Brad's BLUEPRINT: Figuring Out How Boston Celtics Will Approach Offseason

Summary

Locked On Celtics — “Brad’s BLUEPRINT: Figuring Out How Boston Celtics Will Approach Offseason”

Date: May 15, 2026
Host: John Karalis (Celtics beat writer, Boston Sports Journal)
Guest: Tom Westerholm

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the Boston Celtics’ outlook heading into the 2026 NBA offseason. Host John Karalis and guest Tom Westerholm first clarify recent controversies surrounding Jalen Brown’s media appearances. Then, they launch into an in-depth examination of President Brad Stevens’s “blueprint” for roster moves, trade exceptions, and the realities of possible free agent and trade targets. The hosts analyze potential strategies, emphasize the value of patience, and suggest how Boston can optimize its assets without overhauling the core.

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Main Themes & Key Takeaways

• Jalen Brown Coverage: Clearing up misconceptions about recent media appearances and what they actually mean for the team culture and chemistry.
• Blueprint for the Offseason: The realistic paths Boston can take, with a focus on leveraging exceptions, careful role-player additions, and keeping the core (Brown and Tatum) intact.
• Realistic Roster Building: How Brad Stevens and the Celtics can maximize their resources given the constraints of this year’s weak free agent and trade classes.
• Patience and Flexibility: Advocating for a measured approach—improving on the margins, preserving flexibility, and using assets for possible midseason upgrades rather than feeling forced into major moves.

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Jalen Brown’s Media Narrative & Context

[01:05–13:29]

Correcting the Timeline

• John and Tom clarify that Jalen Brown’s controversial interview on the Players’ Association Podcast was recorded during the All-Star break, not after the Celtics’ playoff exit, which changes the narrative surrounding his remarks.
• Brown’s subsequent appearance on the Jennifer Hudson show was also recorded earlier than fans thought.

Quote ([04:11]) — John Corrales:

“It’s totally unfair that people start piling on, like ‘look at this guy, he’s out there dancing—just lost and already on a media tour.’ And it just turns out that stuff was all done earlier and is just being released now.”

Reflecting on Motivations and Athlete Psychology

• The hosts recognize that athletes like Brown sometimes “twist reality” for motivation—a psychological survival tool for high-pressure performance.
• Both agree that while distorting the facts (such as the “petition” or the Hayward situation) may frustrate fans, it’s natural for players to build their own narratives.

Quote ([11:00]) — John Corrales:

“If you need to twist reality and do the Michael Jordan trick of like ‘I took that personally’—do it however you need to do it to get yourself ready.”

Quote ([11:55]) — Tom Westerholm:

“Therapy can heal you, but spite can really get you somewhere... I don’t think talk therapy was the reason Jalen got where he is.”

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Blueprint for the Offseason: Brad Stevens’s Approach

[13:32–44:03]

Core Philosophy

• The team’s foundational pieces—Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown—aren’t available in realistic trade scenarios.
• Major trades (e.g., for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker) are unlikely or make little sense for Boston right now.

Quote ([20:22]) — John Corrales:

“The two keepers are Tatum and Brown. Probably keeping, but if the right deal comes along, you kind of have to move Derrick White, Pritchard, Gonzalez.”

Roster Hierarchy (as per John’s SI.com outline)

• Keepers: Tatum, Brown
• Probably Keepers, But Valuable Trade Assets: Derrick White, Peyton Pritchard, Ugo Gonzalez
• Young Supporting Talent: Shireman, Kada, Walsh, Garza; all valuable as cost-controlled contract pieces for a top-heavy cap sheet, but replaceable
• Expendable in Right Deal: Sam Hauser (may be moved for cap/tax reasons, especially with the rise of Shireman as a similar, possibly more dynamic player)
  • “Sam Hauser is probably done in Boston,” says Corrales ([25:50]).

Hauser vs. Shireman

• Shireman is a better passer, rebounder, and defender, slightly more dynamic—makes Hauser expendable.
• “If you’re gonna stay under the tax... when you have Shireman... much better passer, as good a shooter... Sam Hauser is probably done in Boston.” ([25:50])

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Free Agency, Trade Targets, and Tools

[31:58–44:03]

Roster Needs

• Boston needs at least one impact big (starting or high-end backup), after fouling issues and talent drop-off at backup C hurt the team in playoffs.

Free Agent/Trade Market: Realistic Targets

• The market is weak for true game-changers, especially at center.
• Names mentioned: Mitchell Robinson (intriguing but probably a longshot), Goga Bitadze, Santi Aldama, Jock Landale.
• The goal: multiple serviceable bigs so there’s no severe drop-off when rotating or dealing with foul trouble.

Quote ([34:53]) — John Corrales:

“Just have one constant—equally talented—kind of run through your center rotation... Problem was, Keita was good but foul trouble kept him off; Vucevic was too big a drop-off.”

Exceptions and Team-Building Tools

• Traded Player Exceptions (TPEs): $27.7M (Simons), $8.2M (Niang), $4.7M (Holiday), plus smaller ones.
• Strategy: Use smaller TPEs for buy-low role player upgrades, and preserve the biggest tools for a bigger midseason swing if necessary.
• Sign-and-Trade Maneuvers: Could hard-cap Boston, but that’s manageable given the situation—use TPEs for creative, targeted sign-and-trade deals on the margins.

Quote ([37:38]) — John Corrales:

“Just go nuts... Throw [a lesser team] a heavily protected second-round pick and some cash, just do a sign-and-trade for a guy like Jock Landale... Then you still have your $27.7 million exception for something bigger.”

Guard and Wing Additions

• D’Anthony Melton and Kobe White are the best names in the discussed range. Kobe White, especially, is cited as an attractive fit: young, dynamic, a “bucket getter.”
• Discussed tactical salary offers (offering more than MLE to lure prime targets like White).

Quote ([39:49]) — John Corrales:

“Kobe White would be a big get... throw him $17 million instead of $15 million MLE money, come here and be a bucket-getter.”

Keeping Flexibility

• Urges patience: Boston should not feel pressure to solve all roster issues in July.
• Save some TPE and the MLE for the trade deadline, when the team’s needs are clearer and more meaningful opportunities can arise.

Quote ([43:08]) — John Corrales:

“Don’t — just because we’re here now — doesn’t mean everything has to be done by July... there’s always going to be a new crop at the trade deadline.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On “Twisting Reality” for Motivation:

  • John: “I don’t begrudge a guy for just — hey, if you need to twist reality and do the Michael Jordan trick of ‘I took that personally’...” ([11:00])

• On the Immediacy of Fan/Fake Narrative:

  • Tom: “We were right about ‘read the room,’ we were just wrong about the target: Andre Iguodala, read the dang room, man.” ([09:33])

• On Cheap Role Players and Roster Turnover:

  • John: “All the cheap supporting talent is imminently replaceable.” ([24:22])

• On Utility of the Trade Deadline:

  • John: “Save some of these tools; save a portion... then you can make a more targeted move.” ([43:35])

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Rough Timestamps for Major Segments

• Jalen Brown Media Clarification/Discussion: [01:05–13:29]
• Blueprint/Roster Construction Philosophy: [13:32–31:58]
• Trade/Free Agent Targets (Bigs, Role Players, Tools): [31:58–44:03]
• Final Offseason Thoughts and Flexibility Talk: [42:35–44:03]

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Final Thoughts & Tone

The hosts convey a measured, pragmatic optimism: while splashy, crowd-pleasing moves are unlikely, the Celtics have enough flexibility and asset power to meaningfully tinker at the edges, address weaknesses (especially up front), and remain in play for bigger moves later. Boston’s “blueprint” this summer: keep the core, make incremental gains, value roster flexibility, and trust Brad Stevens’s patience and creativity.

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Key Quote to Close
([43:08] – John Corrales):

“Don’t... think just because we’re here now that everything has to be done by July. The trade deadline always brings a new crop [of opportunities].”

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For full deep dives, John Corrales’s written analysis on SI.com is also referenced for expanded details on possible trade/free agent targets and strategies.

Transcript

[John Corrales]

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[John Corrales]

We're going to be fair to Jaylen Brown and amend something that was said yesterday. Plus, looking at the roadmap for the off season for the Celtics. Pod, home of the winners. Hey, welcome back to the show. I'm John Corrales, and today's show is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. We touched on the roadmap yesterday, but we talked so much about Jalen Brown that I feel like we shortchanged that conversation. We'll get deeper into the roadmap possibilities, maybe even a name or two when we in the second and third segments. But let's start. Let's go back to the Jalen Brown thing. And first of all, let's get back to Tom Westerholm.

[Tom Westerholm]

What up?

[John Corrales]

Going on, bro?

[Tom Westerholm]

You know, the usual. Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Okay. Good podcasting.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Out of the way.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Check, check, check that box off. Yep. So. So to be fair to Jalen Brown, I will amend a little bit of what I was saying yesterday because it turns out that the interview, the players association podcast, was done apparently over the All Star break.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Which the. The reason why I want to take. Because I don't want it to, like, I was reacting to it as if it was the next in line of things that he has said. Yeah. It's like when I was asking the question, like, jalen, what are you doing, man? What? Can we read the room? Okay, you know what? It was recorded earlier, just released now, so I'm gonna take some of that back. I'm gonna walk back the, read the room. That still applies to things that he said on his live stream afterwards. But since this was done now, I will also, though, say, man, like, he's been carrying this around for a little while. It's been hanging out there and unfortunate timing for this. I also don't, I'm not sure, like, that I think the Jennifer Hudson thing might have been recorded during the season.

[Tom Westerholm]

I saw something about that.

[John Corrales]

I, I, I, Yeah, she says something about, like, oh, you look at the season that you're having, you're, you know, you're averaging 30 points a game. And I'm like, that, that's from a while ago. Like, he wasn't averaging 30 points a game at the end. I'm like, no, I, I feel like the researchers would have told her, like, the number. So I feel like Jalen is. Some unfortunate timing is out there, really, unfortunately, because the live stream stuff was starting to die down maybe a little bit. And then this podcast comes out, and it just seems like, whoa, man.

[Tom Westerholm]

Whoa.

[John Corrales]

And then the Jennifer Hudson thing comes out, and it's totally unfair that people start piling on and be like, look at this guy. He's out there dancing. Like, just like, you just lost, and he's already out there dancing and doing some media tour. What's happening? And it just turns out that that stuff was all done earlier and it's being released now. So.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah,

[John Corrales]

that sucks for Jalen.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. I mean, it really gave the impression. We've, we've joked before, and we, we referenced briefly yesterday how when the 201819 season, the, you know, the much maligned 201819 season that we talked about extensively yesterday when, when that season ended. I mean, Terry Rosier, we've joked, like, he drove to Stephen A. Smith's, you know, studio practically in his Celtics gear. Like, he was ready to start crapping on everything as soon as that season was over. And it, like, it wasn't quite that, but it had a little bit of that vibe of, like, if, if the podcast and the show were both immediately after the season, it had a little bit of, like, that kind of vibe to it. And, and it, and the fact that it wasn't recorded and that, you know, that it wasn't recorded at, at the time. It does. I mean, it throws it into a different light. There's obviously some stuff that he said that still is like, you know, all of, all of the stuff about, you know, all this stuff, like misremembering the season, misremembering the Petition. All that stuff is still misremembering how the Gordon Hayward thing went down. 100 all still really bizarre and. And. And just off putting a little bit like just kind of like weird and. And not quite and definitely inaccurate. But all of the stuff. It. It is. I mean, it is a mitigating factor for sure. For all the stuff. You know, we talked yesterday, like, okay, is this. How concerned should we be? Like, you know, and I, I said, like, it feels a little bit like there's some smoke here, so there's probably a little bit of fire, right? That's. That's how it felt when it thought.

[John Corrales]

When it.

[Tom Westerholm]

When it felt like all of that stuff had just come out. Turns out it didn't. And it's like, man, you know, yeah, tough timing, Jalen. Like, that's. I kind of feel for him on that one. That's a tough one.

[John Corrales]

I 100 do. And you know what? Look, it. It. A lot of people don't, like, you don't see the correction. You just see the headline the day before. And so I hope that I. We get a lot of people kind of coming in the day after here, and the same. The same people, the everydayers. Thank you for being here. Really important for you to be here on this one, because honestly, can't skip a show. That's right. Thank you. Thank you. This is why you can't skip a show, because we might way overreact to something that wasn't actually the first time

[Tom Westerholm]

that that has happened. But.

[John Corrales]

No, but, like, I agree that what he said in that podcast was still egregiously bad and wrong. And, like, what are you doing? Like that all of that still applies, but from a fan perspective, you're looking at that, and it's very easy to say, man, he went on the live stream, then he went on this podcast, then he went on Jennifer Hudson show. And like, all this, and he's dancing

[Tom Westerholm]

and he looks happy.

[John Corrales]

And like, he's, like, so happy. That thing like, this is the happiest I've ever seen him.

[Tom Westerholm]

Wow.

[John Corrales]

This dude really is like, there is like, a. A feeling of, well, if this guy's on this media tour, like, what's he doing? What's he trying to accomplish here? But he's not. And so I think there's some, like, Some of these, like, fears. The worries can go away because Jalen's probably just sitting at his house. Imagine just sitting at your house and being like, oh, I remember doing that podcast. Oh, no.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Oh, no, this is not good. Oh, well, at least people are going to be happy that I'm on this daytime talk show with a very popular. This is benign. Oh, yeah. I look really happy there. And yeah, you know, some people are just not gonna like that. And let me tell you something, when I talk about that is the most benign. Like, I do not care. Go on talk shows. Yeah, I don't care. I don't. That one that could have been recorded yesterday whenever, like, I don't give a damn.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, we didn't talk about that one yesterday.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, no, I don't. Like, come on. But there are people.

[Tom Westerholm]

Everybody listening to this notes because everybody listening to this isn't every day. Or who listened to yesterday's show probably twice.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, right. But there are people out there and it's just. You don't. You just don't want it to become fodder. Right. Just kindling for the fire.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, but like, like, come on, Andre Godala, why are you putting that show up? What are you doing?

[John Corrales]

Like, I know, I know. Couldn't you have just been like. No, that. Talk about reading the room.

[Tom Westerholm]

I was just gonna say. I was just gonna say we were right about. Read the room. We were just wrong about the target. Andre Iguodala. Read the dang room, man.

[John Corrales]

Read Jalen a little bit of a break, man. Wow. So. So, so, yeah, So I still think the way he remembered the. The thing is. Is way obviously way off. And I still think that it's a product of him needing to twist reality into something that motivates him. And I think it just ends up being how you remember things, which is. Which is weird and whatever. Like, guys need to push themselves and motivate themselves in so many different ways. It's like so hard. It's so difficult to. To go 10 months of the year and push your body to the limit and put to. These guys have to find creative ways to get their minds to push their bodies because it really is a mental thing. So I don't begrudge a guy for just, hey, if you need to twist reality and. And do the Michael Jordan trick of like. And I took that personally. Like, you know, like, I. I could. I could be walking down the hallway and see Jaylen be like, hey, Jalen, how's it going? And he'd be like, oh, didn't even stop to say hi. You had walked right past me. I took that personally. Like, that type of stuff.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Do it however you need to do it to get yourself ready. I understand. But also you gotta have like, take a journal like, write down the reality somewhere so you can go back and reference it. Yeah, because then that whole thing because. Because nobody out there was like, everybody heard Jaylen say that and was like, I don't think so.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, Like, I. Celtics fans weren't all, like. I remember signing that petition. Celtics fans were like, say what?

[John Corrales]

12 people said that. 12 people said that.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, well, 12 people signed it. Those 12 people might not remember signing that petition. That was back in 2019. A lot of world events have happened since 2019. They might not remember that Change.org petition. But, I mean, no, I was. We talked about this pretty extensively after the pod, too. But, like, it is crazy how far spite can push you.

[John Corrales]

Right?

[Tom Westerholm]

Like that. Like, you know, therapy can heal you and can, like, help you fix yourself, but spite can really get you somewhere. And, like, you know, again, these guys. These guys have all gotten somewhere. Jalen Brown has gotten somewhere. And I don't think. I. I don't. I don't think talk therapy was necessarily the reason that he got where he is.

[John Corrales]

I. I feel like a lot of these guys, like, you need to, like, bank all these therapy days and take them at the end of your career. Yeah, you can kind of like, there. You gotta. You like, every. That should be like a re. Acclimation. Like a halfway house or something.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, there's that. There's that little Dirk album where he's. It's called Almost Healed, and, like, his whole head is, like, wrapped in, like, gauze, and he's, like, bleeding out the side of his face. And it's like. Like, it's about, like, therapy. It's like that. That should be these guys at the end of their career. Like, I'm almost better, and they're just, like, wrapped up in gauze and bleeding.

[John Corrales]

That's right. No more. No more, like, fake situations that have to motivate you. You can go back and, like, join the rest of us. Like, you can be normal now. Well adjusted. Now it's over. Thank you. And you can go back to being a normal human being, especially after having made $300 million or 400, $500 million. Like, you. You've done it. You've accomplished everything. Now come back and, like, feel feelings again. Like, normal feelings. And don't take every, you know, cross breeze as an affront to your own personal space. So.

[Tom Westerholm]

All right, so go to therapy is the. The.

[John Corrales]

Go to therapy. Go to therapy when you're, like, 38, 36. But, you know. 36. Yeah, whatever. But seriously, everybody else go to therapy now. Everybody Else go to therapy now. Yeah, pro athletes. I get it. Do it like when you announce your retirement. Like, download the betterhelp app and start. All right, we're gonna come back. We're gonna spend a reasonable amount of time now on the approach to the off season for people who are like, eagle eyed. It's not really eagle eyed, but the, the graphic on the side, I just put a little recycling symbol on it because same graphic from yesterday, kind of the same blueprint for the show, but we're, we're recycling the overview, but we're saying new things. So Brad's approach to the season, the Celtics approach to the season. The blueprint coming up when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by Game time. You got to download the game time app because game time is going to get you into these sporting events because being there is better than not being there. Obviously, if you're in Boston, you got to go to something else, but there are plenty of sporting events that you can go to that are still fun, even though, you know, maybe the sports teams aren't exactly the best. Game time is going to make it easy to find the tickets. So whatever you want. If you're going to try to get to a playoff game somewhere, somehow or something else, you just get these tickets in just a few taps with the game time guarantee. You know, you're getting 100 authentic tickets on time at the best price. You get the seat view from on the app, so you know what you're gonna see when you get there. You get the, the price that you see is the price that you pay. So that is very. You know, when you're looking at prices for tickets and you go to the checkout and all of a sudden there's like added fees. No, all that stuff is, is you don't get that on game time. Zone deals are great if you're trying to save some money because you pick the section, they'll pick the seats, and you get a little bit of a better deal there. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time. Download the game time app, create an account, use the code locked on for 20 off. Your first purchase terms. Apply again. Create an account, redeem the code locked on. L, O, C, K, E D locked on for $20 off. Download the game time app today. Today's show is also brought to you by doordash. Postseason heating up in a big way. Doordash has a way to keep you in your bag all the way through. Whether you're watching highlights, the tunnel fits or just your favorite player. DoorDash makes the entire postseason run more fun. Every player has that bag and with DoorDash you have one too. Keeps your snacks stocked, your gear fresh and that watch party vibe absolutely on point. If your team is stressing you out, you want that post game therapy. You just need some dessert right away. Doordash can help you with that. It can help you with some, maybe some chips, a snack at midnight. You can also get snacks. You can get cups, you can get a phone charger for when you're heading over to the party and you want to make sure that you're prepared from tip off to overtime. Stay in your bag and order on DoorDash. Snacks, drinks, gear, whatever gets you through the season delivered right to your door. Doordash in your bag all season long. Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. The show is a Monday through Friday show available Everywhere. It's on YouTube. Get into the comments section, share your thoughts with everything that you know about everything that we're saying. It's a great place to join fellow Celtics fans and your fellow everydayers. Join me I'm John Corrales. I host this show. I've been doing this show for 20 years. I covered the Celtics for. I'm doing this show for 10. I've been covering the Celtics for 20 years. I cover them right now for Celtics on SI atsports illustrated si.com and so check my written work out there. In my current written work is the headline is narrowing down potential Boston Celtics Free Agent trade targets and strategies. So let's kind of do that. Tom, we talked a little bit yesterday about the approach, the, the Giannis stuff. I'm no, the Giannis stuff is like a media creation at this point. No one else. I don't, I don't see it anywhere. People in the know aren't really reporting it. It's just, it's the, it's the what ifs out there when it comes to Giannis. So I'm not, I'm, I'm kind of out on that. I'm out on the big things. I don't know, Tom, do you. You mentioned it yesterday, but like, do you. I don't see a big, splashy, Jalen Brown's gotta go type of move it. I, I see something below that and I don't know where below that, but it's not going to be the big, big, big thing.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I think it's interesting, right? Because I think if you take, if you, I think where the Giannis Stuff gets people right is. Is where you take Giannis and then you take Brad Stevens postseason press conference.

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

And you pulled him up next to each other and it's like, huh. You know, like, you can. You can really start to see some through lines and start to see some like, okay, so it wasn't good enough. And you need somebody who can get to the rim and you know, like, all this stuff that like, is like, okay, like, well, maybe. And then to your point, though, it's. It. It gets. It gets so complicated. And, and why would, you know if Milwaukee is looking to trade Giannis, are they really looking for a Jalen Brown type and like, all kinds of stuff that just doesn't. Doesn't really align. And then, you know, the other guys that we talked about, I mean, I'll. I'll tell you, I was. I was watching the game last night with Donovan Mitchell and I'm just, I'm watching the way his body bends right now, and it's like, I love Donovan Mitchell. I think so highly of him. I. I've been talking. I mean, on this show, I've just. I've been the number one Donovan Mitchell fan and, and like, I just, I don't think that that the way that he moves can last for much longer. You know, like the way. Because it's like the same thing as Kemba, right. It's like the way his knees bent. You watch that and you're like, ah, this doesn't have a shelf life.

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

That long. And that's what I worry about with Donovan Mitchell. And then we talked about, you know, Devin Booker. It's just like, I don't see any reason to trade Jaylen Brown to go get Devin Booker. So. Yeah, I think the big ones don't necessarily make a lot of sense. I think if. If there was one, I guess Giannis. I'm not gonna. I'm not ready to throw the Giannis one out. Out. But like, oh, really? Believe it when I see it with that one.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. So the way I broke it down on SI.com there's the keepers. The two keepers are Tatum and Brown.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yep.

[John Corrales]

The. Probably keeping. But if the right deal comes along, you kind of have to move Derrick White, Peyton Pritchard, Hugo Gonzalez. Derrick White because he makes 30 million. That's. That's a huge reason. Yep. Peyton Pritchard, because he's a value guy. And you, you know, they're. You're gonna go on. You have to give up some value. And Ugo, mostly because I think he's the Best of their young players, the most upside young player. And they don't really have young players on this. They've got, you got Ugo at 20 years old, you got Jordan Walsh at 22 and like that's it for young players. So it, it's. I like the spacing on the roster, but when it comes to making a deal, there's, you don't have a ton of young guys to give up. Like people like, well, what about Baylor? Shire? BAYLOR Sherman's like 27 years old, like 26 years old or whatever. 25. He's, he's, he's young in the grand scheme of things, but he's, he's a couple years away from his prime. And if you're looking for 22 year olds, 21 year olds. Yeah, Baylor, okay. Like, okay, yeah, but he's, he's gonna

[Tom Westerholm]

be 20, he'll be 26 before next season starts, for what it's worth.

[John Corrales]

Okay. So like. Yeah, so that's not a young guy. That's a guy. 26 is your prime. 26, 27, 28. Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

I mean, I will say that I think your prime, your prime's a little different when you come into the league late, partly because you, your prime is when you're at your best. Right. And, and, and he hasn't like had all these opportunities to play against the best players as long. You know, I think his prime is probably 28, 29. Right. I think that's when he's going to be at his best because he will have more time to develop in the NBA. But like, yeah, and, and to your point, he's two years away from it, whereas Ugo is several years away from it.

[John Corrales]

He's like six, seven years away from it.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Right. And, and the problem, the problem is that in five years Baylor chairman is 30.

[Tom Westerholm]

Right. For sure. I will say, I think, I think Shireman's like, he's, I think that he's probably going to end up being a keeper because I don't think he has a ton of value for other teams yet. Like, I don't think there's a lot of teams that are out like maybe for salary filler but like you can do other things for salary filler. So if you're sold on Shireman, I think you can keep him pretty easily because you can make other salary machinations work.

[John Corrales]

But, and so I have Shireman in the group of keeping us cheap supporting talent, which you need if you're going to have an expensive top, like top heavy team you need so Shireman, Kada, Walsh, Garza, those guys like Gonzalez fits into that as well. But he's also, he's in both categories. But those guys are probably keepers. You can replace Garza now. Garza is the. Keep them until you get somebody better. And then it's like, hey, good luck. You know, you've proven what you need to prove. And I like Luca Garza, but if a better version of Luca Garza is available, like that's not. I want people to understand this. He, he was great for who he was last year and he, he earned every accolade and every bit of the man. I love Luca, but he is your third string center and those guys are always upgradable. They're always upgradable. So I know you fall in love with that guy. And the same thing for Ron Harper Jr. Because I put Ron Harper, like I don't know what to make of Ron Harper Jr. In the terms of team building for next season because he's, he's also in his mid-20s. He's, he. And he had some good moments.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, he looked really good sometimes this

[John Corrales]

year he looked really good. But you know who else looked really good? Delano Banton. When he moved and went to Portland and had that run and people were like, I can't believe they gave this guy up. And then all of a sudden it goes away. And now Banton is bouncing around and he came to Boston and he's gone. Like, they're not going to keep Delano Banton. Sure. All of these guys are capable of having runs like Ron Harper did. And I'm not saying you move them just to move them. If he could become, maybe he is that cheap supporting talent. Yeah. And like. But all the cheap supporting talent is imminently replaceable. And so. But back to Shireman. I think what Shireman does is he makes Hauser expendable. Yeah. I think I, the one thing I'm really settling on and I don't, maybe not, maybe this won't happen, but I have a very strong feeling that, that Sam Houser is done in Boston. Like I think just if you're gonna stay under the tax, if that's a goal, he makes almost $11 million. Whatever you're bringing in with the tools, you have to bring in moving $11 million somewhere as part of this, getting rid of that 11 million. When you have Shireman, who shot the same percentage as Hauser and probably is a little bit more dynamic, much better passer, much, much better passer.

[Tom Westerholm]

It might not, might not be as streaky like really streaky.

[John Corrales]

He is super streaky. Yeah. I. I love Sam Houser, too, but,

[Tom Westerholm]

you know, I relate to Sam Bowser. I. I know it's like, always stupid to say you relate to NBA players, but I just like. I relate to, like, getting crazy hot and scoring, like, 30, you know. Well, what's. What's a multiple of three, scoring 36 points in a game and then going 0 for 9 two games in a row after that? That's. That's some relatable stuff right there.

[John Corrales]

It's not supposed to be relatable.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I know.

[John Corrales]

And that's the problem with Sam.

[Tom Westerholm]

Problem.

[John Corrales]

He has been great. He's like a 40 every year. Except for this past year, which was 39 point, what, three, four, something like that. So. But it's 55 months and, like, then 29 months, so. But because Shireman is as good a rebounder as he is a good defender, at least as good as Sam. Yeah. So he's a better rebounder. He's a much better passer. He's got a better haircut. He's. He's got cooler celebrations. So. Yeah, so the thing and I, we had this conversation when. When Charman was drafted. Like, is he a Hauser replacement? I think this is the year where he's a Hauser replacement. So all of this is to say that these guys are. I think. I think Tatum and Brown, White, Pritchard, Gonzalez, I think they're all staying unless some kind of huge deal happens. And I don't see a huge deal, but you got to keep that open. I don't think a lot. Like, I see the noise on social media where people are like, oh, so you mean you're just gonna run it back with a couple of tweaks? Like, it's going to be more than a couple of tweaks. Yeah. But it's also going to be a lot of running it back. So. All right, let's. Let's get into some kind of, like, names to see where we. Where this might work. Not work. I have some. I have some tricks. I have some tricks that they might pull when. Let's. Let's get into that when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Obviously, playoffs are here, and every possession matters. If you're looking to get even closer to the action, FanDuel has a great offer to get you started right now. You, a new customer, can bet $5 and get 150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. So you can turn five bucks into 150 in bonus bets just for getting started. FanDuel during the playoffs is great because everything you need is right there in one place. Stats, trends, matchups. You can check out all of that before you make your picks. If you're making player, if you're looking at player props you can or if you're just following your favorite stars, it adds another level of excitement to every game. Really easy app to navigate. Makes playoff basketball even more engaging from start to finish. So check it [e-mail] go to fanduel.com or download the FanDuel app. When you sign up, it'll ask you to set a limit, set a budget. Please do so so you can gamble responsibly. Only set that at what you can afford to lose. If you go cold, it's all right, you can stop. Pick it up again [e-mail] FanDuel play your game Today show is also brought to you by Indeed. You've got that open job, but that's chaotic in the workplace. Your deadlines are stacking up. Your inbox is just unread email after unread email. And how do you fill that job? Indeed Sponsor Job is going to help you do that because instead of sifting through piles of resumes or all of those, fill in your inbox. Indeed Sponsored Jobs are going to go out and find the people that fit the the skills, the location, the experience, all the check all the boxes that you need to check. They're going to find the people who fit all of that. So the people you bring in are the people you're going to want to interview. And that's really going to save you a lot of time, a lot of stress, and it's going to get you more results in this minute that I'm talking to you. Companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed according to Indeed Data Worldwide. So spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing the candidates who check all your boxes. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos. This is a job for indeed sponsored job. You will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com podcast go to Indeed.com podcast right now. Support the show by saying you heard about them. Heard about us on Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. If you never miss a show, let's make it official. Join the lockdown every day or Club get ad free audio access to our members only. Discord and more. All built for you, our most loyal fans. Click on the link in the show Notes Locked on Celtics.Supercast.com Lockdown Celtics.Supercast.com Five bucks a month or 50 bucks for the year to join the lockdown. Every dayer club. All right, let's get into, I think we have kind of a blueprint, a road map. The Celtics, they have a bunch of tools at their disposal. They have seven different exceptions that they can use between the mid level, the traded player. Except they got three or four traded player exceptions. They have, they have a few different ways that they can go. I'm, I think they. First of all, the needs are big, right? Like, we need to find a starting big. Where do you find us? First of all, where do you find a starting big on this team? Can it be, can it be Mitchell Robinson? Can you go out there and get Mitchell Robinson, who's an unrestricted free agent? How do you, how do the Celtics find themselves as starting big in this economy?

[Tom Westerholm]

In this economy? It's tough, man, because like the other thing, it's the temptation also is going to be to take somebody on that's like interesting but flawed knowing that, you know, Celtics university can, can pump out another good big man, right? Like you, you, you keep doing it and then, you know, the question becomes, well, okay, Cater really struggled in the playoffs. Is this is the exact same thing gonna happen? So I mean, look, I, I, I saw, I saw your candidates. I mean, the only really intriguing guy you know is Mitchell Robinson. It's like that's, that's, that's, that's a wow name, right? You get Mitchell Robinson. You kind of had a wow off season. You know, that's a, it's a really good player. The other guys, it's like, you know, you know, you, you wrote like Micah Potter. Seems unlikely that, you know, that that type of player is like, sure. But yeah, I, I, it's, I have a hard time imagining New York allowing something like that to happen.

[John Corrales]

But yeah, we'll see. Mitchell Robinson is unrestricted free agent.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Obviously injury prone. Yeah, it would be wild. It would be wild now with Mitchell Robinson. A lot, a lot of these names that are out there. Okay. I just want to be clear. This is not a great free agent class. This is not like the, the trade targets are not the best. So I don't know that there's a ton of like, great answers. There's a lot of us saying, you gotta go up, you gotta get that starting center or you gotta get a really, really good backup. So the drop off from Keda to whomever is not big. I think one of the problems in the playoffs was Keita was generally good when he was on the floor, but the foul trouble kept him off the floor so much.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And then the drop off to Vucovic was too great. And. Okay, can you find somebody where the drop off isn't great? So, okay, Mitchell Robinson, maybe that's a long shot admittedly, but do you, do you go after. I'm going down. My list is Gogo Batadzi. A, a like he's, he's basically a, you know, Akeda. He's just basically an Ikeda. Right. Like, I don't wanna, I don't want to sound disrespectful to the Mishkeda, but we love him in Boston. But on the outside people like, people love their, their own guys.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. Yeah.

[John Corrales]

You know what I mean? So is, is somebody like that is somebody like a Santi Aldama? There's the, the drop off isn't drastic.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And so if something happens to, to, to Keda, foul trouble or whatever, the next person you put in just, just has to be equal to him. So you just have one constant equally talented kind of run through. Like your, your first, second and third string centers are all just equally talented. It doesn't matter. One guy gets into file trouble, no problem. Next guy comes up and he's just as good and then he gets in the file trouble. The next guy comes up, he's just as good. I think that's, that's probably the best you can hope for in this situation.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I mean you've, you've talked about Santi Aldama before. I think that's a, I think that'd be a nice addition. I think that'd be a nice, you know, it give you kind of a different. I think it would give you a guy similar to Keda in terms of like 2k score, you know, but like, but also a different skill set. Right. And that's kind of nice is if you got, you know, if you got a couple of different looks that you can go to, but they're similar in terms of quality. That's, that's a nice, that's a nice little setup. So somebody like that, you know, somewhat appealing for sure.

[John Corrales]

So the Celtics have a few different tools and I, I think when you look at 27.7 million dollar traded player exception from the Simons trade, you got you, you also have 8.2 million from the Niang trade a year ago. A 4.7 from the Drew Holiday trade. A couple of smaller ones. 2.5, 2.5, 2.3. I think one thing the Celtics if, if you, a lot of these are potential sign and trade candidates. I think if you, once you sign and trade your, your hard capped at the first apron. I say just go do it. Just go make everything a sign and trade. Just go nuts. Spend a second round pick like they have. You know, I'm going to look it up real quick. The. Because they, I think they have a ton of, of incoming second round picks. They, I think they have a bunch of second. Well, let's see, they got some outgoing ones too. But regardless, I think if you just maximize, I think you maximize some of these exceptions, you can really remake your roster. Yeah. Using some of the names here. Like let's say like a Jock Landale, let's say.

[Tom Westerholm]

Sure.

[John Corrales]

What's he, what's he gonna make? He's not gonna make a ton of money. 5 million at the most. Right. So see if you can, if, if you're gonna lose Jock Landale, right. Just say, hey, we'll throw you a heavily protected second round pick and some cash. Yeah, just let's do a sign and trade. And you take that and you throw him into the 4.7. Let's just say it's 4.7 million. You throw him into a 4. The 4.7 million dollar traded player exception. Okay. Now you go to Jock Landale who's at basically a namish Kada level guy.

[Tom Westerholm]

Sure, sure. Somewhere in between. Somewhere, somewhere on the scale between Garza and Keda. Is, is chocolate good enough?

[John Corrales]

Yeah, yeah. So you, you do that and now you still have your 27.7 million and you still have your mid level exception. Then you know, maybe you go out and you try to find what, what's the Anthony Melton gonna get? Is he gonna get $5 million? Yeah, sure, $5 million. You use the 8.7 traded player exception.

[Tom Westerholm]

And I think right now where we're at is a good place to stop the offseason. Just rage bait, everybody. You know, all you get this off season is Jock Landale and D. Anthony Melton.

[John Corrales]

Run it back.

[Tom Westerholm]

No, I'm just kidding.

[John Corrales]

That's it.

[Tom Westerholm]

Boom. Done. Thank you for listening.

[John Corrales]

But what I'm saying is they have a chance to. You, you bring in a Landale, you bring in a D. Anthony Melton, you bring in that level of player and you have $4.7 million. Traded player exception. You have an 8.2. Use those two things to bring in a couple of like, upgraded role players. Then you still have the 27.7 million.

[Tom Westerholm]

Correct.

[John Corrales]

And you still have. Now you take the 27.7, which you can split. You can't combine it with something you can split that. You can take somebody that you're going to give. Let's just say I mentioned Kobe White. Kobe White would be a big get.

[Tom Westerholm]

I, I like, I really like that name. That was my favorite of the names in your story. Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Okay. I don't know how possible it is. Sure. Be a really big get.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yes.

[John Corrales]

And maybe what you do is you throw him and if everybody out there is throwing him mid level money, $15 million, you say, hey buddy, we'll give you 17 million. We'll start you at 17 and oh, okay, 17 million. It's a little bit more. The raises become more. You, you get to 20 million faster with us than you do with those other guys. We'll give you a piece of the 27.7. Now you, you send Sam Houser to, to Charlotte. They get a shooter. Really fits there. Kobe White. Now you've upgraded. Now Kobe White's a bucket getter. Yes. You know, so you bring him in. Now you've, now you've kind of tinkered around the edges. You've added your Kobe White. Maybe you somehow find one other guy and you go into the season you say, okay, let's see how this works. You still haven't touched your mid level exception.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's right.

[John Corrales]

Functions as a traded player exception.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's right.

[John Corrales]

You can acquire somebody making $15 million or if, if everything's going great and there's a buyout guy, you still have a full mid level exception. Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

You got something, you can be like,

[John Corrales]

hey, on the, on the open market, we still, there's ways you can play with the little exceptions that you have here. You can throw mid level money at somebody without using the mid level exception. And you save that because you can't sign somebody with the 27.7 million, but you can with the 15 million. 15 million mle. So keep your flexibility. Let's see what we got here. Maybe, maybe you use 10 million of that to trade for somebody and 5 million sits there. You get a buyout guy for $5 million. There's, there's ways to kind of play with this as the season goes on. So I, I don't know. I don't know what there is this summer. I think, I think for all my blah, blah, blah. Right. Now, the point that I'm ultimately trying to get at is you don't have to do everything right away. Play with the tools that you have now. Bring in some guys, see how things fit, see how things go with a healthy Jason Tatum. See what Keda has added this summer. Try to bring in like the one big name, whether it's a center or a wing. Probably a wing. I like Kobe.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And then you have the mid level sitting there still where you can use it during the season. You still have a tool that you can use during the season and whatever, whatever's left over. By the way, you might still have $10 million in a traded player exception left from, you know, the, the bigger one. Go into the season. See what happens at the, at the trade deadline. There's always like, just because we're here now doesn't mean everything has to be done by July.

[Tom Westerholm]

Right.

[John Corrales]

So don't like I'm looking at all these names. A lot of people, if you're listening and you're going, john, these names suck. Good, that's good. That almost kind of part of the point. Don't, don't be like, well, I guess we got to sign all of these bad names. The trade, the trade deadline is always going to get you something different. There's always going to be a new crop.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Things are going to go wrong for teams. Save some of these tools. Save a portion of the one or all of the other. Save it for the trade deadline because then you'll have a better sense of what your team is and then you can make a more targeted move. So, yeah, that's, that's kind of my long range, 30, 000 foot view off season.

[Tom Westerholm]

I think it's good. I, I, I know, I mean, where we're at the show. I know. Like, I agree. I think that's, I think that is a smart way to approach the off season. I think a lot of those names make a lot of sense. I really like the Kobe white name. The only thing that you didn't say that I think is honestly should be really high on the priority list is that Anthony Simons should be back in Boston. So that's, that's my only addition to this.

[John Corrales]

I mean, you can't get both. It's both.

[Tom Westerholm]

It's both.

[John Corrales]

Both.

[Tom Westerholm]

You never have enough buckets. This game is and always has been about buckets. Bill Russell said it to Kyrie Irving. It's important you get buckets. That's, that's where I leave it.

[John Corrales]

That, that would be, that would be a wild backcourt. Kobe White. I mean, that's. That's. Stop playing defense, Spider man meme.

[Tom Westerholm]

Defense is so 2010s.

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

Three Anthony Simons, Kobe White, Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum. I don't even care who the center is. He's not scoring. The other four are doing the scoring.

[John Corrales]

All right, we. We've hit our limit, man. We've hit our limit. All right, Tom. Thanks, buddy.

[Tom Westerholm]

Appreciate you, man.

[John Corrales]

I appreciate you as well. I do appreciate you, appreciate you, the listener, watching, listening, however you do it. Another long show, I'm gonna get in trouble, man, for these long shows. But thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. I do appreciate it. There's so much to talk about, so please subscribe. If you're not subscribed, get into the comment section like I said and then share the podcast. Tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics podcast here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. It's your team every day.

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