The Summer Celtics Won Again, This Time Showing That It Is Actually Possible To Beat The Warriors
Garrett Ellwood. Getty Images.
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Everyone knows that if you can't beat a franchise in the NBA Finals to the point where you lose three straight to choke away a title, the next best thing is to beat that same franchise in Summer League. Makes you think which one really matters at this moment in time. You can choose to live in the past, I'll choose to live in the present where the most important thing in the NBA right now is winning Summer League games. Suddenly, the Summer Celts have won two straight and maybe I was wrong before Game 1 when I said this team wouldn't be the same type of wagon that the 2021 Summer Celts were. The beauty of Summer League is how unpredictable it is. For example, the two best shooters on this roster sat last night and it didn't matter. In fact, last night was one of the better shooting performances this team has had while in Vegas. Makes total sense!
I don't really care when they happen, there's nothing quite like a wire to wire win. Real games, fake games, doesn't matter. After how we all had to sweat out the win against the Bucks on Monday, it was nice to get back to stress free Celtics basketball. Man have I missed that shit. We're officially 75% of the way through our time in Vegas with one more game on Thursday against the Grizzlies (2-1) and then we'll see what type of Summer League tournament run they might have over the weekend. The point is, we're at the point where things are starting to come more into focus in regards to how these guys look and who may or may end up being part of this team moving forward.
We have a lot of exciting things to get to so I won't make you wait any longer. Let's dive in.
The Good
- I don't want to get ahead of myself and want to give everyone the full slate of games to make their case, but I am getting dangerously close to calling off the Summer League Crush race. I just don't know what Mfiondu Kabengele could possibly do to lose out on the top spot. He's been incredible since the moment this team touched down in Vegas and last night was no different. Going up against hyped up #2 pick James Wiseman, Kabengele stuffed that man in his back pocket. He completely outplayed him on both ends and was the best center on the floor with it not even being close
I keep waiting for him to sort of fall back to earth like what usually happens in Summer League, but it hasn't happened. Instead, it's more and more dominance. Last night to the tune of 20/13/4/1/2 on 6-11 (1-4) in his 28 minutes. Another monster effort on the offensive glass (5 OREB), I know we kid around a lot this time of year with all these guys, but I am having a hard time finding a reason why Kab shouldn't be part of this roster moving forward. I'm not even ruling out a guaranteed spot yet either, he's been that good.
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When you look at this roster, if the idea is they need depth in the frontcourt since Al will be resting and Rob is always a health concern, I want you to consider something. With the current bigs, who outside of Rob is a legit vertical threat? Who has that type of verticle gravity? No one really. Enter Kab. We know the Lob To Rob is one of the most unstoppable plays in the history of basketball, and having that verticle threat is very valuable to the Celts offense. If I'm thinking of a reserve big moving forward, it would be nice to have an additional verticle threat to help put that pressure on the defense. When you think of the roster that Brad is building and Ime likes to play, that skillset matters. If Kab has shown us one thing this summer, it's that he is elite at finishing lobs and has a ridiculous motor. I can find a spot at the end of the bench for that no problem.
Of course he needs to improve defensively and all that, but that's a given. You have to keep in perspective what type of player we're talking about here. These are depth/project pieces. They are all going to have areas they need to work on, and that's OK. It's about addressing a need and finding someone who fits how this team likes to play. Kab has shown he checks both of those boxes.
- I think we're starting to see what the Celts as an organization see in Juhann. What I love about him is his quick memory. There are times when he unloads one of the worst jumpers you'll ever see or another possession where he'll either turn it over or get blocked at the rim. You know what he does? He stays aggressive. He doesn't sulk and instead attacks. At just 19 years old, I sneaky love that mentality. The potential is there, there are flashes where you can see why this team is investing in him, and I thought last night was one of his better all around performances while in Vegas
I said it after Monday's game where he killed a guy, I can't shake the Young Jaylen vibes with Juhann. He plays a little out of control even though he has good intentions, his frame is ridiculous and the athleticism is off the charts. At the same time, he most definitely can't really dribble and has as TO problem (5). That's Young Jaylen.
He finished with 21/6/3 on 7-19 (2-4) while going 5-6 from the line, and it's the FTs that gives me hope that his jumper will eventually come around. Remember, he's 19 years old. Juhann is shooting 80% from the line in Vegas on 6.7 FTA, and his form looks great. Usually, that's a pretty good sign of what someone can become as a jump shooter. I thought he was much better at not losing his confidence despite some mistakes like we saw in Game 2, and overall I'd say this has been a pretty successful stint. At the end of the day, Vegas was an opportunity for all of us to see how he was progressing while knowing that the plan is most likely to have him go back overseas. That's fine by me. Give him one more year there, bring him back next summer and then let's see where we're at.
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There will always be a place on my team for a defensive minded wing with great size who can dunk on your head and also make threes. The way he cuts without the ball is beautiful. The Celts haven't exactly had a decent hit rate when it comes to these international projects, but I would just advise you to hold off on writing Juhann off. The foundation is there.
- I have to admit, I was very mad at Justin Jackson when he took that 30 footer late in Game 2 against the Bucks to kind of kill the Celts momentum following that Juhann murder. Clearly, that impacted him because holy shit was he nails last night. Maybe he just needs to play in the bigger arena?
Consider me intrigued. Jackson led the Summer Celts with 24 points on 9-14 (5-10) and it was his outside shooting that really extended the lead early. He has good size, a decent amount of NBA experience and if this shooting is real then we may have to have a different type of discussion. It's jut hard to know what to believe because his NBA sample size is pretty terrible, but he's young enough where you never know if a different situation might bring the best out of him.
I would consider what's happening to my brain right now to be classic Summer League. I love all these guys. I want them all to make the roster even though I know that's not possible. Let's say there's one final shooter role open for one of these guys between Matt Ryan and Justin Jackson, which direction do you go? They're different types of players for sure, and I don't think I'm ready to answer that question yet. I want to see Jackson more after last night. Was it a random hot shooting night or is there maybe something there? That range looked legit in this game and I will not overlook that.
- Who doesn't love 24 assists and only 15 TOs. Second game in a row the Summer Celts have broken the target assist number (20) and would you believe they won again. What's true for the main club is also true for the Summer club. Move the ball, play the right way and you'll win.
- When I say Brad is going to have some tough decisions to make, I'm not kidding. For example, what does he do with Brodric Thomas? He's someone who has been the best offensive point guard for the last two games
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He might be the leader in my clubhouse for the 2nd Two way spot right now. The thing is, they already have JD on one and I'm not sure if Brad uses both his Two Ways on that position. At the same time, there's no denying he's had himself a great showing in Vegas. There was that little issue with ball pressure against the Heat, but since then he's been great. I've been pleasantly surprised with the consistency of his outside shooting, and we saw more of it last night in his 18/5/2 performance on 7-12 (4-7) shooting. I also didn't know he could finish strong at the rim like that.
I'd classify him as more of a scoring guard than a passing point guard, and I'm not ruling out that another team looks at what he's doing and offers him more of a role than what Brad can give. Good size, efficient scoring and zero turnovers last night has to stand out to Brad and then you factor in that he's already been a part of this group and I can't see him letting Thomas go.
- We had ourselves another classic Baby Smart line from JD. Offensively, it's pretty gross right now. Guy can't make a floater to save his life, no matter how open he is. That's been established. But his passing, man do I love his passing. He finished with 5/4/9 with 3 TOs in his 29 minutes and was a +11, and just like Juhann you can see the potential in spades
If he wasn't a flawed player right now, he doesn't go late in the 2nd round. Like Juhann, he's 19 years old so he's nowhere near a finished product. But the more you watch him play, you can see that his vision and willingness as a passer is real. Sometimes he overpasses which results in turnovers, but I can live with that. I'll take that type of turnover over some isolation selfish bullshit.
I also love that he guards 94 feet and is an elite lob thrower. That's a quick way to my heart. What can I say, I'm a sucker for good defense and lobs. Sue me. Did you know JD is tied for 3rd in Vegas in assists per game at 7.0? He barely trails Josh Giddey (8.0) who is one of the best young natural passers the league has. I'll also let you know that his TOs (3.0) are fewer than any of the players ahead of him in terms of assists per game. Brad told us when he drafted JD that he was raw and a project, but you combine his athleticism with that passing ability and that's a pretty good starting point. He's also averaging 1.7 blocks per game as a point guard!
There's a reason he's Baby Smart, and we're seeing it with every game he plays.
The Bad
- After seeing him in person, it's pretty clear to me that you can't really evaluate Trevion Williams with what he is right now. What I mean by that is his body is going to have to drastically change at this level. He's not really in shape. Once that happens, I think a lot of his issues we're seen this summer will be addressed. He'll be quicker on defense, his conditioning will be better, and as a result my guess is he'll look better as a player. The passing is some of the most incredible shit I've ever seen from a big on a Summer Celts roster. It's legit insane. He sees shit no one else sees.
At the same time, he hasn't really made the impact I thought he might after spending a few hours watching his YouTube highlights. Last night had a few too many missed bunnies/turnovers for my liking, and I don't really put too much stock into his low assist numbers (2) because if Juhann was able to make a layup after making a beautiful cut, that number is higher. I just worry that his defensive issues will be too much of an issue for Brad/Ime. Maybe he gets the Two Way so they can get him in their program in an effort to get his body right/reps in Maine and he flourishes. The skillset is so unique I feel like it's worth the gamble, but I didn't think he was all that good last night in his 12 minutes.
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- Not exactly great that the Summer Celts had 38 points in the first quarter and then 39 points in the entire second half. That's Summer League baby but also very triggering because it reminded me of the main club's second halfs against the Warriors in the Finals. This is now the second game in a row where they came out flat to start the third quarter, and it make you wonder if Ime needs to go in there and give his patented half time motivation speech in an effort to make sure these guys come out ready to roll.
- When are we going to see AJ Reeves? Can the hometown kid get on the floor already? It's Summer League! Everyone should be playing, especially with Hauser and Matt Ryan out. We're running out of time and I want to see what he can do.
The Ugly
- Classic Celts to be dominating all game only to start to choke away a big lead. What was 20+ at one point was a dogfight over the final 3 minutes. The Celts went half of the 4th quarter without scoring a point which was very triggering. It was a little bullshit that I had to do some scoreboard math in a game that isn't even real, but that's what goes into rooting for this team. No lead is safe. I can tell you right now had the Celts choked away a 20+ point lead against GS, I don't recover. That's it for me. My Finals wounds are still too fresh to then add that bullshit to it so I'm thankful we didn't get it. It got close, but ultimately they held on.
I'm really excited to see how the Summer Celts stack up against the Grizzlies who have been one of the best teams in Vegas. They have a +8.3 point differential which is tied for the 2nd best (Celts +1.0) and like the Celts have won their last two. The goal of this week is to avenge the 2021 Summer League Finals loss, and to do that they're going to have to take care of business tomorrow. I already can't wait.