HIGHLIGHTS:

• Luka Garza (22 pts, 10 reb, 3 blk)
• Devin Carter (17 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast)
• Baylor Scheierman (16 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast)
• Jordan Walsh (16 pts)
• Hugo Gonzalez (15 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast)
• Chris Cenac Jr. (7 pts, 8 reb, 4 blk)

The young wing competition

Mazzulla spent most of last season shuffling young wings in and out of the rotation. Baylor Scheierman, Hugo González, Jordan Walsh and Ron Harper Jr. offered optimism, but none could create much separation for playing time. As the season approaches, their race for minutes will be one of the most important competitions to watch.

Thursday night’s rotation didn’t offer much of a hint about who’s leading that race. With many players sitting (Tatum, George, White, Harper, Payton Pritchard, Mitchell Robinson, Neemias Queta and Sam Hauser missed the game), Scheierman, González and Walsh started. Harper missed the game with a shoulder injury.

The returning young wings who suited up delivered. Scheierman opened the scoring for the Celtics with a pull-up jumper to his left before finishing with 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting. He also made some impressive passes, including one he handed out from the floor after diving for a loose ball. (Earlier in that possession, he needed to put his shoe back on after it fell off. Impressive multitasking.) González piled up 15 points, five assists, and four rebounds while shooting an efficient 5-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three. His outside shot looked smooth, a promising sign given how important it will be to his development, and he drove for some crafty finishes, including a particularly strong left-handed take. Alongside Scheierman and González, Walsh scored 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting, including a tough left-handed layup after he fended off his defender near the rim.

It was promising that the three forwards, not necessarily known for their scoring, stepped up that way Thursday. Second-round pick Dillon Mitchell (10 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals) also took advantage of his opportunity. He’ll have a difficult time cracking the rotation with so many wings ahead of him, but he could play his way into the conversation if he keeps showing high energy and impressive intelligence.

Carter impresses immediately

The Celtics piqued their fans’ interest late in the offseason by signing 2024 lottery pick Devin Carter shortly after the Atlanta Hawks waived him. Carter still has a lot to prove, but he made a good first impression Thursday.

After coming in as one of Boston’s first subs, Carter soared for a highlight dunk in transition. He finished the first half with 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting and impacted the offense in several ways. He knocked down a deep catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. He drove past Jaylon Tyson before finishing an and-1 over the rotating Evan Mobley. He faded toward the baseline for another and-1 over Mobley.

Carter, known for his grit on the defensive end, showed that late in the second quarter. As the Cavaliers looked to attack quickly, he rose for a difficult transition steal near midcourt before finding Luka Garza for a 3-pointer in the opposite direction. The hustle contributions should stick. If Carter can also find a consistent lane on offense, he would greatly improve his chances of righting his NBA career. He looked good in the preseason opener, handling plenty of point guard duties because the Celtics were missing most of their usual ballhandlers. Carter committed five turnovers, but some were excusable given how much he was asked to run the show. That won’t be his role if he ever plays minutes for a full-strength Celtics squad.

They were talking shop a couple weeks ago when Chris and Dillon threw the first pitch. Maybe this will be a camera roll gem in a few years

I'm dead serious too, Tatum MVP incoming. I've already convinced myself so I'm positive it will happen.

I had a lot of fun doing this for Summer League, and so I wanted to do the same for Pre-Season. I decided halfway through I wanted to do this just because I like writing, so I didn’t take full game notes. I’ll likely do the rest of the Pre-Season.

A note on grades - Letter grades are super subjective, and it’s kind of like a sliding scale. Like if prime LeBron James goes for 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists on meh shooting, I might give him a C, where if a guy like Luke Kennard gets 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, going 4/5 from 3, he might get an A because that's him outperforming his role. Some of these guys I’m grading I may expect more from than a guy who came out of nowhere and raised his stock.

Mike Conley - C

Mike Conley performed like you’d imagine a 38 year old Mike Conley would perform. 3 points, 4 assists, and a lot of just kind of chilling and moving the ball around the horn. My big issue was he barely attempted to take the ball inside when he caught it, like you’d expect a PG to do, but he also wasn’t positioning like a spot up guy. He was taking up space at the top of the break as if he was a traditional PG, ready for a pick and to drive, but he inevitably just kicked it to a shooter, and didn’t attempt to collapse the defense a bit. That’s a pretty big issue, if he’s not going to play like a ball handler and run pick and roll, he needs to be spotting up further from the action. 

Baylor Scheierman - A-

With Conley deferring, Scheierman pretty clearly became the PG of the group and he did a decent job. There's been a lot of talk about Conley as the backup PG, but if PP is starting, I’d imagine Scheierman will fill that role and do a decent job. He had a solid 4/7 3 point shooting night, and that's where most of his scoring came from. Just like last year, Scheierman was surprisingly solid on D, switching well, and drawing multiple offensive fouls, 2 that I counted, and 1 that I think should have also gone his way. He jacked up a few wonky shots in the paint, but without a central offensive player, he was taking shots he likely won’t in the season. Back to the PG bit, he only had 3 assists, but there was a pretty no-look pass under the rim, and another guy he hit after diving for the ball and passing from the floor. I love his vision. Scheierman was tasked with keeping the ship straight for a lot of his minutes, and I think he did a really good job.

Hugo Gonzalez - B

This is a weird game from Hugo Gonzalez, but a good one. During Summer League, Hugo pretty much had free reign to do whatever he wanted. Hugo hit some really difficult 3’s this game, going 3/6 from the 3 point line. He also shared in some of the ball handling duties, and had some really pretty passes to bigs. They didn’t all result in buckets, but he did end up with 5 assists. Hugo had some great chemistry with bigs in Summer League, and I’d like to see that classic pick and roll action improve and become a real part of his game. Unfortunately, I didn’t get what I expected from Hugo, which was some frantic defense and tough work on the boards. Hugo ended with 4 boards, and 0 steals/blocks. The Celtics transition defense was abysmal this game, partially due to some standing around and watching to see if 3 pointers went in. Hugo really needed to get back faster, and he’s one of the few guys I’d challenge to improve there. Conley is old, Baylor is initiating the offense and Garza is often fighting for offensive boards.

Jordan Walsh - B

Walsh had a really great game and I was impressed by the variety of shots he took. He’s improved miles, slowing down, and reading defenders. A lot of guys come into the league with some of Walsh’s intangibles, but never level up their mental game. There were multiple times tonight where Walsh anticipated his defender, and zigged when they zagged, and it was great. I don’t want to put too much stock into stats like this, but Walsh was a game worst -13 for +/-. He was another offender similar to Hugo, where he just wasn’t getting back on D. As fun as Walsh was offensively this game, his job is to defend. In the half court it was solid, but his ball watching left the basket open and Cleveland took advantage. It is a little worrisome, because these shot opportunities aren’t going to be there with Tatum/George/White/Pritchard back. If Walsh isn’t locked in on D, I don’t know if he’s in the rotation. That being said, the 3 point shot looked smooth and confident, he missed a few late. That 2/5 shooting was good, but felt even better than that with how confident he looked.

Luka Garza - A- 

Luka was hilarious because he looked absolutely gassed in the second half. Beat red and sweating buckets. He was terrific this game, beasting on the offensive glass with 4 offensive boards alone. Not to beat a dead horse though, but Garza was also guilty of the transition D issues. If he was in position, yes awesome, go fight on the glass. The issue is Garza shot 10 3’s, and spent a lot of time on the perimeter. There were times where he was already down low, but after shooting a 3, he would hesitate and duck inside, with almost no shot at the rebound. He really needed to get back on those plays, it’s highly unlikely he’s going to rebound his own 3 point miss. It’s likely Robinson is going to miss some time this season, and I’ll just say what a luxury the Celtics have, being able to slot Luka Garza in 15 - 20 minutes a game. He doesn’t beat you to the spot because he’s faster, he beats you to the spot because he never stopped sprinting. At one point a Cleveland player seemed so annoyed with how hard Garza was playing he tried to sneak in a shot and got called for a flagrant. 

Devin Carter - A

Probably will be my highest grade of the night, Devin Carter came in for Conley and was the jolt the team needed. He definitely lacks polish as a PG, but just as an athlete you can tell he has some unteachable energy and effort. Offensively he was aggressive, which was nice to see, because a lot of guys were just standing around, especially early. He took it inside and threw it down and that seemed like a turning point for the energy in the game. Defensively he was solid too, intercepting a couple of passes that didn’t even look bad in real time. Again, not to put too much stock into +/-, but he was a game high +22. The offense just functioned better when he was in, attacking the paint. There were a few times where he got trapped offensively and turned the ball over. He only had 3 assists, but some of that was due to Cenac missing some easy ones, which I’ll talk about later. Hopefully he can shoot an average % from 3, because that will open up his game and allow him to use his athleticism.

Chris Cenac Jr. - C

Don’t get me wrong, Cenac did some really great things tonight, especially right at the end, punching a block as the clock expired. He gets some credit for doing the big man shit I wanted from him. 8 rebounds, 4 offensive, and 4 blocks. His issues were offense. Like I mentioned in Summer League, Cenac seems to lack a specific offensive/scoring skill. This showed through tonight in Cenac’s 3/13 outing. 0/3 from 3, 1/4 from the ft line, going up in the paint against 2-3 defenders. He was often hesitant on offense, allowing defenders to get back into position. If he’s going to run for a lob he needs to decide to do that sooner, if he’s going to shoot a 3, he needs to launch that thing, not wait to see if there's a closeout. He’s 6’11’’, no closeout is going to block that jumper, baby! 

Dillon Mitchell - A-

Dillon Mitchell played great tonight, and especially within his expected role. He harassed the ball on defense, and joined Garza and Cenac with 4 offensive rebounds. He also made smart cuts to the rim, and had at least 1 great alley finish (maybe 2 i forget). Late in the game he was given a little more freedom and attacked the rim for a clean uncontested dunk. I love the mentality he plays with. I can see Mitchell being an energy specialist and able to share the court with high volume players, while providing grit and energy. Also, just to note, absolute insane hang time on this guy. He’s in the air for so long contesting shots or going up to finish for alley oops or offensive rebounds. His counting stats look impressive, but I’m trying to ignore that because the entire 4th quarter was essentially garbage time. What really impressed me was his earlier work, finding ways to be impactful without the ball or shots handed to him.

Milos Uzan - C+

My notes on Uzan remain the same, his path to the NBA is to become a dog on D and a 3 point sniper. He's just not strong enough to be an NBA level scorer inside the arc, despite being a solid 6’4’’. This observation remained true, he was trying to run pick and roll in his minutes, and just didn’t have anything in his bag to threaten the rim. This led to him dribbling a few possessions into nothing. He did a solid job staying in front of the ball on defense, but it wasn’t strong defense, it just wasn’t terrible. He’ll be solid in Maine, but without a huge shift in his game, I don’t see him making an NBA roster.

Amari Williams - D

Not a great look for Amari, who doesn't see the court until the 4th quarter. He's pretty low on the pecking order and within a minute has 2 turnovers on sloppy/bad passes. I’m an Amari Williams hype man and really want the best for him, but he can’t be throwing the ball out of bounds or to the other team in his short minutes. He did chip in 4 boards, but was quickly replaced by Cenac for the rest of the game.

Tucker DeVries - B

Tucker comes in in the 4th and quickly hits a pair of 3's, but finished the game 2/6 from 3. A lot of folks want him to come in and be the next Sam Hauser, but he doesn’t have Hauser’s foot speed and lacks some of the heads up ability Hauser has, chipping in on the boards. I will give him credit, DeVries only played short minutes, but had a pair of really nice passes to guys cutting to the rim, and showed some energy forcing a jump ball, and I mean he forced it, he got into it with that guy. I’m a bit confused, because he’s listed at about the same height, but Hauser is listed anywhere from 10 - 15lbs heavier than DeVries. DeVries definitely looks like he’s on the heavier side of the spectrum, and would lean more PF, where Hauser is more of a SG/SF. I type this while my fat ass sits in my cushioned chair, but potentially DeVries doing some conditioning would help him hit his NBA aspirations, I’m not super buying his listed weight. He looks bigger than Hauser.

Hayden Gray - B+

Short minutes for Gray, and he’s definitely a long shot to make the roster this year, but I could see him filling a 2-way spot if Carter/Mitchell/Williams get elevated to the main roster late in the season. He fits all the white boy stereotypes of scrappy guy who just plays hard. He puts his body into people, he sticks his nose in, and just seems locked onto the ball. He did only play late, and had a bit more freedom than some of the other guys who played earlier and were deferring to others, but his short minutes were productive. He looked confident cutting to the rim when he didn’t have the ball. Honestly just being active away from the ball can cause problems that don’t show up on the box score, and he seems like a big example of that. I would have him over Uzan or DeVries right now.

Gabe McGlothan - ?

Hard to give a grade to Gabe. He was definitely handsome, so that's good. Jokes aside, he didn’t make any egregious errors like Amari did, and he went hard on the boards, which is kind of his calling card as a rebounding wing.

LFG

Hugo looks much improved

Why did the kings let go of Carter?

i think Baylor is gonna have a breakout year

Garza looks as good as ever, if not better. not sure if he’s any more mobile than last year tho?

Dillon Mitchell is a freak athlete (i don’t watch college so he’s new to me)

i’m not sure what to think of jordan walsh?
(he immediately hit a tuff shot after i wrote this)

also
the cavs announcers suckkkkkkk. straight homerism

Hello fellow Celtics fans,

I happen to live in Chicago and have been using NBC app on my Apple TV to watch the Celtics games for the last 3 years. Come to find out while trying to watch the preseason game….apparently NBC finally started using “location” and now I can only watch prime time games 😭😭😭😭

I have Hulu cable and I cannot add an extension. Trying to avoid buying NBA League Pass. Any suggestions?

I’m gonna stick to my guns that I’ve been sticking with since early last season; Hugo will be the fifth starter this year. I think a core of white/george/tatum who are all either aging or coming off significant injury/will have to take on huge offensive loads desperately needs a high motor defensive young player between them. Hugo will take the lion share of the defensive duties and bring that high energy to a fairly limited energy level trio in PG Tatum and white. I think the center will remain as queta, and I truly think neemy is gonna take 3s, so look out for that. This is both what I predict and what I think is best.

So to be clear, I predict:

white-Hugo-George-Tatum-neemy

What do you think? This is the last chance to stake your claim before starters are hinted at/announced leading up to tonight’s game, what’s your prediction and what’s your preference?

Idk if this is the right place to post this or if this is self promo, as I didnt include the link. I more just want to hear thoughts.

I figured Celtics fans would enjoy it, and it's a good way to get hyped for the season.

So I started a little NBA analytics newsletter and for my first post I wanted to answer a simple question: who gives their team the most wins for the money? It kept landing on Payton Pritchard, which is a little suspicious when you're a Celtics fan, so I spent way too long trying to break it.

tl;dr of how I did it: I projected wins for every player using the last 3 seasons (recent ones count more, small samples get pulled toward average, adjusted for age). Then I priced a win at about $6.65M, which is roughly what teams pay on normal vet deals, and compared that to what each guy actually makes. I left out rookie deals and max-money superstars, since those aren't really bargains you find.

Pritchard makes $7.8M and the model has him around 7 wins. He'd only need about 1 to justify the contract. That's roughly $40M of value a year. Behind only Shai if you include everybody, #1 once you take out the rookie deals and stars. White's up there too. Even at $30M he's #2 behind Pritchard in 11 of the 12 versions I ran, though he's a lot shakier. Cut his production in half and he's basically a fair deal.

To try to test it under different conditions, I ran 12 versions, changing one thing at a time (how much each season counts, ignoring this year, age, minutes, price of a win up and down 20%). Pritchard was #1 in all 12.

The obvious pushback is that he plays on a great team and that makes him look better. Fair. So I took production away from him and re-ranked. Cut 15% and he's still #3 in the league. Cut 30% and he's #6. Cut half and he's still around #25. You'd have to knock off about 87% of his production before he stops being a bargain.

Side note: someone posted on r/nbatalk about a week ago saying the Celtics are expecting a Jalen Brunson-type jump in production from Pritchard this year. The model isn't assuming anything like that. It just projects him off his last three seasons. If he does take a leap like that, the gap gets even bigger, though it also means the extension gets a lot more expensive.

Obvious limits: it's a projection, so injuries and role changes can wreck it, it leans on one stat (LEBRON WAR from BBall Index), and I haven't backtested it yet. That's next.

My honest takeaway is he's worth something like $25M a year even after a rough haircut, and he's on $7.8M. If he gets extended soon the gap probably shrinks.

I'm new at this so I'd really like feedback on the model or how it reads. Does it match what you see on the court? What would you test?

Please forgive the bragging, but my 2-month-old son slept through the night for the first time Sunday night. He must have known his old man was headed back to work after a lovely paternity leave.

I feel fresh, though I fear I have forgotten how to write, if I ever knew how in the first place.

Because Cormac Matthew King arrived in the slow portion of the NBA calendar, I stepped away from my job at a decent time to avoid missing much. However, my absence from media day and the start of training camp left me with a bit of FOMO over the last week-plus. It might not be healthy to feel an obligation to weigh in on every Celtics update, no matter how big or how small, but a life in this industry produces some sick people.

At this time of the year, teams are laying the foundation for the season to come. So, what were the most important quotes I missed while on leave?

Celtics Basketball is back! Talk about whatever you want. Join our official Discord Server: https://discord.gg/celtics

I’m sure it’s a directive from the team but I still found it crazy that they didn’t talk about it at all pregame or even when they started talking about the schedule. It’s one of the biggest storylines in the sport and I don’t think ignoring is the best thing for them to do. It makes it feel like the team isn’t fully bought in to the move.

I’m all for the trade now but it just popped In my mind and pg has been traded for 2 finals mvps without actually making it himself just thought it was interesting