Speaking to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum discussed the hiring of new Boston head coach Ime Udoka, logging time with Team USA in this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, and more.
“Extremely happy about Ime,” Tatum said of Udoka. “I’ve known him for a little while. He’s extremely motivated and I think everybody has a good feeling about this. I think this is going to be great.” Tatum noted that he and fellow Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown were both consulted as the team interviewed a variety of head coach candidates.
“It was tough, just everything that we had to endure, everything that kind of happened,” Tatum said of the Celtics’ disappointing 2020/21 season, which saw the club finish as the No. 7 seed in the East and lose in the first round to the Nets. “It put in perspective and made me appreciate those good years that we had and we made those deep playoff runs. It’s not always guaranteed and it made me appreciate that.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Shooting guard D’Angelo Harrison is scheduled to attend the Sixers‘ mini-camp later in July, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Since going undrafted out of St. John’s in 2015, the 6’4″ 27-year-old has played for a variety of international teams. During the 2020/21 season, Harrison played for Italian League club New Basket Brindisi.
- Newly-added Knicks point guard Luca Vildoza showed off his sharpshooting bona fides during an Olympics exhibition match for Team Argentina last Saturday, as Marc Berman of the New York Post details. Vildoza connected on three of his eight three-point looks in the 87-84 loss to Team Australia.
- The Knicks have a clear need to upgrade their starting point guard position. With that in mind, Ian Begley of SNY.tv examines several restricted free agent options for New York, noting that lead guards who are not ball-dominant (including Lonzo Ball, Kendrick Nunn, and Devonte’ Graham) could be ideal fits alongside All-Star forward Julius Randle, who thrives with the ball in his hands.
Graham is the best option from RFA pool for NYK this yr. Good playmaker and 3 pointer, should fit pretty well with Randle and Barrett. And would be way cheaper than Lonzo
Time and time again
Knicks will be the hottest team this summer
Knicks should give Luca a chance before they deplete the team for Dame or give away most cap space for Ball.
I agree. If they can resign Rose at an ok #, develop IQ, and onboard Luca I don’t see why PG is constantly being touted as a must-upgrade.
Also, if you’re going to continue to use Randle as a defacto initiator (which given how he played next to Rose in the playoffs seems like it’s a good idea) then why even waste salary on a small starting PG like Graham or Nunn?
I’d rather see them sign Powell and go Powel/Bullock/Barrett/Randle/Mitch. Still think sitting out and rolling over the space is the best move tho.
I think Randle should have less time as point foward. A good PG playmaker would take a lot of press of him as a creator. Let Randle, Barrett, Rose and new PG share the ball
Tatum is a great young player. no ego and understanding. hope he gets more help. boston needs to imprive that bench and they’re solid
No ego? You can’t be following the Celtics at all. Just today in the Boston Globe, he’s complaining about how he wasn’t All-NBA: “How could you watch my game and the season I had and think I wasn’t one of the best 15 players?”. His ego is one of the things holding him back.
If Tatum is happy with new coach. Then that’s all that matters. Don’t know much about him, I do remember him as a player. Really thought Carlisle was a done deal in Boston.
One things need to change is get Randle OFF the ball. He’s not a point forward. We need a general to run the offense. To get Randle the ball in his spots. You see the way CP3 runs a team manages the gm. We need that kind of PG. Also one who can score some. A PG handles the ball enough so he will always have a chance to at least get 16 a gm. Knicks need more motion offense and more shooting. That will give RJ n Randle more space to work. Imo Luca is a solid backup with Rose. Tells me Quickley is available. Luca is more a traditional PG and Rose is more a scoring PG. Ben saying it for TWO yrs. Dinwiddie knows NY he is a leader and closer. All we need to do is sign him. No trade, don’t give up anything. PG and another scorer is what we need most. NYK
Dinwiddie is a lot closer to Derrick Rose’s style than Paul’s. I don’t disagree with your overall sentiment but guys like Chris Paul, true floor generals, are almost extinct. Not gonna be easy to find one. It’s definitely not Dinwiddie.
Thibs biggest mistake in the Atlanta series was overlapping the Rose/Randle minutes. Should have kept them separate. Randle emerged this year precisely because he became a creator. Why move him off ball? (Unless you can get Chris Paul, then sure, do it)
Mitchell is close. He is a gm manager. And great D player. I would trade up for him. Dinwiddie last yr he ran. Ets. He was their closer and playmaker. His ast were almost 7 a gm. I see that continuing with Knicks or next team. He’s become more a true PG. He put up 20 n 7. Those are great stats. Plus he doesn’t turn the ball over. Imo he’s become a better all around PG and he’s got size.
Tatum is Just a stat padding ball hog. He will never win a championship ask the best or even 2nd best player