We Talk Ourselves Into the Celtics Being the No. 1 Seed

We gotta talk about Boston because I, I just basically finished, um, writing most of our NBA preview issue which comes out next month.

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Thank you, um.

And I gotta tell you, I'm starting to be talked into liking Boston more than I thought I was or would in the immediate aftermath of the Jalen Brown trade.

Like the Jalen Brown trade trade goes on.

I'm like, all right, well, they're, they're not championship contenders, and I still don't think they're championship contenders.

I still think they have a playoff ceiling.

But as far as the regular season goes.

This is a team I think can get the number one seed.

I, I really believe that.

I believe that.

Um, look, there's obvious variables.

Paul George has to be healthy.

Gotta give you 60-ish games.

Gotta do it.

Uh, Tatum has got to be all the way back from the Achilles tear, and, and usually, even though he played well coming back from the Achilles injury at lightning speed, um, he was not the same Jayson Tatum.

The leg was physically different.

His two legs were physically different.

We'll see what he's, uh, looking like.

Uh, going into this year.

But I like the depth that they have.

I think Mitchell Robinson is going to be a huge weapon for them.

That's something they were lacking in Mitchell Robinson, as you well know, is a Joe Missoula kind of guy, like a guy that go out there, play 20 minutes a game, gobble up 10 rebounds or more, uh, block some shots and just be a presence.

The kind of presence that, that, uh, Mimikeda, like, all due respect, wasn't giving them, wasn't able to give them, at least not in the, in games that counted.

Um , I think Peyton Pritchard will play even better this year.

I think he's ready for another step forward.

I am talking myself into believing that the Celtics can be the #1 seed.

Am I crazy for believing that Boston can finish ahead of the Knicks, finish ahead of the Sixers, finish ahead of the Pistons, finish ahead of the Cavs to win the Eastern Conference?

Well, I had them definitely getting like a home court advantage, so I definitely had them in like the top 3.

In that type of situation, and I was arguing this the other day and just being like, hey, when there's so much open in the air that you don't comprehend .

You gotta go with like history, but I think culture over talent.

So do you know what I mean?

So, so, so many unanswered conversations, so you don't know how the Knicks are gonna be.

They're gonna be great.

But who knows how they hit the ground running.

Even when they're having good moments, they have down slides into the season.

I think that's just how it goes.

I believe, uh, when you come down to it, I, I don't know how the Sixers are going to run because even when I think the Sixers prior to Prior to making the playoffs, I believe that some of their top guys should only play 55, 60 games together and get ready for the playoffs.

So, I, I think besides the, the Celtics, I think it's all about who has a history of, you know, showing up and having that culture to make sure they're gonna play every single 82 games, and, and it's only two other teams that's gonna be.

I believe the Pistons and the Miami Heat.

So I think it's, you're you're buying into Miami more than I am at this point .

No, I, I don't, the only thing I'll say about Miami, I don't believe it.

I just believe like the past few years, like they really, they really want to get the first seed.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

There's going to be games where you know that the Celtics are gonna be like, hey, the game before All-Star break, we're winning.

The 4th game in 5 nights , we're winning, those types of situations.

I feel as though that culture is somewhat identical to the Miami Heat culture.

The one thing that I do believe that the Miami Heat has that's advantageous to them because we keep talking about offense, is defensively.

We're worried if they can get to 120 points per game, but they might be a team that's like between 93 and 105, like the old NBA.

So I feel as though anytime teams are showing up and playing that type of basketball, they're gonna kind of somewhat set the tone.

That's all I'm saying.

So I'm not against the Celtics making it, but I do believe the Celtics do have the history, the talent, and, you know, I believe that Jason is who he says he is, you know, he's going to be putting up 30 points a night with You know, Brown type numbers.

So I believe that type of energy, and if, if Paul George shows up and averages closest to 20, I think that'd be huge, but if Derrick White really shows up and drops, it's gonna all be about Derrick White.

I think if Paul George is your third option at best, you're going to be a dangerous team.

But we're relying so much on Derrick White to really show up and Shoot better than what he actually did last year.

That's all.

Well, it, it's really shooting with Derrick White because he was an elite defender last year.

He was a high-level playmaker when they needed him to be, when they made all the backcourt changes specifically.

Uh, with Holiday, his shooting numbers to your point, below 40% from the field and 3, they've got to get up.

They've got to get to the mid-40s from the floor, hopefully high 30s for the Celtics from 3-point range.

If they do, I think he's capable of having one or two more high-level competitive for an all NBA spot, competitive for an all-star spot.

Uh, type of years, not maybe not making either, but like competitive in, in that mix.

I, I think Pritchard, I do think he's got another level to go to.

I think he can be even better than the guy that was 6th Man of the Year.

Shireman.

I think there's two more levels that he can potentially go to.

I think Jordan Walsh has another level that he can go to, um.

And I think they're gonna, like, to your point, they're gonna play like maniac.

Like Missoula is gonna try to win 82 games.

It's gonna try to win them all.

And like, you, you heard what he said to White at the end of last year or the, in the offseason when he said he called Derrick White up and said everything's going to suck.

Let's go do it.

Like, he's probably gonna have the same mindset going to this one.

Like everyone thinks we're toast because we traded Jalen.

Let's go show them otherwise.

And I loved.

What I heard from Paul George at that introductory press conference, like said all the right things.

It's like, I'm coming in and it's Jayson Tatum's team.

I am just here to make him better.

I played well opposite Russell Westbrook.

I played well opposite of Kawhi Leonard.

I played well, uh, opposite of Joel Embiid for the minutes that I had there.

You saw me in the first round.

You saw what I can still do in that first-round series.

I think he's coming into this season.

With the right mindset.

Certainly he's got a lot to prove because he's probably looking at the next contract too for, for himself down the line.

Um, but go ahead.

No, I, I, I, I love what you're saying.

I love what Paul said for sure.

I just want, I said the other day just for the sake of public-wise, like, publicly, like Paul the past couple of years has kind of shown who Paul is moving forward.

Which is still a good basketball player, but if you're trying to compare him to 2019, you're not going to be happy.

But if you compare him to being like, hey bro, they say scientifically your prime is over at 32, he can still shoot maybe 40% and still guard.

If he's a third or fourth option, I, I love Paul in every situation.

I just wanna make sure, like we said prior, like You, you look at Derrick White stepping up, Peyton Pritchard stepping up, but we talk about Baylor.

You're saying like this is my first Baylor's starting to grow on me when I look at him from a situation like Josh Hart.

You understand what I'm saying?

And being like, hey bro, and even a better shooter, but when you sit there and he just gets on his gritty and being like, Yo, let me go get 7 rebounds.

Let me mix in a triple-double every 25 games maybe.

You understand what I'm saying ?

Let me lock down the fender.

I'm a better shooter than that, but then at the same time, I can also drop dimes.

If he can start going around and causing havoc all over like Josh, Josh Hart, I think that makes his team even more dangerous, and I believe that would make that starting lineup.

Filthy when you sit there.

I'm not even saying like yo, you gotta go average 13, 88 and 8, but like if you go get close to 9, 65 and you're playing like an animal, like that's gonna make that starting lineup even more filthy, the team even more dangerous, and I believe that offense even more potent.

Especially when you have a different playmaker that can now not only find Jayson Tatum, find Peyton Pritchard, or also take a little heat off Derrick White who is trying to figure out how to score and pass.

You know what I'm saying?

Well, that's the, the way that Shireman was trending at the end of last season.

I mean, I'm looking at his post All-Star break numbers.

He averaged close to the numbers you're asking for, like 8.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, all in about 26 minutes per game.

He shot 46% from the floor in the second half of the season.

That's up from the first half.

He shot 40.3% from three-point range.

So he is, and he was like 39.4% in the first half as well.

And the big jump there is that he averaged.

About 5 attempts per game after the All-Star break.

So he's showing that with even more volume, he's still able to shoot at a high percentage.

And I don't think he's gonna take a step back and he plays, he plays with the kind of swagger that makes you believe that he's gonna be something .

Now, maybe he's not an all-star or, you know, more than just a rotation player, but he's got that, he's got that mentality.

He's fearless out there.

And I think, Another year in the league, he's, he's gonna show something.

Yeah.

How old is he now though?

He's, he kind of came in older, right?

He was like, I think he was a 4-year college player, so he's in his close to mid-20s.

I'm looking it up right now.

He's, uh, 25, yeah, 25 years old.

All right, cool.

Yeah, no, 100%.

I think playing with it, going, I just want to make sure we don't, it's gonna take it by committee for sure, but then I don't want to get too many of those like.

He's gonna come next with Hugo and then let's go around.

No, no, 100%, but we're talking about going number one in the league.

Hey bro, and they ain't traded such and such.

Hey, it's time to pick on.

Here's, here's like my, my argument for number one in the east has as much to do with the other teams.

Figuring stuff out as it is Boston, like Detroit right now, Cade's back.

Duncan Robins is back.

The core of their starting lineup is back, but they're still figuring out the Jalen Dun situation as we tape this on September 18th, 10 days away from, from the start of training camp.

And even if Durran resigns like, The vibes might not be great if he signs that one-year qualifying offer and you know who knows if he even wants to be there over the long term.

They gutted the guys around him.

Beef stew was gone.

That was a big part of their identity, that tough identity that they have.

So I think they'll have some, some growing pains.

Philadelphia unquestionably is gonna have some growing pains.

Even Cleveland.

Cleveland made the core of their team is, is largely back, but they get Peyton Watson and, um, you know, Harden is a year older.

Like maybe there's some, some, some adjustments going on there and You know, obviously, the Knicks, like they should be the favorite, but I, I think there's gonna be some kind of championship hangover.

Like, maybe, you know, guys like Annanobi who's a psycho and McHale Bridges, who I've been told that's been in the gym and Brunson, even though he's all over celebrity stuff, I keep hearing he's in the gym.

But like, whether it's, you know, Kat or, uh, you know, getting Andre Drummond and trying to figure out his role, like maybe there'll be a bit of a, uh, a hangover there with that team.

Let's not forget they weren't the number one seed last year.

So they didn't go into the playoffs at #1 seed.

That, that's, that, those two things combined make me believe the Celtics have a real shot at going #1 in the East and then maybe getting beat in the 2nd round.

I still, again, I still think they have a, a playoff ceiling because of this roster, but I don't know if that will, will rear its head until we get to the postseason.

And I'm not against that.

I just know for sure we talked about so many guys on this team, uh, so many missing pieces.

It's just like when I sit there and we're bringing up Hugo, Shireman and Jordan Walsh and whoever else is coming off the bench, Mike Conley, you just got to make up for the other half of what Jason was used to.

That's it, defensively, offensively, and when it comes down, I'm just saying like I understand we're coming from the #1 seed, it's just like regardless.

Y'all gotta show up because it's, it's, it's no longer like, yo, it's some cutesy stuff.

This is some balls to the walls, the east is the best it could possibly be.

Um, you don't have, let me ask you this, do you think like Jalen went into last year.

Being like, I'm gonna show everybody something.

I'm, I'm gonna get myself in the kind of shape I need to be in to be the number one option, and he did.

I'm gonna show that I can lead a team, and he did.

Like, do you think JT is coming into this year with that same mindset?

Yeah, I, I, but I don't think it's so much pressure.

Even I talked to him the other day, there was like no like conversation or pressure.

I just think he was like, oh, that's dope.

JT put a good blueprint on what you can do with these guys.

So now like I mean JB is unbelievable and I think JT is like, respectfully, if JB was able to do that, wait until I do it.

You know what I mean?

So I think it's more so a pat on the back and being like, hey bro, JB shout out to you, bro, like shout out to you to show me where the gold is and I'm gonna turn this into platinum.

So I, I, I think And we said prior too, man, even him on a bad Achilles, I hate using this comparison, but he's still close to hooping like Bron or Brian like numbers.

Do you know what I mean?

So, what, what are we, the, the, the best is yet to come ahead of time, I think, you know, as long as the team comes with them and, and everybody has the same type of grit, it's going to be a great year, but I think one thing with JT like anybody else, even with Kawhi.

We talk about it, man.

All you need is a good, good week's worth of basketball and probably averaging 35.

Like, do you know what I mean?

And you, with that type of talent, you can, and with the type of guys you have, you can damn near have a chance to beat anybody.

That's the only thing I will say and roll the dice.

Kawhi showed you, I think JT can show you as well, but it's like, bro, you, you averaged 35 or 6 games.

Who knows what's gonna happen in that 2nd round and go on and go forth, and I think that's where JT is gonna love rolling the dice and, you know, stepping up that next level.

Yeah, I also say he did a much better job conveying his feelings on Jalen Brown on the interview with Dan Patrick on, I think it was Friday.

Uh, much better there.

I didn't, I think you and I had talked about this.

Didn't love the Instagram post, thought that that came up a little bit short, uh, there given the relationship they had.

He had a much better answer.

Uh, in the interview with Dan where he reflected on his 9 years with him and, uh, the accomplishments that they had, uh, much better there, and I think that was, uh, well, much needed from, from Jayson Tatum.

You, you wanna know why I really appreciate it, even though you've seen the dads do that pod, I think it's like, I thought that was cool.

Lavar, uh, Jason's dad, Jalen's dad, I forgot, is, uh, Dwyane Wade's father, but I think that.

That's dope.

Like, do you understand what I'm saying?

Like, it could be some static or whatever else , but I think like men to men.

Man, it's just two dogs, man, it's just two alphas, bro.

When you look back on it, it's like, bro, we want as much as possible and now I want to get down verse some.

Simple as that, bro.

Like when we say we want old school, it's like, you know what, bro, I want to take his heart out and let's see if he can hit me as hard as he said he can.

You know what I mean?

So I, I'm into it.

It was dope and shout out, like you said, Dan Patrick and JT giving Jalen Brown his credit and the memories because it was, it was one of the best duos we've ever seen.

And, and it, and we're at the end of an era and it was fun to watch and like I said, I think they're gonna look down the line eventually and be like, man , I, I, I never found a dude like that ever again.