They DECLINED This Trade? Russell Westbrook Back, Celtics Rolling

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Hello, everybody. Welcome and happy Monday, starting off a new week here, the NBA front office show, bringing you all the latest going on in the world of professional basketball. I'm Trevor Lane, joined by Keith Smith. Keith, I found over the weekend with March madness going on, I didn't know if this was a thing, if there was an upper limit to my basketball watching. I found out there is. I hit my basketball saturation point.

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I had to step away from basketball a little bit on Sunday before the Lakers ORG played and go

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watch some other stuff. So we have found it. I didn't know if existed. Apparently, even I have basketball watching limits.

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I love it.

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I don't have basketball watching limits, but I definitely have college basketball watching limits.

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Yes, that may be it.

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Yeah, mine landed at about, I would say probably five-ish on Saturday

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when I was like, I can't do any more college.

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I needed the Magic Kings game to tip off so badly at 7 p.m. Eastern.

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I was just like, just get me there, get me back to the NBA ORG. So I, I love the tournament. Like, it's been great. It was great to dial in on some of the teams and players that I haven't seen a ton of. I've watched like their possessions only and those kind of things. But yeah, the full college basketball days, I had had enough. That said, give me games at noon. Anytime you want to give me games, I had had enough. That said, give me games at noon anytime you want to give me games.I'll take noon. I just can't do all day, college hoops. Yep.

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Yeah, I'm right there. I'm glad it's not just me because I had a feeling. I'm like, I bet Keith just powered through and just watched 48 hours of basketball all weekend. And that was all he did.But I'm glad to hear that you all so have your limits. Makes me feel a little bit better.

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I mean, I did that, but it just wasn't all college. I moved on to who moved back into my comfort zone of the NBA ORG. All right.

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Well, let's get into some NBA ORG news here. This is, you and we talked about this a little bit right before we came on air here, but I'm a little bewildered by this, the story that's now suddenly popping up again. The Nets turned down Jalen Green and first for Mikhail Bridges. As though this is something new,I thought we knew this back at the trade deadline. This was, I seemed, unless I dreamed this or something, I thought we already discussed this topic, but now suddenly it's becoming a thing again. I would have to imagine it's because the rockets are on this win streak and Jalen Green's been playing extremely well. This is now popping back up or am I misremembering our rumors at this point?

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Yeah, you're definitely not misremembering. It was, it was out there and it was, yeah, Jalen Green and it was, was it three first? Was it two first? Was it two real first and a fake

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first like, like protected first? What was it? But it was something in that range. So yeah,

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you're not misremembering that. That was, that was a pretty widely reported that the Nets ORG said

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no. And it was the Nets own first going back to them was a big part of this deal because the Rockets were clearly must have felt like, hey, we could get McKill Bridges, we'll plug him in with Dylan Brooks PERSON.

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Now we've, you know, taking care of our wing spot.

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You would basically take Jalen Green's PERSON position in the lineup.

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But yeah, you know, I guess guessing it's exactly what you said. It's a combination of nets aren't playing very well. Rockets ORG are playing very well. And Jailen Green PERSON is also playing very well. That's kind of brought all this back up to the forefront.

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Keith, Jalen Green, the month of March, 28 points, six boards, three and a half assists, shooting 51% from the field and 42% from three. He has not historically been a high efficiency guy. Everything is dropping for him right now. He's got it going. And so that's where it makes sense.If you're a Nets ORG fan, you're probably bemoaning. Why didn't we just do this and get this guy? Rockets ORG fans may be breathing a sigh of relief right now that you didn't give up that future draft capital and everything else, especially in this incredible run that Houston ORG has been on. So is this, are we looking at this now saying,oh my gosh, the Nets ORG, they should have done this deal? Or do you think the Nets still feel okay with their decision to stick with Bridges PERSON?

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Yeah, I'm guessing it's one more than Nets ORG. You have to feel okay and you better be okay with not having done this and that you're

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going to be able to build a team around McHale Bridges PERSON.

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But as you and I have talked many many times mcale bridges PERSON is not a

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22 year old player like he he's he's older than people realize and you're going to have to if you're going

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to build a winner around him you're going to have to do that sooner rather than later and and you have to feel okay with it but yeah i thought at the time that's a deal i probably would have done i i i like mcale bridges a lot i don't know that I like McHale Bridges PERSON a lot. I don't know that I like Michael Bridges as the A number one guy to be building my franchise around. I just don't think he's that kind of player. I would more see him maybe a high end number two,but definitely a very high end number three type of player. Also, you're on the clock with his contract. He's going to need a new contract relatively soon. So it's all those things add up. You're just in a spa where either he needs to blossom into that number one guy or you need to really get moving on building this around him.And I don't know that for the Nets ORG, they're in position to do any of that right now. So I would have rather have had, hey, give me my picks back. Let me kind of, you know, rehab, take another run at my own future at this and figure it all out. But yeah, on the flip side, I can understand why the rockets were making this push too, because at the time they were sitting around 500 right around the trade deadline playing pretty well

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then they had that big slide then they've kind of come back and really figured it out they uh

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not not that i'm trying to make this the Celtics point but they've got the second longest

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win streak in the league right now boston's one nine in a row and the rockets of one eight so i mean

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they're playing great they put the pressure on the Warriors ORG. They're a game behind the Warriors.

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So they're right there for that final playing spot,

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which is unbelievable considering a week or two ago,

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it looked like, all right, this is all wrapped up.

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It's for us who the 10 teams will be.

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Yeah, especially with no Alper and San Goon ORG.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah. That's the other thing. I will say this too. They're not better without him.

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They've hit a pretty good patch in the schedule.

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Dave, they've played very, very well. As we said, Jalen Green PERSON is playing out of his mind right now. But I don't want anybody to start taking this too. Well,maybe Shingun PERSON shouldn't be signed and all the sort of stuff will start here in any day now. No,

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no, no, no. Let's not, let's not lose our minds here, people.

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Sanguun PERSON is absolutely fantastic.

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But if you're a Nets ORG fan, you're probably feeling some kind of way. Like you're probably wishing they had just done this deal. But again, I think we always, and you kind of mentioned already, we don't know, was it three first, but they were all heavily protected or something you know we don't where they totally unprotected first and then you could really be upset we don't know exactly what that looked like that can change the value of first round picks wildly so if all we know is itwas jalen green plus some number of first round picks there's fake first round picks there's unprotected first round picks the value anywhere in in between, I mean, it's, we don't know exactly what that looked like. So that could certainly change things in this calculation quite a bit. But bottom line, had the Nets been getting their picks back, all of them, with David Putney PERSON, then they probably should have done this deal.

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I want this team's future back.

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All of them. I want my picks back. Let's jump over to the Clippers ORG. Russell Westbrook PERSON returning from a broken hand. I believe this is even a little bit early that he's coming back from his broken hand. But he's coming back to a Clippers ORG team that could certainly use him.I mean, right now sitting in the foreseed, but the Pelicans ORG, breathe them down their necks, just half a game back, the pelicans NORP may have some incentive to to try to move up to that four because it looks like we're heading towardsa Pelicans Clippers first round matchup.

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But if the pelicans get up to four, that's home court.

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That's home court that we're talking about there. So the pelicans are right there. They're pushing the Clippers ORG right now. And the Clippers ORG need all the help they can get at the moment. So Russell West PERSON were coming back, even recovering, I believe, a little bit early from this broken hand.That would be a positive for a Clippers ORG team that needs to start stacking up some wins.

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Yeah, the Clippers ORG went through that period where, like, they were absolutely

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dominant for a good stretch there. And then they kind of hit the post All-Star EVENT break. And they've

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just been, they're like, okay. Like, they're, like, playing 500 basketball, uh, basically since, I guess it was just before the All-Star EVENT break. So I don't know exactly what to make of them anymore. I feel still confident. It's funny because this was something I think Ryan Rissillo PERSON brought this up.

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And he's like, do I believe in the Clippers ORG that went something like, I want to say they went like 26 and 5 or something like that?

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Or do I believe in the Clippers that have basically been 500 for two different chunks of the season? He's like, I don't know what to really fully focus on. One thing that I do know is they need Russell Westbrook PERSON because their game that they lost yesterday,the 76ers ORG was a perfect example. They just had no, they had no juice. There was no energy, no life. And we know even if it is chaotic and not always great, Russ PERSON is going to bring you energy

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to the floor. Whenever he gets on the floor, he's going to have one of those plays where he grabs a rebound, he goes 100 miles per hour to the other end of the floor.

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And if he makes the shot, everybody's going to get lifted and the crowd's going to get into and off you go. But that game against the Sixers ORG, they had nothing. They had no legs, no juice, really played very, very poorly. It was an early start on the West Coast LOC for them. So we get that part of it.But, yeah, they need Russ PERSON back in the lineup. I think getting him back, and maybe they are kind of turning their eyes towards, all right, we're not going to catch nuggets, thunder, or wolves at the top of the conference.

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So let's just kind of put it in cruise control. We'll try to stay in front of the Pelicans ORG as best we can.

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I don't know. Maybe they also feel like we're not that worried about going in New Orleans GPE. Maybe we can win. But it's definitely I'm less, I feel less good about them than I did a month or so ago. Absolutely.

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And, you know, looking at the strength of schedule here, the Pelicans have the fourth most difficult schedule remaining. But the Clippers have the ninth. So I don't think they can, they can just, if the Clippers had like the 25th or something, that they'd feel pretty good, right? But they don't. So this is, I mean, this is going to be avery real race to watch down the stretch here. This race for the four or five position. Again, I think they are on a collision course towards each other here. But nonetheless, I think this is going to be an interesting battle to watch Pelicans, Clippers ORG, who really wants? And I guess that's the other question here, Keith. Do the, the Pelicans ORG might really want home court. I don't know if the Clippers feel like they need home court to beat the Pelicans ORG.

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Yeah, I think that's very accurate. I think the Clippers ORG are feeling like we can go there, we can win, and we can kind of go. One thing I will say, I don't know if the Pelicans ORG are a great matchup for them because the Clippers ORG, it seems weird to matchup for them because they're, the clippers, it seems weird to put it this way, because they have pretty good size wings. They have good size guards, but they play one big.And Zion can get stuff done against them as long as they can get him the ball on the move, get him going downhill. They don't have a lot that can challenge him. So that becomes one of the challenges for them stopping New Orleans GPE. So I consider it looks like we maybe are on a path towards that being the first round matchup, I would happily take it because I think there's a lot of fun stuff in there tobreak down and work through. It sounds like maybe too, just to kind of put it out there, we're not like overlooking the sons, the kings, and the Mavs ORG. Sons and kings, though, both have very difficult schedules left.

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Extremely difficult sons have the hardest schedule left in the league.

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The kings have the third hardest. Orch, Charlotte Hornets ORG somehow fell into the middle there.

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Second and they already stink.

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So lots of losses coming in Charlotte GPE. And then Dallas ORG is a little further down. So if anything, Dallas could be the team that could maybe slide their way up into the sixth slot. It's just more they're probably not in the range to get all the way up to four. They could be. Things could happen.But once you start getting down around 10, 11, 12 games, making up a three-game deficit is really hard because even if you go something like nine and three, you need the other team to go six and six to pull that off.

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And that's the problem. And I highlighted this on X yesterday as well as over on threads that you look at the Western conference now yesterday it looked more ominous because the the Clippers lost last night and the Thunder lost last night but there was a point where every team one through 11 in the west was on a win streak except for the Warriors they were the only team they'd only and they just lost I think they lost a game or maybe they lost two yeah they lost one game at that point when I had screenshot of that. And so that's where it's,it's especially difficult to really make any kind of upward movement in the standings if everyone around you is winning. You know, people get, Keith PERSON, you've seen, I put it out there on, on social media. I put out there, hey, here's what Lakers fans are rooting for today. Here's the teams that we need to lose. Here's what the Lakers ORG need in order to, you know, to win to try to move on and all that. And people get so offended and so it's so upset. Oh, we should just, you should just focus on your own team and that's all that matters.No. You know why? Because math. That's why. If everyone around you is winning, you can win as many games as you want, it doesn't matter. You're not moving if everyone around you is winning. So you need certain outcomes. So like you're talking about with the DallasMavericks, the potential is there. You can see there only a half a game back from the six seed. The potential is there for them to move up. But not only do they have to win, they need the sons to lose. They need some of these other teams have to lose in order for teams to move up and have any kind of upward mobility. And that's why we predicted how tight the West LOC would be and how we might see a lot of jockeying for position. There hasn't been quite as much as you would think,but it's because everybody keeps winning. And so you don't have, oh, this team's jumping up two spots today because they won and three other teams lost. That's not happening right now.

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And in both conferences, if you look down towards the bottom part, like, look, jazz,

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five street losses, Trailways are six straight, Spurs, three straight.

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It's the same way in the east.

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The Hornets have lost four.

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The Raptors have lost 10 in a row.

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The nets have lost six.

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Pistons have lost six. The Wizards somehow won two in a row.

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But it is, that's where these teams are just, they're piling up wins, these bad teams. And it's not even people are going to go, well, yeah, they're tanking. I don't even think it's that bad. I think they're just bad.

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I think those teams are all just bad. I think that's why they're all losing these games.

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So it really is, you know, these teams are just picking up wins. One interesting thing, and it hadn't jumped out to me until this morning when I was really looking at the standings.

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In the Western Conference, the difference between the Nuggets who are now at the top of the conference and the Lakers is 11 games.

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That is the same as the distance between the Celtics ORG and the bucks at the top of the east.

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That's pretty crazy.

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Yeah.

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You're right.

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That's how far ahead Boston ORG is.

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Like, it's unbelievable.

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And I know you're using ESPN ORG and I use ESPN too. Yeah.

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Apparently they, ESPN still has something noted somewhere where Boston ORG has not clinched the east.

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The NBA ORG's official standings pages now say they have with that.

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So it seems like it was some weird thing where somebody lost and there could have been like a like 17 involved tiebreaker or something.

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But they have them noted noted as clinching the division.

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But not that not the conference. But they have them noted as clinching the division. But not the conference.

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But they have clinched the conference.

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According to.

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Yeah, I mean.

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As far as we can tell. There's not enough games left for.

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No. I mean, I mean. Yeah.

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Okay. Yeah.

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Well, they totally have a lot of games left. Milwaukee ORG could tie them. There was apparently some kind of tie breaker out there that could have swung the buck's way, but it doesn't seem like it. Regardless, if Boston wins tonight over the Hawks, and we'll see because the Celtics are basically playing three dudes in the bench every game.

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But if they can win that game, they'll, that'll wrap it up then.

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They can take care of business tonight themselves.

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Well, speaking of which, Drew Holiday PERSON,

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dealing with an AC joint spring.

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But as you said, though, the Celtics ORG are, and as they should be, they are full rest mode right now.

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They've got guys popping up on the injury report left and right, sitting them out, getting them ready for the playoffs here. What is it, 11 games, 12 games left for Boston ORG,

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something like that? 11 games left. So that's what we should expect to see from here on now. They're going to, and this is why when we talk also about What is it? 11 games, 12 games left for Boston, something like that. 11 games left. So that's what we should expect to see from here on now. They're going to, and this is why when we talk also about strength of schedule, if you see a team that has Boston ORG, for example, Sacramento, they've got a game against Boston, Norland has a game against Boston ORG, OKC has a game against Boston.A few weeks ago, that might have been a big deal.

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Now that might be significantly more winnable than it was a few weeks ago, that might have been a big deal. Now, that might be significantly more winnable than it was a few weeks ago,

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because who knows who the Celtics ORG are actually going to put out there on the floor, and the same is going to be true as other teams start to lock in their playoff positioning.

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Always something to factor in when we look at strength of schedule.

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But you and I talked a little bit already before we came on the air, you believe Drew Holiday PERSON, this AC joint sprain situation. This is not just, hey, you have a injury. Let's get some rest.

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Yeah. So like the Celtics have been listing Chris Saps PERSON, for Zingis PERSON with hamstring maintenance,

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Jason Tatum as an ankle thing.

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Jalen Brown, it vacillates between his back, his ankle.

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I think he's had hamstring listed.

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Al Horford's had basically everything except the old Tim Duncan PERSON old.

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The league did not like that.

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No, the league did not like that. Otherwise, I think that probably would be the case. Holidays is a little different. He got in a game against the Wizards ORG. This is now over a week ago, he got,like, crunched on one of those double elevator screens

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where it just got hammered and immediately, like, didn't separate his shoulder or anything, but like went right to the shoulder. And he said,he told the Boston Globe, uh,

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this week, he's dealing with like a dead arm.

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And this is the first time the Celtics ORG have come out and said it's an AC joint sprain, which is a shoulder sprain.

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Nobody believes this is going to be a long-term thing. He should be fine. He should be back. And obviously the Celtics ORG need him. He's been a huge part of the team. But this is the benefit of rolling through people.It's funny because I did see somebody say, well, was someone going to comment about the Celtics ORG wins as of late? Well, sure, but they're beating everybody.

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So, like, it's not like,

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they didn't just get fat on bad teams. What is nice to see as someone who covered this team for years and years and obviously still watches with a keen interest, they aren't playing with their food either. They're beating these teams, even when they're sitting with their food either. They're beating these teams.Even when they're sitting a bunch of guys, they're still hammering teams. And there've been a lot of bad ones. Don't get me wrong. There's been a bunch of bad teams in there. But the Celtics ORG are playing.Like I said, it's like, all right, these three guys will play tonight. These three guys will sit. And then they're still winning these games by 20 and 30 points. So it's,

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they're just really good. There's not a lot more to say. Yeah. I mean, they beat during this stretch.

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They beat Phoenix. They beat Milwaukee. Like there's wins against Chicago, Detroit twice, Washington GPE, Utah, Portland. There's all those in there. But you beat Phoenix twice. You know, you beat the Warriors ORG. I blew out the war. Oh my gosh. Pudgeon. Yeah.That's still. I know this happened. And looking at that score is still like it makes you stop and go wait.

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140 to 88.

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Good Lord.

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Yeah. And that was their second 50 point one of the year. That's the,

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uh,

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basers by 51. That's not, that's not varsity of the year. That's the, basers by 51. That's not,

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that's not varsity playing JV. That's varsity playing the eighth grade.

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Yeah.

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Right. I mean, that's absurd. Yeah.

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Yeah.

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This is just since we're on the topic,

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they're 20 and two in their last 22 games. So they've absolutely been killing. You can go back further and kind of start to extrapolate that into, you know,

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and then they're, you know, then they lost one more and then they won two more.

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So they were 22 and 3 and, you know, all kinds of things like that. But this win streak, which is nine games right now, it's their sixth win streak this year. That is five games or more. So they are like rolling through it. And when you start looking at historical stuff with the point differential and all that, if they don't win the championship this year, it is a monumental failure.

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Because everything points to they should win the title.

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And that should be the expectation.

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There's no reason we should have any expectation other than win the championship.

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Things can happen. Of course. We know that.

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But if there's, you know, moderate health, they should win the title.

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Just that that's how good they've been. Will they? I don't know. We'll talk in three months and know that answer.

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Keith, you say all of that, but you also know that if the Celtics ORG lose their next game, there's going to be upset Celtics ORG fans.

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Oh, 100%. Yeah.

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Who cares that they won nine in a row?

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I mean, that's what happened last loss that they had.

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They, you know, had the, they lost twice.

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They did the Cavs game where they blew a big lead because Dean Wade PERSON apparently had an out-of-body experience and channeled, you know, had the, they lost twice. They did the Cavs game where they blew a big lead because Dean Wade, apparently had an out-of-body experience and channeled, you know, prime Michael Jordan PERSON,

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Kobe Bryant, LeBron James PERSON all mixed together and just dominated along with like clutch Reggie Miller

Speaker 01397.58s - 1398.96s

shooting skills.

Speaker 11399.4s - 1415.42s

The Monstars ORG fully took over. And then they lost to Denver GPE and everybody's like, that's it. I'm out. I can't trust this team. But you know what? Those exact same people are like,I told you guys, they're a wagon. You know, don't. Yeah, people just get crazy. People like to say crazy stuff. All right.

Speaker 31415.66s - 1438.82s

Speaking of people getting crazy. Chris Dunn, Jabari Smith Jr. PERSON, suspended because they threw punches at each other on the floor. Chris Dunn gets two games, DeVarie Smith gets one game, Houston and Utah playing the other day. And they,well, this is what happens when you're fighting on the court? I don't know. Is this just, it's so late in the season, teams start to get a little bit cranky.

Speaker 01438.9s - 1466.6s

I know there was a little bit of a history where they had an issue before when these two teams played. But still, this is a suspension and not, you know, not ideal for the Rockets ORG who are playing great basketball right now, but not ideal for the Rockets to now have to miss Jabari Smith Jr. PERSON for a game.The Jazz ORG are pretty much out of it. So it's not, you know, it's not catastrophic for their season or anything like that. But Jabari Smith being out for the Rockets ORG, that could actually matter as they're trying to chase down the warriors.

Speaker 11467.4s - 1483.18s

Yeah, and Jabari Smith Jr. has been the starting five for the Rockets when Shingoon PERSON went down. So they'll plug in Jock Landale PERSON. They'll play Jeff Green PERSON more. Maybe Boban PERSON will see meaningful minutes, who knows. But it's one game.They should be okay.

Speaker 31483.8s - 1484.92s

And they play Portland tonight.

Speaker 11485.4s - 1495.86s

Yeah, they play Portland ORG. So it's, you know, Portland ORG is we're going to have another good news, Portland update. But if anybody's wondering where the Trailblazers are at, they started five rookies in their last game.

Speaker 21496.54s - 1500.38s

So it kind of gives you a sense where things are at in Portland ORG right now.

Speaker 01501.58s - 1508.76s

Chris Dunn PERSON, though, this is now, Chris Dunn is, he's a cool story. He, you know,

Speaker 11508.76s - 1535.36s

made it back, right? Went to G-League Row ORG really, you know, just kind of got back, where he rebuilt his career and got back into it. What's funny is he got into it with Luca earlier this year. Like, he's, he's an agitator. And if that's what he needs to do to be in the league, that's what he's going to do. So in a couple people I saw on social media when this came out yesterday, we're like, well, why did Jabari Smith only get one game? Chris Dunn PERSON started it.

Speaker 21535.84s - 1538.42s

And then he threw a punch.

Speaker 01539.06s - 1540.96s

Jabari Smith, Jr. PERSON threw a punch back.

Speaker 11541.04s - 1544.76s

And that's why Chris Dunn got two and Jabari Smith, Jr. only got one.

Speaker 31545.44s - 1547.44s

Yeah, which makes sense. Makes sense.

Speaker 11548.06s - 1649.02s

All right. So you talked about Portland ORG. Shinn Sharp PERSON was going to be returning, which is great. And again, their season is effectively done. Like you said, they started five rookies. But this is about he's been dealing with a core muscle injury.This is about getting back out there on the floor, getting your confidence back, getting some game reps in, and then you can hit your off-season training program as close to 100% as possible, kind of in rhythm, so to speak, and off you go for what's going to be a big summer for the Blazers ORG.So this is a positive for them, of course. No, they're not in the playoff mix or anything like that, but getting back on the floor, getting some reps in, that can be important in terms of not necessarily this season, but perhaps hitting next season with some momentum.Yeah, that's it. I mean, you want to see Anthony Simons is in and out of the lineup right now. My guess is that's probably one of those. These games really mattered. He'd probably be playing. But whether he plays or not,you'd like to see Scoot Henderson PERSON get some time with Shaden Sharp and see what it looks like because Shaden Sharp PERSON's only played in, I believe it's 32 games this season, which is after playing 80 as a rookie, that's obviously disappointing. So in Shaden Sharp PERSON did show definite signs of improvement.Some of it was more minutes, bigger role, but a lot of it was real actual tangible improvement. So you just want to get a look with the kids together and see what it looks like. And if you can get five, six games of that down the stretch, great. I do kind of wonder if Shaden Sharp PERSON, let's say,he can't come back or he only comes back for a couple games. He seems like a guy we could see make the, I call it, the cameo appearance at

Speaker 21649.02s - 1658.7s

Summer League where he shows up. He plays like the first game or two and then that's it. It shows up, scores 35 points and it's like, this guy's too good for this. And then he leaves.

Speaker 31659.2s - 1664.36s

I kind of think he's already there. I think he's too good. Yeah, it probably is. That would more

Speaker 11664.36s - 1668.92s

be a, hey, you missed a lot of time. Let's get a couple more reps.

Speaker 01669.08s - 1673.38s

Or it might even be a, hey, we want to see you facilitate more, you know, on the ball.

Speaker 31673.58s - 1677.08s

We just want to see you and Scoot PERSON play a couple games together because I imagine

Speaker 01677.08s - 1678.26s

Scoot PERSON will be there. He isn't.

Speaker 11678.76s - 1689.96s

He's been better than I think people give him credit for. And I think people just lose patience with point cards and they shouldn't. But yeah, it just wouldn't shock me if we saw that.

Speaker 31690.88s - 1701.06s

All right. Tom Tibido talking extension with the Knicks ORG. Keith, from my understanding, those discussions so far have lasted the full 48 minutes.

Speaker 01701.42s - 1727.76s

They've gone the entire time. Tom Tibido PERSON has not, he's not subbed himself out at all, which is, which is part for the course for him. But he is talking extension with the Nix. Look, I think the, you know, the NICs have had a, given the injuries they've, they've suffered this year and are still dealing with, they've had a pretty successful season. It feels like they are on the upswing. It did seem like they found something where they got O and OB in OB into the mix. Now, if they can just get everybody healthy,

Speaker 31727.88s - 1752.18s

maybe that can actually turn into something here. But this is a Knicks ORG team that they play hard every night. They don't get beat because of lack of effort. That's for sure. They fly all over the place. They make your life hell on the boards regardless of who's on or off the floor for them. And so I think this is justified for the NICS to be talking extension with Tom Thibodeau PERSON. And I think this is a franchise that's on the rise right now. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 11752.38s - 1756.42s

And I don't have anything to Tibbs PERSON other than get it done, get him, get him signed.

Speaker 21756.82s - 1761.62s

If we're going to talk extensions, how good does the Deuce McBride PERSON extension look now?

Speaker 31761.9s - 1762.3s

Right.

Speaker 11762.76s - 1782.7s

Yeah, for those who don't remember, Deuce McBride got $13. Right? Like, yeah, Pete PERSON did, for those who don't remember, Deuce McBride get $13 million over three years, not per year, total. So 4.7 next year, 4.3 and then 3.9 in the final season. Like that's, that is less than that the new taxpayer, mid level.

Speaker 01782.8s - 1786.04s

That's like half the room exception amount.

Speaker 11786.48s - 1805.22s

And he's starting right now because they've got so many injuries. But you just locked in your point guard spot for at least the next couple of reasons with him and Jalen Brunson PERSON. And then obviously Brunson PERSON will be up for a new deal. Maybe even as soon as the summer we'll see, but it could be coming on the heels of that. But yeah, like unbelievable. Yeah, where we're, you know, how well. maybe even as soon as the summer we'll see but it could be coming on the heels of that but yeah

Speaker 31805.22s - 1812.18s

like unbelievable um yeah where we're you know how well you know McBride PERSON has been and yeah the fact

Speaker 11812.18s - 1824s

that they are playing basically four guard lineups around one big and hanging in these games we'll see I'm a I'm a little worried about OG and Inanovi PERSON like only made it back for a couple games

Speaker 21824s - 1827.04s

yeah now he's been out like a week or so.

Speaker 01827.48s - 1830.28s

Julius Randall PERSON's still not cleared for contact.

Speaker 11830.88s - 1844.2s

I'm a little worried. Not going to panic yet, but a little worried because if you have those two guys, you're a completely different team to deal with in the playoffs. And if you only have one of them or if you're missing both of them, that becomes a whole different thing.

Speaker 31844.8s - 1855.28s

Yeah, and that's just that. They've suffered so many injuries this season. Mitchell Robinson PERSON is back in practice. So that's okay.

Speaker 21855.76s - 1856.14s

Great.

Speaker 31856.3s - 1893.66s

That's good. So hopefully, again, you hope that you get these guys back because they need them back if they're going to make any kind of a run here in the postseason. But, man, time's running out. And that's really the case for all of these teams. When we talk about any little injury right now can be a season end or anything that lingers right now could effectively end your season.I mean, the Knicks ORG that are just half a game up on the magic. They're only half a game back from the Cavs ORG. They need their guys back. They need them healthy right now. And it feels like it's been a long wait here for the Knicks ORG to actually get their players back in an action. Yeah.

Speaker 11893.74s - 1897.52s

And the calves don't want to hear it with injuries, right? Because they've gone through it themselves.

Speaker 31897.76s - 1902.08s

But the reality is, had the Knicks had their guys, they probably would have caught Cleveland ORG.

Speaker 11902.2s - 1905.56s

Now you can play that game. If Cleveland ORG had their guys, they're probably not even close.

Speaker 01905.9s - 1907.62s

So, which is also a fair point.

Speaker 11907.62s - 1931.7s

But yeah, I mean, that's, that's a battle right now for the three, four, five. And it's funny because you really want to be three because you want to get on the opposite side of the bracket from the Celtics ORG. If you can avoid it in the four or five, like that's, you you know just then now you're fighting for home court advantage in that matchup so yeah lots to still be decided there which is a lot of fun all right

Speaker 31931.7s - 1975.2s

let's finish with this positive story here loneso ball PERSON looks like he's going to return next season keith this is very much welcome news and who knows if this means the beginning of the season or what but you know there was a point there where the conversations we were having about Lonsa Ball, we were talking more about the quality of his life like day to day, just being able to move around and play with your kids and stuff like that, more than can you get on a basketball court.So hearing that he's going to be back next season, I believe it's now been two full seasons that he's going to be back next season, I believe it's now been two full seasons that he's been out for, or at least it's been a half a season and a full season. I have to go back and look at the exact injury timeline. But he's been out for 20, 22.

Speaker 11976.16s - 1979.6s

Yeah. So there you go. That's the last time we played. Yeah. I mean,

Speaker 31980.64s - 1988.04s

so this is great news that he's going to be back out there on the floor for the Bulls at some point next season.

Speaker 11988.12s - 1989.98s

Of course, unless they trade him, I did see.

Speaker 31990.1s - 2012.22s

I forget who had it, but there was just kind of a casual mention of there was no interest in Lonsa Ball's PERSON contract. That trade deadline this past year that at least tells you the Bulls ORG were willing to listen to something there. But would have to imagine that if he's going to continue his career, he's going to have to get out there on the floor, prove himself this next season, and then contractually everything else will kind of go from there.

Speaker 12012.88s - 2018.12s

Yeah, and that'll change a little bit. He's a lock.

Speaker 02018.22s - 2026.12s

He's going to pick up his option, $21.4 million player option. There's no way having not played in a year and a half that he would let that go by.

Speaker 12026.32s - 2046.82s

So that'll definitely get picked up. And then the question becomes with Lonzo Ball PERSON is, I guess the, how do we want to put this? Is, I guess two and a half years, right? Actually, how long it's been since left plate.

Speaker 32047.86s - 2054.06s

Because it's an expiring contract, it just becomes that much more likely to be moved.

Speaker 22054.7s - 2057.88s

Like that is the difference, right?

Speaker 32057.96s - 2063.94s

Like that's the thing that becomes very different versus at the trade deadline.

Speaker 12063.94s - 2067.94s

You're taking on 20, 20 and a half this year and then 21 next

Speaker 02067.94s - 2073.22s

year. Now you're talking just 21 million. Maybe you move a contract that runs a year or two longer

Speaker 32073.22s - 2079.6s

that you don't like on your books. It's the same thing for half the money as Ben Simmons PERSON, right?

Speaker 12079.62s - 2084.08s

It's the same conversation of, I don't know how much I'm worried about what this guy does on

Speaker 02084.08s - 2087.28s

the court, but a trade, sure, let's make it happen.

Speaker 12088.28s - 2092.9s

You know, that's just it is even with the expiring contract.

Speaker 32093.02s - 2174.46s

And I do think expirings have value in the NBA ORG. We saw it this past year at the trade deadline. Expiring contracts do matter. But that's it. That's all he's, he's not like the Bulls are not going to get any credit for what Loneso PERSON could be as a player. And that's just the unfortunate reality.Now, if you're the Bulls ORG and you and you really say, hey, we've got this expiring contract. I do wonder, because right now his value is just expiring.And that's it. It's just the expiring contract, nothing for what he can do on the floor. I do wonder if you're the Bulls ORG, unless you get a great deal this summer, I'm not saying they even have to move him.They don't. But unless you get a great deal this summer, it may be worth it just to bring him into the season, see if he can get on the floor, and see if that expiring contract does have a little bit more value at the trade deadline once he's on the court and he's playing and he's actually showing something.Again, your downside, though, is right where you're at right now because right now he's just a contract and that's it. Even if he gets on the floor and he can't play or he doesn't get on the floor, then the value is still the same. It's just an expiring contract at the trade deadline and that's it. So it may behoove the bulls to hold off and see if the value of his deal can actually go upbecause he can come back and get back to being close to the player that he once was.

Speaker 12174.96s - 2233.06s

Yeah, without a doubt, there's no reason for them to take a bad deal. There's no reason to just straight up wave him or anything like that. Like, yeah, you just see where it's at because you're absolutely right. There's nothing. Nothing is going to change as far as a team saying, hey, we'll take his $21 million expiring and we'll make it work there.Like that, that will not change. And the other nice thing, too, is because of the emergence of Kobe White PERSON, who has been really, really good this year. And Iowa D'Soumoo has played pretty well in the two plus years that Lonzo PERSON's been out. You're in a spot where now all of a sudden you can start to kind of get into a place where, hey, all you're going to give us is 15 minutes a night off the bench, at least initially.Show you're healthy. You'll work your way back in and we'll kind of figure it out from there. It feels like there's a lot of unanswered questions for this Bulls ORG team. There's just what's going to happen to Mara Droz PERSON.

Speaker 02233.18s - 2233.86s

Does he extend?

Speaker 22234.04s - 2235.3s

Does he go to free agency?

Speaker 12235.86s - 2257.88s

You know, where does it go? And I'm sure Bulls ORG fans are like, we already know how this plays up. They're going to sign everybody and just run it back with this team none of us really like. And the guys we do like will probably get pushed into bench rolls and we'll all be angry because that's just whatit seems like has happened to them but like is Zach Levine doesn't get traded this summer like where's his trade value so there's just a lot of stuff going on there.

Speaker 32259.48s - 2273.32s

I mean there's a lot of stuff going on but there's also a lot of stuff not going on. The things the things Bulls fans want to see are not happening right now in Chicago. Windy City GPE woes for sure right now.

Speaker 12274.34s - 2289.98s

Incredible what credits do. They've played better. You know, they lost their last couple, but they had been playing pretty good, you know, over the last month or so. So we'll see, you know, what it looks like. They, hey, have a feeling they're going to beat the Hawks in the 9-10 game.

Speaker 02290.18s - 2294.02s

And then whoever they get in the game for the eighth seed,

Speaker 12294.2s - 2309s

they'll probably have them on the rope some point in the second half. And then it'll probably just go sideways to finish. It'll probably be Miami GPE because that's what the heat do. And then it'll be Celtic NORP seed. And every Celtic NORP fan will be like, not again I can't deal with this this is just

Speaker 32309s - 2320.58s

terrible and I don't want to see it so I mean like if you should have if you if there was ever a season to have confidence that the Celtics ORG are not going to struggle against the heat this time

Speaker 02320.58s - 2327.1s

it would be this season right I mean I get no matter no matter what you always are going to want the easiest path to the finals.

Speaker 32327.78s - 2335.4s

But this, I know this has been an issue in the past, but this should not trip them up. It shouldn't.

Speaker 12336.02s - 2336.64s

It shouldn't.

Speaker 32337.24s - 2337.94s

It shouldn't.

Speaker 12338.18s - 2342.92s

But we know what the heat do come playoff time. So we'll see.

Speaker 32343.54s - 2344.42s

We'll see.

Speaker 12344.62s - 2345.78s

Still, still ways to go.

Speaker 32345.9s - 2347.42s

Maybe they're not even in the playing tournament.

Speaker 12347.42s - 2364.5s

They're only, it's funny. People are acting like that's all decided. And it's like, then in Philly GPE early a half game behind, Indiana GPE. So like that's still,you know, the race there. I will say Mark Stein PERSON covered the key. He said this is the version of March Madness EVENT he likes,

Speaker 02364.82s - 2372.2s

which is like how there's all these different standings races, which is the cool thing with the playing tournament. He covered that over on his substack.

Speaker 12372.44s - 2388.28s

On our substack, go check it out. Cody Williams PERSON, guy who was actually in the NCAA ORG tournament. He's a very polarizing player. Let's just put it that way.Somebody I know Bryce has pretty mixed feelings pretty mixed, uh, feelings of Bryce Simon PERSON,

Speaker 22388.28s - 2394.22s

wrote up his, uh, Cody Williams PERSON is his raw notes on Cody Williams from a scout, uh,

Speaker 12394.22s - 2404.94s

there. And it's, this is all inclusive. This is not just Cody Williams NCAA tournament version because if it was, that version probably isn't going to get a very kind scout because he wasn't very good

Speaker 02404.94s - 2406.26s

in the first couple games.

Speaker 12406.34s - 2422.64s

He played much better in the last one. But yeah, check that up. There's all kinds of good stuff over there with that. A couple people asked like, hey, you're not going to do the NCAA tournament EVENT. You know, games the rest of the way, I'm not because there's only now sweet 16.

Speaker 22422.64s - 2426.98s

We're down to eight games left in that round like go you can find the

Speaker 12426.98s - 2432.34s

game's pretty easy and the players to watch um that that it's only the first weekend that I do

Speaker 32432.34s - 2464.6s

that for so guys make sure you do go check out the basketball bulletin basketball bulletin basketball bulletin dot substack.com great way to support us directly and uh and get some great basketball content there I've got something new that's going to be coming out. I believe probably first thing tomorrow. I'll put that out there. And then Bryce PERSON has got all these great breakdowns that are on there.There's game notes, all kinds of stuff that's going on there. So go check out the basketball bulletin. Keith, I think that that wraps things up for today for today. But, man, we're almost here. Postseason.

Speaker 12464.6s - 2467.2s

To close it out conversation from earlier.

Speaker 32467.42s - 2474.32s

The NBA has also now confirmed that the Celtics ORG have clinched the top seat in the east. Okay. So there it is.

Speaker 12474.52s - 2482.42s

So it's a finish. So ESPN ORG. Whatever that tiebreaker was, that that tiebreaker is either no longer or whatever it is. But that part is done.

Speaker 02482.5s - 2485s

So yes, if you have tickets to a Celtics ORG game,

Speaker 32485.78s - 2489.72s

yeah, sorry, you're probably not seeing the full, full roster.

Speaker 12490.46s - 2493.14s

Probably my guess is over the last 11 games,

Speaker 02493.76s - 2499.06s

assuming Drew Holiday gets back, probably two or maybe three times.

Speaker 12499.68s - 2501.06s

They'll play the whole roster.

Speaker 32501.78s - 2503.12s

Yeah, that's probably about it.

Speaker 02503.82s - 2504.24s

Agreed.

Speaker 12505.24s - 2505.98s

All right. Well, thank you, everybody, for joining the show. Make's probably about it. Agreed. All right.

Speaker 32506.18s - 2508.06s

Well, thank you, everybody, for joining the show.

Speaker 12508.14s - 2511.42s

Make sure you do subscribe to the NBA Front Office show on YouTube ORG,

Speaker 32511.54s - 2518s

as well as over on Apple Podcasts, Spotify ORG, wherever you listen to podcasts. Until next time, everybody. See you. And stay safe.

Speaker 02522s - 2548.72s

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