While we wait for Game 1 of the East finals, here’s some of what got Boston there to begin with.
The Boston Celtics eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers in 5 games in the NBA’s 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2024 NBA Playoffs while employing some ridiculously underrated tactics to do so.
This week, the hosts of the CLNS Media “First to the Floor” podcast, Jake Issenberg, Ben Vallis, and Wayne Spooney, took a deep dive into veteran big man Al Horford’s mind-boggling switching abilities, defensive menace Jrue Holiday’s timing on offensive rebounds, backup big man Luke Kornet’s passing out of the short roll, and much more.
Check out the clip embedded below to hear what they had to say about some of the most outstanding plays made by the Celtics in the last round of the postseason.
Could the San Antonio Spurs pull off a trade for Cleveland Cavaliers star Darius Garland this offseason?
The San Antonio Spurs are going to be on the hunt for potential ways to improve this summer. Victor Wembanyama just wrapped up an incredible rookie season that saw him win the first-ever unanimous Rookie of the Year award, and now, it’s up to the Spurs to make the roster better around him.
One potential trade target could be Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland. Following their postseason exit at the hands of the Boston Celtics, there has been a ton of smoke around the Cavs. One rumor has been that Garland could want to leave if Donovan Mitchell re-signs in Cleveland.
The CLAN the SPURS fan recently spoke about the idea, discussing whether or not the Spurs could look to trade for Garland this offseason.
Garland, a one-time All-Star, would be a great fit next to Wembanyama. His playmaking talent and shot creation would seriously elevate the Spurs’ offensive game.
Report: Thunder made several attempts to trade up to draft Evan Mobley in 2021.
After the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Boston Celtics in the playoffs, The Athletic’s Shams Charania revealed an interesting detail about Evan Mobley related to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder had the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NBA draft after getting unlucky in the lottery. They fell to the sixth slot despite entering with the fourth-best lottery odds.
The Thunder selected Josh Giddey with the No. 6 pick, but OKC attempted to move up, according to The Athletic.
The Thunder made multiple offers to the Cavaliers for the No. 3 spot. Cleveland refused to move and instead selected Mobley with the third pick.
“Interestingly, Mobley’s representation, Wasserman, cautioned the Cavs prior to the 2021 draft not to select Mobley, league sources said. It is a common draft strategy among agents in an effort to get players to certain teams — in this instance, Oklahoma City. The Thunder made multiple offers for the Cavs’ No. 3 pick in the draft that year, league sources said. But the Cavs selected Mobley anyway, and the relationship has remained healthy and positive.”
Cade Cunningham went to the Detroit Pistons with the No. 1 pick and Jalen Green went to the Houston Rockets with the No. 2 pick.
This shouldn’t be a shocker though. Heading into the 2021 NBA draft, the Thunder were rumored to be infatuated with Mobley, who admitted in the predraft process his favorite team was OKC.
The attempts failed as the Thunder selected Giddey. It all worked out for OKC though, as it drafted Chet Holmgren — someone with a similar profile but better — with the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA draft,
Even though the Thunder have Holmgren, a frontcourt pairing with Mobley would have given them arguably the best defensive duo in the league. It’s an intriguing idea, but the Cavaliers continue to be fans of the 22-year-old.
The Cavaliers have a lot to work through this summer.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes
Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve had a great week so far.
Remember when the Cleveland Cavaliers were the most feel-good story in the NBA a few years ago?
The vibes were on 100 back in 2021. Darius Garland had blossomed into an All-Star. Jarrett Allen was one of the best big men in the Eastern Conference. The team drafted Evan Mobley, too, and nearly made the playoffs.
For the first time in, well, almost forever without LeBron James, the Cavaliers were good and interesting! This was a team you could legitimately get behind. There was no pressure to win — only a clear desire to be good.
Today? All those vibes are gone.
The Donovan Mitchell trade changed everything for Cleveland. That move was supposed to make the Cavaliers into a contender. Now, for the second year in a row, Cleveland is out of the playoffs without sniffing the Eastern Conference Finals.
Meanwhile, as Cleveland has been treading water, other contenders in the East have moved upstream. New York is the conference’s No. 2 seed, the Pacers are on the rise, the Celtics have gotten even better and the Magic will be tough to beat moving forward.
This isn’t to say that this team will be bad or that the front office should blow things up, but it’s very clear that this current mixture of talent isn’t working the way they thought. Now, there’s pressure to figure things out. That is the burden of winning.
I doubt Cleveland makes any rash moves here. There are no moves the Cavs have to make here — the team’s core four players are all under contract for, at least, one more season.
Surely, they’d like to get Donovan Mitchell signed to an extension considering what Cleveland traded to get him. But if that means sacrificing Garland, that’s not an easy decision. It’s also hard to tell exactly what you’d be able to get in return for Garland in a trade. Would that actually help Cleveland get better? I’m not sure
None of these decisions are simple, but going from good to great never is. That’s where the Cavs are today. We’ll see if they figure things out.
If it’s up to longtime Lakers rival and LeBron James foil Danny Ainge, though, he might just have to do that in Utah. Or, you know, the Lakers will have to give up something to get him.
Utah is reportedly interested in bringing Bronny in for a workout, according toYahoo! Sports Krysten Peek.
“This is a savvy move by Danny Ainge, who is the CEO of Basketball Operations for the franchise. The Jazz are a potential competitor of the Lakers in the Western Conference and Ainge is a former executive of the Celtics, the most notable rival of Los Angeles.
Even if Utah doesn’t actually want to draft Bronny, this puts the Lakers in a bit of a predicament. They’re basically daring them: If you want to select the son of the NBA’s all-time scoring leader so he can play alongside his father in the NBA, perhaps you will need to trade with us (or ahead of us) to get the pick.”
Now, to be fair, this might not actually matter at all. Bronny says he just wants a shot at the NBA, whether it’s with his dad or not. If that shot comes in Utah, it doesn’t sound like he’ll mind it.
But this is a deliciously petty move from Danny Ainge. I have no choice but to respect it.
“Throughout the season, Mitchell has repeatedly mentioned how happy he is in Cleveland and how much he likes this situation. He’s played his best basketball here. But sources say at times he grew frustrated with some teammates’ lack of maturity, focus, playoff-level readiness and a willingness to listen.”
Oh. Huh. That’s a pretty strong statement to say out loud about any team’s leader and best player. As it turns out, Mitchell caught wind of the quote and report on Twitter.
He addressed it directly with a quote tweet claiming the sentiment was a lie:
While it’s impossible to know who’s really telling the truth here, one thing is certain: A crucial offseason with many questions for the Cavaliers awaits.
Will J.B. Bickerstaff still be the head coach? Is Darius Garland long for Cleveland? Is the Cavaliers’ relationship with Jarrett Allen still in a good place? But above all, whether they move forward with Mitchell as their centerpiece of the future is easily the main priority.
Mitchell’s quick decision to nip this report about potential frustrations with his teammates in the bud might speak volumes.
Thanks to Al Horford and some more heroics from Jayson Tatum, Boston is headed to the NBA’s 2024 Eastern Conference finals.
Thanks to veteran Boston Celtics big man Al Horford and some more heroics from star Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum, Boston is headed to the NBA’s 2024 Eastern Conference finals to face the winner of the Eastern Conference semifinals series between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.
After punching their ticket to the East finals with a 113-89 Game 5 win over a banged up Cleveland Cavaliers ball club on this past (May 15) Wednesday night, Tatum said (via the Associated Press) “It just shows the character of the team, the organization. People might think it’s a given we’re supposed to be here.”
The hosts of the CLNS Media “Garden Report” podcast, Bobby Manning, Josue Pavon, Jimmy Toscano, A. Sherrod Blakely and John Zannis, took a closer look at the series clincher postgame. Check it out below!
They will face the winner of the New York Knicks – Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference semifinals series.
For the third straight season, the Boston Celtics are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals. They will face the winner of the New York Knicks – Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference semifinals series after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in their own East semis series.
“We had a great opportunity at home to handle this, and I knew it was going to take a lot more than handling it normally,” said veteran Boston big man Al Horford postgame via the Associated Press. “It’s special. It’s something that’s hard to do (…) This is another positive step of where we want to get to.”
The hosts of the CLNS Media “First to the Floor” podcast, Jake Issenberg, Ben Vallis, and Wayne Spooney, sat down to talk it all over on their latest episode. Check it out below!
Are the Celtics ready for the next round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs?
How are fans of the Boston Celtics feeling about a return to the Eastern Conference finals? After beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in their 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals series, the Celtics await the winner of the New York Knicks – Indiana Pacers East semis series.
Are the Celtics ready for the next round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs? Do they need the Knicks – Pacers series to go to 7 games to give Boston a chance to rest and star Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis a chance to heal from his strained right soleus? And which of the two potential opponents in the next round might give Boston fits?
The hosts of the CLNS Media “Still Poddable” podcast, Brian Robb, Sam Packard, and Jay King, dug into the mailbag to see how Celtics fans feel about everything from the Cavs to the next round of the playoffs. Check it out below!
Al Horford in particular stood out in the series-clinching win with 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks.
The Boston Celtics have advanced to the NBA’s 2024 Eastern Conference finals to play the winner of the New York Knicks – Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference semifinals series after the Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in their own on Wednesday (May 16) night.
Veteran Boston big man Al Horford in particular stood out in the series-clinching win with 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks on a sizzling 8-of-15 shooting, including going a red-hot 6-of-13 from beyond the arc. The hosts of the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” podcast, Jack Simone and Sam LaFrance, took a closer look at the victory for Boston and what it means for the Celtics’ postseason run moving forward.
The backcourt pairing of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland may not lost.
The Cavaliers were eliminated by the Celtics in the second round of the playoffs, and it could lead to some major changes in Cleveland.
Even though the Cavs had several notable injuries during the series loss against Boston, there are some questions the organization has to answer about the long-term fit in both their backcourt and their frontcourt.
Cleveland’s pairing of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell has some serious doubters. So, too, does the fit of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. As such, this offseason could lead to a massive roster overhaul.
Here is more from Shams Charania, Joe Vardon, and Jason Lloyd (via The Athletic)
“Rival executives believe the Cavs will have to seriously evaluate the fit of Mitchell and Garland and ultimately may have to choose one or the other. Should Mitchell decide to stay long term, sources briefed on the matter say Garland’s representation, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, would have a conversation with Cavs officials on potentially finding a new home for the one-time All-Star.”
Mitchell still has another year of his contract and has a player option that would allow him to sign for the following season as well.
This offseason, however, he could sign an extension that could keep him in Cleveland on a long-term deal.
Should he do that, Garland would reportedly question his own role on the Cavaliers.
Dating back to 2021-22, when Garland was named an All-Star, the guard has averaged 32.0 points and 10.3 assists per 100 possessions. But with Mitchell on the court, that has dropped to 25.3 points and 10.0 assists per 100.
Garland dealt with multiple significant injuries this season, which also may have led to some of his productivity issues. But the reality is that if Mitchell stays in Cleveland, it is possible that Garland becomes available in a trade.
