Did the Celtics ever need Kristaps Porzingis? | Who will be the assist leader? - Flashcard Friday

Summary

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Locked On Celtics Podcast

Episode: Did the Celtics ever need Kristaps Porzingis? | Who will be the assist leader? - Flashcard Friday
Hosts: John Karalis & Tom Westerholm
Date: September 12, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this lively “Flashcard Friday” edition, John Karalis and recurring co-host Tom Westerholm field listener-submitted Celtics questions, ranging from deep hypotheticals about franchise history to current player debates and a handful of fun, off-beat musings. This episode’s central theme: How pivotal was Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics’ recent championship, and what’s the outlook for next season’s assist leader? Along the way, Karalis and Westerholm riff on draft philosophy, second-round picks, the ever-elusive Yam Madar, and lobster, blending sharp analysis with their usual tongue-in-cheek camaraderie.

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Key Topics & Insights

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[03:33] Hypothetical: What If Reggie Lewis & Len Bias Played for the 1994-95 Celtics?

• Context: The hosts reflect on a world where two Celtics legends lost to tragedy, Reggie Lewis and Len Bias, would have played in the mid-90s.
• John Karalis: “Half of these moves wouldn’t have been made… I do believe that Len Bias was good enough. I do believe that Reggie Lewis was good enough... it would have extended Larry Bird’s career and it would have extended Kevin McHale’s career and they probably would have won somewhere in the late 80s.” [05:12]
• Tom Westerholm: “The Len Bias, Reggie Lewis thing... is, you know, like a pre-Jayson-Jaylen, right? Like two wings, two star wings – would have been really interesting to see in that era.” [07:14]
• Sliding Doors Effect: The hosts stress that such hypotheticals create butterfly effects that would have changed countless future team decisions — potentially avoiding the Rick Pitino era and altering banner history.
• Karalis on Hypotheticals: “I frankly, I don’t play along... my brain works like—well, that means they wouldn’t have died, which means they would have played in the late 80s, which means half the guys on this team wouldn’t have been there.” [09:02]

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[14:22] Who Will Be Next Season's Celtics Assist Leader?

• Westerholm: Chooses Derrick White: "He’ll have innumerable opportunities to dish out assists, he’ll have the ball in his hands a lot more... Derrick White will probably be the assist leader." [14:22]

• Karalis: Counters with Jalen Brown: “I’m gonna say Jalen Brown... he’s gonna get blitzed and double teamed a lot... He showed me a few things last season when he was the number one option.” [15:28]

• Debate: The hosts banter on Brown’s evolving playmaking, with Karalis forecasting up to six assists per game from Jalen if he steps up as primary option — which would mark a significant leap.

  Quote:
  “If Jalen leads the Celtics in assists and points, consider his opportunity to be the number one guy very seized.”
  — Tom Westerholm [17:29]

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[18:55] The Value of Second-Round Picks

• Karalis: Second-round picks are more valuable than fans assume: They're “bonus bets” — sometimes a diamond in the rough, sometimes vital trade fodder.
• Westerholm: Acknowledges many second-rounders never hit, but “having a lot of them is valuable because you can compile them together... especially as we get to this stage where being cash-strapped will be a common NBA theme.” [20:38]
• Concept vs. Reality: The pick’s conceptual value (flexibility, motivation, contract structure) often outweighs the actual player taken.

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[26:55] Did the Celtics Ever “Need” Kristaps Porzingis?

• Westerholm: Appreciates the debate — Porzingis’ presence was an “embarrassment of riches” but helpful: “When you're trying to win a championship, everything that helps matters.” [27:40]

• Karalis: Asserts Porzingis was vital — his acquisition “set the tone... the unicorn, the guy that fixes a lot of the things that were bothering the Celtics.”

  Quote:
  “Having him set this championship kind of atmosphere, that’s the... confidence that permeated that practice facility is what made me look at it and say, 'Oh, these guys are... this is a championship team.'”
  — John Karalis [29:08]

• On-Court/Off-Court Impact: While acknowledging injuries, Karalis emphasizes Porzingis changed the team’s self-belief, even if success was possible without him.

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[30:30] Lighthearted Flashcards: Sid Finch, Yam Madar & Lobster

• Yam Madar = Sid Finch: The mythic quality of Celtics draft rights holding long-lost players is likened to the infamous SI April Fool’s “Sid Finch” story; Madar becomes a “fictional point guard” in the eyes of most fans. [31:23]
• Lobster: Tom reveals he cut out lobster and crab for ethical reasons, but admits: “Lobster’s really good.” Karalis: “If I ate nothing but lobster for the rest of my life, I’d be very happy.” [33:00]
• Trade Stealth: Wondering why Madar’s rights haven’t been part of minor trades as a common asset.

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[33:50] Joe Mazzulla’s Next Animal Analogy

• Prompt: What animal will Joe Mazzulla use as the next team analogy?
• Emerging Consensus: Honey Badger (“they’re badass… no one, like, go ahead. You ever see a lion attack a honey badger? Lion pays for that”). [34:12]
• Other Suggestions: Puffer fish (“if you eat it, you’ll win, but it’ll hurt”), porcupine, dinosaurs like stegosaurus or ankylosaurus (“big club tail… spike tail”), pachycephalosaurus (“head down, just bam!”).
• Karalis’s Pick: “I’m gonna stick with Honey Badger… that’s gonna be the one. We’re gonna be, not unlike a honey badger himself…” [36:28]
• Humor: Westerholm quips “Money Badger” as a team nickname.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Hypotheticals:
  “How much fiction do you really need in a non-fiction? …I used to be like that and then I just… now I’m like, counterpoint yourself crazy.”
  — Tom Westerholm [10:58]

• On Porzingis Changing the Team Mentality:
  “That confidence that permeated the practice facility… this is a championship team – put your lawn chairs down, there’s going to be a parade.”
  — John Karalis [29:08]

• On Second Round Picks:
  “They are like... bonus bets... It’s a coupon. You pay a little something, but you pay at a discount.”
  — John Karalis [22:55]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Topic | Timestamp | |----------------------------------------------------------|------------------| | 1994-95 Celtics “What If” (Lewis & Bias) | 03:33 – 11:12 | | Next Season’s Assist Leader (White vs. Brown) | 14:22 – 18:39 | | Value of Second-Round Picks | 18:55 – 22:55 | | Did Celtics Need Porzingis? | 26:55 – 30:30 | | Sid Finch, Yam Madar, Obscure Rights in Trades | 30:30 – 32:44 | | Lobster, Sentient Seafood, Life Choices | 33:00 – 33:28 | | Joe Mazzulla’s Animal Analogy (Honey Badger, etc.) | 34:06 – 36:43 |

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Tone & Takeaways

• Tone: Conversational, playful, occasionally nerdy, but always rooted in the insight of longtime Celtics observers.
• Style: The podcast balances “sicko” in-depth minutiae (second-rounders, Euro rights) with fun, off-kilter questions and high-level basketball strategy debates.
• For Listeners Who Missed the Episode:
  You’ll come away understanding not just the nuances of Boston’s roster-building optimism and the “need” for Porzingis, but also how the hosts’ dynamic blends serious insight with deep-fan bar talk.

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Episode Highlights

1. Porzingis’ Importance: Not about just points and blocks, but changing the franchise’s mentality and self-image.
2. Assist Leader Battle: Watch for a leap in Jalen Brown’s playmaking—Karalis is bullish.
3. Second-Round Love: Picks aren’t just throw-ins—they’re flexibility and hope on the cheap.
4. Mazzulla’s Animal Analogies: Don’t be surprised if Honey Badger becomes the new rallying cry.

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Locked On Celtics:
Your team. Every day. Bar arguments, roster speculation, and lobster cravings included.

Transcript

[John Corrales]

Foreign Podcast Network your team every day.

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[John Corrales]

Flashcard Friday you submit random topics. We don't know what's coming. We're freestyling. We're improving right now on the Lockdown Celtics podcast. Huh?

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Be ever ready. It's the seas. Who else could it be? What they gonna say now screaming like J.T. corralis recap the madness every game, every practice, prime time. Depp and D White on the sideline. Ren and Jace how we started raising ban that's how we finish. Locked on Celtics pod home of the winners.

[John Corrales]

Hey there. Welcome back to the Lockdown Celtics Podcast podcast right here on the Lockdown Podcast network. It is your team every day. Your team is the Boston Celtics. I talk about them every Monday through Friday. Right now, middle of September, still grinding through this daily Monday through Friday. So subscribe wherever your podcast exists. It's on YouTube. Pretty soon we're going to be at media day. We're going to be talking about actual basketball. So we're going to have fun until then. Today's show is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code locked on [e-mail] for 50 off your first year. I'd like to welcome you to the show if you're new. I'm John Corrales. I'm a beat writer covering the Celtics for Boston Sports Journal. I've been doing a version of this job for about 20 years. I've also written a couple of books about the team. Thank you for being an everydayer if you're with me every Monday through Friday. And thank you for. For appreciating Tom Westerholm as much as I do. Hi, Tom Westerholm.

[Tom Westerholm]

Hello.

[John Corrales]

People love Tom Westerholm.

[Geico/Amica Insurance Announcer]

Who.

[John Corrales]

Whose Celtics content you can [e-mail] so this. This is. This stack. This is not even a stack. This was such a big pile of flashcards that help. If you're new to the show, I've asked people to submit random Celtics topics. We thought it'd be fun to just pick them out and right off the top of our head, react. We've gone through. I got. I got index cards all over this office, so. But we're down to, like, the last few, so.

[Tom Westerholm]

Come on. Cards in my son's room, you've got just questions all over.

[John Corrales]

Just Celtics questions every. So we. We pull from the pile. We react. We got some fun ones in the third segment. I don't know what's coming. And so let's just dive into it right away. Boom. Oh. The 199495 Celtics with Reggie Lewis and Len Bias. 1994. 95, the Boston Celtics with Reggie Lewis and Lynn Bias. So obviously, we know the tragedy with these two, but at that point, Reggie Lewis had been very well established, I think, as a budding all star, and the. And Len Bias was that point. That was going to be his rookie season, I believe. So 1994. I'm gonna pull up the 1994-95 Celtics. So this is. No, his rookie season would have been before that.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's what I thought. Okay.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. No, his rookie season would have been before that. So this is. This is. Yeah, by. By a couple years. So at this point, Robert Parish was gone. Kevin McHale was gone. Bird was gone for a couple years. So we're looking at the. What year did Len Bias die? We're gonna look that up real quick.

[Tom Westerholm]

Oh, he died. I mean, it would have been 86. Right. And, like, after the draft.

[John Corrales]

No, it was. Yeah. Died. 1986. Yeah. So it was 1986. So this would have been nine years into the league, the 1994, 95 Celtics. I mean, it's so hard to say, because at that point, he would have been in the league nine years. Half of these moves wouldn't have been made.

[Tom Westerholm]

A lot of sliding doors.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, a lot of sliding doors. What I will say is, at this point, Reggie Lewis would be kind of, you know, at the, at the last few years of his career, Len Bias would have been, you know, when he died in 1986, he was 22 years old, so he would have been 30. That. Look, I don't know what they would have been in 94.95. They probably would have won a championship at some point. But in. I, I do believe that Len Bias was good enough. I do believe that Reggie Lewis was good enough. Yeah. That it would have a. Extended Larry Bird's career and it would have extended Kevin McHale's career and they probably would have won somewhere in the late 80s. 94, 95. That. That might have been, you know, the beginning into the end of that next era. But what we wouldn't have had is the. I don't think we would have had the Patino era. I would, I don't think we would have had like ML Carr comes in after 94, 95, and the Celtics start to really tank. And then Rick Patino comes in 97, 98. We don't have Rick Pitino. So whatever they would have been in 94, 95, I think that that would have been at least good enough to not feel the desperation to say, okay, we're going to go to Rick Patino and, and we're going to try to remake everything. Like Patino doesn't come in red, doesn't give up the presidency, all of that stuff like that. So that I think that's the best thing I can say about the 94.95 Celtics with Reggie and Len.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I don't think there would have been a Dominique Wilkins on that team. No, it would be one guess. I would, I would hazard. I mean, I think the, I mean the Len Bias, you know, Reggie Lewis thing is like, it really is. Is, you know, like a, a pre. Js, right. Like, like two wings. Two. Two star wings would have been really interesting to see in that era of basketball, like, what that would have looked like. But I bet it would have been good. I think that, I mean, yeah, I, I agree with you. I think that by it. I'm curious what the, what, what the impetus was from this questioner to pick 94.95. That's an interesting. I, I would love. I, I know we wanted one sentence on all of these, but like, I almost want one more sentence on that one. Like why that year specifically? I think there are, you know, potentially more interesting years, but.

[John Corrales]

Well, I think it's because it's before a male car took over. And they started to tank. Okay, that's gonna be my guess.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's fair. That's fair. But, yeah, I mean, I. I'm. I'm with you. I think that this. You know, we're definitely looking. I think we're probably looking at at least one more title over there. I think we're looking at a team with. What would that have been? You know, 16 or 17 banners at that point, Right?

[John Corrales]

Well, yeah, because his banner 17 was 2000. Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

So, yeah, So I think we would have. We probably would have already seen banner 17.

[John Corrales]

This is where. This is where he just gets off the rails. And this is why I. I don't like doing this a lot, because the way my brain works is, well, that means they wouldn't have died, which means. That means they would have played in the late 80s, which means half the guys were on this team wouldn't have been there.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Which means maybe some guys don't retire. And that means that the draft picks aren't where they are, and that means the coaching decisions are different. And so maybe ML Carr doesn't come in, and maybe they never tank. And maybe they. Maybe Red. Red pulls a move or maybe something else happens. And what ends up happening is we don't get the 2008 championship, and we don't get this championship a couple of seasons ago. And so that's like, do you still have 18 banners at this point? Maybe that. Maybe there's a drought that's still going on. It's hard to say. It's hard to say. So I'm not one that enjoys a lot of these hypotheticals necessarily, because I, frankly, I don't play along. I don't play along with the hypothetical because if somebody says, oh, what if you put shaq in the 60s? I don't just sit there and be like, oh, man. Well, how he would dominate, I think, well, shaq in the 60s would have to have a second job, and he wouldn't be as big because he wouldn't have the same training facilities and he wouldn't have his shoes. And he would have been subjected to the same racism and all of that stuff that all the black players were subjected to in the 60s. And so would he have still been dominant? Yeah, probably, because dominant players would be dominant, I think, in any era. But it would have been a completely different Shaq. It would have been a completely different attitude, and who knows how it would have gone? His family life would have been different. Everything would have been different. So I can't say that's What I'm saying when I say I don't play along, that's what I mean. I don't play along because after I get done talking, people go like, dude, we're just trying to have some fun. And I'm not, I'm not that person.

[Tom Westerholm]

No, for sure. I, I get the, I do get the, the desire to do those, those questions. I mean it's fun, right? The, the, I guess the, the spoil sport of that is. Think how interesting NBA history is anyway. Like, you know, I don't. Yeah, you know, it's like how much fiction do you really need in a non fiction?

[John Corrales]

It's great bar talk and I think I used to be that. I used to be like that and then I just, I don't know, I've grown out of it or I've had these debates so often that I counterpoint so many times that now I'm like counterpoint yourself crazy.

[Tom Westerholm]

And.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, yeah, it's, it's a lot. All right, why don't we, why don't we switch gears here and we'll get into when we come back, next season's assist leader. Okay, who is next season's assist leader? That's a question we can sink our teeth into when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by Monarch Money. You know, you run a, your, your money out there and, and it, you got money everywhere, right? Investments, 401ks properties maybe. And if you don't have the full picture, you can leave, you can be leaving money on the table. Look, your finances are super important. You got to have a full grasp on them. Monarch Money is going to help you out because they're an all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together. It's a clean, easy to use interface. You can use it on your laptop, on your phone. It's built for people with busy lives. So stop putting off putting organizing your finances. Monarch is for you because it does the heavy lifting. It links all your accounts in minutes. You can see clear data, visuals, get smart categorization of your spending. Finally feel in control of your money without ever touching one of those godforsaken spreadsheets. I hate spreadsheets. But this is not that. Monarch Money can help you identify why you're not saving as money as you. As much money as you thought. Are you spending more on things like eating out or whatever? Like playing like making in game purchases on your phone or just shopping, you know, opening. It's very easy to cruise through a shopping app and spend a lot of money. So whatever it is, whether you want to maximize your investment, increase your savings, review your finances, you can do it with your partner. Combine everything into one place. Don't let a financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code [e-mail] use it in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with the code lockedonnba.

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[John Corrales]

Thank you for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen Every day. Go check out Lockdown NBA Locked on NBA Game Night. I've recorded Lockdown to be a game night, the Friday episode with Jake Madison. We're talking about the Kawhi Leonard saga. Just messy, messy, messy. We talk about Lowry, Markkanen and Eurobasket and we talk about the commissioner, his comments about this being a highlights driven league or highlight centered league or whatever. It's all unlocked on NBA game night. Make sure you go there next after you make Lockdown Celtics your first listen. Let's get back to Flashcard Friday and Tom Westerholm, who is next season's assist leader.

[Tom Westerholm]

I think it's a pretty easy answer. I think it's probably Derrick White. You know, I mean, he was second on the team last year behind Tatum. I think he'll have innumerable opportunities to dish out assists. He'll have the ball in his hands a lot more. I think, you know, I don't think, you know, I don't think it'll be Jalen. I think Jalen will probably, you know, he'll get a lot more opportunities to, to be a playmaker. And I think that he's a better playmaker than he sometimes gets credit for. And I think he's done a really nice job of showing his playmaking ability when he's had opportunities. But I, I think that he's probably, I Mean, he's, he's a scorer. I think he's gonna, and the Celtics need a scorer. So I think that he'll play that role and I think he'll really enjoy himself and relish the opportunity to do so. And I think that Derrick White will probably be the assist leader.

[John Corrales]

I think you're a, I think you are incorrect and I think your opinion is objectionable. Ah, right.

[Tom Westerholm]

I mean, I knew, I, it feels just like I'm on the Internet. This is the.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. I'm gonna say Jalen Brown.

[Tom Westerholm]

Okay.

[John Corrales]

I am gonna say Jalen Brown. So Derrick White was second, Jalen Brown was third. And only last season was 4.8 for Derek White and 4.5 for Jalen Brown. So it was close. It was close. Now Jalen played 13 fewer games, and so who knows if he would have gotten up there. I, I, I'm gonna say Jalen because of just, I think he's gonna get blitzed and double teamed a lot.

[Tom Westerholm]

Sure.

[John Corrales]

Yep. And I just think he, he showed me a few things last season when he was the only, when he was the number one option. Right. And a few, the few games that Tatum missed, that was like, it was the best I'd seen Jalen play.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

In that role, like last season was the best I've seen him do for sure. And so I do think he's certainly going to get added opportunity. He's going to get more attention. I think Jalen understands that to be the number one option that he wants to be, he has to give up the ball. He has to make, you know, like, you have to make the defense pay. And the, the number one way to beat a double team and eliminate double teams is to pass it to somebody that scores. And so I think that Jalen is going to get those opportunities. And he's also surrounded by a lot of good perimeter players. And Derrick White is part of the reason. And Anthony Simons, if he, you know, however long he sticks around Sam Houser, Peyton Pritchard, those guys, they can all do things. And because of the NBA assist rules, all the guy has to do is make an initial move to the basket and these guys can create. And I think, I think he's going to get, I, I think Jalen can get to five, almost six assists a game. I think, I think you can get an extra one or two a game. So I'm gonna say Jalen, if Jalen.

[Tom Westerholm]

Leads the Celtics in assists and points, consider his, consider his opportunity to be the number one guy.

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

Very seized.

[John Corrales]

100, 100 Listen, I've been getting some crap because one of the topics I've talked about a bunch is Jalen's potential for leaving the Celtics. And I did the whole first two segments of last night's, you know, and look, it's. To full disclosure, it is a little quiet out there, so I am seizing on opportunities for things. When things happen, I talk about them a little bit more. Maybe a little bit more. Maybe in on another day I wouldn't have talked about Jalen, what he said on the radio as much as I would have or at all. But, but he said it and I, I think I'm well reasoned in my arguments. But I also do believe that Jalen Brown is an elite basketball player and fully capable of, of increasing both his, his points and his assists. I mean, he averaged 22 points last year. I think he can get up to 25 again. I think you get 25. Yeah, I think that's easy enough. 25 and six assists. I think that's going to be an incredible year for 25. 6. 6 is a, a great year for, for Jalen Brown.

[Tom Westerholm]

Scott, let's do a full LeBron year. Let's get a 27. 7. 7.

[John Corrales]

Let's do, let's do it. All right, let's move on to the value of second round picks. This is an interesting question, Such a podcast question too.

[Tom Westerholm]

It is.

[John Corrales]

This is, this is for the sickos. This is for the everydayers who are just like, yeah, you know what, who cares if it's the middle of September? I'm still listening five days a week. Because you never know when we might get into the value of second round picks.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

I, I do believe that they are more valuable than a lot of people like to make them for a variety of reasons. First of all, you, you never know if one of these guys is going to hit you. You know, obviously, like, oh, Nicole Jokic was the second round pick. You never know when you're gonna find somebody that is just a gem diamond in the rough. And, and because you also have to make trades and like people accept them as now you see people like, oh, we traded five second round picks for, for a player like, yeah, okay, because there aren't there. The rules aren't the same. You don't have to skip a year for a first round. Like, you do it for first round picks. So they're valuable. They are. And yes, you can buy them. They're not like the most valuable things, but stockpiling them makes sense. It gives you opportunities. You never know when you're gonna get with the two, with three two way slots. You never know who you're gonna get that could end up helping. And I'll just say this, guys who drop into the second round have a ton of motivation. And every once in a while you find a guy that's like, I should be a middle of the first round or a lottery pick and the. They're all gonna pay. They're all gonna pay. And you get a guy that will do the work, maybe the work that he might not have done if he was selected in the lottery. Sure. And so yeah, you got to have those second round picks. You can't, you cannot be dismissive of those.

[Tom Westerholm]

You can't be dismissive of them. I will say that it's, it's the second round when you go through like if you go through previous years and you go and you count up all these guys. I mean, I, I'm very guilty of this as somebody who loves the draft, you know, loves like prospects, all that stuff. You go through the second round and you see all these guys that you were like, how did this guy slide to the second round?

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

And then like, you're like, oh yeah, he's the second round because he's not an NBA player. And the talent evaluators accurately evaluated that particular talent. That was on me. Hand up my bad, everybody. But I, I think that one other thing that I think that you're right when, when you look at second round picks as if you can get a guy like, who can actually be a part of your rotation and can actually play basketball for you and, and the only cost to you is a bunch of second round picks and you know, maybe somebody you're not using or whatever. It is though, that in that regard second round picks are quite valuable. Having a lot of them is valuable because you can, you can compile them all together. And I will also say that for a team that is like, I think especially as we get to this stage where being cash strapped is going to be a pretty common theme across the NBA, being able to have these guys that aren't on the guaranteed contracts for as long as, you know, first round guys are, that's going to be really, that there's value in that too, right? To, to where you're not just locking yourself into a player that like, you don't know if this guy's going to develop or not. You don't know if this guy's, if this rookie coming in is going to be valuable for you over the next four years and somebody who you want to extend. But if you want to take a flyer on a guy, if you want to take a flyer on a Jordan Walsh who has all this potential and it's not going to necessarily cost you an arm and a leg like it would if you had picked him with the 22nd pick, that matters a lot too. Right. Like so there's, there, there's another element of it where you know the guaranteed four year thing is, can be tough.

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

So yeah, I mean second round picks are valuable. It's just I think that a lot of their value is more conceptual than.

[John Corrales]

Sure.

[Tom Westerholm]

The actual player that you're, that you're going to be pulling in.

[John Corrales]

Right. They are, they are like, I don't know, bonus bets. They're the, you know, they're, they're, you know the, the two way contracts. You, it's real money going out but oh yeah, you don't count towards your cap. So you know Amari Williams like hey, here's, he's a passer. He's a big, he's, let's, let's see, he's if, if he has an NBA skill then let's see, he also has a lot of deficiencies. That's why he's down at the end of the second round. But there are guys in that second round you're like hey, it's, it's worth a look. You know, it's, it's a coupon. It's basically like hey here's, here's a look. You're gonna have to pay a little something but like you pay at a discount and so you know it's there, there are a lot of reasons to, to that see those as valuable and not having any isn't going to crush you but having a bunch of them, you know, whatever, like you teams are always looking for them so you could always like just move them. All right, let's come back, we'll do one more from the serious pile quote unquote serious pile. And then we'll get into some fun ones. Oh, the Celtics never needed Kristaps Porzinga. I didn't write that one. I like Kristaps. All right, we'll talk about that when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Speaking of bonus bets, if you make your first five dollar bet [e-mail] if it wins, you have an opportunity to get 300 in bonus bets. So make it a good one. Right. It's football season, college and pro. So go and you can have some fun with the game, wins and losses. You can have some fun with prop bets. Whether you want to. You bet on how many touchdown passes Drake May is going to throw or anything like that. You can do that. You can do an in game parlay, same game parlay where you stack a a few different bets together. Hey, have some fun with it if you want. It's up to you. Download the FanDuel app or go to FanDuel.com when you sign up, you'll see a prompt that says set your limit, set your budget. Do that, whatever your disposable income is for that week, those two weeks, whatever, you can set that. If you have a losing streak, you know we don't want to see it, but if it happens, then it triggers, boom, you're protected. We don't, we don't want to get out of control. So have some fun [e-mail] if you're ready to play. Download that FanDuel [e-mail] to get started. Place your first $5 bet. Never know if you win it. You can get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app.

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[John Corrales]

Thank you for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. Just a reminder, if you didn't hear Monday's podcast, we did the locked on NBA top 100. The top 100 players in the league voted on by Locked on hosts. The Locked on local experts. The full list is on Lockdown Sports today on YouTube. My reaction podcast was the Tuesday I recorded on Monday. It's the Tuesday podcast, actually. I did not like where people landed so I let my opinion fly on Tatum and Brown and Derrick White and Peyton Pritchard and Anthony Simons. All of who made the top 100. So check that out. All right, let's get back to Tom Celtics never needed Kristaps Porzingis what do you think about that?

[Tom Westerholm]

It's an. Honestly, I I think it's a fair question or a fair I don't know, it's possible. You know, I mean, I think. Look, having him wasn't. Was an embarrassment of riches sometimes. And, I mean, part of the thing about being a championship team is that it's really hard, and having an embarrassment of riches is. I mean, it's really important. It's so hard to win a title that even when you're the heavy favorite, you know, things can still go so wrong that, like, having a ton of guys, so having an Al Horford to come off the bench, when to start, when Porzingis inevitably goes down, that matters a lot. So I think there's. There's some level of, like, having Porzingis, you know, did it. You know, did it. Did it help Horford stay fresher for longer so that he can make a deeper run? Like, you know, again, we're kind of talking about, you know, a sliding door situation. Right? But so I. I think. I. I think there's no way to give a definitive yes or no. I think that having Chris steps poison gets helped. And when you're trying to win a championship, everything that helps matters.

[John Corrales]

So I. The need is the operative word, right? That's the one we're playing the semantics with.

[Tom Westerholm]

Need, Right?

[John Corrales]

Need. Porzingis. That they need him. Here's where I'm gonna say, yes, they needed him because it set the tone. He's. He's the guy who came and, like, all of a sudden it was like, oh, wow, you know, you. Yes. They got. They got Drew Holiday, and that was like, oh, now it makes. That snapped everything into place because he. He kind of replaced Marcus Smart on the defensive end and, you know, added shooting to that. That position. But getting Porzingis, and you're like, okay, well, this is the unicorn, right? This is the guy. This is the. The. The. The guy that Brad Stevens talked about. You know, you. You can throw it to him.

[Tom Westerholm]

He.

[John Corrales]

He's the guy that. That fixes a lot of the things that were bothering the Celtics. Yeah, he got hurt, but he wasn't. He wasn't that hurt during that regular season.

[Tom Westerholm]

Right.

[John Corrales]

You know, that first regular season, he played. He played plenty. And then I think in that Miami series, he played three full games, and the Celtics were up 2. 1. Then he got hurt in that third one. That was the one where Derrick White went. Went berserk. But having him set this championship kind of atmosphere, that's the, like, knowing that he was around and, like, the. The confidence that permeated that. That practice facility is. Is what made me, like, look at it and say, oh, These guys are. This is, this is the championship team. This team. Everybody put your lawn chairs down on Tremont Street. There's going to be a parade. Now, obviously he got hurt. He missed the old Cleveland series. He missed the whole Indiana series. And he had some little. He had some impact against, against the Mavs. Right.

[Tom Westerholm]

He.

[John Corrales]

So I'm not saying they don't win a championship if he never gets here, but I just think the, the impact beyond on the court was so important that they did in fact need him. So we'll just put it that way.

[Tom Westerholm]

Winning a title is hard. Winning a title, having guys who help you win a title matters. So.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, that's right. Okay, so that's the. Like I'm just going through. These are the, these are the goofy kind of questions here. I'm shuffling them up because I had to take a look to make sure I was getting the right pile. All right, we're going to mix them up. These are the. We like to have fun at the end of these shows. So. Okay, let's get to Yam Madar equals Sid Finch. Sid Finch, for people who don't know, is a fictional. Fictional baseball pitcher created. I forget who the Sports Illustrated writer was, but it was a Sports Illustrated April fool story about this fictional pitcher. And Yamadar is a fictional point guard who actually did play Neuro Basket and was. Okay.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

But as far as we're concerned, we're never going to see him. So if you didn't see anything in Euro Basket, maybe you don't think he exists.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I mean for, for Celtics purposes, he's, you know. Yeah, he basically is. I think that's. I don't really have anything to add to that card. The guest. Correct.

[John Corrales]

That's right. I'm surprised that Yam. The rights to Yamadar have not been traded at this point because that, the whole point of having a guy like that is the rights to like you have to trade something in a, in a. In a deal. So why aren't the. Look, maybe this is my ignorance. Maybe there's a rule that I missed that that's not enough anymore. Maybe I just overlooked that at some point. But used to be, you know, you trade whatever player, it's a minor trade and the thing that the other team gets is the rights to a guy like Yamadar. And now it's. Now it's a heavily protected second round pick. Right. Top 55 protected. That. So it's never going to convey. And, and that's what people get. That's what teams Get. So I don't know.

[Tom Westerholm]

But, yes, the rights to Ricky Sanchez is obviously a. A great podcast. The rights to Yamadar would be a great indie pop punk band.

[John Corrales]

I like it.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yamadar, that's got, like, a nice.

[John Corrales]

If the rights to Ricky Sanchez ever wanted to expand and do a podcast network, you could do the rights, too, and have, like, an obscure name to everything. That could be a thing. All right, let's. Let's have some more fun here. Lobster. Tom, what's your opinion on lobster?

[Tom Westerholm]

I mean, so I stopped. I stopped eating lobster and crab. This is. This is not a fun answer. This is like, the most like, wow, Tom, you are just a bummer answer. But when I found out that lobster and crab are sentient, I. I stopped eating them. I don't know.

[John Corrales]

It's good, though.

[Tom Westerholm]

I miss it.

[John Corrales]

It's. Lobster is good.

[Tom Westerholm]

Lobster's really good.

[John Corrales]

Big fan. I'm a big fan of lobster. Lobster, shrimp, crab. Oh, I'm a big seafood guy. Lobster is. Is it for me. I could. If I ate nothing but lobster the rest of my life, I'd be rich. But I'd also be very happy. Let's get. Let's just end on this. Joe Missoula's next wild animal analogy. What would Joe Missoula's next wild animal analogy be? Well, let's see. This team is, like, underdog, Underrated. What? Underrated. Underdog. Animal. Honey badger.

[Tom Westerholm]

I was trying to. I was thinking Tasmanian devil, but I knew that wasn't it. So honey badger was the one I was trying to come up with.

[John Corrales]

Or like, honey badger. Yeah, he's gonna be. It's. It's gonna be a honey badger reference that, you know, little. No one thinks much of us. Everybody wants to attack us, but we're going to be the honey badger because they're badass. You know, no one, like, go ahead. You ever see a lion attack a honey badger? Lion pays for that, man gets. Gets bit on the nose. They don't like it. Honey badgers, they got a big, tough shell, like skin? Like, it's. It's not like, yeah, those are bunny. Badgers are nothing to be messed with, man.

[Tom Westerholm]

What's an animal? What's an animal that, like, if you take a bite out of it or if you eat it, like, you'll. You'll win, but it's gonna hurt. What's an animal like that?

[John Corrales]

Are you gonna need something poisonous?

[Tom Westerholm]

Something like that? Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. Is there, like, a animal where, if.

[John Corrales]

You eat it, like, yeah, that's gonna be like one of those, like, Brazilian tree frogs. That's, like super colorful, but it's like super poisonous.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, like. Like, yeah, you could, you know, like.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, something like that.

[Tom Westerholm]

But like. Or like a puffer fish, you know.

[John Corrales]

Like, I did the pilot was in my head for sure.

[Tom Westerholm]

You take a bite or like, you know, a porcupine or something.

[John Corrales]

He is.

[Tom Westerholm]

He does, like, a lot crazy, though.

[John Corrales]

I mean, orcas, you know, like this. This is not the we're not killer whale offense anymore. So you can't. You can't do that. It has to be. It has to be underdog and tons of fight and unexpected. So it has to be something small and underrated that packs a big. A big punch. So maybe he goes. Maybe he goes like to like, the dinosaurs and goes like Stegosaurus or something like that with the big. Like the horns in the back, the big club tail. So when the Tyrannosaurus Rex came at.

[Tom Westerholm]

It, that's Ankylosaurus as the. As the father of an eight year old.

[John Corrales]

Oh, Stegosaurus had the spike tail.

[Tom Westerholm]

They had the spike tail.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, that's right. That's right. That's right.

[Tom Westerholm]

Well, I kind of like the. The Pachycephalosaurus. They have, like, big, strong heads and they just, like, ram you, like, they just like run into you because they got like such a big skull.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, yeah, I get. And that's.

[Tom Westerholm]

I can see Peyton Pritchard as a Pachycephalosaurus. Just kind of like head down, just.

[John Corrales]

Well, bam. Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna stick with Honey Badger. I think that's gonna be. That's gonna be the one. And that's.

[Tom Westerholm]

We're gonna be not unlike a honey badger himself. There's.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

Honey badger in there.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, there's something in there. Oh, Money badger.

[Tom Westerholm]

Money badger. Yeah.

[John Corrales]

I can't think of anything else, like, because anything else they like. It's like cockroaches and vermin that, like survivors and stuff like that. Honey badger is so much cooler and it has like that old viral video. You know, the one that was animated. Like, I can't say what it is because I'm supposed to not swear on this video. On this, but. Honey badger, look it up. All right, that's it. Flashcard. We're almost done with Flashcard Friday season's gonna be here. Maybe we get a few more topics to just get us to the last couple of weeks. But I think we only have, like, two more Flashcard Fridays. It's been fun.

[Tom Westerholm]

Maybe we should get them just to get updated ones for the last two weeks. Like a little preseason, little pre season Flashcard Friday.

[John Corrales]

Sure, sure. Look, I don't know about everybody else. I've enjoyed doing them. I think Flashcard Friday has been a lot of fun. I like randomly, I mean I it it you get every once in a while the brain fart of forgetting exactly what red. You know, when Reggie Lewis and Len Bias pass. Like I was way, way off but you know, got to be reminded of that sometimes. My memory is not always the best but, but I enjoy the. I enjoy the, the. I think what I'm saying basically Tom is Hey John, great idea.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, this was good stuff. So it was a lot of fun.

[John Corrales]

Tom, thanks. Appreciate you.

[Tom Westerholm]

Appreciate you man.

[John Corrales]

And I do appreciate you, the listener, the viewer, the everydayer here with me Monday through Friday. This is a Monday through Friday show during the regular season. If there's a game on a Friday or Saturday night, I will be doing a post game podcast. So this show can be a Monday through Saturday. Monday through Sunday could be a seven day a week show some some weeks. So make sure you're subscribed. The show is always free. It's available Everywhere. It's on YouTube. Get into the comments section, share your thoughts there 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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And now a next level moment from AT&T business. Say you've sent out a gigantic shipment of pillows and they need to be there in time for International Sleep day. You've got AT and T5G so you're fully confident, but the vendor isn't responding and International Sleep Day is tomorrow. Luckily, AT&T 5G lets you deal with any issues with ease. So the pillows will get delivered and everyone can sleep soundly. Especially you. AT&T 5G requires a compatible plan and device coverage. Not available everywhere. Learn [e-mail] 5G Network.

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[John Corrales]

I just love being able to file.

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[John Corrales]

Could you sign a. Sign what? The app. Yeah, sure.

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[John Corrales]

Anything to help, I suppose. Get more than just savings. Get more.

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