Report: Boston’s Allison Feaster, Mike Zarren remain most popular GM candidates in NBA

The B/R article also lists some potential GM candidate names previously not making the rounds should the Celtics choose to add to their front office.

The Boston Celtics came into their 2021 NBA offseason with a somewhat untested front office after moving on from longtime President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge in favor of front office novice Brad Stevens. Key positions continued to be occupied by veteran executives like Mike Zarren and Austin Ainge, but comparative newcomers like Allison Feaster also had significant roles.

That didn’t stop the team from having a highly-regarded reshuffling of the roster, with Stevens and company swiftly and decisively reshaping the team into a much more flexible and deep roster. This kind of strong outcome is likely a significant part of why at least two of those names are frequent candidates in articles about who the next wave of NBA general managers might be.

One such piece, by Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, outlines how that duo of Zarren and Feaster are widely seen as potential candidates from the Celtics’ executive structure to become GMs, whether in another organization or with Boston under Stevens.

WATCH: Will Boston’s Marcus Smart have a Defensive Player of the Year season?

The Texan guard is due for a bounce-back season.

Veteran Boston Celtics point guard Marcus Smart had an off year in 2020-21 due in part to a calf injury sustained midway through the season. He was not named to an All-Defensive team for the first time in three seasons.

Can the Flower Mound native have a bounce-back season in 2021-22 with a lighter load on the offensive end of the ball and more help on a roster designed to maximize the team’s defensive capabilities?  And what is the ceiling for this team next season anyhow? Can new head coach Ime Udoka win coach of the year? Is there a world where Boston could win it all?

Join the hosts of the CLNS Media “A-List” podcast A. Sherrod Blakeley and Kwani A. Lunis as they break down the chances this team has in a number of areas heading into the coming NBA season.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Celtics Hall of Famer Cedric Maxwell thinks Boston’s recent extensions may aid landing a star via trade

Count him a fan of Boston’s recent trio of extensions.

While a few dissenting opinions have popped up over the last week or so, for the most part, fans of the Boston Celtics have been largely supportive of the team’s 2021 offseason moves, especially the extensions of veteran guard Marcus Smart, newly-acquired wing Josh Richardson and rising big man Robert Williams III.

And among those fans is a former Celtic champion and Hall of Famer — namely Cedric Maxwell. The former NBA Finals MVP isn’t just a fan of how much of a bargain they are for the trio of players Boston gave them out to, but also for how they might be used in a potential trade to add a third star alongside All-Star forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

“Those contracts,” said Maxwell on a recent episode of his eponymous CLNS Media podcast, “are team-friendly.”

Boston Celtics check in as NBA’s fifth most valuable team in new assessment

NBA teams are evidently good investments even in pandemics.

The average value of teams in the Association has continued to climb despite the ongoing pandemic, with Sportico reporting on Monday that the average value of an NBA franchise to have risen to $2.4 billion, up from $2 billion in 2020.

The Boston Celtics check in as the league’s fifth-most valuable franchise in the league at a total valuation of $3.18 billion, just ahead of the Chicago Bulls at $3.14 billion and just behind the Brooklyn Nets at $3.4 billion. The New York Knicks ($5.42 billion), Golden State Warriors ($5.21 billion), and Los Angeles Lakers ($5.14 billion) round out the top three most valuable franchises in the NBA.

The New Orleans Pelicans have the ignominious honor of being the least valuable franchise in the league but are still worth a whopping $1.35 billion even so.

Something tells us the team’s owners aren’t losing too much sleep over their franchise equity at that number.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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ESPN’s Kevin Pelton gives Boston Celtics 2021 offseason a strong grade

Boston did well in Brad Stevens’ first offseason in the ESPN analyst’s opinion.

The Boston Celtics 2021 offseason has seen its fair share of scrutiny among those who find it excellent and a dud alike, with ESPN senior writer Kevin Pelton now joining the fray in his new league-wide assessment of offseason action.

Pelton may not be as wowed as some of the Celtics faithful, but he does see Boston’s offseason maneuvers as a strong play to improve the team from the front office down to the two way players. The ESPN analyst takes into account the walls constructed intentionally or not by current team president Brad Stevens’ predecessor Danny Ainge and is supportive of what Stevens did in those confines.

“Given limited flexibility entering the offseason, new Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens did well to reshuffle the lineup around All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum,” writes Pelton.

How do Boston Celtics fans feel about the team’s 2021 offseason?

Let us know with the poll within.

The Boston Celtics’ 2021 offseason has been a polarizing topic, with some taking the view that it was among the league’s worst, others seeing it as an absolute hit of an offseason, and plenty more falling somewhere in between.

It started with the trade of veteran point guard Kemba Walker for old friend Al Horford and big man Moses Brown and finishing with the three contract extensions signed by Josh Richardson, Robert Williams III, and Marcus Smart with plenty of other deals and signings in the interim. But, the one set of opinions we have not seen much of in the media to date is what the fans think of the offseason.

The fans will be the butts in seats at arenas and in front of screens at homes and bars around New England and beyond — how do they feel about Brad Stevens’ first summer as team president?

Do us a solid and answer the Twitter poll embedded above to let us know the answer to this question.

We’ll do our own assessment of Boston’s offseason shakeup on the next episode of the Celtics Lab podcast, but until we do be sure to give us your take as well.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: Are the Boston Celtics a better team than we think?

More depth, better balance, internal growth, and a new coach could go further than some seem to expect.

A lot of ink has been spilled on why the Boston Celtics underperformed in 2020-21, and the expectations for their coming season have perhaps been affected by Boston’s underwhelming play last season. But is it fair to expect the Celtics to reproduce another .500 season given all the issues the team had with COVID-19, injury, and roster construction?

At least some fans and analysts are expecting a fairly significant step forward after Boston cleaned up its books and reshuffled their roster, adding veteran depth and doing a better job balancing positionality. Some even expect a top-four finish from the Celtics after the moves they’ve made when figuring in internal development.

Watch the video embedded below put together by YouTuber AlexHoops to hear one such take that explores whether or not Boston is a better team than perhaps some of us think they are.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Incoming rookie Larry Bird has sage advice for a future Celtics squad in the present

Less of a time machine and more a timeless perspective, the 2021-22 Celtics could learn a bit from a young Larry Legend.

The Boston Celtics of 2021-22 could do themselves a bit of a favor by reaching back into the storied franchise’s past for advice on how to truly unlock their considerable potential, with one Celtics legend Larry Bird proffering up the sage words even before suiting up for the team he’d forge a Hall of Fame career with.

Last season’s Celtics were among the league’s worst in moving the ball, and their win-loss record did plenty of work underscoring why that was no minor problem for the team. A squad some expected to be a borderline contender barely squeaked into the playoffs, and while some of the blame can be laid at the feet of injury and COVID-19, plenty more was a product of stagnant ball movement and self-interested play.

So what would a pre-rookie Larry Legend recommend to these young Celtics then?

Boston Celtics have the NBA’s 2nd-best young core per recent Bleacher Report assessment

The team has some of the brightest prospects in the league already on their roster.

The Boston Celtics have one of the best young cores of any team in the league according to a recent article by Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report — in fact, second-best in the entire NBA. In his assessment of the top 10 best young cores in the Association this week, Buckley only puts the Atlanta Hawks core of Trae Young, John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, Onyeka Okongwu, and Jalen Johnson above the Celtics.

Counting Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams III, Payton Pritchard, and Aaron Nesmith as Boston’s core, it’s slotted one above that of the New Orleans Pelicans with Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kira Lewis Jr., and Jaxson Hayes.

“The Celtics might pack the heaviest two-man punch of any young nucleus so far with Tatum and Brown,” suggests Buckley, who relates the team has “legitimate depth” beyond them, adding they “finished closer to first than third and has multiple arguments for No. 1.”

“Boston shouldn’t count on another star emerging from this core,” opines the B/R analyst, “but Williams locks down the defensive end inside and out, Pritchard packs a steady scoring punch and Nesmith can be a flamethrower from three.”

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: How should we grade the Boston Celtics offseason so far?

This particular topic has some polarized perspectives, it seems.

There have been a wide variety of perspectives on how the Boston Celtics have conducted their offseason, with some seeing it as a slam-dunk, others a disaster, and still more a work in progress. Whether you see the busy offseason by new President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens as a runaway success or a colossal mess, you probably aren’t alone in your view.

On that particularly contentious topic, host of the NBC Sports Boston podcast “Celtics Talk” Chris Forsberg is joined by Stadium NBA analyst Jeff Goodman to talk about how Boston has done with their 2021 offseason to date, as well as how they feel about the recent trio of extensions the Celtics offered up to key players.

Watch the video embedded below to get their takes on everything Boston team building, and also how all the moving parts might function together.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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