Picks 'n Pops: USA too small, Jayson Tatum embracing Boston, & reaching for John Wick

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I tried to tell them to Daryl Morey but it felt like he was ghosting me.

- Jayson Tatum is starting to fully embrace the city of Boston. 

“At first it was like I live here, but I’m from St. Louis. I’m a St. Louis kid,” he told Jeff Goodman. “Now I’m a part of Boston. I really feel a connection with the city and the people of Boston.”

There are a lot of reasons for that to happen now. One big one has to be his son, who is a Boston kid. He was born here, he has been raised here, and he freakin’ owns the Garden. How can Tatum not embrace a city that has embraced his son the way it has? 

- How huge would the pop be inside the Garden if Deuce recorded the fourth quarter pump up video?

- Tatum also told Goodman the way he leads is quieter than most. "I'm not Kevin Garnett," he said, which is fine. But if you're able to find all that emotion after a blown foul call, you can find it when your team is blowing a 12 point lead in the final four minutes. 

- I don’t know if that reporter believes in Colorado football, but Derrick White does. 

(Wait for it)

- Remember when Team USA losing in international competition was the end of the world?

The truth is size matters in FIBA basketball while it has been phased out of the NBA. That's the 3-point effect.

The NBA is about 5-out basketball now. FIBA still values cuts and ball movement in addition to the shooting. That means size still matters for pick-setting and rebounding, and that's where Team USA keeps getting killed. Add to it the length of the season and guys choosing to sacrifice rebounding first to keep their energy up, and it’s a recipe for disaster. 

via GIPHY

- Christian Wood is on a “prove it” deal in Los Angeles. It’s a great bargain signing for the Lakers, but I don’t know if Wood will prove anything we don’t already know about him. 

So no, Richard Sherman, he’s not the next Pau Gasol. 

One tough thing about the NBA -- and Russell Westbrook’s agent fought hard to prevent this from happening last season -- is when you accept a minimum deal, it’s hard to get out of that pay grade. 

- I get that a story like Winning Time told from the Lakers' perspective casts the Celtics as the villain. What I love is that Michael Chiklis, who plays Red Auerbach, and Sean Patrick Small, who plays Larry Bird, are leaning into it in interviews.

I don’t think Boston cares one bit about being cast as the bad guys. Have fun with that. 

- It feels like a little couple’s counseling would help James Harden and the Sixers figure some things out. This marriage is falling apart because of hurt feelings and no communication. Just because Harden plays with a dad bod doesn’t mean he has to run his professional life like a suburban dad staying together for the sake of the kids. 

- Good to see Joe Burrow get that Fred VanVleet money

- More Tatum working out with Paul Pierce, please. 

Pierce can teach Tatum how to use his huge shoulders to get the space he needs on drives (a Pierce specialty that got him to the line) and how to sacrifice a little for the betterment of the team.

Pierce hanging with Tatum is a very pleasant surprise. 

- If Tatum really wants to pay homage to The Truth, he’ll show up to the postgame podium looking like this after a game where he feels like he didn’t get enough calls. 

- If they need something to piss John Wick off in Chapter 5, I suggest putting him in Boston traffic where cars refuse to alternate zipper-style getting onto the Pike. 

- Andre Drummond is the least self aware NBA player of all time. 

You know what this means, don’t you? It means Drummond is going to spend the rest of his life campaigning for a Hall of Fame bid that will never come. Basketball Reference has his HOF probability at 1.9%. 

He was an All-Star twice. He made third-team All-NBA once. He was a decent player in his Detroit days, but nothing more than that. The game left him behind after that. So did his sanity, apparently. 

- Wishing Trey Murphy III a full recovery from meniscus surgery. Tough timing for him after a breakout second season in New Orleans. 

- Dennis Schröder has been great in the FIBA World Cup, which tells you something. He’s good, but not that good (unless you ask him. He’ll have a different assessment.). 

- But Daniel Theis still has something to offer. 

- And congrats to the South Sudan team for making it to the Olympics. It’s a team full of refugees and their children from a region ripped apart by civil war. Sports can truly be a source of healing. 

- Here's my latest podcast, if you're bored.