Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

  Well, the Lakers did it again. In the past, the sunshine, warmth and glamor of Los Angeles played a huge role in landing Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Shaq, Lebron - and yes - even the guy they just traded away, Anthony Davis. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6106196/2025/02/02/luka-doncic-trade-lakers-anthony-davis-mavericks/?campaign=12489530&source=athletic_email&userId=13383794 No one saw this coming . Effectively trading AD for the Mavericks Luka Doncic  was a shocker , but now the Lakers have added one more big name to their list of NBA stars who have landed in "Tinseltown" . And it is ironic that they sent another such "big name" packing (Davis). Boston can't compete with LA for warmth, sunshine, glamor - or the shot to get on the big screen . But the Celtics, through smart acquisitions and trades (read: The Jay Team) nailed Banner 18 before the Lakers - and will be seriously competing for "Number 19" this season. How well ...

 Don't rule this out. NBA.com's Steve Aschburner and Shaun Powell have tabbed the Los Angeles Lakers as having a decent shot to end up coming out of the West in pursuit of Banner 18 . Imagine Lebron James Lakers facing Jayson Tatum's Celtics in the Finals. The Lakers are currently sitting at #9 in the Western Conference, so they may need to get through the Play In Tournament first, but the added drama of both teams vying - not only for the 2024 Title - but also that 18th Banner to hang in their rafters. Los Angeles has "The King" and "The Brow", but there is one big caveat for them ( per Steve Aschburner ): The Lakers are 7-7 with, er, one big caveat: They are 0-3 against Denver this season, 0-8 counting the 2023 Western Conference Finals and the last 2022-23 regular-season clash. Somebody else will need to bump off the Nuggets for this scenario to happen. Count me as a Celtics fan who has some fear of Boston facing Denver in the Finals. They are th...

  The list is long - NBA superstars that have spurned Boston . Hell, even Jayson Tatum didn't want to be drafted by the Celtics . He preferred tha Phoenix Suns and the Arizona sunshine.  Kevin Durant wanted no part of Boston. Ditto for Anthony Davis. Now it's Damian Lillard expressing no desire to travel to Beantown. And perhaps soon-to-be-bought-out Chris Paul may follow suit in discarding Boston as a destination. NBA superstars seem to want the sunshine, warmth, beaches and "Party City" environments. They flock to the Lakers and Clippers in California, and Miami seems to draw a few. I personally think that the elite players don't shun the Celtics for any real-or-perceived flaw in the team's structure. I honestly think these superstars visualize a solid five months of cold weather - driving in snow - and not having the party atmosphere they can find in Miami or California .  We can't finish this piece without mentioning the bright lights and endorsem...

 Here's the latest proposal that would send Lakers C/F, Anthony Davis, to the Boston Celtics . Los Angeles Lakers Receive: F/C Al Horford, F Grant Williams, 2025 First-Round Pick (BOS), 2027 First-Round Pick (Swap – BOS)  Boston Celtics Receive: F/C Anthony Davis The writer of this piece must think that cold-hearted Danny Ainge is still in charge of the Celtics. Head Honcho, Brad Stevens would have to think long-and-hard before sending the Dominican Gentleman, Al Horford,   to a west coast team going nowhere this season. Granted, AD is still only 39 years old and is having one terrific season, averaging 24.3 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.3 SPG and 1.8 BPG. But his team sits at #14 in the West with a 3-10 record. A pairing of Davis with soon-to-return Rob Williams would seem enticing, but I doubt Boston fans would ever see this deal go down. The Boston Celtics under new Head Coach, Joe Mazzulla , are cruising, and Horford is playing a significant role in that success. The...

 The Celtics Robert Williams III is currently top-7-or better in three NBA statistical categories. None of the achievements are a surprise. For players involved in at least five games thus far, here is where the supremely-athletic C/F sits: First in blocks with 3.2 rejections per game Rob holds the lead comfortably ahead of Myles Turner, Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mo Bamba and Giannis Antetokounmpo.  Second in FG% (players scoring in double digits) at 72,4% Williams III sits only behind Jarrett Allen in this category. Seventh in offensive rebounds at 3.4 per game Another reason Rob needs to man the center spot for Boston. He has the nose for timing his amazing leaps to corral missed shots by his comrades - often laying the ball in or sending it home with a thundering jam. I previously wrote that Rob Williams' ceiling would be at least that of Deandre Jordan , and that seems to be happening. Without boring my readers with the numbers, in a 4th-season comparison for bo...

Yahoo Fantasy Sports has the Celtics Jayson Tatum at the sixth spot in their rankings this season. I honestly didn't project that he would be quite so high in the rankings.  1. Nikola Jokic 2. Giannis Antetokounmpo 3. Luka Doncic 4. James Harden 5. Damian Lillard 6. Jayson Tatum 7. Karl-Anthony Towns 8. Paul George 9. Zion Williamson 10. Bradley Beal 11. Stephen Curry 12. Trae Young 13. Domantas Sabonis 14. De'Aaron Fox 15. Bam Adebayo 16. LeBron James 17. Joel Embiid 18. Julius Randle 19. Russell Westbrook 20. Kevin Durant 21. Fred VanVleet 22. Donovan Mitchell 23. Nikola Vucevic 24. LaMelo Ball 25. Anthony Davis My first reaction to the list is that Yahoo expects a bit of a jump for Jayson . But there is also some irony here. Does Tatum and Karl Anthony Towns together at the 6-and-7 spots a sign that the Minnesota big man may team up with Tatum in Boston?   And JT four spots ahead of his mentor, Bradley Beal , hopefully bodes well for the Celtics star going forward. Also, J...

I won't be overloading my readers with tons of statistics here, so don't leave me. This is simply a rough comparison between the Celtics "Potent Pair" of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with the Lakers "Dynamic Duo": of Lebron James and Anthony Davis, in addition to the Clippers Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. All six players are regarded as high-level defenders, so I will stick to the 2020-21 offensive stats here. Here we go: Tatum/Brown:      53.9 PPG - 12.6 RPG - 7.3 APG - 2.4 SPG - 1.3 BPG James/Davis:         47.0 PPG - 16.8 RPG - 11.0 APG - 2.3 SPG - 2.3 BPG Leonard/George:  49.8 PPG - 11.6 RPG - 11.1 APG - 3.2 SPG - 1.2 BPG Not a lot of surprises here . The Celtics pair takes honors on combined points. Jayson and Jaylen are known as volume scorers this season. Lakers take it on rebounds and blocks, and with the size and athleticism of The King and The Brow, it would be expected. The Clips win on assists and steals (barely), and we see the...

If Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown remain relatively healthy, they have a solid shot at overtaking Lebron James and Anthony Davis (and a few other combos) as the NBA's top duo. Davis, at 27 years of age, is most-likely at the peak of his game, and it seems doubtful that he can improve significantly. Lebron will turn 36 years old in several weeks - recently signed an $85 million deal with the Lakers - and is hinting he may end up playing in the NBA with his son, Bronny, in the 2022-23 season.  Conversely, Tatum is only 22 years old, and Brown recently turned 24. It is not out of the question to see Jayson mentioned as a candidate for 2020-21 NBA MVP. And Jaylen just keeps improving, and adding to, his game every off-season. There was a lot of speculation relative to the Clippers' Kawhi Leonard and Paul George leading their team to a Title this season, but that dream fizzled. The Claw is 29 years old, and PG-13 is 30. Both may see their play head south soon. Age takes a toll on...

The Boston Celtics took seven games to defeat the Raptors, - weren't able to get by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, - and would certainly have had everything they could handle versus the Lakers. Well, the Celtics improved ever-so-slightly, but the Lakers got significantly stronger in the last several days. So is it safe to say at this point the Lakers won the NBA offseason (still a few weeks left)? Rundown: Montrezl Harrell (reigning 6th Man of the Yr) Dennis Schroder (6th Man runner up) Wesley Matthews (3 & D) KCP (re-signed) Marc Gasol (1x champ & 1x Defensive Player of the Yr) — Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) November 23, 2020 Designated 6th-Man-of-the-Year, Montrezl Harrell, apparently didn't feel totally cherished in Clipper-Land and bolted to the Lakers with a 2-year deal totaling $19 million. The 6'7", 240-pound bruiser may be LA's most-valuable pickup.  Savvy veteran, Marc Gasol, also heads to the Lakers and allows his new team to play ei...

 Of the four NBA teams still competing for the 2020 Championship, the Boston Celtics are the only one without a dominant big man. The Los Angeles Lakers have Anthony Davis. The Denver Nuggets have Nikola Jokic manning the center position, and the Miami Heat place Bam Adebayo at the five-spot. Conversely, Boston has the Daniel Theis-Rob Williams (TW) tandem sharing the center spot. A quick glance at the 2020 post-season stats show, at least on the surface, that the TW duo matches up fairly well with the individual members of the Davis-Jokic-Adebayo (DJA) trio. The numbers for DJA are an average of the three, while the stats for the Celtics duo are combined. Boston's center pairing averages a combined 40.4 MPG, while the DJA center crew log 36.2 MPG. It is no surprise that the three star centers get the nod on average points (23.1 PPG vs. 12.9 PPG) and assists (5.1 vs. 2.4), but the Green Centers take honors on blocks (1.9 vs. 1.1) and turnovers (1.4 vs. 2.9). Rebounds (10-11) and st...

Make no mistake about this! Brad Stevens is a huge fan of small-ball and sometimes appears reticent to put the bigs out on the floor. The general feeling among NBA analysts is that putting five little guys out on the hardwood for the playoffs is a fool's errand. But maybe not. Houston Rockets coach, Mike D'Antoni, is a small-ball, run-and-gun advocate. In his team's 121-111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers last night, his tallest starter (Danuel House) is listed at 6'6", and Mike had 6'5" P. J. Tucker at the center spot. The Lakers put out a starting front court of 7' Javale McGee, 6'10" Anthony Davis and 6'9" Lebron James. PJ Tucker at center trying to guard AD tonight pic.twitter.com/KuRPKwVOAu — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 7, 2020 The numbers speak for themselves. The Rockets out-shot the Lakers 45%-to-29% from beyond the arc and almost matched Los Angeles on rebounds, 37-38. But what does this have to do with th...

In a recent interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, Danny Ainge may have given us a glimpse of his vision of a Championship-caliber Celtics team. In his response to Rachel's inquiry about lessons learned from last season, Danny suggested that in the future he would be more careful building a team with such EQUAL depth - and he did emphasize the word "equal". Ainge: "I think I'd be a little more careful going into building another team that had such EQUAL depth. The Lakers have really good depth." "I do think it was my fault." 1-on-1 with Danny Ainge on what went wrong last year with Kyrie, how the front office pivoted to find an even better fit in Kemba Walker, and how his time with Larry Bird & Kevin McHale affected his reaction to Gordon Hayward's latest injury. pic.twitter.com/uw3gz5viVx — Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) November 26, 2019 Ainge then cited Lebron James and Anthony Davis as the two clear cut stars of the Lakers an...

The stardom predicted for 3rd-year player, Jayson Tatum, is happening right before our eyes. In last night's 113-104 win over the hapless Knicks, Jayson poured in 30 points, hauled down six rebounds, and handed out a career-high seven assists. He also managed two steals and two blocks in the contest. For the season, Tatum has averages of 34.6 MPG, 21.1 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.5 SPG. The numbers get better for his last four games (36.0 MPG, 23.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.8 SPG). For that 4-game span, he ranks 18th in points in the League and 13th (multi tie) in steals. Jayson Tatum finishes with 30 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST. First 30-5-5 game of his career. https://t.co/ZjVcVeh8oN — Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) December 1, 2019 If he continues this level of play, it will be tough to keep Tatum out of the All-Star competition. We can expect to see the perennial All-Stars like Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden - and probably Kemba Walker. ...

This move may be lost in the archives, but yes, in 1989 Red Auerbach traded Danny Ainge to the Sacramento Kings. Danny was in his prime at the time, and Bill Russell was the General Manager of the Kings. Larry Bird and Kevin McHale were nursing injuries and not getting any younger. Big men, Joe Kleine and Ed Pinckney came to Boston in the trade in an attempt to shore up the center and power forward spots. . This is ironic since Ainge later criticized Red for keeping players on the roster well past their prime. But it was Ainge in his prime that Auerbach sent packing. Danny got a small bit of revenge on Red in Sacramento on December 27, 1989. Ainge poured in 39 points against his former team - grabbed six rebounds - and handed out nine assists. But the Kings lost in overtime, 115-112, with Bird coming close to matching Danny's scoring with 37 points. The King's loss was the only glitch in Danny's revenge, and you can bet that he cherished every shot that hit its mark. ...

Things are going fine thus far for the Celtics, starting the season with a 4-1 record. Kemba Walker has stepped in just fine to fill the point guard position vacated by Kyrie Irving, but the loss of center Al Horford to the Philadelphia 76'ers will really start to hurt come playoff time. It is a well-known axiom that in post-season play, teams will expose and exploit any opponent's weaknesses - and for the Celtics that means lack of length and versatility at the five-spot. Al Horford had the length at 6'10", and he certainly had the diversified game. His primary replacement, Enes Kanter has played only one game for The Green, a loss to the 76'ers. French import, Vincent Poirier has played a total of 12 minutes this season, scoring four points and grabbing one rebound. Daniel Theis has been the best solution so far, but he is undersized at center and just can't handle the brutish big men. I have argued that Rob Williams should end up with the starting gig a...

Danny Ainge's first major trade netted superstar Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Al Jefferson, two draft picks and a bunch of role players . That trade resulted in a Championship in 2008 - and contention for a few more. In Trader Danny's next move, he went against Red Auerbach's trend of retaining veteran players for their entire careers. He traded Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets for what turned out to be four high draft picks. Three of those picks brought Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum into the Celtics fold, and the fourth pick was used to pry Kyrie Irving away from the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s only right pic.twitter.com/tPp6ykaEVR — Forever Green ☘️ (@ForeverGreen_) February 16, 2019 The above tweet from @ForeverGreen is brilliant. I needed to find a way to use it. Note the blood flowing out of the first three offices and Danny about to enter that of the New Orleans Pelicans in his quest for Anthony Davis . Ainge has come o...

It isn't merely the fact that Jayson Tatum dominated the Rising Stars Challenge, and then won the Skills Competition during the NBA's All-Star Weekend. It was the WAY he accomplished both. For a 20-year-old only in his second year in the League, this kid has star written all over him. He has extreme confidence and poise, with the talent and skills to back it all up. Jayson Tatum became the first Celtics player in franchise history to win the NBA Skills Challenge. pic.twitter.com/9VbN1QuYD7 — Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 17, 2019 There is a an almost-certainty that Celtics boss, Danny Ainge, will take a serious look this summer at trading for the Pelicans Anthony Davis. And if that does happen, it is just as probable that the Pels will be looking to acquire Tatum in any deal. That should be off the table for the Celtics. JAYSON TATUM COLD BLOODED pic.twitter.com/ErkPwUomli — Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 17, 2019 As the Barstool Sports tweet shows,...

I always had a hiring rule as a supervisor in various venues. Do not hire the guy that is always out sick or injured! He is either fragile and injury-prone - has a low immunity or he is a malingerer . It doesn't matter . In any case, he won't be coming into work often . Is that what we see with the Pelicans Anthony Davis ? Davis left the game last night against the Thunder with a shoulder injury and did not return . Initial reports are that it is merely a shoulder contusion , but further tests may reveal otherwise. Anthony Davis will not return to the game due to a left shoulder injury, according to the Pelicans. — Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 15, 2019 AD has missed 14 of New Orleans' 59 games so far this season, and his first four years in the League showed 60, 67, 68 and 61 games-played . He has missed a hell of a lot of games. And he may miss more. Pels Coach Alvin Gentry has truly had it. He called the entire AD saga a "dumpster fire" . ...

Is it a coincidence that most of the top-rated teams in the NBA have a dominant big man? Maybe not. In the East, top-ranked Toronto has Serge Ibaka , not terribly dominant on his own, but ably assisted by two potential MVP candidates, Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry . The Milwaukee Bucks are second in the East and boast the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo . Philadelphia starts Joel Embiid in the front-court and Indiana has Myles Turner . Detroit's Andre Drummond completes the East's top-5, all with winning records . The 60's Celtics Championship teams had Bill Russell . The 70's teams had Dave Cowens . In the 80's, it was Robert Parish - and add in 6'10", freakish-wingspan Kevin McHale and 6'9" Swiss-Army-Knife Larry Bird if you wish. Kevin Garnett was just the addition the Celtics needed after a long Title drought. Those four dominant bigs and their teammates accounted for 15 Championships . Particularly if focused on this season, Al...