This is the second part of the mailbag answers. See Jaylen Brown’s answers here.
Wiklobeglet
[I’ve never asked a question before, but I’ll give it a try by asking three…]
1. Since we seem to be catching helpers from our eastern rivals, why stop now… Who on the Miami Heat Who would be the best-suited personnel to help this team get over the hump and get back to the Finals? (I know it won’t be his main assistant, Chris Quinn).
The short answer is that I don’t have the foggiest idea about the ability of other assistant coaches to turn teams around. I admit, I had my eye on Dave Gorger as a prospect for the Celtics, especially after he never landed a head coaching job. But I’m not sure if he’ll accept a role with the Celtics where he’s not a head coach. So I guess we’ll see.
2. If the Browns are extended, the GW is re-signed (matching), and Muscala gets his CO, the Cs will bring back the exact same roster… With that in mind, what counts as a success in 2023-24? Should a title end up continuing with this group of players, will another or less ECF flame lead to changes, or will we remain the status quo until player contracts (Brogdon, White, Horford) start to roll out in two years?
I can go out and say that every situation is different and we have to see what led to the team not winning a title before deciding what to do with the roster. However, given the way the CBA will become increasingly punitive of high-paying teams, I think we could see some significant changes to the roster’s win-or-lose roster.
3. What is the actual trade of PP? Feel free to throw in some seconds or even bench a player like Kornet or Muscala. Can a parcel built around PP return a serviceable 3D suite that can actually get minutes?
I don’t know of a 3D suite that can get minutes. This is the kind of archetype the entire league is looking for. Maybe I’ll look for a backup big guy who can hook up for a few minutes when Horford and Rob Williams need a night off. Maybe you can call up the Pistons (who have a lot of big ones) and see if they break up with Isaiah (Bef Stew) Stewart.
33 in green
Will the Celtics find a way to get a good defensive big man who rebounds with a bit of offensive ability without giving up a lot of existing talent?
See above.
I think big corporate backup is one of the easiest jobs to fill with minimal or cheap contracts. You might not get a huge promotion on Kornet but you can probably find someone with a different skill mix so you can pick and choose the kind of big you need on any given night.
pdeleleft
Jeff, are Charles Lee and Cassel enough to help Joe bridge the knowledge gap? Or is there value in adding a gray beard who has been a head coach at the collegiate level – someone who can help with advanced X and OS systems?
I’m excited about Lee and Cassel’s additions. I’m also excited that Mazzulla himself has a full season of experience, a full off-season, and a legitimate training camp (which he’ll have more than a few days to prepare for). There was a massive drain on talent when Im, Hardy and Stodamer all left the bench at the end. Adding two of the brightest names to the bench will give Joe plenty of expert advice to draw on.
The only caveat is that one or both of them could and should be at the helm in training next summer. And of course if the Celtics have trouble getting out of the gate next season, there will be questions about someone taking over for Joe. This can be a distraction, but the best way to get rid of it is to win a lot of matches.
pdeleleft
Jeff, what’s your draft prediction? Is it strictly BPA, or do you think Brad views menu shortcomings differently than we do? For example, I’ve seen a number of quips show us the take on Marcus Sasser, who looks like a classic Danny Twener pick. All things being equal, we have a lot more depth at guard and wing positions (including the two youngsters in Europe) than we do in the four and five. Are there older men you think Brad looks up to?
I haven’t spent a single second rating specific players in this draft. With that said, I’m willing to guess that you’ll see a slight shift in the wording of philosophy this season. For the past few drafts, the Celtics have been swinging mostly men in draft and hide. Guys are very rough but have a higher upside.
This year you might see them trend lower upside, bench depth with a strength of 35. Someone they can bring in and maybe even a low cost contract. These are the kinds of guys we’ll need to count on under the new CBA rules.
sltxwest
Assuming none of the starting six (Tatum, Brown, Horford, Smart, Rob Williams, White) are involved, if the Celtics make a move on any of Pritchard, Grant Williams*, Gallinari, or Brogdon (or some combo) most people return on the call. ?
* – I suppose mark and trade.
I’m sure Brad Stephens will be active in the off-season talking to other teams about all those guys you mentioned. I’ve written at length about Brogdon being an obvious choice for shopping. Pritchard looks like a guy who wants a different title, but we’ll see if that changes if the Celtics buy him time by dealing with Brogdon. The emotional in me really wants to see Gallo play for the Celtics, if only for one season (or until the trade deadline?).
sltxwest
Is this the year any of our Eurostash players are on the main roster or on the Maine roster?
We’ll see, but I’m a little skeptical. Yam Madar played well and was named “Best Young Player” in the Euroleague. But apparently there are already a lot of guards on the list. Don’t forget that JD Davison can step into a role if there’s a trade that sends a guard up.
Johan Bejarin could be a candidate to land a two-man deal and spend a lot of time in Maine. He’s in a more needy situation, but still pretty raw (from what I understand – admittedly limited).
cpheron
Okay, Jeff, now can it be revealed: Why did we sign Justin Champagne before the playoff run? Rather than a veteran who might be able to provide immediate assistance off the bench? A lot of people seemed to assume it would be Tony Snell, due to him being with Maine, but there were other vets available.
And does Champagnie play any other role with the Celtics, perhaps beyond a training camp call?
Well, I’m not as good at this as our old friend Keith Smith, but here it is. Players who signed their signature in the last few days of the season usually bet on the future. Either you get a guy in camp the following season who could earn a shot at a roster spot, or you have a contract on the books that you can bundle into a deal over the summer (go find the guys who were sent up in the Malcolm Brogdon trade).
I don’t know if Champagnie is the future Caleb Martin or just the next Juwan Morgan, but he was worth a look.
chicagogreen
Everyone I hear talking about the new salary cap says it effectively creates a “hard” cap. I have not yet heard how and why. Does it really prevent teams from spending more than a certain limit? I know it removes mediocrity and limits trading flexibility in terms of salary matching, it also removes other roster building moves (two-way contracts? But is it really a hard cap? And if not, can a rich team not take advantage of how fearless Other teams than him and slalom well, they swing and they go ahead and spend the money?
The new CFL introduced a second arena, which is not a hard hat but most teams assume it will be treated pretty much like a hard hat by most teams. There will probably be some teams that will accept penalties for a year or two. Not only will the taxes be extremely punitive (even the richest owners will wince) but there will be additional restrictions on what these teams can do with their roster. They make it really difficult to make any changes to upgrade the roster in any way. For more information on this topic, I recommend reading Spooney’s article outlining what we know so far.
I think you’ll see a huge amount of player movement this summer (including stars who wouldn’t normally be traded) as teams line their books to prepare for next year.
ALittleBitOfSocialism
I think the exit figure to match Grant Williams’ offer sheet should be about $20 million. Is this too low?
Free agency always breaks my mind because as soon as I think there’s a logical number, players sign at 20% higher and everyone realigns what a “good” contract is.
With Grant, looking at the years may be more important than looking at the dollars. He might be happy with something like $15 million a year for 4 years. Or he might prefer close to $20 million for just two years, and return to the market (in theory) when TV money ramps up again.
These are just virtual numbers. I’m not sure what his number is or what the Celtics want to match him with. They may match anything (within reason) only if they keep its contract as an asset that they can deal with later. It will definitely be one of the biggest stories to watch this summer.
17
Are the Celtics big enough to win a championship? Cleveland has a big 2, PHI has Embid, MIL has Giannis and maybe Lopez again. Denver has Jokic, MPJ, and Gordon in the backcourt.
I think the duo of Horford and Rob Williams are great, but obviously their availability will always be a question. So I feel like we need more volume. That alone is another reason to keep Grant Williams around, but I will look to move a guard to add more depth downfield.
17
What does Tatum need to add/change to be the captain of a championship team?
This is a tough question because Tatum is so good at so many things and every year he seems to be adding to his game in one way or another. The guy was running for MVP for a reason.
The most important thing for Tatum, though, is consistency. It is still susceptible to hot and cold streaks in both the micro and macro sense. There are months when he appears to be the best player on the planet, and then there are games where he just can’t hit the wide side of the barn.
Now, all starry nights are interrupted once in a while. We have our own team under the microscope so we notice it more in our youth. But it looks like Tatum needs another way to attack when his cross isn’t falling. He’s really added more drive and playmaking to his bag of tricks since this time last year.
I think I would like to see the Celtics use it out of position or in the middle more often. He can go back to using the midrange game he loved early on. He can also pull in defenders and either draw a foul or pass it to an open man or cutter. It will never be the Jokic, but you can get more movement on offense by using Tatum as a pivot.