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Celtics advance to the NBA Finals
The Boston Celtics completed their sweep against the Indiana Pacers yesterday and advance now to the NBA Finals. The Celtics were the dominate 1 seed in the East for the majority of the season, and it would have been a little surprising if they had failed to make the Finals. They’ll likely be the favorites to win the title regardless of which team advances from the West. Boston is also hoping to get Kristaps Porzingis back soon.
An eye on Indy’s offseason
The Pacers had an easy path to the Conference Finals with both the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks dealing with a multitude of injuries. Finally the injury luck ran out, and Tyrese Haliburton missed the final 2 games of the series. Andrew Nembhard stepped up nicely, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Celtics. Now the Pacers will hope to retain Pascal Siakam, who is hitting free agency. I’d expect the negotiations to go quickly, since assurances of a max extension were probably negotiated prior to the trade that brought Siakam to Indiana.
Can the Mavericks complete the sweep?
The Mavericks hold a 3-0 lead over the Timberwolves, and will try to finish out the series tonight. If they do, we’ll have a long gap with no basketball. The Finals are scheduled to begin June 6th, and that start date won’t move even if both Conference Finals end quickly. The Mavericks are getting Maxi Kleber back for Game 4 as well.
Random play-off thoughts:
The Pacers had an easy road but the Celtics also played three teams who lost some key players.
Nembhard is being compared to Brunson, who exploded when Luka was out injured. A small sample size, but he looks like the real deal. Not Brunson’s level, I think, but really good.
People were a bit early with anointing Ant as the next Jordan. Such a comp is almost always a curse, rarely a blessing. I hope he can rebound.
Mavs may get Maxi Kleber back but Lively is out. Mavs made the right business decision in tanking at the end of last season. Lively has been huge for them.
Quite the last year and a half for the Mavs. Trade for the disgruntled Kyrie. Tank for the pick that got them Lively and hit on the deadline trades of PJ and Gafford.
They surrounded their two stars with the right complimentary pieces and they’re on the cusp of the FInals. Only 5 players remain from their WCF team of two years ago. What a turnaround.
Fox and Ox certainly are not on Kyrie and Luka’s level, but it’s a blueprint for MM to get the right pieces around his two stars and see how quickly the team can improve.
Well that’s it, innit? The little things that make a club click. or clunk.
The Pacers elevate with Pascal Siakam and the trio of Nembhard, Naismith and Shephard. The talented Mathurin has been out (and trading away Chavano Ranier Heild to 76ers) and that worked out for them.
The Knicks got DiVincenzo and boom! ‘Nova Knicks went SuperNova, along with replacing RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for OG Anunoby.
Bucks trade out Jrue for Dame and turmoil ensues.
Like you, as a Kings fan, it gives me hope that a shuffle, not an overhaul will reset the course direction (assuming Capt Mike Brown is still at the helm)
Yeah we’ll see what MM has up his sleeves this offseason. No doubt a few shrewd moves regarding a starter and rotational players can completely change the trajectory of a roster.
Great comment.
I believe the shuffle is a power forward and a guard that can be a playmaker for others. We don’t need the flashy names. We need the players that fit the role.
I suspect that many of you in this community are like me, in that I watch these playoffs happily and with interest, but with my Purple and Grey Kings glasses.
With that in mind; Is it just me or do the Boston Celtics look like they are coached by Mike Brown and are running the “Spray 3” offense? The 3 out of 4 games that Boston claimed in the last minute and Indiana fumbled up, look very 2023-24 Sacramento oriented.
It is not what I expected to see after Joe Mazulla had the Green Team run roughshod over every other team this regular season. The playoffs are a different beast and matchups always matter, but SRSLY? On paper, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Kristaps Prozingas, Al Horford is a murderer’s row.
It has me thinking: If this was a Mike Brown coached Boston team or not, it has made it to the NBA Finals. Give credit where credit is due.
Mazulla, like many NBA (and College) coaches, are system coaches. They stick to their formula through thick or thin. (Pop, Spo, Michael Malone, etc.)
Some feel that Jason Kidd, the other NBA Finals coach (barring an almost miracle) is more a situational coach, and it has worked well for his Luka/Kyrie oriented squad.
Food for thought.
Good points on Celts offense but one difference I see is their ability to drive to basket with Brown, Tatum, White , Holiday and Pritchard . Draw fouls and a lot of open shots when pressuring teams D . Most of their spray threes are the result of attacking the basket . Kings , except Fox, Monk not good at it .
Yeah, the Kings don’t have the personnel to do what the Celtics are doing.
Over the regular season, the Celtics led the league per game in three-pointers made (16.5) and attempted (42.5). They were second in the league in three-point percentage (38.9%).
The Kings, with respect to the above categories, were fourth (14.4), third (39.3), and 16th (36.6%).
In the playoffs, those stats for the Celtics have resembled than the Kings’ regular season three-point-related stats (14.6 for 39.8 at 36.8%).
In any case, the Celtics very much resemble the Kings in terms of threes, and also in my opinion demonstrate that a heavy-three strategy can be highly successful.
By the way, a glance at the yearly three-point stats of NBA teams over the last two decades shows the three-point shot skyrocketing like Amazon stock, as we already knew. Unless the NBA moves the three-point line farther out, I’d be surprised to see that trend change.
But Hobby is right. The Celtics simply have more talent than the Kings, and that’s the difference.
You should buy a Celtics jersey.
Like the other successful teams with a high three point scoring ability the Celtics can run a half court offense when it makes sense to do so.
How bad do you miss Buddy Hield?
You go on tilt so easily.
Can you get a custom Buddy Hield Celtics jersey?
He runs fast and is the ultimate spray three point shooter.
In case you were wondering, the Kings’ three-point stats from this year are similar to last year:
2023-2024: 14.4 (4th) for 39.3 (3rd) at 36.6% (16th)
2022-2023: 13.8 (5th) for 37.3 (6th) at 36.9% (9th)
And the season before that, we see a huge drop to the bottom third of the league in threes, alongside a collection of nonplayoff teams.
The 0.6 improvement and the 0.3% decline did it.
An absolute cake walk to the Finals for the Celtics. Whereas, the Mavs/Wolves have had to go through grueling series to win the West.
The NBA has instiututed the Play-In and the IST the last few years, essentially doing away with sticking to tradition. At this point, why not just do away with East/West for playoff seeding and just seed the teams 1 through 16 to create balance in the playoffs?
It would create a more equal playing field, the best teams would make the playoffs, we’d have better matchups which for the NBA equates to more people watching, which is their ultimate objective.
Any issues with travel could be mitigated by giving teams an extra day off when series’ shift between cities, elongating the playoffs, which I see as a good thing as the NBA should want to dominate the calendar during the dead time of summer while the NFL is on hiatus.
Curious if others feel the same way as I’m tired of the Leastern Conference, seems like it’s been two decades of this imbalance.
Eastern Conference owners will never vote to approve a change that makes it harder for them. And NBA players aren’t going to be eager to make the offseason shorter. Players on Finals teams already don’t like how short their offseason is.
I think they expand the west in Seattle and Vegas, and move Minn., or Memphis to the east.
Seattle is so far for traveling. The only other team close to them is Portland. Utah and Northern California teams aren’t terribly far, but for the rest of the league the travel is just stupid far.
It works in baseball because you can have a 3 or 4 game series, but there still isn’t another team close to them.
I have wondered why Kansas City doesn’t have a basketball team. Wasn’t the sport created in Kansas?
James Naismith (the original Dr. J.) studied and taught physical education at McGill University in Montreal until 1890, before moving to Springfield, Mass, later that year, where in 1891 he designed the game of basketball while he was teaching at the International YMCA Training School.
Which is why the Basketball HoF is located in Springfield, MA (not Lawrence, KS)
Huh, the more you know.
I remember seeing an idea of a 2 division conference. 16 teams in each, 8 in each division after expansion
The idea was Seattle, Portland, Sac, G.S. Clips, Lakers, PHX, and Jazz in the Pacific. Minny was moved east, which make so much sense with travel. Vegas would be the one that might move Utah to the midwest.
Gary Payton?
Shawn Kemp?
Detlef Schrempf?
Ever heard of a team possibly moving to Seattle?
Nahh…it’s too far.
Go to Kansas City for some BBQ. It is pretty good.
I guess your answer is no?
Realignment would be interesting. I think it was Ziller who penned an article on it years back. It made a lot of sense as I recall.
Perhaps when the NbA adds two more teams we’ll see some form of realignment.
There have been big FA seasons in the past, but I’m not sure we’ve seen one like this one coming up. Philly will be a blank-slate shedding contracts left and right, and then replacing them. OKC and Utah with all those draft picks. Good teams like NY losing star players, and then over-performing w/o them. So many teams needing to shed salary. I see a major realignment happening, there will be so many opportunities it’s tough to predict how it all will shake out, but I’m glad MM has been patient. I don’t think you can assume guys like PJ Washington, Gafford, or even Siakam would have been as impactful in Sac.
I heard John Collins could be available for as little as a 2nd rounder and matching salary. That sounds very good to me.
Yep. We’ve had a lot of players come to Sacramento–Donte DiVincenzo, Alec Burks, I’ll stop now because the list approaches infinity–lay an egg, and then go on to play harder and better for other teams.
So it’s hard to look at PJ, Gafford, or Siakam and believe that they’d perform nearly as well for the Kings.
No way Siakam or PJ are any good here at all. We cannot allow change for success.
The biggest issue if we bring real NBA talent is we lose the room for four two way players and the random G league bench.
Siakam kills this team for another decade.
Tilt.
You don’t think this team is allowed to get talent like every other team does.
Why not?
Best wishes on a speedy recovery.
Why is this team not allowed to improve its roster?
Because of the situation in Guinea Bissau.
Uncanny relevance and depth of knowledge.
Do you think the future of this team is in Stockton?
Championship runs in the future for this team?
In 1988, four hard-shelled tacos from Taco Bell cost $2.50.
. . . Now you know how the rest of us feel.
You actually do speak for very few.
Boston was expected to be in the Finals. I thought Denver, despite being worse than last year, would still make it but it is matchups. Minesota has the best talent but are brain dead.
Kings are playing their own game of bonehead. They should just sign Mike Brown. They need the stability and Monk’s agent needs to see it.
Keep the 13th pick- the cap benefits are great. Rookie contract. (unless the perfect deal comes along). There may be a lot of off-season movement. Good.
Draft- there are 13 top 1-3 tier players. Kings can get one. All have questions. In addition, Ware and Filipowski are out of the top 13 and offer size.
While I prefer not to take a guard (Kings have too many) #12 or 13 is D. Cater and he would be worth the pick. Move Duarte, and probably Davion if that happens
Resign Monk
Hit FA market for wing size- Marshall, D. Jones, O’Neil.
Go big name hunting- for size.
Avoid J. Collins and J. Smith
But first, quit messing around and just sign Brown.
Good points. Brown developed untapped potential in Monk–ball-handling, pick-and-roll with Domas, lots of freedom–and I’d hope that Monk appreciates it, because it is directly related to the big contract he’ll be signing. If the Kings continue to delay Brown’s negotiations and Monk signs elsewhere, there will always be Kangz-related speculation that one thing led to another.
Without Monk, it’s hard to imagine the Kings being better next year.
Why no Collins?
Collins, John?
I don’t see the fit with Sabonis at the 4. Not enough size and defense. And Collins has regressed as a shooter.
Naz Reid would be perfect next to Domas. Minny has to be in cap hell with that loaded roster, I’d try to pry him away.
What you could get with Collins isn’t even a risk. Probably matching salary and a second. He would be the fifth option.
Back when ATL made the ECF I liked Collins a lot and thought he was going to continue to improve into a really good player. IMO, he has regressed. But like you said, it’s low risk. Although you are trading with Ainge who is a little prick that expects a haul in return for every trade, so who knows.
Fox
Ellis
Murray
Collins
Domas
Not a bad starting lineup if we pencil in improvement on the part of Ellis, Murray and Collins.
And that probably leaves one of Huerter or Barnes as a bench player. So the depth is probably better in that scenario.
I have to assume at least one of those two is traded this offseason, at least I hope so.
Yeah. Getting better while they remain on the roster is a tough task.
Barnes, Lyles and a second for Collins
Huerter, Mitchell, Duarte, #13 and 2 firsts for Bridges
Retain Monk
Pick up Marshall and Smith in Fa ( Marshall either 2 years for 10mil or 3 years for 15mil. Smith 4 years for 30 mil )
Fox
Bridges
Murray
Collins
Sabonis
Ellis
Monk/Jones
Marshall
Vezenkov/Edwards
Smith/Len
I think the offer for Bridges is fairly weak compared to what other teams can offer.
Naji Marshall would be nice, and even Haywood Highsmith from Miami.
PS if Monk doesn’t sign then move Jones into his place.
Jones doesn’t really play basketball all that well.
Can you work a trade for his replacement?
If we can’t get Bridges then my second choice and a good one would be Huerter, Lyles, #13 one first and 2 seconds for Dejounte Murray and Shaddiq Bey.
Murray replaces Bridges and move Marshall to rerplace Monk and Bey to replace Marshall, Murray plays excellent defense and his overall stats are better than Bridges. His contract is declining which is really good.
I like that deal much better.
I think his shooting was around his career average. I kicked that he rebounds well and is more of a vertical threat than HB currently is.
Defensively he isn’t great. I just don’t see how the Kings get a player that fits so well with Domas. Try and get what you can that is an upgrade, and I think Collins is an upgrade from Barnes
Excellent comment MT. This offseason really isn’t all that complicated. It’s clear as day the moves this team needs to make. We’ll see what Vivek and MM have in store. I’m dubious given the way they approached last offseason and the trade deadline.
Tyronn Lue just signed an extension with the Clippers. I wonder if that has any affect on the Mike Brown deal now.
It means he won’t replace Brown if he somehow disappears this week.
5 years at $70M for Lue while the Kangz balked at $10M per year for Brown. Ballmer gets it while Vivek does not.
Vivek has a coach locked in for next year and with an option for the year after that. They are trying to renegotiate the terms for the optional year…money…increase the guaranteed seasons. This isn’t anything that has to be solved tomorrow.
If they haven’t figured anything out by the middle of the season and MB has some suitors then Vivek has a problem. Lue can pick from at least 15 teams to work for. MB doesn’t have that leverage at the moment. The ideal situation for the Kings fans is MB does something to gain the leverage Lue has.
I believe the optional year has already been declined by Brown’s camp so he only has the one year guaranteed. It’s very rare for a coach to head into a final contractual season without an extension in place. Time will tell, but I feel something needs to be done before camp opens up.
They are renegotiating to extend the contract and the pay terms. Declining the optional year has not happened. Nobody does that. If he has no options for whatever reason he can at least choose to stay here…if they will take him.
Not smart to eliminate options.
Was $10m the reported number? I heard “8 figure deal” but not an actual number.
I read the Brown’s camp is wanting something between $10-12M.
That is what I have seen as well. Hopefully he gets paid. I like him but don’t think he is worth that much. The positive is it will change this organizations reputation among the coaches.
That seems to be the going rate with these new coach contracts. Hopefully the situation resolves soon and they can all move forward and get to work on the reshaping the roster.
More like Tyronn Loot, amirite?
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