Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 Celtics fans are now reading about a foot injury to recently-acquired Kristaps Porzingis that may keep him out of the FIBA World Cup. Can it be? Or is it simply that the Boston Celtics don't want a repeat of the Danilo Gallinari saga . You remember the Italian star that signed a contract with Boston - chose to play for his home country last summer - and susequently suffered a season-ending injury prior to ever taking the floor for the Celtics. Whether the foot issue is severe, merely-significant or nonexistent - the news may be somewhat positive for a franchise that has had more than it's share of bad fortune in the way of injuries. There will be no replay of the Gallinari saga.  More hope for the Celtics season rests with the "Long Latvian" that ever existed with Gallo. Count me as relieved by the news, and here's hoping Kristaps will have a healthy season in Beantown.

 May I start with the fact that I am older than the NBA. I have weathered the John Y. Brown fiasco and the horror of the Rick Pitino extremely-flawed takeover of such a storied franchise as the Boston Celtics. Now comes the 2022 off-season, accompanied by the season-ending injury to newly-acquired Danilo Gallinari and the impending surgery to the super-athletic, super-exciting Rob Williams . And now we have the impending suspension of Head Coach Ime Udoka .  Can the Boston Celtics withstand such turmoil! I think so. When things go bad, go back to basics. The current Celtics team is no longer a bunch of youngsters trying to find their way. They came close to Banner 18 last season. They are the key going forward. Assuming Udoka will be suspended for an undetermined period of time, the interim coach will have a lot of say in what success The Green has in 2022-23. Beyond that, I love the team we have. The skills of the Jay Team - the savvy and stabilization of Horford - the "...

 Count me as disappointed with the meniscus injury to Danilo Gallinari . We have yet to hear the final prognosis, but Danilo is no spring chicken (34 years), and his comeback may be slow in a season projected to be a good (great?) one for the Boston Celtics. Still, when one door closes, another can open. I am excited to see what Sam Hauser can accomplish this year, and we can expect to see more than the 6.1 minutes per game from last season. He won't be playing 36 MPG, but those extrapolated stats from last season project to 14.8 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 2.3 APG. Not bad. Hauser at 6'8" doesn't have the length of Gallinari, nor his experience and seasoning, but he has shown enough promise for Brad Stevens to sign him for the next three seasons, with 2024-25 having a Club Option. He is primarily a shooter at the wing position and he can be expected to pick up some of the minutes left available by the meniscus tear to our Italian Import's knee. Let's hope the undraft...

 The Boston Celtics picking up Danilo Gallinari off the waiver wire and Malcolm Brogdon via trad e - while sending both Daniel Theis and Aron Nesmith away - makes The Green stronger right away. Theis didn't see the floor as much as many expected in the 2022 post-season. He averaged 12.5 MP, 4.3 PPG and 3.3 RPG - with a plus/minus of -2.6. Nesmith only averaged 3.5 MPG in the playoffs and had trouble hitting from the field (4-of-17) and beyond the arc (1-of-11). It became obvious that Coach Ime Udoka didn't trust either player for extended play with Banner 18 on the line. Enter Gallinari and Brogdon. The worry on both is that they have injury histories . For Danilo, we can add that he has never been known as the kind of defender favored by Udoka, but he is a "shooter with size" (6'10") that can rebound the ball .  Conversely, Malcolm does everything out there on the floor. Last season, he averaged 19.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG and 5.9 RPG. In the 2020 playoffs, in f...

Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Miami Heat are about to get stronger, and that is not good news for the Boston Celtics. The latest news on a 3-team deal has Pat Riley's Heat acquiring Andre Iguodala and OKC's Danilo Gallinari in exchange for Justise Winslow, Tyler Herro and Kelly Olynyk. Memphis has agreed to a deal to send Andre Iguodala to Miami, league source tells ESPN. Iguodala agreed to trade and has agreed to a two-year, $30M extension with Miami. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2020 Oklahoma City is trading Danilo Gallinari to Miami for Tyler Herro and Kelly Olynyk, sources tell ESPN. Miami also gets two second round picks. — Adrian Wojnarowski 💿 (@tioshaq) February 6, 2020 Miami currently sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 34-16 record, just behind Boston at 35-15. There is little doubt that adding Iggy and Gallinari strengthens an already-solid roster. And Memphis is effectively sending away an inactive player (Igu...