Around the NBA (and other Sports), 2025-26, p. II

[Parliament10]

Maxime Raynaud for the Kings tonight 29pts - 11reb ... dang, he's been looking good

Back at the draft, Celtics RealGM going into our picks (#28, #32) there were four guys we wanted to pick from: Rasheer Fleming, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Maxime Raynaud, Noah Penda ... with maybe a few Liam McNeeley or Kam Jones fans ... And we come up at #28 and everyone we wanted is available on the board, we take Hugo who I am pretty happy with but then trade down from #32 to draft Amari, Shulga and get the two 2nds to use to dump Niang's contract...

I think passing on Fleming for Hugo is looking smart... but trading down for 32... I would, with hindsight, probably have taken Raynaud ... A Queta/Raynaud center lineup would be pretty interesting... I know some other posters would have gone Kalkbrenner or Penda... But even though Celtics didn't draft him, Im still happy for Max Raynaud, a 29-11 is a nice night for a mid-second round picked rookie

Another thing to consider is that beyond Amari and Shulga, we have the best of MIL, DET and ORL's 2nd this year in a pretty good draft. Right now, that's pick 38. And who knows what happens with Giannis. So, we traded (known) 32 last year for 38ish this year plus Amari, Shulga and a 2027 2nd.

No Question, Trading 1 x 2nd Round Pick, for 4 x 2nd Rounders is a good deal.
And, if any of these Picks helps us out, then that's icing on the cake.

[doogie_hauser]

Go Pats ! What an exciting finish in Balitmore !

[redslastlaugh]

Maxime Raynaud for the Kings tonight 29pts - 11reb ... dang, he's been looking good

I think passing on Fleming for Hugo is looking smart... but trading down for 32... I would, with hindsight, probably have taken Raynaud ... A Queta/Raynaud center lineup would be pretty interesting... I know some other posters would have gone Kalkbrenner or Penda... But even though Celtics didn't draft him, Im still happy for Max Raynaud, a 29-11 is a nice night for a mid-second round picked rookie

Another thing to consider is that beyond Amari and Shulga, we have the best of MIL, DET and ORL's 2nd this year in a pretty good draft. Right now, that's pick 38. And who knows what happens with Giannis. So, we traded (known) 32 last year for 38ish this year plus Amari, Shulga and a 2027 2nd.

No Question, Trading 1 x 2nd Round Pick, for 4 x 2nd Rounders is a good deal.
And, if any of these Picks helps us out, then that's icing on the cake.

Trading #32 for #46 + #57 plus two future seconds is good value broadly speaking. Though if 2-ways were part of the thinking, that the front office doesn't want to have two rookies on the team in a given year, that makes it more questionable. I don't think it's bad thing to have two rookies on the roster, I think it's a good thing.

If we picked at #32, our pick would get a roster contract, but the players we draft at 46 + 57, they will accept a 2-way and may never even make the team. Of course, if Amari and /or Max Shulga become a good player for the Celtics then it was a great trade.

[Parliament10]

Another thing to consider is that beyond Amari and Shulga, we have the best of MIL, DET and ORL's 2nd this year in a pretty good draft. Right now, that's pick 38. And who knows what happens with Giannis. So, we traded (known) 32 last year for 38ish this year plus Amari, Shulga and a 2027 2nd.

No Question, Trading 1 x 2nd Round Pick, for 4 x 2nd Rounders is a good deal.
And, if any of these Picks helps us out, then that's icing on the cake.

Trading #32 for #46 + #57 plus two future seconds is good value broadly speaking. Though if 2-ways were part of the thinking, that the front office doesn't want to have two rookies on the team in a given year, that makes it more questionable. I don't think it's bad thing to have two rookies on the roster, I think it's a good thing.

If we picked at #32, our pick would get a roster contract, but the players we draft at 46 + 57, they will accept a 2-way and may never even make the team. Of course, if Amari and /or Max Shulga become a good player for the Celtics then it was a great trade.

Agreed. -- Except for #32.
2nd Round picks don't come with guaranteed Contracts.

[redslastlaugh]

You're right that 2nd round picks don't have a standard, guaranteed salary slot like a 1st round picked player does. But draftees have to agree that they'll accept a 2-way (since it is less money than a minimum contract), so teams make sure their draftee is willing to sign a 2-way before they pick em.

But the guys that go early in the 2nd round, have the leverage to reject a 2-way and demand a 3 or 4 yr standard contract with some yrs guaranteed. When we traded #32 to Orlando they took Noah Penda and signed him to a 4yr contract w/ three yrs guaranteed and 4th yr team option. I think every #32 has received a standard roster contract and (i think) none have accepted a 2-way since the 2-way contract was introduced.

The last five #32 picks Penda, Kyle Filipowski, Jalen Pickett, Caleb Houston, Vernon Carey: for sure all signed standard contracts with 3yrs guaranteed.

[Parliament10]

You're right that 2nd round picks don't have a standard, guaranteed salary slot like a 1st round picked player does. But draftees have to agree that they'll accept a 2-way (since it is less money than a minimum contract), so teams make sure their draftee is willing to sign a 2-way before they pick em.

But the guys that go early in the 2nd round, have the leverage to reject a 2-way and demand a 3 or 4 yr standard contract with some yrs guaranteed. When we traded #32 to Orlando they took Noah Penda and signed him to a 4yr contract w/ three yrs guaranteed and 4th yr team option. I think every #32 has received a standard roster contract and (i think) none have accepted a 2-way since the 2-way contract was introduced.

The last five #32 picks Penda, Kyle Filipowski, Jalen Pickett, Caleb Houston, Vernon Carey: for sure all signed standard contracts with 3yrs guaranteed.

Ahhh. I see what you're saying.

[bucknersrevenge]

That point is wrong.. If Tatum was here, there's an excellent chance Gonzales would be in Maine and people would say he needs development. Hugo is basically only really playing because this team isn't expected to contend for a title while waiting for tatum to return.

I don't wholly disagree with this point if I'm being fair. Joe has been on record with his players (Baylor, for one, that I remember) that he doesn't play rookies much. And if Tatum were here, this team is so stocked with swing forwards that I just don't see where the minutes would come from right now to get Hugo on the court. They use Maine as an incubator in this way to get guys regular minutes in lieu of the logjam. To a degree, Joe is kind of a victim of Brad doing such a good job of finding quality guys to develop, particularly swing guys (why I wanted Flip instead of Baylor, but I digress). Hell, I think Ron Harper, Jr might actually be a player, but that dude can't even sniff minutes on this team. So I can't entirely blame Joe here, and when Tatum comes back, Brad will HAVE to make decisions on some guys regarding who stays for the next evolution and who goes. I think Queta, JT, Jaylen, Derrick, PP, and Hugo are now pretty safe bets. But Brad is gonna have to do some consolidation by this offseason to make Joe's job easier.

Excellent points again, but I would hope to add at least one of either Minott or Walsh as definite keepers. We can't afford to lose both.

I would as well as I love the idea of the Celtics evolving into a more defensively versatile squad at every position to combat the San Antonio's and OKC's of the world that are going to be mainstays in the future. I only neglected to include themonly because they don't have longer term deals yet. But I love those 3 versatile wings being added to our 2 top end versatile wings to make for a very switchy attack-style defense moving forward.

[Parliament10]

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[Fencer reregistered]

Rivers has led the Colts to a score on 4 of his first 5 drives despite at least 1 offensive line penalty on each drive. (2 TDs, 2 FGs.)

The other was a 3-and-out featuring a sack, where he only got 10 yards on a 3rd-and-12.

[Fierce1]

Michael Porter Jr. having a career season in Brooklyn.

Would be a perfect 3rd option for the Cs.

Just don't know if Brad and the Cs like his game.

But I don't know mind having MPJ this season and next season then Hugo takes over after MPJ's contract expires at the end of the 2027 season.

[doogie_hauser]

Hopefully Brooklyn can manage to beat Philly and give us some breathing space in the standings.

[Fierce1]

Hopefully Brooklyn can manage to beat Philly and give us some breathing space in the standings.

I really don't want the Cs to win too many games because I want the 2026 Celtics pick to be in the early 20s.

[Fierce1]

There's really strong evidence that the Hawks are better off without Trae.

[doogie_hauser]

Knicks lose to The Wolves. We can easily catch them in the standings fam.

Also The Spurs are very scary

[Fierce1]

Knicks lose to The Wolves. We can easily catch them in the standings fam.

Also The Spurs are very scary

If we catch the Knicks in the standings then that means the is not just bad, it's really bad!

[Parliament10]

[redslastlaugh]

Brett Siegel released a NBA trade rumor intel article for clutchpoints... no Celtics mentions but says:

Milwaukee targeting Jerami Grant and Rob Williams for Kuzma & Bobby Portis to try to keep Giannis
Bulls open to trading Coby White and Nikola Vucevic
Cavs looking to dump salary by moving DeAndre Hunter & Dean Wade but keeping their Big 4 intact

but no Celtics news...
https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/nba-trade-intel-bulls-bucks-cavs-more-g-league-showcase

[Fierce1]

Brett Siegel released a NBA trade rumor intel article for clutchpoints... no Celtics mentions but says:

Milwaukee targeting Jerami Grant and Rob Williams for Kuzma & Bobby Portis to try to keep Giannis
Bulls open to trading Coby White and Nikola Vucevic
Cavs looking to dump salary by moving DeAndre Hunter & Dean Wade but keeping their Big 4 intact

but no Celtics news...
https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/nba-trade-intel-bulls-bucks-cavs-more-g-league-showcase

If it's Coby and Vuc then that's my trade idea since September.

I don't mind Coby being a rental.

And I think the Cs can re-sign Vuc in the off-season.

[Tatumfor2]

Michael Porter Jr. having a career season in Brooklyn.

Would be a perfect 3rd option for the Cs.

Just don't know if Brad and the Cs like his game.

But I don't know mind having MPJ this season and next season then Hugo takes over after MPJ's contract expires at the end of the 2027 season.

I think he would be stuck on the bench for his defensive play. I haven't really watched him enough though, so I could be off base.

Side note! Cooper Flagg out Jokering the Joker wasn't too shabby.

[Tatumfor2]

Does this remind you of anyone?

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