Jayson Tatum return IMMINENT? Who wins and loses when he comes back?

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Locked On Celtics - Daily Podcast On The Boston Celtics
Episode: Jayson Tatum return IMMINENT? Who wins and loses when he comes back?
Host: John Corrales (with guest Tom Westerholm)
Date: February 17, 2026

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Episode Overview

John Corrales and Tom Westerholm dive into the impending return of Jayson Tatum to the Boston Celtics lineup. The episode analyzes which players stand to gain the most (and lose the most) minutes, opportunities, and value with Tatum’s return. The hosts also touch on All-Star Weekend’s recent changes, with plenty of anecdotal and statistical insight throughout. The discussion is lively, basketball-nerdy, and loaded with behind-the-scenes perspectives drawn from years of covering the team.

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All-Star Game Discussion & Tournament Format Changes

[03:01 – 15:03]

Main Points:

• Recap of the recent NBA All-Star Game and the new format (three-team mini-tournament, shorter games).
• Both hosts express approval for the 12-minute "mini game" format, citing better engagement and less "fluff."
• Reflection on the evolution (and decline) of All-Star Saturday and the dunk contest.

Notable Quotes:

• "It was powered by the fact that they catered it to the miniscule attention spans of your everyday American by having these bite-sized games." — Tom Westerholm [04:07]
• "You play a 12-minute game. ... That was smart, and it improved the product." — Tom Westerholm [04:26]
• "The basketball last year was good too. It’s just that TNT was in a big self-congratulatory thing... Instead, give me the Peacock or Amazon broadcast talking basketball." — John Corrales [07:01]
• Hosts agree the main All-Star Game was better than Saturday’s contests and offer suggestions to fix Saturday’s events.
• Extended debate over the dunk contest’s “dead zone,” the absence of larger-than-life dunkers (Vince Carter, Blake Griffin), and what’s missing from today’s NBA.

Jayson Tatum’s Return: Impact and Timeline

[15:04 – 29:00]

Confirmed Return:

• John Corrales relays: “It’s pretty clear Jayson Tatum is ramping up... he is going to come back.” [17:54]
• Details signs pointing to Tatum’s return: practicing with team, released rehab trailer, flex scheduling for high-profile game vs. Philly (potential return date: March 1).

Discussion:

• Debate over whether he returns against the Nets (Feb 27) or the Sixers (March 1).
• Tatum’s initial minutes will likely be restricted for rehabilitation purposes.

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Winners of Tatum’s Return

[19:18 – 29:00]

“We all are”

• "In the grand scheme of things, Tom, who’s the winner? We all are." — John Corrales [19:22]

Top Winners Identified:

1. Sam Hauser

• Reason: Shifts from being a focus of defensive attention (due to playing alongside end-of-bench players) to benefitting from playing next to Tatum.
• Quote: "Hauser’s going to be... the guy that you’re just gonna have to live with... he's going to get so many more cleaner looks." — John Corrales [21:18]
• Tatum’s presence allows Hauser to excel at his strengths, both offensively (open shots) and on defense (fewer tough assignments).
• "When Tatum is back... he will be taking on a lot of those tougher defensive assignments. So Hauser will probably get a little break on that end." — Tom Westerholm [22:17]

2. Nikola Vucevic (“Vuch”)

• Reason: Poised to become a starter and to see better looks as teams focus on Tatum and Brown.
• Opportunity for a longer-term fit with Boston if his partnership with Tatum thrives.
• "If Vuch works with Tatum, you think he’s going to go to Brad Stevens and be like, ‘Can we not let this guy walk?’” — John Corrales [23:08]
• Vucevic’s skillset (shooting, passing) meshes well with the Celtics’ needs.

3. Derrick White

• Reason: With Tatum back, responsibilities revert to last year’s model, letting Derrick White return to more catch-and-shoot and spot-up opportunities instead of heavy pick-and-roll duty.
• "Derrick White has this season gone from Mr. Spot up to Mr. Off the dribble... it’s been difficult." — John Corrales [26:29]
• Provides data: White’s pick-and-roll usage has increased (~35% from 23% last year), spot-up declined (~25% from 34%), with corresponding dip in efficiency.
• Anticipates a stretch where Derrick White’s stats/efficiency jump ("Is Derrick White peaking at the right time?").

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Losers of Tatum’s Return

[29:04 – 40:22]

Principle: Adding a star means someone loses minutes and/or value, even as the team gets better.

1. Neemias Queta (“Namish Keda”)

• Slated for fewer minutes as big-man rotation tightens with Vucevic starting and Tatum rejoining the lineup.
• "Kada’s minutes are going to start to slip... He’s probably going to slide to the bench." — John Corrales [31:49]
• Preparation and role cadence must change.

2. Baylor Shireman & Jordan Walsh

• Both rookies benefitted from Tatum’s absence with meaningful rotation minutes but will slide down the pecking order.
• "Those guys are getting 28 minutes some nights... Honestly, it stinks for them because I thought ... they comported themselves very well." — Tom Westerholm [33:42]
• With playing time decreasing, it will be a direct battle for leftover minutes.
• "You take a glass of water that's mostly full and you put something in there... something's going to have to spill out to fit Tatum into this." — John Corrales [34:11]

3. Ugo Gonzalez (plus Roster Development Thoughts)

• Corrales floats the idea that Ugo should go to G-League Maine for real playing time: “I know he helps the Celtics right now, but when Tatum comes back, send this freshly 20-year-old kid to just get 36 minutes of playing time..." [35:17]
• Opens a wider conversation about player development, with Ugo and others needing reps that no longer exist.

Roster Decisions on the Horizon:

• Westerholm speculates Jordan Walsh may need to follow in Aaron Nesmith’s footsteps and be traded to develop properly:
  • “I think it’s probably time to let him go spread his wings somewhere else because I just don’t think it’s going to happen on this team. I think it’s a shame.” — Tom Westerholm [36:41]
• Both agree Walsh and Shireman’s futures are cloudier with a healthy roster.

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Notable, Memorable Moments & Quotes

• "It was powered by the fact that they catered it to the miniscule attention spans of your everyday American..." — Tom Westerholm [04:07]
• "Honestly kind of think the dunk contest is dead..." — John Corrales [09:45]
• "Derrick White has this season gone from Mr. Spot up to Mr. Off the dribble. ... It’s been difficult." — John Corrales [26:29]
• "In the grand scheme of things ... who’s the winner? We all are." — John Corrales [19:22]
• "You take a glass of water that's mostly full and you put something in there ... something's going to have to spill out to fit Tatum into this.” — John Corrales [34:11]
• "I think it's probably time to let him [Walsh] go spread his wings somewhere else because I just don't think it's going to happen on this team.” — Tom Westerholm [36:41]
• “No one better get in Ugo Gonzalez's way. That's all I'm saying. No one gets in the way of his development.” — John Corrales [39:56]

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Key Timestamps

• All-Star Format & Dunk Contest Debate: 03:01 – 15:03
• Tatum Return Hints & Timeline: 15:04 – 19:18
• Winners with Tatum’s Return: 19:18 – 29:00
• Statistical Deep-Dive: Derrick White: 26:29 – 29:00
• Losers with Tatum’s Return: 29:04 – 39:56
• Roster Development/Trade Talk: 36:41 – 39:56

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Tone & Style

Corrales and Westerholm keep the conversation sharp, analytical, and fan-friendly. There’s a blend of stats, eye-test wisdom, and dry NBA humor ("I'm entering irrational mode with Ugo... I'm either going to be brilliant or a [fool], and most people will say, well, you're already A. So we're waiting on brilliant.").

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Final Thoughts

Jayson Tatum’s imminent return is a net positive—the Celtics become more formidable, and top rotation players like Hauser, Vucevic, and Derrick White stand to gain the most. Yet, as with any contending team, roster crunch means young players lose precious minutes and may need paths elsewhere to reach their potential. This episode provides a thorough, honest look at the team’s evolving chemistry as they move toward full strength.

Transcript

[John Corrales]

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[Tom Westerholm]

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[John Corrales]

This is Jake from Locked On.

[Tom Westerholm]

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[John Corrales]

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[Tom Westerholm]

Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state.

[John Corrales]

Now on the Locked On Celtics podcast, Jason Tatum looks like he's coming back. Who stands to gain the most and who stands to lose the most when he does? Lock on Celtics welcome back to the Lockdown Celtics podcast right here in the Lockdown Podcast network. Where does your team every day? Your team is the Boston Celtics and I'm talking about them Monday through Friday. I got bonus podcasts coming up on weekends when they play, sometimes during the week. We've got a ton of content that's going to be coming your way, so make sure you're subscribed. It's the only way to know when it drops, so do that. Audio wise, it's on every podcast app. Video wise, it's on YouTube. So go check that out if you're new. Let me introduce myself. I'm John Corrales, beat writer covering the Celtics for Sports Illustrated Celtics on si. I've been doing a version of this job for about 20 years, doing this podcast for 10, and I've written a couple of books about the team as well. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals player game with FanDuel. The official sports betting partner of the NBA Jayson Tatum's return is imminent. We believe that wholeheartedly there will be some people on the Celtics around who just don't really benefit from that. There are some who benefit greatly from that. We're going to talk about all of those things and some more from the All Star Game with our guy, Tom Westerholm.

[Tom Westerholm]

What up?

[John Corrales]

What is that not funny? Oh, it's a rumbling, rolling laughter.

[Tom Westerholm]

It's a face designate. They really, they really sell the joke.

[John Corrales]

They really just. How's it going, man?

[Tom Westerholm]

Actually, well, I think they're laughing at your shirt.

[John Corrales]

So it is a funny shirt. Which derivative. I can't say the. All of the things, but it's ongoing. Yeah. The art collector, one of my favorites, Frank from Always Sunny Things. You know, it's a good bit. It's a good bit. The whole Richard Grieco thing, it's a good show. It's a good episode. How are you doing?

[Tom Westerholm]

Everything good? I'm good, man. I'm like, like we were just saying. I'm, I'm, I'm buzzing from the electricity.

[John Corrales]

Still feeling it.

[Tom Westerholm]

Oh, the All Star Game just.

[John Corrales]

I love the, I love the press release. It's out. Powered by the US versus World formats. The NBA All Star Game. Eight million viewers. Some sort of record or something. I don't even know what, what they were promoting. Let me, let me look that up real quick. But yeah, it was, Was it really powered by. Is it because of the format? I don't think it's because USA versus World.

[Tom Westerholm]

It was powered by the fact that they, they catered it to the minuscule attention spans of your everyday American by having these bite sized games. And like it was powered by the fact that they cut out the fluff of a 48 minute All Star game like that. To me that was the number one with an absolute bullet, biggest change from previous seasons. You have a 48 minute game that's too long, that leaves way too much room for fluff. Way too many possessions that just do not matter. You play a 12 minute game. I mean, okay, like USA versus world, whatever. I actually didn't think, I thought that the, the real rivalry was young guys versus old guys. Like I thought that was the one that was like really, that had a little bit of juice to it. But, but no, I, I think that the biggest thing that they did was cut out the fluff. Cut out the, the middle of the second quarter when the game is 76 to 62 already in the middle of the second quarter. And like the Only thing that anybody's wondering is oh, can these guys get to 200? Because it's kind of looking like they might get to 200 like that. Cutting all that stuff out and just making it a 12 minute basketball game was, that was, that was actually smart and it improved the product. I thought, you know, that I was joking at the beginning that I was buzzing. I certain love All Star Game did not leave me buzzing in any way whatsoever. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much more compelling it was than previous seasons.

[John Corrales]

I, I think. Well, first of all, I agree that the format of the three teams playing in a tournament is definitely the, the, the best way. Now combine that, forget the 12 minutes, combine that with like the Elam ending. Just every game is a target score rather than 12 minutes. But I know they have to do the 12 minutes because of the ads probably, but. And you make it, you make it four quarters. You're, you're basically playing four quarters of basketball and it, it's a way to repackage just different substitutions. You, when you look at it, it really was 4/4 of basketball because they're four 12 minute games and it's just different sub patterns and they just reset the, the scoreboard in between each quarter. So it's like a little game, a little mind game that they played with us. But I like the, I like the little mini game thing too. And I thought that was, I thought that was good last year. And I've said this before, but they, the basketball was good last year. I know people are like, oh, Victor Wembanyama, he was, we made the whole thing happen. Like yeah, yeah, sure, Victor Wembanyama challenged people and all that.

[Tom Westerholm]

Helpful. That was great.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, it was great. But the basketball last year was good too. It's just that TNT was in a big self congratulatory thing. They stopped the game for like half an hour so they could all pretend to fish and like pat themselves on the back for being broadcasters for however long. Like it's no secret that I'm like, I have no disrespect intended towards the guys on the broadcast. But like they treated it like it was some national treasure. Like buddy, it's just a basketball show. Yeah, it wasn't, it's not even that really that good. You watch the Peacock broadcast and the Amazon broadcast now I'm like, oh, they're actually talking about basketball. They're actually out there like telling me things that are happening there. There's analysis happening. They know who the players are, they know who he Play for, like, they know all that stuff. To me, it's, that's meaningful. And yes, there's a charm to it, but like, for them to go out there last year and spend all that time like, oh, we're so great, we're so great. Forget the basketball. We're, we're so great. You guys want to pay more attention to us than them? Like, no, actually. No.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I promise.

[John Corrales]

Basketball. And so this year, look, I think, I think they've hit on something with the All Star. So that's totally like, I, I'm, I'm actually encouraged by All Star Weekend.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Well, I'm encouraged by the game.

[Tom Westerholm]

I, I would say I'm encouraged by the game. I would not say I was encouraged by All Stars Saturday.

[John Corrales]

How about that? Yeah, the game was actually better than the All Star Saturday, which is the.

[Tom Westerholm]

Case for a long time. Yeah, like, that's preferable. Right? You don't, you don't want the goofy little dumb little competitions to be better than the main event. Like that shouldn't be the case. I also, and I think that there's an easy fix for the one glaring issue, which was that the old guys got super gassed for that last quarter of basketball. So, yeah, throw in a little concert hire. So, you know, like, bring in some artists, have them do a 10, 15 minute little show between quarters, you know, between games three and four and you're good to go. Everybody's rested, you know, rested up as far as you can go for that, for that final quarter. And it, you know, I think they're on to, I think they're on to the right thing now. I mean, there's so much that you could do to fix all. Like, I assume there's things you could do to fix All Star Saturday. I, I don't know. I mean, it requires buy in, you know, it requires somebody of some level of name recognition being in the dunk contest or, you know, just a better dunk.

[John Corrales]

Obvious.

[Tom Westerholm]

I mean, that was not great.

[John Corrales]

But the contest. Listen, I'm not, I'm not saying anything original here, but honestly kind of think the dunk contest is dead because I don't agree. I.

[Tom Westerholm]

Okay, you go ahead. I, I don't agree though.

[John Corrales]

I, I'm saying it's dead because we, we've, we've reached the limits of human like ability within reason to perform these aerial acts. Like, there are some people who aren't professional athletes who are out there just jumping and doing like a couple of crazy things. They're also willing to risk their bodies to do that stuff. And I don't expect an NBA player to do some of the stuff that these other guys do, because if you fail, you just completely, like, fall apart. We've seen it all, like, honestly, and I like. I like dunk contests in general, but some of these guys, they did, like, spectacular dunks, and I was like, yeah, I've seen this before. I'm not excited by it. So that's why I say it's dead.

[Tom Westerholm]

So I don't agree, because I think the dunk contest, all it needs is another Zach Levine. Like, it just needs some style to it. I don't need to see new dunks. I need to see somebody like Zach Levine who can just float. And it just. It just looks so good. You know, Jackson Hayes was out there. He did some stuff that was like, that's a diff. That is a genuinely difficult dunk to do. Congratulations. You're seven feet tall. I don't care. Like, that doesn't look good. I need some style to it. And I think that one of the things that happens with the dunk contest is it. I don't know if it's cyclical as much as there are going to be on years and off years, I think. And I. I don't see necessarily where the next on year comes from. Maybe if you can convince, you know, Amen Thompson to do it some year, and you get somebody who's just got some kind of crazy level of athleticism. But I think we just. I think we just need to see some guys who just have that little bit of that little. That little extra something, that little extra style, that. A little extra aesthetic to their dunking that Zach Levine had. I mean, Zach Levine was amazing, but I don't think he's the last Zach Levine we're ever gonna see. You know, I don't think that that's. I think that we will see other athletes of that caliber. And I just. I think that at some point in the future, just get one of those guys to do the dunk contest, and everybody will be like, hey, the dunk contest is back, and it'll be great. But I do think that we're gonna probably suffer through some bad ones until then. I just. I don't think the dunk contest is going anywhere. I. I don't think they're going to cancel it. So I think we're just going to complain about it a lot until the next 2016 version of it happens.

[John Corrales]

But we, you know, we don't also don't have, like, A Blake Griffin. There's no, like, there's no guy in the league right now where I'm like, oh, whoa, is he gonna dunk on somebody? Oh, no, no.

[Tom Westerholm]

Every Blake Griffin game wasn't like you had to be watching those because you're.

[John Corrales]

Like, who might he dunk on? Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And I don't. I can't think of anybody off the top of my head that. That's that good. That big of a star that's in all the commercials and is also just dunking on everybody. There's no Blake Griffin. There's no Vince Carter. There's no Sean Kemp. There's no big name recognition guys that are also jumping through the roof and embarrassing people on a daily basis. Who's embarrassing people with dunks on a daily basis now? Nobody.

[Tom Westerholm]

The hope was that Zion was going to be that guy, and that's just obviously not.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, that didn't materialize. But yeah, the. The league is missing that super, super crazy athlete dunking on everybody. Just posterizing fools. I mean, it still happens from time to time. Like, Jalen will do it and a couple other guys will do it, but they're not. It's just not a. A daily. Oh, who did, like, who did Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin dunk on today? There's. There was always something. It. It just, it happens randomly. But there's no one dude that is doing that also, you know, an all star level player, an all NBA level player, you know, with the personality to. To be in commercials and all that stuff. That. It's just not that that person doesn't exist. So that. That is the person that also carried the dunk contest. So your. Your point is well taken. I still. Unless they find some way to do some of these dunks differently, I, I just, I'm not impressed by any of the dunks. I just feel like, okay, that was great. Oh, East Bay, you went between your legs. Everybody goes between their legs now. I've seen it before. It just doesn't.

[Tom Westerholm]

I've seen 14 year olds doing this, like. Yeah, right, right. So.

[John Corrales]

Okay, thank you. It's. And it's. We're going way long, but it's. It's impressive. And it sucks that I think this way because when you watch it in slow motion about, you're like, wow. Wow. That is an incredible feat of human strength and body control and also meh. You know, which sucks. It sucks.

[Tom Westerholm]

No question.

[John Corrales]

Okay. Jason Tatum is coming back. We know this. We'll talk about. We just absolutely know he's coming back. There are going to be winners and losers in this, even though really nobody loses. But a couple of guys might lose a little something. So we'll talk about the winners and losers. We'll start with the winners when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by Indeed. Hiring is difficult, but it's tough. You know, you got, you got stacks of resumes and you don't know who. Is this a person that you really want to hire? Is this a person that is just going to be barely good enough? You've got deadlines. You've got an inbox that's going crazy. You got workplace chaos. How do you fill this open job and and make sure you get it right. It's a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs because Indeed Sponsored Jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for. Skills, experience, location. So you're not just kind of hoping, fingers crossed, that the right person happens to be in that stack of piles of interviews you've got to do in the minute that I'm going to be talking to you here. Companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed according to Indeed Data Worldwide. So if you're hiring, spend less time searching, spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes with Indeed Sponsored Jobs. So go to indeed.com podcast right now you will get $75 in sponsored job credits to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com podcast indeed.com podcast right now you can support the show by saying you heard about it on this podcast, the Lockdown Celtics Podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Today's show is also brought to you by TurboTax. Tax season does not have to take over your life, but we know it can. But TurboTax is making it easier than ever this year to just hand things off and move on with your day. With TurboTax Full Service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted local expert, start to finish, without the stress or guesswork. Instead of spending hours trying to figure out forms, you can meet with a local TurboTax expert in person or you can connect online. They handle everything from W2s to self employment forms and work to get you every deduction. You can upload your documents, go about your day and get updates right in the TurboTax app. It's a huge time saver and it gets real peace of mind knowing an expert is handling it. For a limited time. You can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert. It's just $150 all in. If a TurboTax expert didn't file for you last year, you just filed by February 28th. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. Visit turbotax.com local turbotax.com local to book your appointment today. Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. Thanks for being in every day or with me every Monday through Friday. You can now join the Everydayer club. Five bucks a month or fifty bucks for for the year. So you save a couple months there. You get ad free audio for Locked on Celtics. It's compatible with Apple Podcast, Spotify and every other major podcast app. You get the Everyday or Club Discord server, which includes a group chat for Locked on Celtics. And for NBA, you get special all access episodes. All that stuff go to lockdown celtics.supercast.com lockdownceltics.supercast.com or click on the link in the show notes for more. All right, let's get back to Tom in the discussion. I think it's pretty clear Jason Tatum is ramping up. He is going to come back. You don't, you don't practice and meet the media without coming, without having a plan to come back. You don't drop a trailer for your behind the scenes look at your rehab without planning to come back. Right. Right. There's the, the, all of a sudden, March 1, the game against Philly gets flexed from 6pm local coverage to NBC coverage at 8pm I was this close. Right? It's there. It's happening. Okay.

[Tom Westerholm]

I was this close happening.

[John Corrales]

There are going to be winners and losers. So in the grand scheme of things, Tom, who's the winner? We all are.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

We all win.

[Tom Westerholm]

The Boston Celtics are the winner from Jason Tatum coming back.

[John Corrales]

They will absolutely be the winners because he's, he's coming back and he's gonna be. Who knows? Who knows? Yeah, I, I always caution like his return is still going to be part of his rehab. His first game back, if, even if it is against Philly is a rehab stint, it's going to be 20 minutes or so, probably off the bench. You know, limited time, limited scope. Let me, you know, very carefully orchestrated. And then maybe he misses a game and it's going to be kind of like a hit or miss.

[Tom Westerholm]

So this is why I still think you should come back against the Nets February 27th. Also possible.

[John Corrales]

Also possible.

[Tom Westerholm]

A lot of signs lining up for.

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

For the Sixers game. Yes.

[John Corrales]

So either way, maybe, maybe that's his second Game back. I mean, it's just because maybe that's just a game that the. The NBC just says we. We want to make sure that we get Tatum. Okay, so, okay, as far as players go, who are the winners for if Tatum comes back? I don't know if he's number one on my list, but I wrote about this at Celtics on si. I got three names for you. I'll throw these out there. Number one, Sam Houser. He's going to be, I believe, a starter. And all of a sudden, instead of Baylor Shireman or Jordan Walsh, it's going to be Jason Tatum in that lineup next to him. This is eventually when Tatum becomes a starter. Hauser becomes the guy that you're just gonna have to live with. I think because you're starting lineup eventually will be Tatum Brown, Derrick White. I believe Vuchovic is going to be in there. And Sam Hauser, who do you like? Sam right now is getting a lot of extra attention because there are guys like Walsh and Shireman out there. Ugo, just inconsistent shooters. You know, maybe they'll get hot, whatever. Sam gets a little extra attention, you know, don't let him get hot now. He's going to be the guy that's wide, wide open. He's going to get so many more cleaner looks. I think this is going to be whenever. Whenever Tatum does get back into the starting lineup, I think House is going to be one of the big winners.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yep. No, I agree with that. And I mean, I think, you know, Houser's. Honestly, one of the things that's happened with Hauser this season is he's been given much more difficult defensive assignments a lot of the time. Like, he's had to really take on some tough defensive assignments. And when we'll see how long it takes Tatum to get to that stage. Probably not. Again, like you're saying, probably very similar to the starting lineup. It won't be happening right away, but when Tatum is back, you know, somewhat close to fully, he will be taking on a lot of those tougher defensive assignments. So Hauser will also probably get a little bit of a break on that end, too, which could be nice for him as well.

[John Corrales]

Vuch obviously a big winner. I think.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, he's.

[John Corrales]

He's got to be maybe the number one winner. Actually, my next guy is the number one winner, I think. But Vuch. I think he becomes a starter. He become. And not only that, if things go well, think about this. The Salties let Al Horford walk. They let Porzingis walk. If Vuch Works with Tatum. You think he's going to go to Brad Stevens and be like, can you, can we like not let this guy walk? And I don't know what the Celtics are willing to pay vouch. It's probably not going to be anything more than the taxpayer mid level at this point. But maybe, maybe he, instead of, instead of being like, hey Vuch, we're going to take it or leave it. The minimum Tatum, if Tatum says, hey, I like playing with this guy, all right, here's, here's five million, here's six million. Instead of, instead of just two or three.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, yeah. I, so I, I think that I know who your next guy is and I, I agree that he's probably the biggest winner. So. But I, I will, I will throw my lot in with Vuch just for the sake of, of being argumentative, but not really because I, I think that he's, he's really set up for some, a lot of success here. I think on the Celtics team. You know that, that last game against the Bulls before the break, obviously it's the Bulls, whatever. But the amount of just elbow room that Vuch had to shoot some of those shots, that's not going away. Like those shots are going to be there for him and he's probably going to be a lot more available for the Celtics. I mean, no, like, knock on wood obviously, but he seems like he's going to be a lot more available for the Celtics than Kristaps Porzingis was. And Porzingis, I mean the types of looks that he got were really, really good. Vucevic is going to get all of those looks and he's a really good passer, right? So you've got a guy who is getting these wide, wide open pick and pop looks who can like roll off the pick and roll and either catch it on the roll or seal his guy off, right? And get these really good post up looks and finish down there. He's, he's really good at trapping a guy when he rolls and keeping that guy down stuck like in jail under the basket. Like, he's really good at that. And by the way, he's a really good passer. So like, I mean, listen, I, as Anthony Simons, his number one fan, I like painful obviously, but it's like, I get it. Like, of course, like this is the thing, right? It's like this. And this is, this is why Brad Stevens is so annoying to like cover. Because it's like, what am I gonna do? Tell Brad Stevens you got it wrong with Vucevich obviously he didn't. You know, like, obviously that was going to be the right move on, like, a bunch of different levels. But anyway, I think. I think Vucevich is a. I think not only is he a big winner from Tatum's return, because, I mean, that just puts everything, you know, exponentially higher. Right. I think he's also just a big winner for coming to the Celtics. Like, yeah, this is. This is just a. The setup that he's about to find himself in. I think he's. I. I think he seems like a competitive dude. I think he's gonna really enjoy being on this team with this coach. And the amount of space and the types of looks he's about to get, I think are really going to be appealing for him.

[John Corrales]

Okay, smart guy. You said you know who my last guy is? Who do you think it is?

[Tom Westerholm]

I'm gonna go on a limb and guess that your last guy is Derek White. Ah, listen, I'm.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, it's Derek White.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, it's Derek White. Because things just snap back into place for Derrick White. And this is going to be. This is the most exciting part of Tatum's return for me, aside from, hey, Jason Tatum's coming back to play basketball, which is always fun. Derrick White has this season gone from Mr. Spot up to Mr. Off the dribble. And it's just. It. It's been difficult.

[Tom Westerholm]

He's a lot better at Mr. Spot Up.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. Yeah. So this is the. This is, according to Synergy Sports, pick and roll, ball handler this season, 34 and a half percent of the time and spotting up just about 25% of the time last season. Just a complete flip. Last season was spotting up 34% of the time and pick and roll, ball handler about 23%. Like, so the numbers are opposite. But here's the biggest problem. Pick and rolls. His production is about the same. Nine and a half, like point nine five, four points per possession. Okay, so it's in there. It was 0.954 here, 0.964 last year. So off the pick and roll, that's about what he's. What he is as a scorer, as the pick and roll ball handler. Spot ups last year, one point, just about 1.3 points per possession. Elite number. Very good. Excellent. This year the spot ups have dropped down to 0.94, which is okay, but not right.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

So the thing that he was good at last year, he's not good at anymore because I think this is so much more involved in the pick and roll ball handling. Well, that's Tatum's thing. Tatum is the pick and roll ball handler. So I think once Tatum gets back into that starting lineup, those numbers flip again. And all of a sudden Derrick White starts putting up 20, 25, 30, and you start having a lot more of those games. I think the shooting starts to creep up. We're going to start looking at his splits. You know, his March splits are going to start to look a little bit better. You know, there's going to be a couple of weeks in April where people are saying, oh, wow, is. Is Derrick White peaking at the right time? We should clip this. Is Derek White peaking at the right time? That's going to be the discussion in April because I just feel like Tatum snaps everything back into place. Yep.

[Tom Westerholm]

I don't have much to add to that. I agree on all fronts.

[John Corrales]

Losers. Not us. Not you. Not. Not us.

[Tom Westerholm]

Not me.

[John Corrales]

Not me. Who are the losers in Tatum's return? Some interesting thoughts, I think when we come back. Today's show was brought to you by fanduel. You want to get to the NBA Finals? You want to see it in person? No problem. FanDuel is giving you a chance to turn that dream into a reality with their NBA sweepstakes. Here's how it works. You use a profit boost on any NBA future and you'll automatically be entered for a shot to win an NBA Finals trip for two. That's right. Yep. Flights, tickets, the whole experience. If you're already looking at the board and thinking about which team can make a deep run, this is the perfect time to lock it in. Futures this time of year are great. You're picking a team to either win a championship, grab a conference title. It adds an extra layer of excitement to every game down the stretch. And now not only can you pick cash, but it could also send you to the finals. Visit FanDuel.com to get started, use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals. When you log in, it'll ask you to set a limit, set your budget. Please do so. Whatever your disposable income is, whatever you can afford to lose. Just in case you go cold, FanDuel will help you gamble responsibly. Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. This is Nick Gangstead of the Lockdown Mavericks podcast. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. I love that I can earn up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase with my Apple Card, which can be automatically sent to my High Yield Savings account through Apple Card right in the Wallet app with my iPhone. I can use Apple Card with Apple Pay basically everywhere I go. You can apply for Apple Card too, right in the Wallet app on your iPhone. Subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility. Savings and Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch Member FDIC terms and [e-mail] thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. Go check out Locked on NBA Locked on NBA game night. Make that your second listen when the games return. Game Night's got every game covered. Locked on NBA has the big stories in the afternoons. Two podcasts on the same feed. Find those where you found this one. All right, Tom, we've got winners. How about some losers? I'm gonna throw Namish Keda out there as a potential loser when Tatum returns. Just because Vuch is going to move into the starting lineup, which means Vuch is probably going to get more minutes and Kada's minutes are going to start to probably slip a little bit. Not that he's going to lose a ton. And I say loser as in just something is going to he will be negatively impacted at least in a little bit just because I think that he's going to slide to the bench. I do like him paired with, with Peyton Pritchard more. I like that pairing. And because of the ball handling situation, Pritchard's going to stay on the bench. So him and Kate on the bench, it's almost like a, you know, personal catcher for the pitcher. But just in the terms of Kato might have to come off the bench a little bit. His preparation is going to have to change. The, the cadence of his day is going to have to change and all of that. Is there, is there anything that impacts his production? I hope not. I think he's past that. But still, he will have to change things about his game because of this.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I agree with that. I think for me, the, the very obvious losers, right are and I think the guys who are, who are genuinely going to kind of lose out a little bit in this are like Shireman and Walsh. Right. I think that both of those guys, I think Ugo to some extent, but I also think that Ugo's time is more like next year, the year after. Right. I, I don't think that I, I think Ugo's a part of the plan for the future. So like this year is, yeah, great. Like, you know, get some run, get some time with some of these guys. But I I don't necessarily see him as a loser. With Tatum coming back, Walsh, it's. It's hard to kind of start to see. See where a lot of these minutes are going to come from. I mean, you know, again, he's going to be kind of peppered in there, I think, with Shireman sometimes. And, like, it's just going to kind of be this, this rotating thing where, you know, before Tatum came back, those guys are getting 28 minutes some nights, those guys are getting consistently more than 20 minutes a lot of nights. And honestly, it stinks for them because I thought that as far as this season goes, they comported themselves very well, like, they had a really good season. And it's, you know, you're kind of.

[John Corrales]

You're.

[Tom Westerholm]

I guess that's one of the reasons I'm like, yeah, I think that you're kind of a loser in this is that, you know, Tatum comes back and it's like, hey, that's great. Right? Like, like our franchise gets its franchise player back. But, you know, if you're Jordan Wallace, it's got to be like, yeah, yeah, it's good. I'm.

[John Corrales]

I, I get a front row.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, no, I'm really. Yeah. You know, so, I don't know. I feel for him and Shireman because I think both those guys have done really well.

[John Corrales]

They. They have. And this is. That. That's going to be the tough part, because it's you. You are taking. You're adding a player. You're just adding a player that you know is going to be one of your best players, whatever it is this year. I don't know what percent of percentage of Jason Tatum we're going to see, and that will still leave some room for some of these guys, but it could. Yeah, but eventually those minutes have to go somewhere, right? You take a glass of water that's mostly full and you put something in there. You, like, drop like a. A battery or something heavy in there. Water comes over the top, something's going to have to spill out to fit that thing in there. Something. Something's going to have to spill out to fit Tatum into this, and it's going to be a battle between Charman and Walsh. Those. Those two guys are basically fighting for a spot. Now, it might be one one day and another one, another day, but it's not both.

[Tom Westerholm]

Right?

[John Corrales]

And that's going to be the thing.

[Tom Westerholm]

Ugo.

[John Corrales]

I'm just going to go back to my old talking point. I, I hope this is a blessing in disguise for Ugo. Send him To Maine. Let him play basketball. I know he's too good for the G league. I know that he's, he helps the Celtics right now. But when Tatum comes back, let's send this freshly 20 year old kid to just go get 36 minutes of playing time. Go handle the ball, go run an offense. I'm not saying demote him. I'm just saying go play some basketball. This is great. Tatum is back. Congratulations. We know you're a big part. I'm, I'm driving the Hugo Gonzalez hype train. Go take, it's really two weeks. It's two weeks. Go play four or five games as the starting point guard. Right. You're a wing, but go start at point guard. Let's just go, go see. Let's, let's spread those wings, buddy. I'm dying for him to go to Maine and play some basketball and just see him unleashed for a whole game that I'm not 5 minutes, not 10 minutes, 35 minutes of Ugo Gonzalez playing basketball. I'm dying to see it.

[Tom Westerholm]

I also think that we're gonna get kind of a niecemith situation with Jordan Walsh because I, I'm, I'm still very high on him and I just don't see how it can happen with the Celtics in very much the same way that the Nismith thing was just not going to happen with the Celtics. I think it's probably getting to be about that time to move on from Wash. I think Shireman kind of makes a lot of sense as like a guy coming off the bench who gets minutes some nights and not minutes other nights and can play some defense and can do a lot of different things and all that stuff. I think Jordan Walsh is getting a little too good. I, I, I do, I think he's a good player and I think it's, I think it's probably time to let him go spread his wings somewhere else because I just, I don't, I don't think it's gonna happen on this team. I think it's a shame.

[John Corrales]

But it is a shame. It is a shame. And you're right, the, the Aaron Nisma thing might actually be the good comp as far as a guy that can go get some minutes. I don't know, Sacramento or Chicago or something. Like what team that's, you know, New Orleans. Somebody that can, yeah. And that. Look, that's how it goes. Sometimes a situation can be good for you one minute and then not good for you the next. That's how it goes. And that's how it goes One of these guys is going to have to stick around and I. Sherman has done enough this year where I can see that being the choice. The rebounding recently especially has been really good if you can rebound and if you can be an offensive rebounder. Because that's the thing with Jordan. Jordan is really, really good at crashing and he's really, really good defensively, and I would hate to see that go. But I don't. How do you keep. I guess it depends on what they do. Otherwise, who.

[Tom Westerholm]

Sure.

[John Corrales]

You know, this is going to be an incredible summer because you've got a traded player exception. You've got contracts that could be traded if you need to trade them. You've got a full mid level, you know, 15 million and change that you can offer somebody that is going to be enough to get you a good player in today's NBA. There's not a lot of cap space out there and that mid level is going to be what a lot of teams offer. And you can say, hey, you had Tatum and Brown and look at this. Look at this team we're putting together. You come on over and you can do another two, three year window of wow, look at this team that the Celtics have built. Especially if you get vocht on a contract that's somewhere between three and six million dollars, if that. I mean, come on. Then you got vouch, you got Kada on a minimum deal, and then you go find somebody else at whatever number you're spending in that. There's. There are some real possibilities for the Celtics to be really good. Maybe in the wake of all of that, Jordan Walsh finds a role. Baylor Shireman, they each find a role. But I don't know. I think you might be right. One of them. One of them might be because. Because no one. No one better get new Gonzalez's way. That's all I'm saying. No one gets in the way of his development.

[Tom Westerholm]

Damn it. You would. The, the locked on it. Locked on tantrum would be, oh, otherworldly.

[John Corrales]

I'm. I'm. I'm entering irrational mode with Hugo. I just. Yeah, we'll see. I'm either going to be brilliant or a. And most people will say, well, you're already A. So we're waiting on brilliant. So we'll see.

[Tom Westerholm]

It'd be nice to see you. Twitter doesn't have to anymore. Okay, guys, can you walk down there?

[John Corrales]

You go. Click that and send it around. Corrales admits he's a good go. Put it out there anyway. All right, Tom. Appreciate you, man.

[Tom Westerholm]

Appreciate you, man.

[John Corrales]

And I do appreciate you listening, watching, being here with us Monday through Friday. Bonus Podcast this is essentially a bonus podcast. We're 40 minutes. They always get mad at me when I go too long, but I don't care. We're talking, we're having fun. So make sure you're subscribed. Hopefully you enjoyed all 40 minutes of this show and you want to share it. Spread the word. Tell everybody that they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics podcast here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. It's your team every day. Calling all sightseers and selfie takers. Welcome to Texas where a day on our hiking trails will lead to a lifetime of memories and family road trips become family legends where thrill seekers make a splash into spring fed pools and picky eaters will clean their plates. This is your invitation to visit Texas and see it for yourself. Visit traveltexas.com and plan your family's trip today. Let's Texas before we had AT&T business wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a 14 point turn to get back on route. A 14 point turn. An influencer even livestream the whole thing. Not good for business. Now with AT&T business wireless routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time. And the influencer did get us 53 new followers though. AT&T business Wireless Connecting Changes Everything America, America, you used to be so fun but now you go to bed at night scroll on your phone. Well listen up America. Carnival is here with world class crew and ropes course too. And comedy and snorkeling and dining like everything from the sea to shining sea. Find your fun [e-mail] Carnival is calling ships registry the Bahamas in Panama.