Havlicek Stole the Pod NBA Basketball Podcast

The Boston Celtics started their offseason with a bang, making major moves to create cap flexibility and seeming to signal they were all in on pursuing a max deal star in free agency perhaps as soon as the 2022 NBA offseason.

Until it became clear they were not. Now, more recently, the Celtics have been handing out contract extensions to the players on their rosters like candy on Halloween, with veteran guard Marcus Smart, rising big man Robert Williams III and recently acquired wing Josh Richardson all getting additional years -- four apiece in the case of Smart and Timelord -- added to their contracts.

What might be the plan here? How does it impact what we already know about the team? How do we feel about the moves? 

Join your usual hosts Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie and Justin Quinn as they dive into these important questions and the news of the week on this episode of the Celtics Lab, including Kevin Garnett's jersey retirement news and the release of the full 2021-22 schedule.

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The Boston Celtics started their offseason with a bang, making a splash into the realm of cap flexibility when they moved on from former starting point guard Kemba Walker's contract almost before the dust settled on their 2020-21 season.

They continued to make moves to free up their cap, which many thought signaled a plan to pursue a star -- perhaps Bradley Beal? -- via free agency. Since then, signing veteran guard Marcus Smart to a long-term extension has blown those assumptions to bits, so what can the Celtics moves this offseason signal about their plans for the future of the franchise?

Add in the sign-and-trade executed with the New York Knicks regarding the services of a one Evan Fournier, and the haziest bits of a picture might be coming together if you know how to read the proverbial tea leaves. 

To that end we brought on friend of the pod Yossi Gozslan of Hoops Hype to share with us his knowledge on the NBA salary cap, and what the Celtics might be hoping to achieve.

We also talk about Las Vegas Summer League, Yam Madar's next step and more with two of your usual hosts, Justin Quinn and Cameron Tabatabaie (Alex Goldberg is getting in some much-needed offseason R&R). Give a listen to hear their takes on a pretty eventful summer, and if you like what you hear, tell a friend -- or better yet rate and review the pod.

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Just hours after the most recent episode of the Celtics Lab was recorded, free agent point guard Dennis Schroder announced his plans to sign with the Boston Celtics, presumably on a one-season deal for the taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE) of approximately $5.9 million.

To that end, your hosts Alex Goldberg, Justin Quinn and Cameron Tabatabaie put together a short emergency pod to talk all things German Rondo and how Schroder's signing changes Boston's offseason, potential, and other moving parts. How long is Kriss Dunn for the team? Does this change Marcus Smart's extension calculus? Will we get to see Yam Madar join the team this season, or has the inking forced a return to the Israeli Premier Basketball League for the Beit Dagan native?

Listen to the podcast embedded below to learn more about Schroder's strengths and weaknesses, likely future with the team and more.

(Minor corrections: it is the NON-taxpayer MLE that triggers a hard cap, and extensions can be signed until the first day of the new season.)

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There's been a lot of ink spilled on what the Boston Celtics might be planning, who they might be after with their apparent push to keep their books clean enough to sign a max player in free agency next offseason or soon after, and just what it would take to get the presumptive target to Boston.

But what if that target -- Washington Wizards All-NBA guard Bradley Beal -- isn't who the Celtics are keeping the proverbial powder dry for, or they fall short in their pursuit? What other potential options are out there for Boston to lure into signing with the franchise, or to push all their chips in to trade for?

Recorded just hours ahead of the Dennis Schroeder signing, we won't be covering that juicy nugget of Celtics news in this episode -- be on the lookout for that in a future pod coming soon.

 But, your regular hosts Cameron Tabatabaie, Alex Goldberg and Justin Quinn have plenty to say about who Boston might be monitoring for summer 2022 in the meantime.

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With Silly Season in full swing and the summer free agency nearly upon us, making sense of potentially explosive rumors, trade proposals and free agent signings can send one's mind into a tailspin.

The Boston Celtics might trade away longtime point guard Marcus Smart -- or extend him. They could end up dealing for New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball, Brooklyn Nets floor general Spencer Dinwiddie, Los Angeles Clippers veteran guard Reggie Lewis or a small army of other targets. And now we are hearing that we need to have a conversation about the King in the Fourth!

How to make sense of what might happen, what has, and what we don't yet know enough to say?  

Join us for a pre-free agency edition of the Celtics Lab where your regular hosts Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie and Justin Quinn dive into the madness about to descend on the league.

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There are some strong opinions out there on whether or not the Boston Celtics ought to trade for Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal, but even if the team doesn't end up dealing for the potentially disgruntled All-NBA guard, they will need to have an alternative plan in mind.

To that end, on this episode of the Celtics Lab, we dive into our thoughts on a potential deal for Beal as well as some other directions the team might take in the short term in order to prepare the franchise for bigger moves down the road. We even have an alternate blockbuster in there that may be far-fetched, but then perhaps so are dreams of a certain University of Florida product in green and white.

Check out all this, some more draft chatter, and some news catch-up among several other topics covered in this episode of the pod, hosted as usual by Cameron Tabatabaie, Justin Quinn, and Alex Goldberg.

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With every passing moment, Boston Celtics fans draw closer to the 2021 NBA draft, and while they may not have a first round pick, that doesn't mean the Celtics can't extract a valuable player with some careful drafting on the part of new team president Brad Stevens and company.

With that in mind, we brought in friend of the pod and NBA draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky of USA TODAY SMG to talk all things draft-related for Boston's 2021 options, zeroing in on some of the more likely suspects who could conceivably fall into the Celtics' range and a few more who likely won't.

We also get into the Olympics, trade rumors and a host of other news in the podcast embedded below.

 So, join your usual hosts Alex Goldberg, Justin Quinn and Cameron Tabatabaie for the lowdown on where the Celtics ought to be sniffing around regarding the draft and a whole lot more.

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The NBA's offseason tends to shift the focus of its fans to a more international context as favorite players spend time abroad and potential overseas players come into focus for the season to come. But in an Olympics year in particular, we can find the league's media attention focused outside the ambit of the NBA even more than usual.

And for fans of the Boston Celtics, a much-anticipated guard previously stashed abroad coming stateside in one Yam Madar makes for a most cosmopolitan basketball summer. To that end, we brought on Sports Rabbi's Moshe Halickman to get us up to speed on Madar's potential in the NBA, and some context about what he's accomplished so far.

Halickman has covered the Beit Dagan native including breaking his contract arbitration news, and has plenty to say that won't be slowing down the Yamaniacs and their hype train any time soon. 

Our regular hosts of Cam Tabatabaie, Alex Goldberg and Justin Quinn also talk Team USA's struggles with Celtics Lab O.G. Josh Coyne (also of Double Clutch U.K.) to get an unbiased perspective on just how much we ought to be worrying about the potential of the U.S. National Team.

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While there isn't any Boston Celtics basketball to watch, there is news of current and possibly future Celtics gearing up to play some roundball in Las Vegas. There's also several Boston alumni about to play in the 2021 NBA Finals to keep us busy basketball-wise, and some disheartening commentary regarding covering them making the rounds.

On this episode of the Celtics Lab, hosts Cameron Tabatabie, Alex Goldberg and Justin Quinn talk about Jayson Tatum and Team USA prepping for the Tokyo Olympics in Sin City, the news stashed 2020 guard prospect Yam Madar may join the Celtics' Summer League squad slated to take the court in Las Vegas later this summer.

They also address the controversy over Rachel Nichol's comments regarding Finals coverage that's in the news for all the wrong reasons.

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While it might have been a trade that not only was predicted by half the Boston Celtics media, it's also one the fanbase effectively wished into existence -- the deal in question of course being the Al Horford return to the Celtics from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

And with Al comes the Horford clan, and friend of the podcast Anna in particular. A Boston lifer who was as happy as anyone -- maybe even Al -- that her brother is back in green and white, we had to catch up with Anna to talk Al's return, her thoughts on the Celtics as they are currently composed and some thoughts on NBA fandom from her unique perspective.

Check out the pod embedded below to hear her thoughts on the Horfords' return and the new-look Celtics under head coach Ime Udoka.

Join hosts Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie and Justin Quinn as they catch up with the host of the CLNS Podcast "Horford Happy Hour" to talk all things Boston, and Al.

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