Tag: lowe post

Danny Ainge shuts down any idea Suns could have dealt up for Tatum

Boston Celtics team president shut down the idea Jayson Tatum could have been stolen from the team by the Suns in the draft.

According to Boston Celtics team president Danny Ainge, there was precisely zero percent chance the All-Star forward would have ended up playing for the Phoenix Suns.

This was of course in reference to comments made by Jayson Tatum in a recent episode of the “All the Smoke” podcast on which the Duke product revealed he had been leaning heavily towards wanting to be drafted by the Suns ahead of the 2017 NBA Draft.

Ainge responded — also on a podcast, this time ESPN’s “The Lowe Post” — to speculation about how close the reality Tatum described was to playing out in real life:

“Jayson was never going to end up in Phoenix, even if he didn’t come in for that second workout with us a few days before the draft in Boston,” he explained. “We were still going to take Jayson Tatum.”

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At the time, the Celtics had traded back with the Philadelphia 76ers, correctly divining they were after guard Markelle Fultz with the top overall selection.

With the Los Angeles Lakers signaling for weeks they’d be after point guard Lonzo Ball, Boston felt confident enough they’d get their man at No. 3.

They did, and while Phoenix was indeed picking fourth, it would have required a heft offer to convince the Lakers it would have been worth passing on the draft apple of their eye.

The ex-post facto conversations springing up regarding what other teams could’ve (and probably should have, if it were even possible) done doesn’t bother the Celtics president, though.

“It’s good that we have Jayson and it’s good that there are stories coming about him and how everybody else would have gotten him,” noted Ainge on the podcast, a wry grin almost audible on the recording.

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TrueHoop’s David Thorpe sees two Celtics in his top-10 most improved

TrueHoop analyst David Thorpe believes two of the NBA’s most improved players of the 2019-20 NBA season are Boston Celtics.

TrueHoop analyst David Thorpe recently appeared on The Lowe Post podcast to talk on the most improved players of the 2019-20 NBA season with host Zach Lowe of ESPN, listing two Boston Celtics among his top 10.

You might already have guessed the duo, as shooting guard Jaylen Brown and especially swingman Jayson Tatum have both taken considerable leaps forward on both ends of the floor this season.

Brown went from scoring 13 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists to 20.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game between this season and last while Tatum saw his 15.7 points, 6 boards and 2.1 assists per contest jump to 23.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.

What’s even more impressive is both have been better defenders as well.

“I have a real affinity for Jaylen Brown,” offered Thorpe for his eighth-most improved player this season, “because I feel like he’s one of those enigmatic players that gets in his head so much.”

“We saw a glimpse two years ago when Kyrie was out for the year. And we saw the debacle of the Celtics last season,” he continued.

“I didn’t know, honestly, what we were going to get from him this year, but what we got was a terrific, two-way player … If you had to guess what team would knock out [the Milwaukee Bucks], … the Celtics and Jaylen, Tatum, [Gordon] Hayward combinations, [Marcus] Smart, obviously Kemba [Walker] and Brad Stevens are important people. But I just thought Jaylen has that two-way ability that can get you a bunch of points.”

Tatum, in particular, stands out in how much he’s improved since that “debacle” of a season, his defensive leaps as important to his growth from a borderline star to one of the league’s elite players as his increased counting stats have demonstrated on the other end of the court.

“Tatum, to me, was No. 2.; some people will have him No. 1,” said Thorpe of the Duke product. “This guy might be an All-NBA player now … Not next year, this year.”

“You could make the argument — first of all, he’s the best player on one of the best teams, surely in the East … he’s their best player, and he’s become a two-way player, which is something I did look at. He’s probably a top 20 [player] on anyone’s list for the league, and he did the other things, like improve dramatically on scoring.”

Thorpe is justifiably impressed with the young Boston wing duo that took a team many believed might spend the season retooling to a true contender with their growth.

The pod is worth a listen, and not just for where the Celtics duo rank in the TrueHoop analyst’s estimation, but also where he sees them among their peers. To catch the rest of Thorpe and Lowe’s discussion on the state of improved players in the 2019-20 season, click the embedded link here.

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Lowe, Thorpe discuss Brandon Ingram’s Most Improved Player candidacy

Does Brandon Ingram deserve to win the Most Improved Player of the Year award? Zach Lowe and David Thorpe discussed his candidacy.

Brandon Ingram blossomed in his first year with the New Orleans Pelicans, pushing his game to an All-Star level and approaching the potential that helped him get drafted No. 2 back in 2016.

On The Lowe Post podcast Monday, ESPN’s Zach Lowe and True Hoops’ David Thorpe discussed Ingram’s Most Improved Player candidacy.

Thorpe listed him as the No. 9 player on his list for the award.

“He did it for a team that was beat up,” Thorpe said. “As the season went on he became a legit scorer, a leader. He definitely contributed and competed on defense, and they were an interesting team had we been able to finish the season.”

In 56 games, Ingram averaged more than 24 points, six rebounds and four assists per game while shooting 38.7% from 3-point range.

“Every stat is up,” Lowe remarked, adding that Ingram attempted six 3-pointers per game, which was three times more than his career average prior to this season.

“That’s not fake, selective shooting.”

When rookie Zion Williamson was ready for game play, the two worked well together on the court.

Ingram’s stats dipped a bit, but he still posted more than 21 points, five rebounds and four assists per game and shot 36% from deep.

“I thought his integration with Zion was so smooth, and I didn’t necessarily think it was going to go that way because their starting lineup … is a little light on outside shooting,” Lowe said.

One reason Ingram wasn’t higher in Thorpe’s rankings was the sheer unexpected excellence of so many other players around the league.

Guys like Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo and Milwaukee Bucks guard Donte Divincenzo popped up out of nowhere to be important contributors for playoff teams.

Others like Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Dallas Mavericks wing Luka Doncic transformed from All-Star-caliber players to guys who look like they’ll be All-NBA stalwarts.

Lowe said he hadn’t put together a numbered list of his own, but would consider ranking Ingram higher.

“I haven’t ranked my guys … so I don’t know if he’s going to make my top three,” Lowe said. “But he’s a very, very strong candidate for this award to win it outright.”

With that said — Lowe wants to see more from Ingram. What he wants to see, he’s not quite sure:

“There is something, and I don’t know what it is … There is something with Ingram because he’s coming up in my All- NBA research. There is something that just leaves me a little bit wanting. Like, something that just in my gut is like, I’m not sure he’s quite as good as his numbers, and quite as good as his peers that have similar numbers.

I don’t know if it’s just like his play making and defense are just a little bit behind, to me, his statistics and his overall profile in ways that I think are going to be hard for me to quantify and prove.

But there’s just something I feel watching him, where I’m like he’s good, he’s really good, he was an All-Star and I thought he deserved it — I’m not sure he’s at “that guy” level yet and I can’t quite put my finger on why.”

Thorpe thinks it’s because we haven’t seen Ingram be “that guy” yet. It’s only been 56 games of phenomenal play.

They want to see it for longer and in more important scenarios than the first 64 games of the season.

“Where is (Ingram) down the stretch? We could be getting those answers right now, Zach, right?” Thorpe said.

“Last couple weeks of the season — is he putting up big numbers in big games when teams are sending most their defensive resources to keep Zion from getting 11 dunks a game? If he does that I think that answers the question you have … Hopefully we’ll know next year.”

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