Tag: 2022-23 nba season

Why Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is the sixth-best player in the NBA right now

The St. Louis native has his case made for that ranking in a new clip from Jason Timpf.

For some time, the question of whether star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was among the 10 best players in the NBA lingered. The St. Louis native was judged as being just outside that lofty context, among or just outside of the All-NBA territory (the top 15 players in the league).

But after helping to drive his Celtics to within two games of an NBA title in the 2022 NBA playoffs, the perception of where the former Duke standout ought to be ranked began to change. He and his Boston teammates dispatched teams led by Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Jason Timpf of the semi-eponymous The Volume podcast “Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf” makes the case for Tatum to be ranked sixth overall in the league in a new video.

Watch the clip embedded above to see his case for the St. Louis native to be in such elite company.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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ESPN panel projects several Boston Celtics in mix for 2022-23 hardware, with one major award won by team

Rookie of the Year, of course, is not among them.

When it comes to the dog days of summer, that period of the NBA calendar sometimes referred to as the “doldrums,” the focus of the NBA media turns toward ranking teams and players and projecting how the looming season will pan out.

When it comes to the major hardware handed out at the end of the 2022-23 season, the folks over at ESPN have some players in mind. A number of Boston Celtics make the cut for several awards as projected by the ESPN panel.

While there are a few categories without any Celtics presence — it seems fairly unlikely, for example, JD Davison would be in the running for Rookie of the Year — Boston is still well represented.

The Celtics are even seen as likely to win one of the major season awards, so let’s take a look at how Boston was rated by the panel.

Boston Celtic’s Jayson Tatum hopes to find rest before another busy season begins

For the first time in 2 years NBA All-star Jayson Tatum is able to take some rest in the offseason. The twenty-four-year-old Tatum has already almost played an entire extra season with playoff games.

For the first time in two years, NBA All-star Jayson Tatum is able to take some rest in the offseason. The twenty-four-year-old Tatum has almost played an entire extra season with playoff games. The small forward is only getting started in his career but already has played 74 playoff games.

Is it too much though? To put things in perspective, The Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy counted the number of career playoff games for Larry Bird and Tatum is about halfway to the number of career playoff games as the legend. Larry Legend did miss a good part of the later part of his career because of back problems and had to retire after only 12 years. At this rate, Tatum is on pace to far out-do Bird in playoff wins.

Resting the team’s most critical player is super important if the Celtics have any chance of getting back to The Finals and getting another chance at a championship.

“That’s a helluva two years of basketball,” related Tatum’s trainer Drew Hanlen. “After the Finals he was able to give his body a break, and mentally and emotionally gave his mind a break.”

“Now he’s back and starting to work on the areas that we think will help him take that next step.”

With the Celtics having a lot more depth in terms of players who can affect games and make winning plays it now falls on head coach Ime Udoka to handle the rotation while also going for the number one seed in the East.

Either way, the Celtics can hope for more success in the future.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Charania: Celtics to face Philadelphia 76ers on opening night; Dubs finals rematch dates set

The outline of the 2022-23 NBA season is starting to come into focus.

As each of the so-called dog-days of summer inch us closer to the 2022-23 NBA preseason schedule’s start, more details of the coming 2022-23 regular season schedule begin to come into focus. New reporting from The Athletic’s Shams Charania relates when the Boston Celtics will get a rematch with their 2022 NBA Finals opponent, and who they will face on opening night.

Regarding the former, the Dubs and Celtics will face off in San Francisco on Dec. 10, and again on Jan. 19 at TD Garden. As for the Oct. 18 start to the season, Boston will face its Atlantic Division rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Charania also relates Boston’s other historic rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, will face Golden State on opening night.

That’s sure to be must-see TV for all the abovementioned contests, with a much-improved Sixers squad quite the first tilt to start a season many are hoping — some even expecting — to end in a title.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Luke Kornet’s contract with the Boston Celtics to become guaranteed for $300,000 today

One of a series of partial guarantees kicks in for Kornet if he is not cut today.

Boston Celtics reserve big man Luke Kornet will see his bank account get just a little bit bigger today. His deal for the 2022-23 season has one of several partial guarantees kick in if he is not waived by the team today, according to Celtics Blog’s Keith Smith.

With no hints the former Vanderbilt player will be cut today, it appears Kornet will have his contract guaranteed for $300,000, a considerable step up from the $100,000 he was already guaranteed. Another $200,000 guarantee kicks in on opening night, meaning approximately half of his deal, worth slightly more than $1 million, will be guaranteed at that point.

The rest will be guaranteed on the leaguewide guarantee date of Jan. 10, as long as he has not been waived by the Celtics should they go in a different direction to fill their big man depth for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.

Kornet seems poised to take on a bigger role with the team than in the past two seasons in the short stints he has had with Boston, averaging 3.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.9 assists and blocks over 11.3 minutes per game.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Boston Celtics to reportedly play Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day ’22, open 2022-23 at home

As we get closer to September, details about next season are beginning to percolate up through the press.

One of the biggest days of the NBA calendar year is the annual slate of games scheduled for Christmas Day. The Boston Celtics have been a frequent beneficiary of being a part of the contests that draw the most eyes in the entire league calander.

And the Celtics will once again be featured on Dec. 25 by the league according to new reporting from The Athletic’s Shams Charania. He reports Boston will face the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden on Christmas Day.

The day’s other four games are the Golden State Warriors hosting the Memphis Grizzlies, the Philadelphia 76ers at the New York Knicks, the Phoenix Suns at the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers at the Dallas Mavericks;

Per the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn, the Celtics are going to start the season at home as scheduling news starts to percolate ahead of the late August to early September timeframe it usually is put out.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Breaking down Eastern Conference predictions for the 2022-23 NBA season

The Boston Celtics are likely at the top of the heap after their own moves to bolster their bench.

While the NBA’s Western Conference may indeed be deeper than it was last season in terms of potential contenders, that does not mean the top half of the Eastern Conference will be pushovers.

At present, the Milwaukee Bucks will be back at full strength. The Miami Heat will be dangerous as always — health permitting. The Philadelphia 76ers are in better shape to play around star Joel Embiid. And, of course, the Boston Celtics are likely at the top of the heap after their own moves bolstered their bench. Teams like the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets can’t be counted out of the title mix pending further moves.

To talk themselves through the likely state of the East in the 2022-23 season, the hosts of the ESPN “NBA Today” discussed the likely lay of the land in a recent episode.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Where does Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum rank in the NBA’s hierarchy of superstars?

In some analyses, the St. Louis native has cracked the shortlist of the 10 best players in the league.

Where does Boston Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum rank in the NBA’s hierarchy of superstars going into the 2022-23 NBA season? By most accounts, he is a top 15 player in the league after making first team All-NBA. In some analyses, the St. Louis native has cracked the shortlist of the 10-best players in the league.

Such is the case with the folks over at the “Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf” show on The Volume YouTube channel. They made projections about the campaign to come, and Timpf took us through his personal top 10 of NBA players for this season. Boston’s Tatum is among them.

Watch the clip embedded below to see where the former Duke standout lands among Brooklyn Nets star swingman Kevin Durant. Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid and Los Angeles Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Boston Celtics big man Al Horford just outside top 10 power forwards for 2022-23 in new assessment

Horford’s defensive abilities in the frontcourt have proven critical to Boston’s recent postseason success.

Whether veteran Boston Celtics big man Al Horford is a center or a power forward at this stage of his career probably comes down to an opinion more than anything factual. Even those assessing his 2022-23 ranking at the 5 see him within the top 20 in the league.

At the power forward position — likely closer to what Horford played in 2021-22 — a new assessment from the folks over at the Hoops Reference goes a step further, putting the one-time Florida standout just outside of their top 10 players at the 4 position in the NBA next season. Horford’s defensive abilities in the frontcourt have proven critical to Boston’s recent postseason success and will likely be key to any finals push in the season to come as well.

Watch the clip embedded below to hear what Hoops Reference has to say about the Celtics’ power forward.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Boston Celtics big man cracks NBA’s top 10 center trade targets for 2022-23 season in new HoopsHype analysis

The HoopsHype analysis sees this player as among the most desirable trade targets in the league at the 5.

The Boston Celtics did not have any players ranked in the annual HoopsHype assessment of the best players in the NBA by position that was published by our sister site. However, two Celtics centers were ranked when the HoopsHype panel assessed the 20 best players in the league at that position in terms of trade value.

In the dog days of summer, these assessments are the bread and butter of NBA coverage, and Boston has been well-represented as a team projected to contend for the 2023 NBA title.

Let’s take a look at the other big man rated among the league’s best centers, Al Horford at No. 19.