After starting off the 2021/22 NBA season with a middling 25-25 record, the Celtics were hardly looking like candidates for a deep postseason run. Now, after consecutive Game 7 wins over Milwaukee and Miami, Boston will face Golden State in the NBA Finals, which begin on Thursday at the Chase Center.
Celtics star swingman Jaylen Brown acknowledged this week that he heard plenty of trade speculation earlier in the year when Boston’s season was looking less promising, writes Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. During the first half of the season, there was outside chatter about whether the Celtics needed to break up Brown and Jayson Tatum.
“That trade talk was loud, and most of it came from Boston fans,” Brown told Haynes. “It’s a city that doesn’t tolerate excuses. But in reality, early in the season we had a new coach, we had a new front office, I missed about 15 games early in the season and that caused us to not be clicking on all cylinders like we wanted to be. People were impatient, so I understand. But fast forward, we got healthy, we got everybody back and now the sky’s the limit.”
There’s more out of Boston:
- Veteran Celtics big man Al Horford is expected to have his salary for the 2022/23 NBA season fully guaranteed, regardless of the NBA Finals outcome, sources tell Brian Robb of MassLive. Boston’s Eastern Finals win increased Horford’s partial guarantee from $14.5MM to $19.5MM, while a championship would officially increase it to a full guarantee of $26.5MM. However, given the way he has performed this season – and in the playoffs – it sounds like Horford won’t have to worry about being waived in the offseason, no matter how the forthcoming series plays out.
- Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has indicated that there is “no concern” about the health of starting point guard and Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart heading into the team’s NBA Finals matchup against the Warriors this week, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Smart sat out Games 1 and 4 of Boston’s seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series win against the Heat with a right ankle sprain.
- The Celtics are savoring their four-day breather in between the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals on Thursday, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Starting center Robert Williams, who was unavailable for three contests against the Heat due to a left knee bone bruise and played limited minutes in Game 7, looks to be a big beneficiary of break. “Rob’s all right,” Udoka said. “Getting looked at today and will continue to get his treatment and rehab and in order to get swelling down and some of the pain and mobility back. And so it’s going to be an ongoing thing, like I mentioned. He’s day-to-day pretty much throughout the playoffs… [He] should feel better with time in between, especially with these two days off in between games, as opposed to playing every other day.”
Celtics Age
Williams 23
Williams 24
Tatum 24
Pritchard 24
Brown 25
White 27
Smart 28
Warriors
Big old 4
Average age 34
Big young 4
Average age 20
Good data Sillivan. The outlook for this Celtics team is so exciting because they have so much young talent and they are locked up on long-term deals:
G. Williams 23 – Rookie deal – RFA in 2023
R. Williams 24 – 4 more years
Tatum 24 – 4 more years
Pritchard 24 – Rookie deal – RFA in 2024
Brown 25 – 2 more years
White 27 – 3 more years
Smart 28 – 4 more years
Now please stop turning the ball over so much Jaylen Brown, and how about showing up in the 4th quarter.
There’s an article on espn right now about draymond green whining he wasn’t on the first all defensive team. That’s what happens draymond when you play 46 of 82 games. Still a joke he made 2nd team
Brown seems to have a different memory of the early season. The reason I stopped watching that dysfunctional group for most of December was because of Brown, Tatum, Smart and Schroeder playing one on five. Just a matter of who got the ball first.
Teams turn-key for next year
I see Pritchard taking a step forward next year and providing that little extra spacing they could use. He’s had some nice mins already this postseason that should do him well long term
Pritchard is a very good offensive player but he can’t switch the way Udoka wants to play big minutes.
That’s a very good point OrienGreene. Unless Prichard can somehow grow 4 to 5 inches, he’ll always be a fit issue for this team on defense. He’s a ton of fun to watch play, but his minutes will be somewhat limited on this team due to his size. He needs the “Gattaca” leg-lengthening procedure.
Great movie Lars (Gattaca) . I need a re-watch
I’m curious if Neysmith is in their plans at all. It’s a shame that 3&D was his calling card coming out and he’s provided neither in the limited run he’s had.
One thing about Nesmith is he plays REALLY hard. I think he is gonna need minutes to get his shot back, and he won’t get them with Boston.
He might be a solid NBA player but never become a true 3 pts threat. He does play solid Defense, which usually means you can play in the league.
He’s in the plans the plan is to trade him
I could see AL either retiring or working out a new contract to lower his cap hit (if they’re allowed to idk the rules on that) they should try and move Theis and Neysmith and get a true PG or a better #2 center because R. Williams gets injured to much
Theis works well for the Celtics during the Reg. Season. He is on a $5million deal, which is cheap. He isnt going anywhere.
Nesmith on the other hand, someone might want to take a shot on him.
$5MM/season was Theis’ previous contract. He was paid $8.37MM this season, and is set to earn $8.79MM, $9.2MM and $9.6MM over the next three seasons.
Good correction/input hereallnight. Theis’ contract is maybe a little pricy for a backup center, but he’s a good fit and does his role well. I could see him with the Celtics for the whole contract but could also see him used for salary matching in a trade if the right deal comes along.
Imé Udoka (asst.) coached in the NBA for about as long as Brad Stevens coached in the NCAA.
One prepares you to be an NBA head coach better than the other.
It does not take long either way; depends mostly on how the star reacts personally to him.