BGleas

Miami is really tough. I don’t think they’ll beat the Bucks, but I definitely think they have a chance. If they do, I could easily see them making the Finals. They’re that good. Riley has done a phenomenal job rebuilding that roster.

I also expect this to be a really good, long series. Remember with Boston too though, we’re without Hayward. With that said though, I expect Toronto shoot much, much better from 3 next game and could completely see a lopsided game in the other direction. So much of this series is simply going to come down to 3pt shooting. I think Boston’s length, especially on the perimeter hurts guys like Van Vleet, but at the same time Lowery and VanVleet can hurt Boston when they attack the rim.

I’m admittedly biased in this series, but while the Raptors certainly got called for more fouls in the first quarter I didn’t necessarily think they were bad calls. I think a few things caused the foul discrepancy, 1) the Raptors were out of synch and playing overly physical defensively, 2) the Celtics were playing tremendous transition defense and transition is an area Toronto excels and typically draws a lot of fouls, and 3) in the halfcourt offensively Toronto was playing a little out of control, primarily Lowery and Van Vleet when penetrating so they weren’t getting bail out calls.

I don't know, @KoB2011, I thought the officiating was fantastic!

I always liked those Blazers teams as a kid because I was the anti-Jordan kid. They’ve been hit hard, I believe that’s Kevin Duckworth, Jerome Kersey and now Clifford Robinson all gone too soon.

A couple things are clear, the organization loves him, Stevens loves him and his teammates rave about him. Those are always good things and even more so for a well run organization like the Celtics. I think they see how hard he works, what kind of person he is, and the high ceiling that is there. He just needs to spend the summer in the lab getting stronger, shooting a ton and working on his handles, primarily his left hand. He's certainly capable of all of that. I just again worry about a guy that isn't naturally active offensively, and also a guy that had so much success scoring at a young age but has glaring weaknesses like shooting and using his left. I am really high on Langford. You should see our house (me and the kids) every time we watch a Celtics game and he enters. We go crazy. Just in analyzing his game, there are concerns. My biggest concern is still his activity. I've watched him closely for two years now, in different situations (as an offensive leader at IU and as a rookie on a stacked team in Boston), and he so often just stands around waiting for things to come to him. I worry about that aggressiveness. I watched other rookies around the league, and granted every situation is different, but a guy like Tyler Herro as a rookie didn't stand in the corner he asserted himself. There's other examples. I understand the injuries and that of course legitimate. Again, I love Langford, am so excited he's a Celtic and I agree with all of the upside. Just analyzing his game so far and what he needs to improve on.

To be honest, I'm mixed on his ceiling. I really like him, of course always root for iU guys, and was/am so excited the Celtics drafted him. With that said, it's not just the injuries that worry me. For a rookie, he was pretty fantastic defensively, but he's going to have to make some big improvements to his game to really reach his ceiling as a player at this level. They're all things he certainly capable of since he's naturally gifted and a hard worker, but he has to get bigger and he has to make huge improvements in ball handling and shooting and he needs to be more active and assertive. It seems so odd, because scoring/offense should not be a problem for him, but that's actually the end I worry about for him. Like at IU, he basically would just go stand in the corner and do nothing offensively. He literally might be in a game for 7+ minutes and never once touch the ball. Now you could say that's the Celtics offense and he's not supposed to get touches as a rookie playing with Kemba, Hayward, Brown and Tatum, but then guys like Ojeleye and Devonte Green would come in for Langford and they're flying all over the place, active in the offense and making things happen (good and bad, but at least they're active). Langford would just stand there. I could see him developing into a full-time starter that averages double-digits, but I could just as easily see him as a guy that bounces around as a hard working, smart player off the bench that never develops a consistent jumper and just always shows flashes but never enough.

I agree. It's just so hard to gauge what Hayward's value is on the market since the injury. Like I said, I'm not a big Turner fan and would probably be disappointed with that swap, but the Celtics are going to need to improve at the 5 to make the leap to legit eastern conference favorite, they're going to have to figure out paying everyone, and at some point in the next year or two they'll either need to bet on Langford sliding into Haywards role or move him if he has some value.

You must not have watched the Celtics much this season. Hayward was pretty close to 100% this year. Last year, yes he was bad but it was his first year back and the whole team had to deal with the Kyrie saga. This year Hayward has been great, it's just that he's basically the 4th option so he doesn't get the touches he would normally.

I'm not a big fan of Myles Turner's game, but realistically the Celtics are going to have to make a decision on Hayward and the Celtics need an interior presence. I wish he was a better rebounder though because while the blocked shots are nice, we really need a rebounder. With that said, I'm not sure what the market would be for Hayward and this could be a somewhat fair deal. I'm just really not a fan of Turner thought.

Yeah, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this. Respect you as a poster as well on here, of course. This isn't something that was easy to have a real strategic plan for, it was unfolding in real time. I'm know players spent last night and most of today meeting, and I'm sure they spent a ton of time strategizing what they do from here. But they had the attention of the nation for almost 24 hours, in a country where the news cycle flips every 10 minutes seemingly. At a time where the incumbent president is having his convention before an major election, and the NBA and athletes in general held the attention. All day today they held the attention as well. Cancelling the season would have accomplished very little. Now, by ultimately continuing they'll get to keep spreading the message. I'm not sure what you mean about Blake's Mom being impressive? I agree she was impressive, but did you mean that in a way that she's handling the moment well with her words and the NBA or athletes aren't? Did you hear Doc Rivers speak? Chris Webber? Ryan Clark (former NFL player)? The New York Mets player? Athletes have absolutely delivered and they will continue too. By going home, they lose their voice. Remember Kyrie saying the players shouldn't play before the bubble because it would be a distraction? I'm sure Kyrie is doing great things in his community right now, but he's not in the bubble and have you hear a word nationally/publicly about him and his message? I haven't. There's no microphones in front of him that anybody is listening too, but for 24 hours everyone was listening to the NBA. If they weren't in the bubble this would have received much less attention. I also think we're holding the players to an almost impossible standard. Black people are the victims here. They're the ones living in fear. Yet LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Jaylen Brown, etc., etc., are supposed to give up all of their money or else their sellouts or not handling it right? Athletes are supposed to "put their money where their mouth is" but politicians, police forces, etc aren't.

I think the players have handled this beautifully. They made a large enough statement, essentially cancelling all sports except hockey for 2-3 days, which has grabbed everyone's attention, then they go back to playing where they can continue to use their voice and messages (jersey's, court, etc.). Cancelling the season would have lost them momentum. They made a big splash and now they get to ride the momentum of the splash they made. The money part can be looked at different ways. I'm sure players are worried about their own incomes, who wouldn't be? But also, if they cancel the season and owners lose a ton of more money and sponsors, then salary caps go down, salaries go down, etc., and potentially the players have less money long term to dump into their causes and less support from owners who can really move the political needle.

Objectively, as someone who is not a fan of either team, I would have been really, really surprised to see the Pacers win that series. Agree that the Pacers should not have gotten swept, but coming into the series the Heat had the better roster and the better coach. Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro are really good players, and they’re perfect to surround a guy like Jimmy Butler. Both average 13.5 ppg and shoot over 40% from 3. Agree completely on McMillian, but without Sabonis and with a still recovering Oladipo, the Heat are clearly the better team.

I’m surprised it was a sweep, but did you really think the Pacers would beat Miami without Sabonis and with a still recovering Oladipo? Miami is really good. Honestly, I’m glad the Celtics are avoiding them in the second round.

Agree. I love Oladipo, no question, but he’s not a #1 on a championship contending team. Might not even be a #2. If he’s you’re #3 then you’re a legit championship team. As a #2 he needs to be with a LeBron, Giannis, etc. level player. There’s nothing at all wrong with that and it’s not a slight on Oladipo, but if you’re the Pacers you need to decide how much to commit to him? If I was Indiana, I would try to figure out how to have a full season with a healthy Oladipo and a Sabonis along with Brogdon before making any decisions. You have to see how those three work together healthy. Though I’d definitely see where the market sits for Turner and what I could turn him into.

I know, but almost every team is missing a guy or two like him, I was talking about the star players.

It’s too bad really, because injuries really had an impact in the East. Philly missing Simmons, Boston missing Hayward, Indy missing Sabonis and a clearly hobbled Vic, and Brooklyn missing Kyrie (I don’t count Durant because he was always going to be out all year). That’s 5 All-Stars missing from the East. I don’t know if either series gets turned around completely, but they definitely would have been more exciting and gone a little longer.

Luca is unbelievable. He’s going to own this league for a long time.

From a basketball perspective, the bubble has been a phenomenal success, but from a financial one I’d guess Silver is going to do anything he can to hold off next season as long as they can to hope that they can have home arenas with ticket buyers in the seats.

If I’m both the T’Wolves and Warriors, I’m putting my pick on the market. GS for obvious reasons, and for Minny while I don’t really like either KAT or Russell, they are both young All-Stars but they’re not that young in terms of years in the league anymore. They don’t need another #1 pick trying prove himself and making young mistakes, they need to surround KAT and Russell with another high level, but established player.

Hopefully the Blazers can steal another road game from LA!

I would target Atkinson if I were the Pacers. What he did in Brooklyn was pretty incredible. I’m not a Nate McMillian fan as far as coaching, I think he’s pretty middle of the road, but with that said when you look at the Pacers without Sabonis and a still recovering Oladipo, Miami is just a better team. They just are. They have the best player in the series, Bam is the best big with Sabonis out, and they have far more shooting. To be honest, while Toronto is definitely a formidable 2nd round opponent if the Celtics advance and that should be a great series, Im glad to not have to see Miami in the 2nd round.

This is set up to be a fantastic playoffs. There are so many great 1st round matchups. Outside of maybe the Bucks-Orlando (is that who they play? Can’t remember) and Toronto-Brooklyn, and potentially the Celtics since the Sixers are missing Simmons (though I agree, Embiid could make that interesting on his own), every other 1st round series has compelling storylines and really interesting matchups. I’ll definitely miss the fans from a playoff intensity aspect, but I also think it’s really interesting that these series are going to be played without the emotional swaying of fans and homecourt advantages.

So excited to watch this series! Would love to see Portland really push the Lakers.

For anyone who thought Brad Stevens was ever a realistic option for IU or that he was ever coming back to college (replacing Coach K when he retires), Stevens just signed a multi-year extension with the Celtics and that was with at least a year or two left on his current deal. He’s going to be in Boston for a long time. https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/celtics-sign-head-coach-brad-stevens-contract-extension