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00:00Live right here on the early line on this Tuesday following
00:07the end of a 2023-24 NBA season.
00:11Hey, the draft is next week, eight days away, a two-day event
00:15now in the Association. The 2024 NBA draft, round number one
00:20on a Wednesday night. Next week, round two ends things out on
00:25Thursday. In the coming days, Donnie's big board will be up
00:28and firing for Zachary Reza Shea and Alexander Saar, the battle
00:33of who will be the number one overall picks to the Atlanta Hawks.
00:37But DRS, as we take an early look and we'll discuss when hour
00:41three gets underway at the title odds for next year, the Boston
00:45Celtics expected to be back on the mountaintop in just a season.
00:50Three to one, the price on the seas, half the price of everybody
00:55else in the field, and then some. The Denver Nuggets, two years
00:59ago now, the NBA champs at plus $7.50. The Timberwolves continuing
01:04the optimism at plus $8.50. The Mavs, a nine to one number, fourth
01:08best price, and the Bucs and the Thunder tied for that fifth
01:11best number at ten to one. But the Celtics already such a short
01:17favorite to win next year's NBA championship.
01:20Yeah, so you're almost looking at it the same way you did probably
01:23midseason this year, but wow, the Celtics are such a cheap price.
01:26I can't take it now, even though the next words out of our mouths
01:29are, well, they're probably going to win the championship anyway.
01:31So the price point shouldn't matter if you feel they're going to
01:33win. Now granted, you'd like it to be seven to one, eight to one,
01:36nine to one, and higher than three to one here. But let's also
01:39keep in mind, you've pointed this out multiple times, Ben, the amount
01:42of games that the Boston Celtics have played, and you can even go
01:44back to preseason, regular season, you know, and then obviously
01:47in the postseason at this point, well over a hundred games.
01:50That's a long streak, and also the mental edge that it takes to
01:53finally get that first NBA championship, the decompression that
01:57you're going to have over the summer and before, you know, like
01:59we're in the middle of June right now. NBA training camps get
02:01fired up and get underway in September. It's not as if it was
02:04like, okay, see you in like five or six months here, let me rest
02:07and be relaxed. Guys are going to get surgery, guys going to have
02:09to revamp up in the offseason. It's hard to win the championship,
02:12but other teams now see you and put that bullseye on your back.
02:15You don't think the Eastern Conference, which obviously the Milwaukee
02:18Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and New York Knicks aren't going to
02:20improve their teams to try to take down the Boston Celtics?
02:23Of course, they will. Having said that, what have you done for
02:26me lately? The Celtics were the best team in the NBA this year.
02:28They just won the championship, rightfully so. They're a heavy
02:31favorite to win it next year. The question is, should you take
02:34and select that three-to-one price here moving forward? I don't
02:37know if I like that so much, but if you ask me that, who's going
02:39to win it next year? It's probably going to be the Celtics, but
02:42you're going to get a much better Eastern Conference next year
02:45as long as some of these teams stay healthy.
02:47And there's already a super large distinction within the Eastern
02:51Conference. Boston plus 125 is the Eastern Conference title
02:55favorites. Next best number, the Milwaukee Bucks, and then you
02:59fall things off to the Sixers beyond that. Now our coach is here.
03:04James Young, JY, joins us on this Tuesday morning to look back
03:08at game number five of the NBA Finals and the end of an NBA
03:12season. JY, thanks for being here on The Early Line.
03:15I don't know if it's the end of the season or a funeral or whatever
03:19it was, but guys, Ben, you called it. That was, that wasn't good
03:23last night. That's not the way I thought Dallas was going to go
03:27out. It was a pretty bad effort, I would say on their part.
03:32A celebration and a coronation if you are in Beantown, not quite
03:37a funeral for championship number 18, the most ever in the
03:42history of the Association. 106-88, the victory in game number
03:47five, the Celtics cover as a seven-point home favorite. JY,
03:52we just talked about Boston's odds for next year. Already a short
03:56NBA championship favorite. Last year, entering this offseason,
04:01the Celtics were a preseason co-favorite alongside the Bucks.
04:04By the time we reached the NBA All-Star break, the short solo
04:09favorite and a very short favorite at the start of the
04:12postseason. But oftentimes in life, whether it's professional
04:16sports or otherwise, you set expectations for something and
04:20it's hard to rise to the occasion. Boston, all year long,
04:25matched that level of expectation. How did this year's
04:28Celtics team get it done? Simply put, their ability to defend
04:34and obviously the fact that they had a bunch of guys that were
04:36capable of going off. Let's be honest, the trades for Christoph
04:41Porzingis, I know he was hurt in the finals and drew a holiday.
04:45It was exactly what Boston needed. They needed a top-notch
04:48guard in the backcourt and needed a rip protector at the center
04:53position. Also, a rip protector that could stretch the floor
04:55and shoot the ball from 30 feet also helps you out a little bit.
04:58But Ben, they were by far and away the best team. Now, we
05:02can't sit here now and say, well, you know, this team had
05:05this guy hurt, this team had that guy hurt. They went 4-1, 4-1,
05:114-0, 4-1. They dominated teams. They were the best team in the
05:15NBA. And I think what makes it interesting now is a team that
05:18has underachieved for so many years, they're relatively young.
05:22So now this could be, Ben, the start of the next great dynasty
05:27in the NBA with the age of the core of this team, the coaching
05:32of Joe Mazzola. And obviously, Brad Stevens kind of, you know,
05:36finding the right players to fit around that core, the core
05:40guys.
05:41Yeah, it's a great organization. Nonetheless, like we talked
05:44about, like even though that hasn't been made in multiple
05:46championships, let's just say over the past 25 years, but
05:49every year they're right on the cusp of doing big things.
05:51They finally get over that hurdle. But if we do take a quick
05:54look here at Brown and Tatum in the finals here, pretty much
05:57an even matchup, but even more about betting the series itself
06:01was betting on who the MVP was actually going to be in the
06:03NBA finals. And it turned out it was Jalen Brown over Jason Tatum
06:07watching that series all the way through in the heavy price
06:10points here that you were getting on Brown and he finally
06:12comes through. I didn't agree with it. How did you feel that
06:15broke down between Brown and Tatum here on who was going to
06:17win that award?
06:18Well, I thought that if we were going to get a Jason Tatum near
06:21triple-double and he was going to surpass him.
06:24Well, he, I mean, he got 31-11-8.
06:27I mean, I don't know what else it had to do.
06:29I mean, listen, you can look at the fact that, you know, he
06:32didn't shoot the ball. Well, blah, blah, blah. The last three
06:35games. He was absolutely dynamic. We had to game for he
06:38played limited minutes, but games three and games five. He
06:41was really, really good. And I know Brown hit some shots, but
06:44to me the way Tatum closed. I thought with the performance
06:49last night, he should have gotten the MVP. I don't maybe
06:53on to next year, I guess. But the good thing about Tatum is
06:56he was happy more than anything to get the ring that was most
06:59important to him.
07:01We'll continue to look back on how this season came to a close
07:05where Dallas fell short and what it all means for a new NBA
07:09season on the horizon after a long offseason and dramatic
07:13summer ahead in the Association. We'll do that next live right
07:17here on this Tuesday on the early line on sports.
07:21Back right here live on this Tuesday on the early line on
07:24sports grid, the Boston Celtics and NBA champion once again
07:28for the first time since 2008, but for the 18th time all time
07:33in franchise history, the most ever in the history of the
07:37Association, a historic season for the Celtics. One built
07:41J-Y not only on the duo of J's, Jalen Brown drafted third
07:46overall in 2016, Jason Tatum drafted third overall in 2017,
07:51but the offseason acquisitions of Drew Holiday, Kristaps
07:54Porzingis, Derek White coming up clutch time. And again, a
07:58roster constructed by Brad Stevens that reaches the pinnacle
08:03once more. It was that balance and depth for Boston that we
08:07thought was a huge key in this series. Could it outweigh the
08:11best player in the series, Luka Doncic? And in fact it did and
08:16did so in only five games. When you look at the end of this
08:19season for the Dallas Mavericks, coming up short in
08:23the NBA finals. What was the reason?
08:27Three-point shooting, particularly of their star players
08:30and we talked about it. I know that they did not get crushed
08:34at the three-point line, but they didn't win the battle in
08:38game number five either. And when you can't go into a
08:41situation Ben, where your two top players shoot that poorly
08:46from three, Luke and Kyrie's combining to shoot five for 14.
08:51A lot of those were in the second half, right? So they
08:53did not get off to the start that I thought they needed. I
08:56thought it was a situation where they needed to play with
08:59the lead. They did not play with the lead. Kyrie Irving,
09:03let's be honest. He struggled and he struggled mightily in
09:06those three games in Boston. Maybe he needs to have a piece
09:11offering to the Leprechaun because now it's 13 straight
09:14games and he's lost at Boston since he stopped on it. And
09:18Ben, it seems like it ain't getting closer. The margins
09:21of losses are getting bigger and more important. So Kyrie's
09:25got a little work to do with some demons over there in
09:28Boston. But at the end of the day, it was what we talked
09:31about right before the series. Luke and Kyrie have to be
09:34so much better than Tatum and Brown in regards to their
09:39matchup versus the matchup of, you know, the next level
09:43guys of Boston and obviously Dallas, but that didn't happen.
09:48It didn't happen. Sometimes it wasn't even even sometimes
09:50Boston won it. So for them there to have to be better, but
09:54Dallas as a whole has to do better, particularly shooting
09:57the ball from three. I'll be interested in kind of offseason.
10:01They have Nico Harris did a good job at the trade deadline.
10:03What did he do this offseason improved the roster?
10:07Yeah, it will be interesting to see because I do think they
10:09were a better team than they were last year and certainly
10:11adding on some more pieces to depth can make some sense.
10:13But if we did take a look at the NBA Finals chances to win
10:17it in 2024 2025 at the fanville sportsbook. It's a Celtics
10:20at a three-to-one price here. The Dallas Mavericks entering
10:23at a nine-to-one price. So let's just talk quickly about
10:26the Mavericks in the offseason coach. If you are the GM,
10:29what changes would you like to see for the Dallas Mavericks
10:32to try to get over the hump next year?
10:34Well, let's be honest. Their bench play has got to be much
10:38better. Tim Hardaway jr. Who makes big money, you know,
10:41obviously was banged up this year. He's got to be better.
10:45I would look for another. I think you look at do you move
10:47lively into the starting lineup? And I think they need more
10:51three-point shooting here. This is a team that can do things
10:55obviously in regards to score with Luke and Kyrie, but you
10:59need better guys around them that are consistent three-point
11:02shooters to stretch the floor and give them driving lanes
11:05to attack. I think you got the lob to it with lively and maybe
11:08with Gafford, but three-point shooting is going to be key.
11:11They need better shooters and you need more bench play because
11:14let's be honest. They rely so heavily on these two that they
11:18can't compete unless both of them are playing an extremely
11:20high level.
11:22The Celtics a short favorite already for next year at
11:25three-to-one. The next best price is the Denver Nuggets.
11:28That's double Boston and then add on a dollar and a half
11:32this year. The Celtics were a preseason co-favorite. They
11:35match the level of expectation that was anticipated in
11:40Beantown. Will the Celtics do the same in 2024-25?
11:45They certainly are lined up to do so Ben, but let's see what
11:49comes out of the West. What happens with Denver? You're
11:51ready to come back in a bad mood. Minnesota. Do they take
11:54the next step in maturity? Oklahoma City. Presti's got so
11:58many draft assets. What does he push his chips to the center
12:01of the table to make that next run? What happens with the
12:04Clippers? By the way, shout out to Jeff Van Gundy getting back
12:07into the coaching ranks, jumping on Ty Lue's staff. That is a
12:10nice little nugget. I think I saw this morning that could be
12:13that could be beneficial. So it'd be a lot of interesting
12:16offseason. But like you said Ben, we ain't got a lot of
12:19time. It seems like soon training camps will be coming up
12:22again.
12:24Eight days until the NBA draft. You know what our charge is
12:27here. The rest of the basketball offseason. Get J.
12:30Wyatt job on one of these flashy new coaching staffs around
12:34the NBA if we can. Fade away to the break. Pick him off the
12:37network. And out the NBA season. And our two. Our three of
12:41them. Our blue ball.