With the final returns from the annual fan vote for the league's starters in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game set to go down in Indianapolis, Indiana in the month of February and the reserves selected by league coaches, we will soon get an answer to how many Boston Celtics will suit up for the annual exhibition tilt.
Based on the earlier rounds of returns, it's looking all but certain that the Celtics will end up with at least two All-Stars in 2024. But the possibility of three or even four is on the table for Boston with a little luck.
To try to get an idea of what we can expect for the Association's 2024 East All-Stars (and how many Boston players will be included), the hosts of CLNS Media's "Celtics Lab" podcast got together with NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg to try to prognosticate the 12-man roster for the East.
We also get into the latest trade buzz, and look back on Boston's recent spate of excellent play (with a hiccup in Denver, of course).
The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.
Based on the earlier rounds of returns, it's looking all but certain that the Celtics will end up with at least two All-Stars in 2024. But the possibility of three or even four is on the table for Boston with a little luck.
To try to get an idea of what we can expect for the Association's 2024 East All-Stars (and how many Boston players will be included), the hosts of CLNS Media's "Celtics Lab" podcast got together with NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg to try to prognosticate the 12-man roster for the East.
We also get into the latest trade buzz, and look back on Boston's recent spate of excellent play (with a hiccup in Denver, of course).
The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00 (upbeat music)
00:00:02 - All righty, welcome to the Celtics Club Podcast
00:00:11 brought to you by FanDuel,
00:00:12 the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:00:15 I'm Cameron Teptebai.
00:00:16 I'm joined by Dr. Justin Quinn and Alex Goldberg.
00:00:19 Later in the program,
00:00:21 we're gonna hopefully welcome on NBC Sports Boston's own
00:00:25 Chris Forsberg to talk to us about the all-star voting,
00:00:29 what's going on in the NBA,
00:00:30 and particularly by Thursday of this week,
00:00:33 we will know the starters.
00:00:35 So we're gonna look at the reserves with Chris
00:00:37 later in the program,
00:00:39 what we call the lab portion of the program.
00:00:41 First, as we like to do,
00:00:43 we'll talk about the news of the week that was,
00:00:46 or at least the week that has been
00:00:47 since the last time we had an episode.
00:00:49 And before all that, Alex, Justin, how are you?
00:00:52 - Doing all right.
00:00:54 It's 11.15 PM here in Brooklyn, New York.
00:00:58 So I'm feeling a little sleepy, but that's okay.
00:01:01 Just watched a fun Celtics basketball game.
00:01:04 That felt, I don't know about how it felt for you guys,
00:01:07 but didn't really ever feel like it was in danger for me.
00:01:11 I watched that game and felt like the Celtics
00:01:14 were gonna win from opening tip onwards.
00:01:16 - I did not have any of that creeping,
00:01:19 oh crap, they might really do it,
00:01:21 that Luka is so good at bringing to a game.
00:01:24 I definitely agree with you.
00:01:26 And even with an hour of extra sleep
00:01:29 here in central Mexican time,
00:01:32 it's pretty late and I'm pretty tired.
00:01:34 - I actually deleted a lot of my game recap
00:01:38 'cause I thought Luka was gonna pull it out.
00:01:40 So I had the exact opposite experience.
00:01:41 I was pretty sure,
00:01:43 not necessarily that the Celtics were gonna choke,
00:01:46 but that Luka was just gonna get it done.
00:01:49 So I guess we can unpack that game.
00:01:51 I mean, the broader rundown of the news
00:01:53 is that since we've last talked,
00:01:56 the Celtics beat Toronto,
00:01:58 they beat the heck out of San Antonio,
00:02:00 they beat Houston, they just beat Dallas,
00:02:01 and they do have that Denver loss.
00:02:03 We can talk about really anything
00:02:07 we've seen in the last week.
00:02:08 I don't know that there's an obvious trend here,
00:02:11 but I don't know.
00:02:13 I didn't think that the Celtics looked that good.
00:02:16 I actually, I hope someone smarter than I
00:02:18 can figure out how to find this stat.
00:02:21 How many times have the Celtics had their top six?
00:02:25 'Cause I don't,
00:02:28 no team is ever healthy, right?
00:02:33 But the extent to which we have data
00:02:35 around how good the Celtics team actually is
00:02:38 continues to escape us, right?
00:02:40 We didn't have Porzingis against Dallas
00:02:42 and they still moonwalked all over a playoff team
00:02:47 in the West.
00:02:48 It's worth noting, I suppose,
00:02:50 that Dallas has the second worst rim defense
00:02:52 in the entire NBA and that was fully on display.
00:02:55 But I don't know.
00:02:58 I mean, the Denver game is the only data point
00:03:00 I think we have where they played a contender
00:03:02 with their full squad and it didn't work out for them.
00:03:06 But I don't know, I'm a little riffing here.
00:03:09 We're kind of off script, but do either of you
00:03:11 feel that concern that we still don't know
00:03:13 that much about the Celtics team?
00:03:15 - I think we know some things.
00:03:17 I'll just jump in really quickly here.
00:03:19 I think we know, which at the very least,
00:03:22 we know that Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown
00:03:25 are now at the level where they can,
00:03:28 as long as they are on the floor,
00:03:30 put up a very good fight against just about any team
00:03:33 in the NBA, regardless of who is out there with them.
00:03:37 I think White, Porzingis, Drew Holiday, Al Horford
00:03:41 all had some really good moments
00:03:44 over this past six games or so.
00:03:46 And in general, though they have been kind of
00:03:49 in and out of the lineup, they've played pretty well,
00:03:52 like Porzingis torched Houston the other night,
00:03:56 Derek White, game winner against Toronto,
00:03:59 or effectively a game winner,
00:04:01 everybody ate against the Spurs.
00:04:04 I think to a degree, the analysis around this Celtics team
00:04:09 to me is actually coalescing in something relatively simple,
00:04:13 which is that the Jays are still the engine of everything.
00:04:18 The game largely runs through them.
00:04:20 And when they're on this team looks very, very,
00:04:24 very difficult to stop.
00:04:26 The role players are Holiday, White, Porzingis and Horford.
00:04:30 And ideally you want all of them to be healthy
00:04:34 and ready for the playoffs.
00:04:35 But I think that in general, none of those guys represent,
00:04:39 you know, like a situation where the Celtics
00:04:43 have a guaranteed loss on their hands,
00:04:45 if one of them is missing time.
00:04:47 Now against Denver in that game in particular,
00:04:50 honestly, I think most of the substantive analysis
00:04:55 comes down to that.
00:04:57 You gotta just tip your hat to what I think is still
00:05:00 a top three or four team in the NBA.
00:05:04 Nikoli Jokic is a remarkable basketball player
00:05:07 and he and Jamal Murray were in perfect sync
00:05:10 for that entire night.
00:05:11 There was basically nothing that the Celtics defense
00:05:14 could do to stop them.
00:05:16 And in those crunch time situations,
00:05:18 the Celtics still have a little evolution to do
00:05:22 as far as what is the plan.
00:05:24 Now tonight against, you know, as you mentioned,
00:05:27 one of the worst rim defenses in the NBA,
00:05:30 you can just throw the ball to Tatum and Brown
00:05:32 and they'll figure it out.
00:05:33 But against an actual true blue contender
00:05:36 in a team like Denver, who I think to me,
00:05:40 I haven't seen anything in the Western Conference
00:05:42 this year to suggest that they shouldn't win it again
00:05:45 or at least make the Western Conference finals.
00:05:47 You have to execute at a higher level against those teams.
00:05:52 And right now, at least as it currently stands,
00:05:57 the Celtics are able to do that sometimes,
00:05:59 but not every time.
00:06:01 They still need to diversify their offense
00:06:03 a little bit more.
00:06:04 And some of those kind of aforementioned role,
00:06:07 like elite role players, and they are elite role players,
00:06:10 but some of those guys need to kind of find their flow
00:06:13 a little bit more in those late game situations.
00:06:16 - Don't have too much to add to that other than
00:06:20 this Celtics team is still carrying around the sins
00:06:25 of past Celtics teams and a lot of people's heads.
00:06:29 And when the rare times they do lose,
00:06:34 people tend to think about what they've been
00:06:37 more than what they are.
00:06:39 I mean, if you look back at their record,
00:06:41 they have one losing streak the entire season so far
00:06:44 of two games.
00:06:47 This is not a bad team, right?
00:06:49 So a Denver Nuggets team that is seemingly unstoppable
00:06:54 with its two stars hitting pretty much any shot
00:06:57 they seem to be able to get on a night
00:06:59 where the Celtics two main stars can't seem to sit
00:07:02 to hit the sea with a pebble.
00:07:04 I'm not too worried about that.
00:07:06 That's just a one game shooting aberration.
00:07:10 If we get to some Miami heat in the Eastern Conference
00:07:14 finals levels of aberration, you're gonna be screwed
00:07:16 no matter what team it is.
00:07:18 So, so far I am very satisfied with what I've been seeing
00:07:22 from this team.
00:07:23 - Yeah, no, I wasn't suggest,
00:07:26 I guess I have a couple of things.
00:07:27 First of all, Alex, I think turn the heat up.
00:07:29 I don't think there are top three or four team.
00:07:31 I think Denver is the best team that doesn't play in green.
00:07:36 - On the nights when they care about it.
00:07:38 I think there are nights when they care.
00:07:39 - Very, very, very, very, very good point.
00:07:43 - So again, I was just kind of riffing here,
00:07:45 but I guess now that I think about it,
00:07:49 just like Justin to your point, they've lost to Denver,
00:07:53 they've lost to Milwaukee, they've lost to Minnesota,
00:07:56 they've lost to Oklahoma city, they've lost to Philadelphia.
00:07:59 I guess like my initial thesis was like,
00:08:01 I don't know how much data we have around this team
00:08:03 because we just like haven't seen it all put together.
00:08:06 And like Alex, to your point, it's a, they're a Megatron.
00:08:11 Like you don't need to have all the pieces together.
00:08:13 You just like shove them together and something happens.
00:08:16 But I suppose that, what are they 14 and nine
00:08:19 on the road now?
00:08:19 And then they have these losses against good teams.
00:08:22 I don't think like Denver,
00:08:25 they have the luxury of saying like,
00:08:26 oh, we don't care about the regular season.
00:08:27 Like they probably have to care about the regular season.
00:08:30 And so I don't know, really it's not,
00:08:35 it was not my intention to like barnstorm into this podcast
00:08:39 and say like, oh, the Celtics aren't very good.
00:08:41 I don't wanna be like.
00:08:42 - No, no, no, no.
00:08:43 That was not really against what you were saying,
00:08:46 but every time there is a loss,
00:08:49 there seems to be the incredibly vocal part
00:08:52 of Celtics fandom that understandably look back
00:08:56 at similar situations that are not occurring
00:08:58 with anything near the same kind of frequency
00:09:00 as they have in the past.
00:09:03 - Yeah, well, I do like wonder sometimes the commentary,
00:09:08 like, oh, the Jays wouldn't have done that last season.
00:09:11 I don't know.
00:09:12 I don't know if that's true.
00:09:14 They might still do it.
00:09:16 Jaylen had that pull up three
00:09:17 that towards the end of this game
00:09:19 that made me wanna pull my hair out.
00:09:21 Anyways.
00:09:22 - They definitely still do make like some questionable
00:09:25 choices in late game scenarios.
00:09:27 And part of this season,
00:09:29 I think the most important part of the kind of back half
00:09:32 of the season is gonna be ironing that out
00:09:34 as much as possible.
00:09:36 But, you know, right now they're just winning
00:09:39 so many of these games in runaway fashion
00:09:42 that it's kind of hard to nitpick around that.
00:09:45 - Yeah.
00:09:48 The game in Miami is the end of this road trip.
00:09:53 And then they have their longest home stretch
00:09:56 of the season with seven games.
00:09:57 And then the thing really turns up
00:10:00 for the schedule really relaxes for the Celtics.
00:10:03 So that'll be really interesting to see.
00:10:05 Alrighty.
00:10:08 So it's a regular season game.
00:10:09 We don't have to over-index on it, I suppose.
00:10:13 Segues enough that like,
00:10:17 if there were question marks about the Celtics team,
00:10:19 one of the ways to answer those questions
00:10:21 is at the trade deadline,
00:10:22 which is February the 8th.
00:10:27 Ah, I got it.
00:10:29 (laughs)
00:10:31 It was between the 8th and the 9th.
00:10:34 Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT says
00:10:37 that the Celtics are looking for smaller moves,
00:10:39 maybe buyout options.
00:10:41 That's pretty consistent with what has been reported
00:10:44 thus far.
00:10:44 And if you get under the hood
00:10:46 and play with the trade machine,
00:10:47 I think anyone who's done that knows
00:10:49 that there's like,
00:10:50 that's really the only logical conclusion.
00:10:53 Justin, you've been writing about this.
00:10:55 First of all, what do you think of that read from Haynes
00:10:59 and then Bobby Marks has a new idea.
00:11:01 Talk us through that.
00:11:02 - So everything we've heard is lining up
00:11:09 with what he was reporting.
00:11:11 And it doesn't look like a good thing
00:11:13 to look at the Celtics cap sheet and roster structure
00:11:16 to realize that they are probably not going
00:11:18 to be major players for any big, splashy names.
00:11:22 And if you're looking at the standings in the NBA right now,
00:11:27 you would really have to ask yourself
00:11:28 why they would want to mess with something
00:11:31 considering where they're at, right?
00:11:33 That said, they probably do, as Brad Stevens noted,
00:11:37 want a bigger wing.
00:11:38 They could probably use a big man,
00:11:41 some more ball handling, stuff like that.
00:11:43 Maybe they can get some of that stuff
00:11:44 from the same player, one player,
00:11:46 so they don't have to go out and find multiple players
00:11:48 to do multiple things.
00:11:50 They could probably consolidate some of the roster talent
00:11:52 to be a more talented option when they are on the floor.
00:11:57 But you can't really get too talented of a player
00:12:01 because then you can upset team chemistry
00:12:03 because they are not getting the kind of playing time
00:12:06 they want.
00:12:07 So it really limits what Boston could do,
00:12:08 even apart from the financial stuff.
00:12:10 So as far as I have heard or read or been aware of,
00:12:15 this is exactly what the Celtics should be looking for.
00:12:19 As to what Bobby Marks was talking about,
00:12:21 I mean, the general contrast stuff
00:12:23 makes all the sense in the world for financial reasons,
00:12:25 as well as what we were just talking about.
00:12:27 He kind of characterized him as a bigger wing,
00:12:29 which is not, I think, what Brad was talking about
00:12:33 in terms of a bigger forward.
00:12:34 So kind of more on the upper end of the spectrum,
00:12:37 more like a three, four, two, maybe even a four, five.
00:12:40 Najee Marshall, I think, makes a lot of sense.
00:12:44 He's only making 1.9 million
00:12:47 with the New Orleans Pelicans this season.
00:12:49 But they seem to like him.
00:12:50 He gets a decent amount of playing time with them,
00:12:52 and they don't have any real reason to get rid of him.
00:12:56 I mean, if they want to reassign him,
00:12:59 I think that they're in as good of a position
00:13:01 as any team is gonna be.
00:13:03 But I don't know.
00:13:06 I don't see them letting go of him.
00:13:08 If they were, he'd be a great candidate.
00:13:10 But even apart from that, that's the archetype, right?
00:13:13 Somebody who's like 6'6" at least,
00:13:15 and probably more like 6'7", 6'8" on the wing,
00:13:18 maybe a bigger point guard,
00:13:21 if they could find somebody
00:13:22 who makes that minimum amount of money,
00:13:23 like Chris Dunn, if they, for some reason,
00:13:26 decided in Utah.
00:13:28 Some other, like, they would not let go of Chris Dunn
00:13:31 just to let go of him.
00:13:33 But if they do commit to letting go of some other parts
00:13:37 that turns them more into a team
00:13:38 that's looking at the lottery instead of a playing run,
00:13:41 then maybe then someone like him could get pried loose.
00:13:44 - So a couple of thoughts I had here as well,
00:13:48 which is just, I think it's gonna be hard for us
00:13:51 to predict exactly who the Celtics
00:13:53 are gonna be able to go after,
00:13:55 because the reality is that whoever they're going to add
00:13:58 onto their team is almost certainly going to come
00:14:00 as the result of being traded and bought out somewhere else,
00:14:04 or being traded and rerouted somewhere else
00:14:07 with the Celtics operating as a third team
00:14:09 to absorb additional salary.
00:14:12 It feels like some of the targets that are being floated
00:14:16 are definitely possibilities,
00:14:18 but I would not be surprised if the person,
00:14:22 if there is anybody that the Celtics do end up bringing in,
00:14:24 if that person ends up being someone
00:14:27 who kind of becomes available at the last minute,
00:14:31 for lack of a better word.
00:14:32 And I think Brad Stevens is pretty wisely
00:14:35 kind of keeping his options open.
00:14:37 I don't think we're gonna know anything solid
00:14:39 until like the literal day of the trade deadline
00:14:43 and buyout deadline.
00:14:46 - Yeah, there's some rumors that the Milwaukee Bucks
00:14:49 are trying to get on the DeJounte Murray trade scenario,
00:14:52 and they have no assets, right?
00:14:55 But they do have some players on the cheap
00:14:57 that maybe the Celtics might wanna throw
00:14:59 some assets at them for.
00:15:00 So yeah, something like that,
00:15:01 I think is probably much more likely.
00:15:03 - I'm just so shocked that you guys aren't
00:15:07 talking about Andre Drummond or Steak Bay
00:15:10 after weeks and months of doing that.
00:15:12 There was a report today
00:15:13 that Steak Bay could become available.
00:15:15 - I mean, I would love to have Steak Bay on this team.
00:15:18 I continue to think that other teams will offer more
00:15:22 for Steak Bay than the Celtics are willing to give up.
00:15:26 And I think the same is unfortunately probably true
00:15:28 of my desired target, Andre Drummond as well.
00:15:31 I don't think the Cs are gonna be coughing up big assets.
00:15:35 And frankly, I don't think that the picks
00:15:36 that the Cs are throwing around
00:15:39 are of immense value these days.
00:15:44 - I mean, I do think that the Celtics are sitting on,
00:15:48 at least in terms of second round picks,
00:15:50 some extra capital and that's not enough
00:15:52 to landing a big fish,
00:15:57 but I don't think that Boston should play footsie here.
00:16:02 If Steak Bay can be gotten for four second round picks,
00:16:05 I'd rather you do that than be cute and save your picks.
00:16:09 - And if it's a fake game
00:16:10 for all the second round picks, just...
00:16:14 Yeah, no, I feel that too.
00:16:16 Alrighty, well, how many days are until...
00:16:19 It's two weeks from Thursday.
00:16:20 Is that how the calendar moves?
00:16:22 - A little less than three weeks, I think, yeah.
00:16:24 - All right, so this Thursday,
00:16:26 we get to know the All-Star starters.
00:16:27 The following Thursday, we get to know the All-Star reserves
00:16:30 and the Thursday after that, it's the trade deadline.
00:16:32 How fun.
00:16:33 - I have one more thing to add just really quickly
00:16:36 before we move on from this topic,
00:16:38 which is that I think...
00:16:40 And then we can move on to All-Star and other stuff like that.
00:16:43 I think one thing that I saw tonight out of Boston,
00:16:47 and obviously this won't work against every team,
00:16:49 but that could open the door to different kinds of trade
00:16:53 and buyout targets, is that Joe got a little funky
00:16:57 and played Jason Tatum at the five, and it kind of worked.
00:17:01 And I am wondering if that might open up
00:17:04 some different options as far as who can the Celtics pursue
00:17:08 if maybe they start to find some success
00:17:13 with small ball lineups where they're playing Jason Tatum
00:17:16 at the five more as a way to kind of fill
00:17:20 that like third, fourth center spot.
00:17:22 I think Luke Cornett is still playing reasonably well,
00:17:25 as has Nemius Kedah in the past,
00:17:28 but if Tatum can operate as a true small ball five
00:17:31 for just short stretches throughout the game,
00:17:34 that might open the door to the Celtics aiming
00:17:37 for different types of players
00:17:39 that could maybe compliment him more so in those lineups.
00:17:43 - I think that's true.
00:17:45 And they don't have that much flexibility,
00:17:48 but like they could in theory make two moves.
00:17:51 I'm still of the mind that getting someone to foul
00:17:55 and beat six times in a game is like a top concern.
00:17:58 And so like that's where Andre Jamin comes in,
00:18:00 that like Tatum playing the five is cute and interesting
00:18:06 and probably could go nuclear in a lot of scenarios,
00:18:10 but the road back to the finals doesn't run
00:18:13 through Philadelphia, but it probably will feature
00:18:18 a matchup with Philadelphia or a matchup with Milwaukee
00:18:21 or a matchup with Miami.
00:18:23 And just having a big body to foul people six times
00:18:26 would be, I think, helpful.
00:18:28 But that could work in concert.
00:18:33 I think we would get Andre Jamin and Plucky Gard
00:18:37 or a Sadiq Bae or something like that, or Santi Aldama,
00:18:41 but I don't know if that's gonna happen.
00:18:43 Actually, could it happen?
00:18:45 - Santi Aldama?
00:18:46 I think it's more likely we would end up
00:18:48 with Xavier Tillman based on how much time
00:18:50 the two are playing.
00:18:52 And it's arguable that Tillman might be a better fit
00:18:55 for what he would be expected to do with the Celtics.
00:18:58 But if we could get Santi Aldama,
00:19:01 I would be a very happy person.
00:19:02 I just think that the Grizzlies value him too much.
00:19:06 - Yeah, him and Porzingis could speak Spanish.
00:19:09 It'd be cool.
00:19:10 Okay, whatever.
00:19:11 No, we'll put a pin in that.
00:19:12 We have a few more weeks of Milky trade deadline content.
00:19:17 Geez, it was funny.
00:19:20 I was gonna ask Chris this, but now I know the answer.
00:19:22 Justin, you know this, and anyone who writes knows this.
00:19:26 Sometimes when you're writing, you just don't have it.
00:19:29 The next sentence just does not materialize.
00:19:31 And that was the experience I was having
00:19:33 while writing my game recap.
00:19:35 And I thought to myself,
00:19:36 I wonder if that's gonna translate to podcasting.
00:19:37 And anyone who's been listening for the past 20 minutes
00:19:40 could probably tell that it does translate to podcasting.
00:19:43 And I'm struggling to put one sentence
00:19:47 in front of the other.
00:19:49 - Yeah, this time of night, I have already poured out
00:19:51 all the verbal word-oriented things
00:19:55 that my brain can create.
00:19:57 So I feel you.
00:19:59 Speaking of Chris, I just saw a fun tweet from our man
00:20:03 that you guys may have seen earlier.
00:20:05 Fellas, who do we think is leading the NBA
00:20:11 in lowest defensive field goal percentage allowed
00:20:15 amongst players defending 10 or more attempts a game
00:20:19 from a shooting standpoint?
00:20:20 - Yeah, it's gonna be Derek White.
00:20:23 - The answer, of course, is Jalen Brown.
00:20:28 - Wow, say that again.
00:20:30 - Jalen Brown, per our pal Chris Forsberg,
00:20:33 who we'll be talking to a little later,
00:20:34 is leading the NBA in the lowest shot percentage allowed
00:20:39 against players shooting 10 times or more a game.
00:20:43 Yes, you heard that right, folks.
00:20:44 The Jalen Brown all defensive team case
00:20:48 is gaining some steam.
00:20:49 - Wait, when was this tweet from?
00:20:52 Earlier tonight? - This was from 20 minutes ago.
00:20:54 - Our guy, Chris Forsberg?
00:20:57 - Our guy, Chris Forsberg. - Oh, yeah.
00:20:59 - Jalen did call his numbers one of the best defenders
00:21:01 in the league after the Mavs game.
00:21:03 It's interesting that those data points back it up
00:21:08 because as impressed as I've been with him,
00:21:10 that honestly surprised me when you said that.
00:21:12 - I would have rattled off like six or seven more names
00:21:18 before I landed on that.
00:21:19 Wow, I'm just gonna like marinate on that in real time.
00:21:24 It makes sense.
00:21:25 I mean, he has, this is gonna sound hyperbolic,
00:21:30 but like physically he has the same body as Michael Jordan
00:21:34 and Michael Jordan was a really effective defender.
00:21:37 So like, I'm not saying that he is thus Michael Jordan,
00:21:40 but he has the like physical gifts
00:21:42 to play really fricking good defense.
00:21:45 - For sure.
00:21:46 I think if there's one caveat I would throw in,
00:21:48 it's that he still fouls too much
00:21:51 and he still occasionally will get beaten off ball.
00:21:54 So it's not like he is a Michael Jordan,
00:21:57 Gary Payton level perimeter defender,
00:22:00 but just knowing that he can lock up individual matchups
00:22:04 when they have the ball in their hands
00:22:06 is still a very serious weapon for a team
00:22:10 that is already stacked defensively.
00:22:12 - No turnovers on the other end either.
00:22:14 It was a very satisfying game
00:22:16 for someone who is a little overcritical probably
00:22:19 of him dribbling into traffic
00:22:22 much of the early part of the season.
00:22:24 - Why did Luca and Jalen Brown hate each other?
00:22:28 The back and forth was outstanding.
00:22:30 Like why?
00:22:31 - It was fantastic.
00:22:32 I don't know, but I hope they keep hating each other.
00:22:34 - Yeah.
00:22:35 Man, Jalen really hooked poor Luca's ankles
00:22:40 at a certain point, but then Luca,
00:22:41 I mean, he got a couple laughs in there.
00:22:43 That was just, man, what a night for the NBA.
00:22:46 I mean, maybe we'll do this off air
00:22:49 so we don't offend anyone, but Carl Towns,
00:22:52 what the hell, man?
00:22:53 - Yeah, that was, on a night where Joel Embiid dropped 70
00:22:58 and like continues to just over and over again,
00:23:03 assert that right now at the very least
00:23:05 in the regular season, he appears to be the best NBA player.
00:23:09 To see Towns have a stat padding 62
00:23:16 that resulted in a loss to the Hornets,
00:23:20 it really speaks volumes to the phrase,
00:23:22 there's levels to this.
00:23:24 And not all 60 plus point games are created equal.
00:23:29 - If Embiid plays 65 games,
00:23:33 what's the case for him not being the MVP?
00:23:35 - I don't think that there is one really.
00:23:38 - Well, we know right now.
00:23:40 - Outside of like Shea Gildress Alexander,
00:23:43 you know, just going completely nuclear,
00:23:47 even more so than he has for the remainder of the season.
00:23:49 - Yeah, I wondered like going back to narratives
00:23:54 and whatnot, how much, like if Shea was doing this
00:23:59 in a Knicks uniform, would it be over and done with
00:24:01 that he would be the MVP?
00:24:02 Or like how much the small market bias plays against him?
00:24:06 But no, I mean, I still think it's Embiid.
00:24:09 Now while we're like really just hanging out,
00:24:12 have you guys seen this building
00:24:13 they're gonna build in Oklahoma City?
00:24:15 They wanna make it the tallest building in North America.
00:24:18 - Oh man, really, Oklahoma City?
00:24:21 - Yeah, like the place with all the tornadoes.
00:24:24 - That just seems like a bad idea for all sorts of reasons.
00:24:27 - Rocking earthquakes, yeah, sure.
00:24:29 - Yeah, I'm not gonna go full history teacher mode here,
00:24:33 but there's a lot of potential curse energy
00:24:38 that could come with such a project
00:24:40 that I think we're gonna kind of leave at that.
00:24:44 - The tallest building in Oklahoma City is 840 feet tall.
00:24:48 So I don't know.
00:24:50 - Not much to work with to be the tallest building.
00:24:52 - Sort of like the height of the John Hancock building.
00:24:56 And then they wanna build something that's taller
00:24:57 than the World Trade Center building.
00:24:58 Like what does Oklahoma City's skyline even look like?
00:25:02 That's so ridiculous.
00:25:04 - Flat.
00:25:04 - Very strange move.
00:25:06 - I don't know.
00:25:08 - Interesting place.
00:25:09 Okay, you guys wanna keep riffing
00:25:11 or should we let the magic of editing
00:25:13 whisk us away to our conversation with Chris Forsberg?
00:25:15 Yeah, there's like four tall buildings in Oklahoma City.
00:25:18 What are they gonna do with this crazy tower?
00:25:20 - Well, you know, Chad Holmgren.
00:25:23 - Yeah, he'll just stand up there.
00:25:25 - Yeah, he can just get any apartment he desires.
00:25:30 - Yeah, that's true.
00:25:32 Maybe they're building it
00:25:33 so he can actually fit in a building.
00:25:36 Okay, yeah, you guys got anything else
00:25:37 or should we let the magic of editing
00:25:39 take us to our conversation with Forsberg?
00:25:41 - Birds can fly backwards, Perk.
00:25:44 Just relax a little.
00:25:46 - Well, we could talk about that.
00:25:48 Hummingbirds can fly backwards,
00:25:50 but other birds can't.
00:25:51 - They can't.
00:25:52 - It's not because of their brains.
00:25:54 - No, and they're not coaching either.
00:25:56 And they're certainly not on the court.
00:25:58 - You know, I'm just gonna say, guys,
00:26:04 I think Jomazula, with all due respect to Big Perk,
00:26:08 is a more sophisticated basketball mind.
00:26:11 I just do.
00:26:12 - Wow.
00:26:16 I thought we were gonna take it easy.
00:26:17 Okay, why don't we come back?
00:26:19 - I mean, that's not that controversial.
00:26:21 I mean, one of them is in charge of an NBA team.
00:26:23 The other talks about it.
00:26:24 And, you know, like as smart as I like to think I am
00:26:27 about basketball, no one is asking me to coach.
00:26:31 He's infinitely smarter about basketball
00:26:33 than I will ever be.
00:26:35 But there's still a pretty big gulf, I think,
00:26:36 between him and an NBA head coach of any ilk.
00:26:39 - Do you think you'd be good at being a bird?
00:26:42 - I mean, I'm pretty stupid, so.
00:26:44 - Well, birds are, what?
00:26:46 That was such a cheap shot at birds.
00:26:48 - I mean, I don't know.
00:26:49 I don't have any bird pets.
00:26:50 - I'm eating Hanukkah gelt.
00:26:52 - My cats try to eat them.
00:26:54 - We should just not edit any of this.
00:26:56 We should just leave all of this in.
00:26:58 - Sure, why not?
00:26:59 - Yeah, why would we cut this out?
00:27:02 Well, I am eating.
00:27:03 Alex, would you be a good bird?
00:27:05 - I think I'd be a good bird just in,
00:27:08 like, you already know with my wingspan
00:27:12 that there's a lot going on there
00:27:13 that's pretty kind of bird-like generally.
00:27:16 So yeah.
00:27:17 - Very astute, yeah.
00:27:18 - Yeah.
00:27:19 - Are you guys gonna ask me if I'd be a good-
00:27:23 - Are you a good bird?
00:27:25 - I don't think so.
00:27:26 I think I'm better at being a mammal.
00:27:28 - Yeah, maybe so.
00:27:30 - I like to sing.
00:27:30 I could be a bird.
00:27:32 - Yeah, sure, why not?
00:27:34 I'm a good, I'd be a good father, I think.
00:27:36 Like some birds.
00:27:37 - Some birds. - Not all birds.
00:27:40 - Not all birds, that's true.
00:27:41 All right.
00:27:44 Yeah, thank you for listening
00:27:47 to the Ornithology Lab podcast.
00:27:49 I've been your host, Cameron Tepp-Dubai.
00:27:51 Yeah, let's just let the magic of editing
00:27:57 take us now to our conversation-
00:27:58 - We did a lot of magic.
00:27:59 - So if you're still with us,
00:28:02 you might as well like and subscribe to the podcast.
00:28:04 You seem to like what we're all about,
00:28:06 but if you're skeptical, hang tight.
00:28:09 And in a moment, we'll talk to Chris Forsberger
00:28:11 of NBC Sports Boston about this year's All-Star Game.
00:28:14 - The NFL season is wrapping up
00:28:16 and there's still time to get in on the action
00:28:18 with FanDuel, America's number one sports book.
00:28:22 Right now, new customers get 150 in bonus bets,
00:28:25 guaranteed when you place a $5 bet.
00:28:28 That's 150 bucks in bonus bets, win or lose.
00:28:31 Now the app is so easy to use
00:28:32 and there are so many different ways to bet,
00:28:34 like live same game parlays.
00:28:36 Find bets in the new Explore tab.
00:28:39 Make a parlay in the Parlay Hub,
00:28:40 the best way to find popular parlays, and more.
00:28:43 So visit fanduel.com/boston
00:28:45 and make your first bet a layup,
00:28:48 FanDuel official partner of the NFL.
00:28:51 - Alrighty, through the magic of editing,
00:28:53 we welcome in Chris Forsberger of NBC Sports Boston
00:28:56 to the lab to talk about this year's-
00:28:58 - What did I miss?
00:28:59 Did I miss all the fun?
00:29:00 - Uh, we kind of just riffed.
00:29:03 - You missed something.
00:29:04 - That's what we do.
00:29:05 - Yeah, you missed something.
00:29:06 Um, but Chris you here-
00:29:06 - Conversations about who could be a better bird,
00:29:09 you could probably figure out what sparked that.
00:29:12 (laughing)
00:29:14 - We agreed we'd all be pretty good birds.
00:29:16 - All right. - Nice.
00:29:17 - For the YouTube crowd,
00:29:19 you might get a look at my cat bubbles.
00:29:21 - Oh, wow.
00:29:22 - The second half.
00:29:23 Oh yeah.
00:29:24 All right, Chris, you're not here to talk about birds or cats
00:29:27 you're here to talk about NBA All-Stars
00:29:29 and in particular, we've decided
00:29:31 you don't even need to talk about the starters.
00:29:33 We are going to trust the fans
00:29:36 and say that Giannis, congratulations, you're a starter
00:29:38 and Bede, definitely a starter, Tatum, a starter.
00:29:43 And then for the sake of argument,
00:29:44 we're gonna give it to Halliburton, the hometown hero.
00:29:47 - Have to.
00:29:48 - This is a controversial one.
00:29:49 By way of the fan voting, as it stands right now,
00:29:52 we're gonna put Trey Young as a starter.
00:29:54 We, that was the shade of gray that we can come back to.
00:29:58 But the other four feel pretty good.
00:30:01 What we'll do is we will run through what happens next.
00:30:06 So on Thursday, the starters will be announced.
00:30:08 It's 50% fan vote.
00:30:10 Players get 25% of the vote and the media,
00:30:12 oh, not the coaches, the media get 25% of that vote.
00:30:15 - Boo!
00:30:16 - That's how, yeah, we talked about that off air too.
00:30:19 We think it's-
00:30:20 - I mean, it's pretty dumb, but go ahead.
00:30:22 - Well, I wasn't saying like put LaMelo Ball in.
00:30:24 It's a program for teenagers, make it fun.
00:30:26 But if there's people's salaries on the line,
00:30:28 no, no, no, no, no, no,
00:30:29 then it cannot be up to the teenagers.
00:30:31 No, anyways, it's gonna be up to us instead.
00:30:34 So that's the starter vote.
00:30:37 We'll put it in pencil for now.
00:30:38 It could change.
00:30:39 We'll find out on Thursday.
00:30:41 The following Thursday, we'll find out about the reserves,
00:30:43 but the listeners to the "Self-Talked About" podcast
00:30:45 don't need to wait because we'll tell them right now
00:30:48 who's gonna make it in the East anyways.
00:30:50 Maybe next week we'll do the West.
00:30:52 So Mr. Forsberg, any questions about any of that?
00:30:56 - No, I am ill-prepared to try to do this.
00:31:00 So I'll cede the floor to you guys.
00:31:03 As you guys give your picks,
00:31:04 I will grumble or approve of your smart decisions
00:31:09 to elect these All-Stars.
00:31:12 I will be arbiter.
00:31:13 I'll be Adam Silver here and determine
00:31:16 if you are allowed to cede these players the floor.
00:31:19 - I'd say make the phone call if we get it wrong.
00:31:23 - All right, well, just to remind people
00:31:26 in order of the front court voting is Giannis Embiid,
00:31:29 Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Jalen Brown, Porzingis, Adebayo,
00:31:33 Palo Banco, Gero, Julian, holding onto the 10th spot
00:31:38 in the front court, and the guards, we got Halliburton,
00:31:40 Trey Young, Dame Lillard, Donovan Mitchell,
00:31:43 Tyrese Maxey, Brunson, Derek White, LaMelo Ball,
00:31:46 Drew Holliday, and Demar DeRozan.
00:31:49 So those are the roughly 20 players we're playing with.
00:31:52 Alex, give us a back court player first, or give us both.
00:31:57 - Sure, I'll give you both of my back court players.
00:32:00 - Oh, I whistle a cat, go.
00:32:01 - No worries.
00:32:02 My plan was to kind of do this based on
00:32:04 who I think are my locks and who I think are my,
00:32:09 could be up for grabs, but both of my back court players
00:32:11 to start here for the Benchmob are locks.
00:32:16 Donovan Mitchell has been on fire lately.
00:32:18 He has been backpacking a Cavs team
00:32:21 that is just riddled with injuries left and right,
00:32:24 keeping them afloat in the Eastern Conference standings.
00:32:27 To me, there is no argument.
00:32:28 Donovan Mitchell absolutely has to be
00:32:31 one of the back court players if he is not starting.
00:32:34 And then the other guy I gave it to was Jalen Brunson,
00:32:37 who I think has been outstanding for the Knicks this year.
00:32:41 Clear best player on that team
00:32:43 has really kind of resurrected that franchise
00:32:46 since he got there in a big way.
00:32:49 I think in particular, what stands out to me about Brunson
00:32:53 is his efficiency, which just continues
00:32:55 to be pretty mind boggling,
00:32:57 the amount of shots that he has to take
00:32:59 for that offense to work,
00:33:01 but still putting up good shooting splits throughout.
00:33:05 To me, it's a no brainer.
00:33:07 Mitchell and Brunson have to be on this all-star team.
00:33:10 That would be absolutely silly to leave them off.
00:33:13 - All right, so let's do this.
00:33:16 Alex, those are your back court players.
00:33:18 Justin and I will do ours.
00:33:20 And then Chris will have you, based on what we said,
00:33:23 pick your two back court.
00:33:25 Then we'll do the front court,
00:33:25 and then we've got some slots for wild cards.
00:33:27 So that'll be how the programming works.
00:33:29 So hang tight, Chris.
00:33:30 Justin, where are your back court players?
00:33:33 Justin, you're on mute.
00:33:37 - For the same reasons that Alex took Donovan Mitchell,
00:33:41 I went with him as well.
00:33:43 But I went with Maxie for the other back court reserve spot
00:33:48 simply because as good as the toast of the town
00:33:54 over the summer that was the Milwaukee Bucks
00:33:58 were supposed to be,
00:33:59 they are currently just a half game ahead
00:34:03 of Philadelphia 76ers.
00:34:05 A. James Harden lists Philadelphia 76ers.
00:34:08 They do have more supporting roles there
00:34:11 because of his departure,
00:34:12 but I don't think you can discount what Maxie has done
00:34:15 for the 76ers, the leap that he has taken.
00:34:18 And I think to thread the needle between fun to watch
00:34:23 and contract implications,
00:34:26 I think Maxie's probably the most interesting
00:34:29 of the options.
00:34:30 They're kind of hovering in that area.
00:34:33 You hinted about the Trey Young thing.
00:34:35 You know how I feel about two-way players
00:34:38 to keep this as brief as possible.
00:34:41 I think that the next closest reserve
00:34:45 who is currently outside the fan vote, Damian Millard,
00:34:49 some people can make the case for him on offense
00:34:51 and certainly for like a spectacle,
00:34:53 which is what this game is.
00:34:54 He would be a good choice,
00:34:57 but he's just kind of like a lesser version
00:34:59 in terms of good things on defense
00:35:03 as to why I would also put Maxie over him.
00:35:06 I like to see someone who's gonna play
00:35:07 on both ends of the floor.
00:35:08 If you wanna see the all-star game be competitive,
00:35:11 I would like someone who tries in both directions.
00:35:14 - And just unbalanced, my two were Lillard and Mitchell.
00:35:20 I think Donovan Mitchell's a lock.
00:35:21 I think the top four of the fans,
00:35:23 I thought the fans did a really nice job this year,
00:35:25 which I don't usually think.
00:35:27 Halliburton is for me a lock at number one,
00:35:29 the games in Indianapolis.
00:35:30 I would pick Damian Lillard to start.
00:35:34 For everything that you just identified,
00:35:36 Justin, he and Trey Young don't play defense,
00:35:39 but they are fun offensive players.
00:35:41 And Damian Lillard's a star.
00:35:42 He's been a star and he's really good in an all-star game.
00:35:45 So I'd actually have Damian starting.
00:35:48 And then I would keep Trey Young in that top four
00:35:51 for the same reason.
00:35:52 He's a star.
00:35:52 He's really fun to watch.
00:35:53 There's a reason he's number two in fan voting.
00:35:56 And then I got Donovan Mitchell,
00:35:57 who's a bonafide basketball player on both ends.
00:36:00 So,
00:36:01 Horsburgh, we're gonna say it's Halliburton and Young.
00:36:05 They got the starting nod, despite what I just said.
00:36:08 You get to pick between Alex's backcourt,
00:36:10 which is Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Brunson,
00:36:12 my backcourt, which is Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell,
00:36:16 or Justin's backcourt, Mitchell and Maxey,
00:36:18 for your two backup guards here.
00:36:21 - I don't get to do my wild card?
00:36:22 I don't get the shoehorn?
00:36:24 - Well, you can come back to that.
00:36:26 - Okay, well, so if I had to pick just based on
00:36:28 like the two that I think deserve to be there the most,
00:36:32 I do think Lillard, despite his struggles,
00:36:35 like he just can't help but look at the standings.
00:36:37 I guess that would be my tiebreaker right now,
00:36:40 is just like the winning teams.
00:36:42 And that's not fair because Mitchell
00:36:44 is absolutely carrying them
00:36:45 and probably deserves to be there more
00:36:48 than Lillard and Maxey.
00:36:51 But ultimately,
00:36:53 those two are playing for better teams.
00:36:56 And if that is going to be sort of my tiebreaker,
00:37:00 it's not fair that Embiid and Giannis are your teammates
00:37:03 and propel you a little bit more.
00:37:06 But Cleveland obviously had a pretty rough stretch there
00:37:09 early in the season and has pulled themselves out of it
00:37:11 because Mitchell is so good.
00:37:13 I'm kind of with you guys.
00:37:15 I used to obsess about the fan voting and get really mad
00:37:17 and be like, "Oh my God, I can't believe
00:37:19 "they let some South Korean pop band
00:37:22 "determine who gets into this thing."
00:37:25 And now it's just like, whatever.
00:37:28 If kids want, and I assume,
00:37:31 I always say like kids are the ones voting.
00:37:33 It used to be that way.
00:37:34 I don't know, I think it's probably grown ass men now
00:37:37 that are voting.
00:37:37 - It's probably robots on Twitter.
00:37:39 - Yeah, so I don't know, grown ass robots are voting.
00:37:43 And so whoever the bots wanna see,
00:37:48 well, I'm fine with it.
00:37:50 And as you said, there's worse platforms
00:37:53 for Trae Young to have to go out there and shine.
00:37:58 So I think all the people that we've mentioned
00:38:04 in this segment will be accounted for by the end of this.
00:38:07 And I'll save the Derek White chatter
00:38:11 for the wild card round.
00:38:13 - Yeah, well, let's call the tees, boys and girls.
00:38:16 Max, it would be great because he'd be the young player
00:38:19 who doesn't know you're not supposed to try.
00:38:21 And so he'd be running around doing stuff.
00:38:23 - I think Halliburton too, right?
00:38:24 Both of them would just be zipping up and down the court
00:38:26 and whoever it is from the West,
00:38:28 who they're probably gonna be old,
00:38:29 they're gonna be like, "What is going on?
00:38:31 "Stop this."
00:38:32 And I would, between the home buzz for Halliburton
00:38:37 who will try really hard and Maxie just wanting to show out
00:38:40 against the more veteran players,
00:38:42 I do think that that'd be kind of fun.
00:38:44 - Alrighty, well, Alex, let's keep it moving.
00:38:47 Let's go to-
00:38:48 - I didn't say Brunson, right?
00:38:49 But I mean, so there's only so many spots.
00:38:53 We'll get to it.
00:38:54 - Yeah, I mean, there's only 12 of us.
00:38:55 It's gonna be tough.
00:38:56 All right, so Alex's team so far for the reserves,
00:39:00 you got Mitchell and Brunson,
00:39:02 who you putting in the front court?
00:39:04 - In the front court, I have two locks
00:39:06 and one spot that is somewhat up for grabs,
00:39:08 but my two locks are Jaylen Brown
00:39:11 who has been outstanding this year.
00:39:13 Celtics are the best team in the league
00:39:15 and the best team in the league gets two all-stars.
00:39:17 I don't make the rules.
00:39:18 That's just how it works.
00:39:20 Jaylen Brown is absolutely deserving of that second slot.
00:39:23 And then for me, my other lock was Paolo Banqueiro.
00:39:26 Guys, I don't know if you noticed this,
00:39:30 but Paolo Banqueiro has played every game this year.
00:39:33 That guy is an iron man.
00:39:35 He just keeps going and going and going.
00:39:37 He's a huge part of the story
00:39:39 as to why Orlando is successful this year.
00:39:41 They've made a huge jump in the standings.
00:39:44 They're gonna make the playoffs for the first time
00:39:46 in what seems like a while.
00:39:49 And you watch the games,
00:39:51 you can just see his impact on a night-to-night basis.
00:39:54 Paolo is a monster.
00:39:56 Playing him at a small ball five position
00:39:58 is gonna be a pretty devastating thing
00:40:01 for I think many years to come in this league.
00:40:05 He's only gonna keep getting better
00:40:07 and his shooting, the rebounding, the defensive intensity.
00:40:11 I mean, that guy's a beast.
00:40:13 So I could not in good conscience
00:40:15 leave Paolo off my all-star team.
00:40:17 I think he is absolutely deserving.
00:40:19 He's been the Magic's best player
00:40:20 and they are headed for some good places.
00:40:23 For my third spot, this one was a little tougher for me.
00:40:27 Bam Adebayo, I think has a pretty solid claim to this spot
00:40:31 and he's the guy that I have there right now.
00:40:34 Defensively, he's been brilliant for Miami.
00:40:36 He's also carried a heavier offensive load this year.
00:40:40 And in general, I think this is probably the best Bam season
00:40:44 that we have seen from a statistics and impact standpoint.
00:40:49 That being said, Bam Adebayo has missed a few games
00:40:52 here or there, has had many members of the Miami Heat,
00:40:54 which we'll talk about later.
00:40:57 And so I was torn between Bam and Christophs Porzingis,
00:41:00 who I think has also been really strong for Boston.
00:41:03 He's made a huge impact with his vertical
00:41:05 and distance spacing, with rim protection, rebounding.
00:41:10 We can talk ad nauseum about how great Christophs has been.
00:41:14 He has only played one fewer game than Bam this year,
00:41:17 which is kind of crazy to think about
00:41:19 'cause we always think about Christophs
00:41:21 as a guy who misses games.
00:41:22 That's the big knock on his all-star case.
00:41:25 But he and Bam Adebayo are neck and neck.
00:41:28 I gave Bam the slight edge just because I think
00:41:30 he's doing a little bit more to carry his team right now.
00:41:34 But for me, it's a dead heat between Adebayo and Porzingis
00:41:39 with that last front court spot.
00:41:40 - All right, so Alex is taking Paolo,
00:41:44 Jalen Brown and Bam Adebayo.
00:41:46 Justin, you and I have the same three front court players.
00:41:48 Do you wanna break it down here?
00:41:50 - Yeah, actually Alex really set me up pretty well
00:41:54 with his analysis.
00:41:55 I actually value the William of Magic's current decline
00:42:00 in the standings.
00:42:02 They fell down from, I think the second spot in the West,
00:42:05 or the East, all the way down to, I think they're in eighth,
00:42:09 if I remember correctly, at the moment.
00:42:12 And I completely agree with Bam.
00:42:16 He has not missed as much time as Jimmy Butler,
00:42:19 which is, I think, one of the things
00:42:20 that you were hinting at.
00:42:22 Butler, he's a top four player in the front court fan vote
00:42:25 in the third returns right now.
00:42:28 But he tends to miss games.
00:42:31 He's already missed a lot of games
00:42:32 and there's a pretty decent chance
00:42:34 that he's not even in the running for major season awards.
00:42:38 So even though that doesn't necessarily count
00:42:40 for his all-star, it influenced the way that I looked at it.
00:42:43 So for me, I just flipped Porzingis in this case
00:42:47 for Paolo Bancaro.
00:42:50 So for me, those three really stand out for me
00:42:53 as my reserves.
00:42:54 - Yeah, I mean, we didn't talk about the Jalen Brown thing,
00:42:58 but I'm gonna assume anyone who's listened to this podcast
00:43:01 knows why Jalen Brown is a worthy all-star this year.
00:43:04 I think Porzingis and Adebayo,
00:43:06 the only knock on their all-star case
00:43:08 is that they've missed time.
00:43:10 But Forsberg, let me ask you,
00:43:13 if you had to pick now three front court players,
00:43:15 so you can't pick any guards yet, or ad guards rather,
00:43:18 what three would you pick?
00:43:20 - All right, so I'm going off my little hack list over here.
00:43:24 I do think Bam has to be on there.
00:43:25 Like you guys said, Jimmy just hasn't been out there
00:43:28 a whole lot, and I feel like, or at least,
00:43:31 Bam has had to carry that team at times.
00:43:33 And it's hard because I just went through the guards
00:43:38 and I was like, oh, I'm gonna reward teams that are winning,
00:43:40 and then you look and it's like,
00:43:41 Randall should be probably ahead of them,
00:43:43 but it's close enough where I'm not gonna split hairs.
00:43:46 I think Brunson's been so good,
00:43:48 and Brunson's sort of the engine that makes that team go.
00:43:50 And I think Randall, if he has good nights,
00:43:53 they're gonna be successful,
00:43:54 but OGA being added to that mix is probably more important
00:43:58 to their long-term success.
00:44:00 And so I can't get to the point
00:44:03 where I would have Randall on there.
00:44:06 Boncaro's been so good, I think he has to be there.
00:44:09 And I know they've slid in the standings.
00:44:11 I'm not sure it's his fault.
00:44:13 That's another team that is eventually going to have,
00:44:17 they'll add some pieces and they'll be really good,
00:44:19 and it'll further accentuate how good he is.
00:44:22 And yeah, Jalen Brown's a no-brainer.
00:44:24 So I would go Jalen, Bam, and Paolo.
00:44:29 - All righty.
00:44:33 I will say, there'll be a little bit of disagreement here
00:44:39 for us who ends up on the 12-man roster.
00:44:42 It's pretty hard to bring other names into the fold here.
00:44:46 I think outside of this band of 20 players
00:44:49 that we're sifting from,
00:44:50 like bringing Jared Allen in with respect to Jared Allen,
00:44:55 or like DeMar DeRozan in with respect to DeMar DeRozan,
00:44:57 it's a pretty sharp drop-off.
00:45:00 So I think whatever name that we leave off the list
00:45:03 is really gonna be like one of two
00:45:06 that don't get invited to the party.
00:45:08 All righty.
00:45:09 So at this point, we're just kind of sifting
00:45:15 through our favorite wildcard people.
00:45:16 So Alex, what I'll have you do is
00:45:18 I'll have you just like read through again
00:45:20 your list of reserves and include your wildcard,
00:45:23 'cause I think we've covered all of the players
00:45:25 any one of us would have on our list,
00:45:27 save one brilliant, bald, two-way guy,
00:45:32 which we'll talk about at the end.
00:45:34 So even if he made your team, don't tell us about why yet.
00:45:39 - For sure.
00:45:40 So just to recap, my team as it stands right now
00:45:44 is Tyrese Halliburton, Giannis, Jason Tatum,
00:45:48 Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson,
00:45:52 Paolo Bancaro, Jalen Brown, Bam Adebayo,
00:45:55 and I did not include a name that was included earlier
00:45:59 in Trey Young, who we penciled in as a starter.
00:46:04 - You're just cutting him.
00:46:05 - If I had my way, Trey Young would not be
00:46:08 on the all-star team because I do not support
00:46:11 rewarding Trey Young for an abysmal Hawks season
00:46:15 after I was super bullish on the Hawks to start the year.
00:46:20 He betrayed me and this blew up in my face.
00:46:23 So Trey Young, you're being axed from my all-star team
00:46:28 and I'm going to take Damien Lillard
00:46:30 and put him in the starters group.
00:46:32 To that end, Damien Lillard is not one of my wildcards.
00:46:38 Instead, a more deserving Tyrese Maxey is a wildcard
00:46:43 who deserves this more than Trey Young.
00:46:46 Tyrese Maxey has been terrific for Philly this year.
00:46:49 He has been a revelation at the starting point guard spot.
00:46:53 They play faster, they play more aggressively.
00:46:56 He's holding up defensively better
00:46:58 than I thought he would.
00:46:59 Not great, but he's at least manageable.
00:47:02 And the offensive efficiency, particularly when paired
00:47:06 with the presumptive back-to-back MVP in Joel Embiid,
00:47:11 Maxey's been excellent this year
00:47:13 and I could not in good conscience leave him
00:47:16 off my all-star team, especially to reward Trey Young
00:47:20 after he again betrayed me.
00:47:22 So Trey, you're off.
00:47:24 Tyrese and Dame, you're on.
00:47:27 And for my last wildcard spot,
00:47:30 I was quite torn for this one.
00:47:33 I wanted to give it to a front court player
00:47:36 to balance the wildcards.
00:47:38 And so I was torn between Christoph Sporzingis,
00:47:42 who I mentioned earlier, and Jimmy Butler.
00:47:46 And I know that Jimmy Butler has missed a lot of games.
00:47:48 I know that Jimmy Butler is probably
00:47:52 from a statistical standpoint, not quite so deserving
00:47:56 of that all-star case.
00:47:58 But guys, here's the thing.
00:48:01 After this podcast is over, I'm gonna go to bed.
00:48:03 And I really hope that when I go to bed,
00:48:07 I don't have dreams about Jimmy Butler
00:48:09 like I do on so many nights,
00:48:11 because Jimmy Butler is a specter that haunts me every night.
00:48:16 And he lives in my brain and I've seen what he can do
00:48:21 and I know what he's capable of.
00:48:24 And I have been intimidated into putting Jimmy Butler
00:48:28 onto my all-star team.
00:48:29 He scares me that much. - I agree with that.
00:48:32 - And so I have done it.
00:48:33 Apologies to Christoph Sporzingis.
00:48:35 You can change this, Christoph.
00:48:37 You can fix this for me.
00:48:39 You can make it so that next year when we do this,
00:48:42 it will be no question that I will put you
00:48:44 on the all-star team.
00:48:45 But right now, I'm scared that Jimmy Butler will find me
00:48:50 and hunt me down if I don't put him on the all-star team.
00:48:53 So I have done that.
00:48:55 - I really like how you finished that.
00:48:59 - Because it's relevant to my wild cards as well.
00:49:03 Just to recap, Mitchell and Maxie in the back court,
00:49:07 Jalen Brown, Christoph Sporzingis,
00:49:09 Bam out of Bayou in the front court.
00:49:11 And then for my wild cards, I have Damian Lillard
00:49:14 because he deserves to be there.
00:49:16 And it has to change.
00:49:19 But get those shooting splits up
00:49:24 and Derek White, you are in.
00:49:27 All right, Alex is White out.
00:49:29 Justin is White in.
00:49:30 Just quickly, I've got Lillard and Mitchell in reserve.
00:49:35 I've got Bam Brown and Sporzingis in reserve.
00:49:38 I've got Ben Caro in reserve,
00:49:40 although through this conversation,
00:49:42 I don't feel as strongly about that.
00:49:44 And I have Julius Randall.
00:49:46 I don't know.
00:49:48 He's so polarizing.
00:49:49 Even internally, I feel like he's polarizing for me.
00:49:54 I love the quip.
00:49:56 He looks like someone who's playing basketball
00:49:58 wearing a backpack.
00:49:59 That lives rent-free in my head.
00:50:01 I still don't have-
00:50:03 - I think it was wearing jeans.
00:50:05 I think Draymond's backpack.
00:50:06 - Oh, wearing jeans.
00:50:07 Yeah, yeah, Draymond's backpack.
00:50:08 He's wearing jeans.
00:50:08 (laughs)
00:50:09 It's even better.
00:50:10 Yeah, I don't have Brunson on my team.
00:50:13 And Brunson would also be a good shout,
00:50:15 which is to say, just,
00:50:18 and to say nothing of Jimmy Butler,
00:50:21 I struggle to find a spot for Derek White.
00:50:25 And I think two weeks ago, three weeks ago,
00:50:28 I would have felt differently.
00:50:29 So I think I'm going Randall and Bankero.
00:50:32 Ooh, I want to put Brunson.
00:50:34 I'm going to go Randall and Bankero
00:50:35 'cause this is not binding.
00:50:37 Which is to say that, Chris, you've got,
00:50:40 you can change this,
00:50:41 but right now you've got Damian Lillard and Tyrus Maxey.
00:50:43 You've got Jalen Brown, Bam Adebayo, and Paolo Bankero,
00:50:47 which means you have two spots left
00:50:49 for you to put to the party.
00:50:50 - So I didn't have Brunson, right?
00:50:51 Like, which I'm already regretting my shuffle.
00:50:53 So he has to be on there,
00:50:54 which leaves only one.
00:50:55 And, you know, that's where it gets difficult.
00:50:58 I think if you're listening to this podcast,
00:50:59 you're sitting there going,
00:51:00 what is the roadmap for Derek White
00:51:02 or Chris Stapps-Torzingas?
00:51:05 If you had a time machine,
00:51:06 and like you say, could go back two weeks,
00:51:08 we could, the Derek White all-star hype train
00:51:12 departed the station too early.
00:51:14 You know, I think there's still some hope
00:51:17 that if the Celtics have the best record in basketball,
00:51:19 and pretty decidedly so,
00:51:21 at least if there's an injury,
00:51:23 or if the commissioner,
00:51:24 whose role I'm supposedly playing right now,
00:51:27 were to swoop in,
00:51:28 I think there's a good chance
00:51:29 that maybe one of those guys gets one of those spots.
00:51:32 I think if you watch the Celtics every night,
00:51:34 you're pretty bullish on like how important
00:51:37 Torzingas has been pretty quickly,
00:51:39 and how different they are when they don't have him.
00:51:41 But I also understand that
00:51:43 if I'm one of the coaches voting on this poll,
00:51:46 I'm probably splitting my vote.
00:51:47 Like, you know, one of us is giving it to Derek,
00:51:49 one of us is giving it to Torzingas.
00:51:52 And ultimately,
00:51:54 Betray Youngs and Julius Randles
00:51:55 and such of the world are gonna swoop in.
00:51:58 You know, just running down my list of possibles,
00:52:02 like, you know,
00:52:03 C. Occom's not gonna make it
00:52:05 because Raptors were terrible,
00:52:06 and there hasn't been a large enough sample
00:52:08 to know just how good he can be.
00:52:10 With the Pacers, Mikael Bridges,
00:52:13 you know, ultimately it feels,
00:52:17 this was one of the easier years, I'd say.
00:52:19 And even though I still think the Celtics get squeezed
00:52:22 and only finish with two,
00:52:24 and maybe it's just every good team in the East
00:52:28 ends up with somebody or two guys,
00:52:31 you know, I'll listen to whoever you guys think.
00:52:34 Like, I can buy the case for Jimmy.
00:52:37 I can buy the case for Julius Randle.
00:52:42 Not in love with either of those picks,
00:52:45 the way I think that the guys in front of them
00:52:48 on their teams, like I think Bam and Jalen have to be there.
00:52:51 I think if I had to pick, and it would be,
00:52:54 I would have to fully admit it's just because I've watched
00:52:57 how good Porzingis is every night and the two-way impact.
00:53:01 And I'm a sucker for a good story
00:53:03 because, you know, who would have thought,
00:53:06 what has it been, five years since his,
00:53:07 four years since his last game?
00:53:09 - Yeah, something like that.
00:53:10 - Yeah, it's like, you know, and he's bounced,
00:53:13 and it's been a windy road.
00:53:14 But I also know the games played matters too.
00:53:16 So that's tough.
00:53:17 I want to reward people that are out there every night.
00:53:20 I'm trying to come up with a tiebreaker
00:53:23 that's just like, who would be the most fun to be out there?
00:53:27 - Oh.
00:53:29 - Like, do you reward?
00:53:31 - I don't know.
00:53:33 - Scotty Barnes would, I guess like,
00:53:35 that would be the one other name that I would throw in there
00:53:37 and same deal, like Toronto just doesn't,
00:53:40 after watching Toronto 9 million times,
00:53:41 I just can't get to the point where I want to give them.
00:53:44 - Yeah, there's not enough pop there.
00:53:46 - Yeah, but like, he would be fun in that game, right?
00:53:49 Like another young guy that just would want to be out there.
00:53:52 And so I guess that would be the way I'd lean.
00:53:55 I would need to rock the Canadian boat.
00:53:57 - I mean, if you were commissioner,
00:53:59 what you could do is you could say,
00:54:01 Jimmy Butler, it's you, wink, wink.
00:54:04 You're going to say that you're injured.
00:54:05 - Now you're being replaced.
00:54:07 - And you could also probably say that to Porzingis.
00:54:10 I'm sure Porzingis would be cool
00:54:11 with getting the honor and not playing.
00:54:15 But that's gamesmanship that I don't think.
00:54:17 - Look, I think about all the stuff
00:54:18 that Christoph Porzingis has had to sit out this year,
00:54:21 IST finals, FIBAs, all the sake of being healthy
00:54:26 for when it really matters.
00:54:28 And like a part of why I want to reward him.
00:54:31 He's been so selfless in the quest for a bigger goal,
00:54:35 but yeah, let's give him the honorary assignment
00:54:40 to the all-star game and then pull it out from under him
00:54:42 so he can rest that cap or whatever is achy.
00:54:45 - I love that.
00:54:47 Last year was Salt Lake City,
00:54:51 and that was the year that like people flew in on Sunday
00:54:53 and everyone saw the Jets fly out like after the game, right?
00:54:57 - I think we're the same.
00:54:59 - I think Indy's going to be the same.
00:55:02 Alrighty.
00:55:03 - Shout out to the Circle City though.
00:55:05 I enjoy it in Annapolis.
00:55:06 You and your crazy time zone,
00:55:09 like it's the furthest part West of whatever time zone
00:55:12 it's in, and it's always like daylight at nine o'clock
00:55:15 when we're there.
00:55:16 And I don't understand it, and I don't argue it.
00:55:19 - That's good to know.
00:55:20 I'm hoping to make my way out there.
00:55:22 So I've never been.
00:55:24 Alrighty.
00:55:27 Chris Forsberg, NBC Sports Boston.
00:55:28 Let's do this.
00:55:29 Everyone gets 30 seconds to a minute, no more.
00:55:33 Just give us your all-star game take this year,
00:55:35 all of the years, next year, whatever it is.
00:55:38 What do you think of the all-star game?
00:55:41 I'll model it.
00:55:42 I'm actually going to do two.
00:55:44 One, we don't give Aaron Gordon enough credit
00:55:48 for the dunk contests that he has given us.
00:55:52 If that dude retired tomorrow,
00:55:53 he would be a hero of the 20 teens for the dunk contests
00:55:57 because that product usually doesn't work.
00:56:00 And he made it work for so many years.
00:56:01 So thank you, Aaron Gordon.
00:56:02 And the second thing that I will say is I just learned
00:56:05 that the court at the Indianapolis,
00:56:08 I think I learned this on the Hoop Collective,
00:56:09 the court at the airport that everyone was so happy with.
00:56:12 It's just a sticker.
00:56:13 It's not an actual court.
00:56:15 And they have a thing on top of the hoop.
00:56:17 So you can't even shoot hoops.
00:56:20 So that was very disillusioning for me.
00:56:22 Okay.
00:56:23 So that is my all-star game riff.
00:56:25 Chris, you get to go last because you're the guest.
00:56:27 Alex, 30 seconds to 60 seconds on the all-star game.
00:56:30 Take it any direction you want.
00:56:32 The NBA made a mistake by getting rid
00:56:34 of the all-star game draft.
00:56:35 It was one of the best things to happen
00:56:37 to the all-star game in years.
00:56:39 And I think I would like to take it a step further.
00:56:42 The all-star game should be played outside
00:56:45 on a concrete court with an actual live pick
00:56:49 with captains picking their teams
00:56:51 and then playing the court, like same product,
00:56:56 same viewing, same broadcast in the moment.
00:56:58 - Wow. I like that.
00:57:01 Yield the remainder of your time.
00:57:02 Wow. That's great.
00:57:03 All right, Dr. Quinn.
00:57:06 - So two parts.
00:57:07 The all-star team should have at least 13 players
00:57:11 and 15 reflecting what the league now has
00:57:14 on most rosters would be better in my opinion.
00:57:18 There's plenty of arguments against it.
00:57:20 It's too late for me to entertain them.
00:57:23 And Boston was robbed.
00:57:25 So 2027 better be in Boston.
00:57:28 - That's what I'm saying.
00:57:31 Yeah, I was saying that to Emily over dinner today
00:57:33 that I want to be able to go to an all-star game
00:57:36 as a media member in Boston.
00:57:38 Like it's just, it'll be fun to like show people
00:57:41 how to do the wifi and stuff like that.
00:57:43 - They need a new arena to cement it
00:57:48 because the league likes to give new arenas the award, but.
00:57:52 - I think Delaware North is too cheap for that,
00:57:55 but that's a conversation for another day.
00:57:57 Chris Forsberg, thank you for coming
00:57:58 on the Celtics Club Podcast.
00:58:00 What is your all-star riff?
00:58:02 - Well, I'll just spin off everybody.
00:58:03 I would love for Boston to host an all-star game.
00:58:06 Like having been to all-star games
00:58:07 and how spread out they tend to be,
00:58:09 I worry like how exactly are we holding stuff
00:58:11 at like Harvard or like, you know,
00:58:13 like the rising stars challenge can't be at the garden
00:58:16 if everything else is going on.
00:58:18 I yearn, I am very nostalgic in all facets of my life.
00:58:23 And I yearn to be the young child who obsessed
00:58:26 about the dunk contest when Dominique
00:58:29 and Michael Jordan were dominating,
00:58:31 when Larry Bird was showing up in, you know,
00:58:34 the half sleeve warmup and asking
00:58:37 who was coming in second place.
00:58:39 I even miss when Craig Hodges was being brought back,
00:58:41 even though he wasn't on a team
00:58:42 and they just give him like a red, white, and blue jersey
00:58:44 and say, go out and defend your three-point championship
00:58:45 'cause the Bulls had caught him that year or whatever.
00:58:49 It felt like all-star Saturday night had a purpose
00:58:51 and it's been replaced by like celebrity games
00:58:55 and G League showcases.
00:58:56 And I don't know, the all-star game in general
00:58:58 doesn't have the same buzz.
00:58:59 I am weirdly excited for them to go back
00:59:02 to East versus West.
00:59:04 And while I will miss the draft and the chaos
00:59:07 of, and the pettiness of people choosing each other,
00:59:10 I guess I'm, nostalgia wins there.
00:59:14 And I just hope that it gives at least some reason
00:59:17 for them to kind of go at each other a little bit more
00:59:20 than when the random, oh look,
00:59:22 the Jays are on different teams,
00:59:24 even though it doesn't make any sense.
00:59:26 - All-star game should be at Rogers Park, Oak Square.
00:59:30 - Awesome.
00:59:31 (laughing)
00:59:33 - All right, well, on that.
00:59:35 - Everyone shows up carrying a Duncan's cup
00:59:38 and puts it down, laces up their shoes,
00:59:41 and they're playing on the sidelines.
00:59:43 - Yeah, I mean, I think that's gonna be hard to top.
00:59:48 I think that that's the most vivid picture
00:59:51 we can paint for people.
00:59:52 So let's pause there.
00:59:53 All right, Mr. Fortenberg,
00:59:54 thank you for taking time away from NBC Sports Boston
00:59:58 and whatever else it is you do in your life,
01:00:00 I'm not really sure.
01:00:02 I forgot about this.
01:00:03 Yeah, he's just gonna go into repose after this.
01:00:08 Thank you for joining us.
01:00:09 Listeners, thank you for stopping by the Celtics podcast,
01:00:12 which is brought to you by FanDuel,
01:00:13 the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.
01:00:17 This time next week,
01:00:17 we'll know about the all-star starters
01:00:19 and maybe we'll talk about our reserve picks
01:00:21 and trades and all that stuff.
01:00:23 But until then, like and subscribe
01:00:24 to never miss an episode,
01:00:25 and we will catch you next week.
01:00:27 Adios.
01:00:28 (upbeat music)
01:00:31 (upbeat music)
01:00:33 (upbeat music)
01:00:36 (upbeat music)
01:00:38 (upbeat music)