LAS VEGAS — A few last call notes after NBA summer league in a place where last call doesn’t really exist …
While some NBA players, both current and former, are trying to devalue the Celtics‘ championship by saying they had an easy road to Banner 18 against teams with key injuries, league executives who have to build clubs to challenge them aren’t buying it.
“That’s such crap,” said one. “Sure, the basketball fan in me would have liked see them in a best-of-seven against Denver, but Minnesota beat the Nuggets with size, and Boston has size.
“But I just think people taking shots at who Boston played are crazy — or worse. You want a way to measure how good they were? How about 82 games against everybody when they had far and away the best record.”
The Celtics finished 14 games ahead of the Knicks in their conference and were seven games better than Western leaders Denver and Oklahoma City.
“It’s funny that people give teams the Celtics played against a pass because of injuries, but no one talks about Boston last year,” another GM told Heavy Sports. “You can even leave aside (Jayson) Tatum getting hurt at the start of Game 7 (in the conference finals against Miami). I don’t think they would have been in that tough position if not for Malcolm Brogdon‘s injury (elbow).
“They were really good this year, but I thought they had a chance of winning the year before if Malcolm isn’t hurt. Malcolm was a shell of himself, and that was too bad. He had a great year for them. He tried to play, but it was a pretty serious injury.”
Celtics Show Close-Out Ability (Finally)
The difference this past season for the Celts wasn’t just personnel, according to another exec.
“They weren’t the same team that used to blow games at the end,” he said. “They won tight games in the playoffs. They showed that. They proved it to people — and they proved it to themselves. And that second part is a lot more important than the first.
“When you’ve pissed games away in crunch time, it can stick in your head. It can be a subconscious thing. But once you overcome that a few times, you know it’s in you, and you don’t tighten up like you did before.”
Bronny James Not an NBA Player, But …
Bronny James was the headliner for many who poured through the doors of UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center, where all the Laker games were played (none in the adjacent Cox Pavilion, which seats about 2,500). But Bronny aside, the Lakers are booked for T&M because they have the biggest following here, owing to the franchise history and, more important, the proximity to L.A.
The SO (Son Of) showed better in later games, winding up with an average of 8.8 points in 25.1 minutes. Bronny showed flashes of quality, but without the name, he’d have barely been noticed.
Frankly, I don’t see him as an NBA player at all right now, but as a league exec pointed out in an earlier Heavy.com story, he’s coming off a disjointed season at USC after his cardiac incident last summer and playing on a Trojan team that seriously lacked cohesion.
At the 55th pick overall, he may have still have been a reach, but it’s obviously fair to let this play out over the next year or so.
Future Blurry for Jordan Walsh
And, hey, if you’re just going by what was seen out here, you wouldn’t be wagering much on Jordan Walsh’s future. He looked to be a good bet to spend 2024-25 in Boston, and I was thinking Oshae Brissett’s spot would be his after what I saw last year. But Walsh played with little confidence early on and recovered a bit by the last game.
It would, however, be foolish to read too much into summer league games. (See: Edwards, Carsen.) Walsh will get his shot in training camp, and with the Celtics essentially whole coming off their championship, the 20-year-old wing/bruiser still has time and a better game than he showed here on his side.
By the way, interesting to note that Walsh actually came to the Celts in a trade with Sacramento a week after the 2023 draft. Also coming to Boston in that deal was a second round pick that turned onto Anton Watson, who looked very good here. Interesting Part 2: Watson will be 24 at the start of the season. He clearly benefited from five years with Gonzaga.
Darvin Ham’s Sweaty Exit
Darvin Ham is back on the Milwaukee staff — this time under Doc Rivers — after two seasons as head coach with the Lakers. Ham has a lot of friends in the league, and, though they obviously didn’t want to see him get let go in L.A., many who came up to him appeared happy that he’d “escaped that reality TV show,” as one put it.
It reminded me of the great Maurice Lucas, whom the Lakers brought in for toughness in 1985. The club was seen as lacking in that area, particularly when it came to matching up with Boston, and Luke met his job description by getting into a fight with Robert Parish during a preseason game at The Forum.
But the Lakers let the 6-9 banger go after that one year, and I asked him about the harsh exit after he was picked up on waivers by Seattle.
“I guess they didn’t like the way I was sweating on those Hollywood people in the front row,” Luke said.
Steve Bulpett has covered the NBA since 1985, the first 35 of those years as beat writer/columnist for the Boston Herald. In that time, he has gained National Top 10 honors from the APSE as a columnist, beat reporter and features writer. Since 2014, he has served as a vice president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association. More about Steve Bulpett
