← Locked On Celtics - Daily Podcast On The Boston Celtics
Locked On Celtics - Daily Podcast On The Boston Celtics
BONUS: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown MUST Adapt to WIN Big Again
00:23:31
Boston Celtics eye legend status as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown navigate evolving roles—can their partnership yield another championship? Nikola Vucevic’s potential move to the starting lineup sparks debate about defensive strategy, while questions swirl around Payton Pritchard’s contract valuation and future with the team. In this bonus min-mailbag podcast, John Karalis delivers sharp analysis on key Celtics dynamics, tackling how Joe Mazzulla must balance superstar egos and maximize offensive flow. The discussion highlights lineup combinations, Vucevic’s impact on paint protection and rebounding, and the ripple effects on bench rotations featuring Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta. Wrapping up, Karalis weighs fair market value for Pritchard’s extension—will Boston commit long-term to their steady guard, or play it safe with a short-term deal? The path to NBA greatness may hinge on these pivotal decisions.
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John Corrales
It's the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day
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John Corrales
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Sometimes AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything. Jaylen Brown's role after Jayson Tatum returns, Nicola Vuchovic starting and Peyton Pritchard's future contract. It's bonus content here on the Lockdown Celtics podcast. Got a mini mailbag for you. Three segments, three questions, three answers. Thank you for making this show part of your daily routine. This is a bonus podcast. We normally Monday through Friday half hour shows bonus podcasts when they play on weekends like the Friday night game. But then occasionally we're going to drop these podcasts here in the middle of the week too little something extra for you? Today's show is brought to you by five Hour Energy. You can now have your cake and drink it too. No fork necessary. It's vanilla, it's cakey. It's got a caffeinated kick, no sugar. It's party time. Order now at 5irenergy.com or Amazon if you're new to the show. If this is your first exposure to the show, I'm John Corralis. I'm a beat writer covering the Celtics for Celtics on SI. I've been covering this team for 20 years. Doing this podcast for 10 questions can be submitted at John corralis.com mailbag. You can just submit those. I'm answering them here. I'm also answering them at Celtics on si. So I have a new mailbag up there as well. So if you're if you're wondering, have I answered your question? I have Chris T, Bob Q, Rohan P. Oh, I didn't put this name in there, but it's about Baylor Shireman's progress and Tim D. Your questions are on Celtics on si. Go read my answers there. But let's just start with the first question here. Come again, it comes to John Carales.com it's from Nick with Jason Tatum. Coming back. Do you think Jalen misspelled Jalen will have to go back to his old role or will Jason be willing to adapt to Jalen as the number one option? So I think it's going to be a little bit of both. It's going to be Jason having to adapt his game to Jalen Brown. Jalen's going to have to adapt his game a little bit to Jason Tatum coming back. There's a little bit of compromise that's going to happen on both ends because Jalen has kind of proven to be a really good number one option, but obviously they need each other. And so I think Jason is going to have to take like a little bit of a step, you know, just a little bit of a step aside and let Jalen handle a little bit more. You can run some of the same stuff, but you can run it through Jason, through Jalen as well as Jason. So just a little something extra. Just not stand aside, but just if you're running, I don't know, 10 plays down the stretch, and nine of them or eight of them were for Jason. How about six or seven of them were for Jason and now a couple extra are for Jalen just, just to start. And it's not even to say who takes the final shot. It's just more about who's starting the action, who is being guarded in what way, and some of it depends on who's being guarded by whom and, and all of that. So there's gonna. There's gonna have to be a little bit of give and take all over the place. Joe Missoula is going to have to have a little bit more of. A little bit more creativity when it comes to that. Jalen's gonna have to understand this is Jason Tatum. This is your all NBA first team, all NBA guy. But also Jalen's going to be a first team all NBA guy here as well. So Jason's gonna have to just understand that there's just. The dynamics have changed ever so slightly, and that's it. They're. They're all smart people. They're all going to figure it out. They're all high IQ basketball players and they all want to win. Above all else. Winning is the most important thing, and they all understand that. Jason, Jalen, Joe, obviously, Brad Stevens, everybody understands that winning is the most important thing. And at this point, Jalen's going to be 30 pretty soon. Jason is going to be 28. They're going to like they have a few years left to work together. At the highest level, you have a choice. Do you put your individual stuff ahead of the Team. Okay, if you want to do that, then you're probably going to cause some problems and the team is going to fail because of it. Are you going to put the team ahead of your personal, whatever personal thing you have going on, then perfect. Then by doing that, they're so good. Jalen is so good, Jason is so good. They're going to be able to figure it out. They have great teammates, they have great coaching, they have a great culture. Win another championship. Can you win two more championships? Let me tell you all, there's no possible way. There's no possible way Jalen and Jason can achieve more in this city on their own than with each other winning another championship or maybe two. If they try to do their own individual stuff, they, they have the championship and they'll have their numbers and that'll be it. But if they can put that stuff aside, which I expect them to do, they will potentially, if they can potentially win another championship or even two, they will be revered as Pantheon Celtics legends. They will be revered as two of the best players. They're already two of the best players to ever come through here, but they will be in a different sphere. You win two, you win three, you rise above the Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen Celtics. If you can win two or three, you, you leapfrog a legendary crew. That's a bigger accomplishment than you can have doing anything on your own. So I expect them to already think this way, but if they don't, I would implore them, put any individual stuff aside, whatever ego based stuff you might have, either one of them, talk to everybody, put, put the ego based stuff aside, figure out how to best work with one another. And this is a lot of this is on Joe and the staff and on Brad and on Bill Chisholm. Everybody's gonna have to come together on this and be on the same page. Do that, win again and just become gods in this city. Become gods. That's what's at stake. We'll come back, we'll talk about starting new Nikola Vucevic and whether that's a good idea and how that might impact the defense. That's coming up next. Today's bonus podcast brought to you by Five Hour Energy. It's the Five Hour Energy Flavored Draft. There's 18 different flavors to choose from, including new options like confetti craze, fruity rainbow cotton candy. There is something for everyone. I'm not big on things that are too, too sweet, but you got to have a little something. But here's the best Part about five Hour Energy shots. They give you the boost with zero sugar. So cotton candy, you want a delicious swirl of sugary clouds or fruity twists and a hint of vanilla. You got a throwback flavor boost there without any sugar. Guilt satisfy your sweet tooth. But that's not all. You can go a little bit, you know. Strawberry banana, a tropical delight, very low acidity, easy to drink. Gentle, gentle, sweet aftertaste. But not really over the top. Or I'm going with this today. Here's my choice. My number one choice today on this bonus podcast, Blue raspberry. Because I want something not as sweet that's sweet but it's tangy and it's a taste that nature couldn't quite make. But they're doing it. Blue raspberry reminiscent of blue slushies or hard candy. It's a clean, sweet finish. You want some? You can go get some at Five Hour Energy. That's five. The number five ourenergy.com or on Amazon. Today's show is also brought to you by Game Time. There's nothing like being at an NBA arena. I know because I'm there all the time. NBA arenas are awesome and Game time can get you those last minute tickets. To get into whichever NBA arena you want. You pull out the game time map. You pick an upcoming NBA game and tickets are there within minutes. I've done this. I've done this for WNBA games. I've done this for baseball games. It's great. And you can see the all in price up front which is very cool. So what you see is what you pay. Also what you see from your seat with their, their seat view feature makes it very easy. Yes, I like this view. I like this ticket. I like the view from this section. Use a zone deal. So you pick the section, they'll pick the seats. You can save a little extra money there. It's quick, it's intuitive, it's stress free from start to finish. Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with gametime. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. I don't get that because I've used this app a lot. But you can by using the code locked on L O C K E D o N for $20 off. Download the Gametime app today and remember it's Gametime Co on the web. Gametime Co on the web not.com all right, let's get back to the bonus podcast here with another question that came into john corrales.com mailbag it's from Cal. You frequently mentioned that you think Vuchevic will be the eventual starter for the team and Kato will move to the bench.
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John Corrales
Can you explain why you aren't worried about the defensive drop off from starting vouch? Well, it's not that I'm not worried about the defensive drop off. I think it's made up for by the, the offensive uptick. And also the pairing is with Jason Tatum and Jason Tatum is. Is there to kind of pick up some of the defense. I know the question. I took this out of that particular version of the question, but there was a, an additionally Sam Houser element to it. The. The Sam Houser, I think Sam is, is still a good defender, but I understand you got Derrick White, Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, Sam Houser and Nicola Vuchevic. It's. It's not the biggest defensive kind of monster of a team, but Vuch does rebound. He gets in there and he rebounds. So that's going to be an important element to the defense. The Celtics are also defensively really, really protecting the paint. So I expect the defensive scheme to make up for a lot of that too. Tatum will be sucked in, Jalen will be sucked in. They will be protecting the paint just in general. And with Tatum and Vuch there, plus Jason, I mean, Jalen has been an improved rebounder. Hauser can get in there and grab a couple of boards. I think they can get in and clean up some of the misses. So it's not about the defensive drop off from Vuch, from, from Keita to Vuchovic. I think it's more about giving Jason and Jalen the space that they need to drive and be a little face, a little less traffic in the lane. I'm thinking of it more from an offensive standpoint and getting them to, to pile up a lot of points by scoring. You're going to help your defense by going back and setting, getting it into a set defense and, and that just helps you defend better. With White at the point of attack, with Jalen and Jason there, they're both really good defenders. And you, you can, you can challenge enough shots. Sam can challenge shots. And if you're just forcing just enough misses, you can clear away the rebounds. I think that's going to be a decent rebounding lineup. I think that'll do nicely. I like the pairing of Kada with Peyton Pritchard. I just like that pairing. And look, think about the, the defense and that second unit. If P. Pritchard is there and some of these other guys now you have the potential for Baylor, Scheireman or maybe Baylor is. Is starting and Sam moves to the bench. Either way, Baylor, Jordan, Walsh, Ugo, Gonzalez. With Keda, your second unit can be a strong defensive unit too. And I think it just, it spreads it out well. I say all this not to be married to the idea of Vuch. I think Vuch as the starter makes sense because of what he opens up for the wings. If he stays on the bench and they keep Keita in the starting lineup, I'm not going to argue against that. I actually, I think that could work well too. And as Keita continues to handle the ball well at the top of the key and make some decent passes, I think it's, it's feasible. It's very, very easy to see him working well as a starter with those guys. I just like Vuch better. It's not, it's not a knock on Keda or anything. I just like Vuch better in that situation. And just with, with Tatum and Brown, that, that level of experience, the passing, the ability, the ability to cut and find cutters, that. I like that. But you could easily make that argument that well, don't you want that with the second unit with less lesser offensive players? Totally valid point 2 guy. In my head, that's how my brain works. As I'm talking, my brain's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what about this? But so I'm not, I'm, like I said, I'm not married to the idea. But to answer the question directly, I think there are ways you can make up for it defensively where the defense is just good enough and it opens things up. And I will finish this answer by also adding, you do not have to finish with Vucovic. Just because you start him doesn't mean you have to finish with him. And just because you start him doesn't mean you have to play him 10 minutes. He could play two minutes. If all of a sudden you're like, oh God, this is bad, you can sub Keda in pretty quickly and change the sub pattern pretty quickly. So I think theoretically starting Vuch makes sense. And I, I know I'm saying this after some bad performances. I'm, I'm not, I'm not going to pretend that he didn't have bad performances. I think him being out there with these guys, that things will open up and it'll be good for him. But you can finish with Keda. You can finish with a defensive lineup that you know you're up 10 with three minutes to go get Keita in there to finish the game. Jalen and Jason and all those they can figure out how to score, they're mostly going to be isolating anyway at that point. And so Keda with his screen setting can open things up and Keda in the dunker spot can, you know, he's learned how to operate in there, so that helps a lot. So I'm open to a lot of these different things. So there's your answer there. Peyton Pritchard's contract that's coming up actually not too far down the road. What is he worth? We'll get to that answer next. Today's show is brought to you by Indeed. It's workplace chaos. We've seen it, especially in this blizzard. Places have shut down for a week and you're like, oh God, I got deadlines, I got an inbox, I got a stack of resumes I need to get to. So don't hope that that resume has that stack of resumes has the person you're looking for go to Indeed Sponsored Jobs because they will help you reach the people who actually fit with what you're looking for. Skills, experience, location. So you're not just hoping for the right candidate. Here's a stat that tells everything in the minute that I'm talking to you. Companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed across worldwide according to Indeed data. If you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing the candidates who check all your boxes with Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Listeners of the show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help you get the job. Your it's premium status that it deserves@ Indeed.com podcast go to Indeed.com podcast right now. Support the show by saying you heard about Indeed on this show. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs.
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John Corrales
We have the meats at participating Arby's
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for a limited time.
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John Corrales
All right, let's wrap up the bonus podcast here with the final question on Payton Pritchard's contract and it comes from. Daniel S. Prichard is eligible for contract extension this summer starting at 140% of the non taxpayer mid level. That would begin in the 2028, 29 season. Celtics can sign it for a max of roughly five years. 135 million, starting salary of roughly 23.3. And at 8% raises each year, do you offer it as the Celtics does Payton take it? Where do you think they end up? Thank you, Daniel S. For that question. That is too much money for Peyton Pritchard. I think. I just don't think that he's like, he's, he's great. Like this is where I don't like the job that Brad Stevens is going to have to do because you have to kind of cut guys down. All of the things that you don't do to, to kind of. This is why you don't. Shouldn't get 23.3 million. Well, who's making 23.3 million right now? Well, that's DeAndre Hunter. Jaden McDaniels is making that. Aaron Gordon is making close to that. Damian Lillard's making close to that. Jonathan Kaminga is making that. But he's not gonna, he's not gonna. That's Dylan Brooks. Nas Reed's making a little less than that. Norm Powell. So it's kind of, it's kind of all over the place. It's hard to get a contractual kind of comp. Demar DeRose is making 24 and a half bridges, almost 25. You can say, well, Pritchard is kind of, kind of in that mix. I, I don't think that's the, I don't think that's where he lands. Is he, is he a mid level player? Maybe. I'll, I'll say that I'm not, I'm not sure. In this new CBA where guy like Pritchard lands, he's in that middle ground of should he make 20 million a year? That, that's a lot for his production. It really is a lot for his production because as good as he can be and as much as he has some really nice performances, the, the overall numbers don't support a major, major payday. 17 points per game this year. 14 last year as the sixth man of the year. With Tatum back, he's going to be in that range, right? Mid to high teens. He's not going to probably not going to be a 20 point per game guy. What is that worth in today's league? Is it going to be more than, is it going to be more than 20 million? I, I feel like those, those contracts will tend to settle between 15 and 20. I think my first offer would be the full mid level. Pritchard is making 7.2 this year. He'll make 7.7 and then 8.3 and the full mid level will be like 50. It'll be like doubling his salary. And the other thing to think about pritchard is he's 28 and this is going to impact his offer. 28 years old now, so he'll be 29 and 30 in the next two years. His birthday just turned 28 the end of January. So he'll turn 29 next year and 30 in that final year of his contract. Now let me go back to the question here. Five years, 135 million for a 30 year old small guard. Six foot one guard, like right away. Too many years. 135 million for that? No, not, not at his age. Right. And people might think he's younger, but you gotta remember he played four years in college and he had kind of like that rookie year where he didn't play and it's, it's been like this is his sixth, sixth season in the league. It's been a while. I'm probably gonna go three years, 45 and even that, that gets him to 33. Let me maybe don't even offer him the extension this year. Maybe you let it play out and just kind of move forward. You don't, you want to reward him, you don't want to handcuff yourself. And I trust that he like he's durable and all of that and he's, he finds a way and he'll, I think he keeps himself in good enough shape where he'll be effective into like 31, 32, 33. But these small guards, they fall off a cliff fast and you just don't want to be committed to too much at that point. So I'm not, I'm definitely not going into the 20 million range. I'm going, I'm going three years, going three years 45, some, some in that range to 45 to 50. And that, that rewards him a lot. He doubles his salary. And that's now, right? That's now. And I, I next year or the year after. You're, you know, you run the risk of it being a bad contract or maybe you can benefit. I think that's something that both sides would take and you kind of lock them up in. Sure that that's where, that's where I'll. I'll go. Can't. You can't give a 30 something year old Peyton Pritchard too much for too long. He's not going to play till he's 40. It's, it's just not going to work. At some point it's going to go away and it'll be like sudden. It's going to be quick so just got to be get tread carefully with that. There's your bonus podcast. Three questions, three segments. I'll do this a little bit more often. I feel like this is a good way to go with bonus podcasts. Let me know in the comments section of the YouTube page if you like this format when Tom hops on. Tom and I will like normally do our podcast and then we'll just kind of like yap for a little something extra. So there'll be some bonus podcasts that way too. You're definitely getting bonus podcasts Friday night after the Brooklyn game. You'll get bonus podcasts throughout the week, so check it out. Make sure you're subscribed to. Ever get your podcast? Watch the show on YouTube. Would love it now if you share the podcast and tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics podcast. Here on the Lockdown Podcast Network is your team every day.
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Ad Read Announcer
Can I have your attention please? I have a big announcement. Arby's Big Crispy Fish Sandwich is back. So now you can choose between crispy fish or roast beef as your meaty entree in your $7.99 meat and three box. And now I have an even bigger announcement. You still get three sides instead of one. Which means you get crispy fish, mott sticks, curly fries, a peach cobbler roll and a drink for just $7.99. That is all. We can't make any bigger announcements. Arby's.
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John Corrales
We have the meats at participating Arby's
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Ad Read Announcer
for a limited time.
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Ross Jackson
Hey everyone, this is Ross Jackson, one of the hosts of the Locked On Podcast network. If your group chat's been a little quiet lately, I want to invite you to come and join ours. If you sign up for the Everydayer Club, you get access to the members only group chats for your favorites teams, plus national chats for every sport. Personally, I love watching folks talk a little smack in the NFC South Trash talk chat. You also get an ad free version of your favorite Locked on show and a whole lot more. You can check it out by tapping the Everydayer Club link in the show notes.