Around the NBA (and other Sports), 2025-26 – (Old Thread)

[ConstableGeneva]

If Boston does need to trade Holiday next year (not me saying it just hypothetical due to new owners etc..) I am guessing a team like Orlando would be a great fit. Suggs is good but not great and certainly not a playoff veteran yet. Jrue to Orlando for draft picks and a lesser contract etc may be a good move for both teams .

Don't think it can work financially for Orlando because they would become a 2nd apron team if they sent out a smaller contract than Jrue's.

If Orlando sends out a similar sized contract that would negate the trade because the C's are a 2nd apron team.

I've thought of ORL as a nice Jrue destination before (DAL and DET pop to mind as well). But, yeah, it's difficult. Would need a 3rd team to absorb some salary for pick compensation so ORL stays under even after completing the deal and BOS takes back less than they send out. But, not undoable.

Haven’t read it yet but Jake Fischer came out with an article positing that multi-team trades will be more the norm due to the apron restrictions. Just need teams with cap space that are willing to take on salary for picks.

[phincsfan]

That west bracket is crazy.

Duke was handed a final 4 slot imo.

[Triple7]

I don't get people who say but they aren't playoff material like bro, come on they have gotten better like legit gotten better. They are better than last season but people still won't believe till they prove it in the playoffs.

Those people that thinks the cavs aren’t legit, are dumb or a bunch of homers. Even last year, we had a hard time disposing a scrappy pacers team. 2 or 3 games are dead close. Two of those we had no business winning. This Cavs team are no joke. On offense, i’m more scared of Mitchell going off than SGA. SGA flops a lot and gets soft calls from the refs. Donovan is a straight up kille, and he can score in bunches fast. In one of our losses against them, we were up big, then mitchell goes off shooting i think 3 or 4 straight 3’s. Attacked us inside, and we can’t do anything to stop him. We ended up losing a close one. Tatum is not as gifted offensively as Mitchell. That worries me when we face them.

I’m definitely not dumb, maybe a little on the homer side though. Their two best players are small guards and IMO in a 7 game series that will play a big enough factor if they meet in the ecf. I’ll take the C’s 6’9 and 6’6 horses over their 6’1 and 6’3 guards.

I’m taking the jays over their small guards as well, but our team has this tendencies to **** up big leads, mostly by continuing to jack off 3’s non stop, and letting teams come back. Just watched the OkC vs bucks game. The bucks haf a hard time coming back because OKC continues to put up efficient mid range shots, and shots inside, thus stopping any runs bucks make. Our team, on the other hand, will continue to jack up 3’s thinking the next shot will go in lol.

[NYCelticsfan136]

I take it SGA is the clear runner for the mvp right now. No one has been able to slow him down. Insane. Guy’s shooting 52.6 percent from the field.

[redslastlaugh]

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

[bisme37]

Heat Cultural Appropriation

[phincsfan]

Heat Cultural Appropriation

[playa-hater]

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

[redslastlaugh]

Good points.

Nesmith’s potential (plus a 1st) got us Brogdon, whose 6MOY play plus his $20 million contract enabled us to match money to get Jrue Holiday who was awesome for us in the playoffs… So it’s not like we lost him for nothing. But people do sometimes act like Aaron Nesmith was a bust, even I never even think of him when listing Danny’s draft hits, but Nesmith has become a good starter in the NBA

Statmuse uses attempt minimums that Nesmith is not going to hit because of games missed, but these are the players to get to 50-40-90 and it’s a pretty crazy list

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=nba+players+who+made+50%2B+40%2B+90%2B+club

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

[playa-hater]

Good points.

Nesmith’s potential (plus a 1st) got us Brogdon, whose 6MOY play plus his $20 million contract enabled us to match money to get Jrue Holiday who was awesome for us in the playoffs… So it’s not like we lost him for nothing. But people do sometimes act like Aaron Nesmith was a bust, even I never even think of him when listing Danny’s draft hits, but Nesmith has become a good starter in the NBA

Statmuse uses attempt minimums that Nesmith is not going to hit because of games missed, but these are the players to get to 50-40-90 and it’s a pretty crazy list

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=nba+players+who+made+50%2B+40%2B+90%2B+club

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

I am driving right now. So I cannot see, but I'm pretty sure nice. We've put up excellent numbers last year as well. It isn't a fluke in my opinion.

[Gant]

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

This post contains nothing but affection for playas. There is ample hatred of coaches though.

[ConstableGeneva]

Learning more and more that Nico Harrison is only partially to blame for the Doncic debacle. Their owner might be a bigger idiot than he is. Hopefully the Cs don’t get someone like Patrick Dumont or Matt Ishbia.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

Well I do agree that the Celtics would have won the title in 2022 if they had a better offensive coach that put more emphasis on shooting than Ime Udoka. Off the top of my head Joe Mazzulla is a guy that would fit that bill.

[playa-hater]

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

This post contains nothing but affection for playas. There is ample hatred of coaches though.

Perhaps..doesn't make anything I said as wrong.

The idea that we should only criticize players is laughable. But it seems like anyone who criticizes a coach is considered out of line.. Never understood why.

[playa-hater]

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

Well I do agree that the Celtics would have won the title in 2022 if they had a better offensive coach that put more emphasis on shooting than Ime Udoka. Off the top of my head Joe Mazzulla is a guy that would fit that bill.

Overall, I will take Joe over IME for sure. But there was a trade off. Joe is perhaps the better offensive minded coach, But I feel IME. Held his players more accountable and certainly wouldn't allow such poor effort on defense.

[ConstableGeneva]

Warriors lost to the Nuggets without Jokic and Murray??

[ParticleMan]

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

This post contains nothing but affection for playas. There is ample hatred of coaches though.

Perhaps..doesn't make anything I said as wrong.

The idea that we should only criticize players is laughable. But it seems like anyone who criticizes a coach is considered out of line.. Never understood why.

It's fine to criticize the coach, but if the constant mantra is that everything that's bad is the coach's fault and anything good is purely the players in spite of the coach then don't be surprised when folks eventually start rolling their eyes.

and this idea that young guys should be force-fed minutes when they suck is bizarre. this isn't pee wee basketball where everyone gets a chance, this is the NBA and livelihoods are at stake. when the goal is to win, every player has to earn their minutes and contribute to winning whether you're a rookie or a 10-year vet. maybe i'm old school but to me this isn't a difficult concept.

i view joe as a weird cross between doc and obie. obie obviously for the 3-ball fetish, and doc because while he isn't amazing at x's and o's and rotations, he is terrific at managing egos and empowering every player to fit into their role in the most productive way possible. while it's tough to measure in stats, it's an absolutely crucial skill.

[Fierce1]

This post contains nothing but affection for playas. There is ample hatred of coaches though.

Perhaps..doesn't make anything I said as wrong.

The idea that we should only criticize players is laughable. But it seems like anyone who criticizes a coach is considered out of line.. Never understood why.

It's fine to criticize the coach, but if the constant mantra is that everything that's bad is the coach's fault and anything good is purely the players in spite of the coach then don't be surprised when folks eventually start rolling their eyes.

and this idea that young guys should be force-fed minutes when they suck is bizarre. this isn't pee wee basketball where everyone gets a chance, this is the NBA and livelihoods are at stake. when the goal is to win, every player has to earn their minutes and contribute to winning whether you're a rookie or a 10-year vet. maybe i'm old school but to me this isn't a difficult concept.

i view joe as a weird cross between doc and obie. obie obviously for the 3-ball fetish, and doc because while he isn't amazing at x's and o's and rotations, he is terrific at managing egos and empowering every player to fit into their role in the most productive way possible. while it's tough to measure in stats, it's an absolutely crucial skill.

Spot-on!

[cl2117]

Good points.

Nesmith’s potential (plus a 1st) got us Brogdon, whose 6MOY play plus his $20 million contract enabled us to match money to get Jrue Holiday who was awesome for us in the playoffs… So it’s not like we lost him for nothing. But people do sometimes act like Aaron Nesmith was a bust, even I never even think of him when listing Danny’s draft hits, but Nesmith has become a good starter in the NBA

Statmuse uses attempt minimums that Nesmith is not going to hit because of games missed, but these are the players to get to 50-40-90 and it’s a pretty crazy list

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=nba+players+who+made+50%2B+40%2B+90%2B+club

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith is shooting 50/41.4/89.8 … flirting with a 50/40/90 season … he’s already there if you round his FT up to 90% from 89.8% … nesmith has appeared in 31 games…

Ironically Boston drafted him as a shooter. Yet was run out of town, thanks Ime, who, 1, doesn't like young players 2 didn't appreciate shooters as a whole (PP and Sam Hauser).

And for anyone who says Nesmith wasn't shooting well while on Boston, let this be a lesson. You don't judge shooters when they get sporadic playing time.

There is a very good possibility that IME lost us a title vs GS that year by not having developed his shooters throughout the regular season hence the Jays getting total smothered by GS' defense.

Then the following year Joe managed to lose the EC title series to 7 undrafted players.

Last year we had such HUGE talent advantage that even Joe was able to not blow it.

This year all of our talent has us 3rd best record. With a team that can be very one-dimensional. If Boston doesn't win it all this year, it will not be due to lack of talent. It is all on Joe. Of the top 3 teams Joe is a distant 3rd best coach behind the Cav and OKC. and that is scary to think about.

Nesmith always struck me as a "2nd contract" kind of guy. He didn't get enough reps in at the college level so he was just way too raw. The shooting didn't translate right out of the gate which was really worrying because that's what he was supposed to hang his hat on, but he impressed with his level of hustle, so if the shooting ever came around he was going to be a good NBA roleplayer.

We weren't in a position to properly develop someone like him. Glad he landed in a place that had the right mix of competitiveness and minutes available for him to break through.

You're spot on though that if you follow the impact through from getting Brogdon to flipping him for Jrue that ultimately we can't really complain about Nesmith flourishing elsewhere. Ultimately a win/win trade for us and the Pacers.

Trading Nesmith wasn't a bad decision, the real crime from the 2020 draft was trading Desmond Bane so that we could dump Enes Kanter. Still boils my blood.

[playa-hater]

This post contains nothing but affection for playas. There is ample hatred of coaches though.

Perhaps..doesn't make anything I said as wrong.

The idea that we should only criticize players is laughable. But it seems like anyone who criticizes a coach is considered out of line.. Never understood why.

It's fine to criticize the coach, but if the constant mantra is that everything that's bad is the coach's fault and anything good is purely the players in spite of the coach then don't be surprised when folks eventually start rolling their eyes.

and this idea that young guys should be force-fed minutes when they suck is bizarre. this isn't pee wee basketball where everyone gets a chance, this is the NBA and livelihoods are at stake. when the goal is to win, every player has to earn their minutes and contribute to winning whether you're a rookie or a 10-year vet. maybe i'm old school but to me this isn't a difficult concept.

i view joe as a weird cross between doc and obie. obie obviously for the 3-ball fetish, and doc because while he isn't amazing at x's and o's and rotations, he is terrific at managing egos and empowering every player to fit into their role in the most productive way possible. while it's tough to measure in stats, it's an absolutely crucial skill.

for the first bold, clearly you don't read many of my posts. I certainly call out the players often. Usually in the GDT.

2nd Bold is laughable. "Force feed" sounds quite extreme. I view young players like a seed. The ones that get more sunshine, more water and planted in good soil grow better and more rapidly. The others wilt while sitting in the dark. Do you know for a fact that mixing in the young players more often would have resulted in poor play? Can you confirm our team as a whole would have less wins rather than more? At minimum the young players always play hard, certainly harder at times than our vets. And consistent hard play was definitely a major issue this season.

3rd Bold. - not everyone is given a chance to "earn their minutes" unless hand clapping is your definition of earning minutes. the occasional garbage time insertion does not qualify as getting a chance. I have also given many examples of other teams "throwing rookies into the fire" and not all were on rebuilding teams.

Lastly this team has 15+ players but only one HC. the HC, like a Captain of a Ship, has to take the reins from the players, steer them in the right direction. Plan the best course of action and ultimately get us to the destination successfully. With this team and the abundance of talent they possess (Which I say is tops in the NBA) anything less should indeed by on the coach. It is the nature of the position he has. So, getting the Most blame is not farfetched at all.

Anyone who wants to "roll their eyes" are free to do so. Just wonder if they are not shutting their eyes instead. Hard to see the truth with that method.