04:01Like, you know, there's an outside view of people want them to be really close friends.
04:06I don't think I have never gotten the sense that they're really close friends.
04:09But they've been kind of co-leaders of this franchise for a long time.
04:14And getting to the top of the mountain in 2024 was very rewarding, I think, for both of them
04:18because they did it with each other.
04:21And up until this point, they have committed, and they've both spoken about this publicly, privately.
04:27Like, whenever they've hit a crossroad in the road, they've looked at each other and said, you know,
04:31do you still want to be here?
04:32Do I still want to be here?
04:33We both want to keep doing this, right?
04:35That doesn't mean that that can't change at some point.
04:37And maybe this is the summer where that does change.
04:39But to date, I think they just very much respect each other.
04:42They push each other to be better.
04:44But they're not best friends, right?
04:45And I think that if it would be – like, if Tatum and White were the two co-stars, like,
04:49those guys have obviously had more of, like, a public-facing friendship.
04:52I think people's questions around this stuff would be absolved.
04:56Well, Noah, your opinion has completely contradicted the insider named Robot Dave on Twitter
05:04who said that they do not go along at all.
05:06So I actually was sent that, and I was like, hang on.
05:09Did anybody check the name of the person who tweeted this out?
05:12It's at Robot Dave.
05:14I don't think that that person with, I think, maybe 300 followers is someone I should trust, Noah.
05:20Yeah, and again, it's like, I'm not trying to sell this vision of, like, oh, these two guys.
05:24Like, I see sometimes the fans have these Twitter edits, and they're like,
05:27these two guys, they love each other so much.
05:29They're best friends.
05:30Like, you could never separate them.
05:31I think they're two guys that have been competitive over the years.
05:34Like, they played.
05:35They're the same age, same position.
05:36Like, there are some natural factors that have made this dynamic so, you know, hot-button for the national media.
05:43But, yeah, again, I've been around them for the last few years.
05:46I've never gotten the sense that there's, like, a problem there.
05:48And I've never heard that from anybody else, so there's a problem there.
05:51There are a lot of egos in this business, right?
05:52There's a lot of people that, a lot of relationships that sour at times and people that snap at each
05:57other and all that.
05:57And this, to me, just feels like a tension point that's not really there that we've just put a lot
06:01of time and energy into.
06:03Well, Noah, it looks like you're going to be on Twitch soon, sitting in live.
06:07Oh, yeah, that's for sure.
06:08That's for sure.
06:08T-Mod is 45 minutes.
06:10I just changed my plans.
06:11That's right.
06:11Well, Noah, thanks for coming on.
06:12We really appreciate it.
06:14You can follow her at N-O-A-D-A-L-Z-E-L-L.
06:17Did I spell that correct, Noah?
06:19Yeah, that's correct.
06:20Thanks so much.
06:21Hell, yeah.
06:21Hell, yeah.
06:21That comes from somebody with a last name, certainly.
06:23So I've got to know how to spell last names correctly.
06:25She also writes for the Celtics blog and the You Got Boston podcast.
06:28Thank you, Noah, for coming on with us.
06:29We really appreciate it.
06:30Yeah, of course.
06:31Thanks for having me.
06:31Thanks.
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