Picks 'n Pops: Twitter tantrums, untethered Tatum, and hot basketball

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I'm still trying to figure out what the ESPYs are, exactly.

- The biggest issue from Jaylen Brown’s online temper tantrum about Team USA is that it inadvertently undermined a huge moment in Derrick White’s career. White got named to the Olympic team and the talk immediately shifted to Brown not making it. That's a rare misstep for a team whose vibes were immaculate all year long. It’s an easy thing to get past, but it’s also easy fodder for critics and fake argument show producers. 

- Also, Adrian Wojnarowski told us before Game 4 that he’d make Team USA when Kawhi Leonard left. We knew this was happening for a month. Why are people surprised when the thing people said would happen actually happens?

- Sign me up for a gold medal won by Team USA with every game going exactly like it did against Canada: Some early struggles, Jayson Tatum and the bench righting the ship, Jrue Holiday shutting down the opponent’s best player, and Joel Embiid playing like trash and then fouling out. Throw White in there hitting a couple of big shots and it’s perfect. 

- Cooper Flagg better dominate at Duke because it’s hard to imagine his star shining any brighter than it did after that scrimmage against Team USA. 

- The NBA is on the verge of signing an 11-year, $76-billion TV rights deal. Get ready for a big Sunday night Celtics-Bucks game streaming on Peacock, or that pivotal Celtics-Knicks Thursday night game on Amazon Prime. Finding games is going to be a challenge for national-only nights or people who are out of town. 

- I’m not ruling out Nike’s involvement in Brown being left off the Olympic team. Brown wore Nikes all season long but removed the swooshes from them so they weren’t immediately identifiable as Nike. Like these, for example: 

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Which is a modified Nike GT Cut 2. 

Brands like their corporate logos to be seen, especially by high-profile players. For the record, Brown switched to Kyrie Irving’s Anta shoes for the Finals. 

- Tatum really enjoyed facing single coverage against Canada. He was getting to the rim at will and not meeting any resistance on his off-the-dribble moves. 

The rare time he did see someone in his path, he found a cutter. 

Cutting from the top on a baseline drive is easy money. 

Tatum must feel like he's moved from an apartment to the Taj Mahal with all the space he has now. It's like going from Boston traffic to a back road with a view of the ocean. 

Don't get used to it.

- The Celtics have two, maybe three guys in Jordan Walsh, Jaden Springer, and possibly Anton Watson who are reliable jumpers away from contributing very soon. 

- Caleb Martin’s representation failed him big time this summer. He turned down five years and $65 million from Miami and found no market in free agency. He finally settled on a four-year, $32 million deal with the Sixers. It’s not like he’s crying poor after getting millions of guaranteed dollars, but he passed on $13 million per year to take $8 million per year. 

That's a big-time miscalculation. 

- Congratulations Giannis Antetokounmpo on making his first-ever Olympics. 

- I think Charles Barkley is right about Klay Thompson and the Warriors, and I think it’s a precursor to what’s ahead for others in Thompson’s situation. 

“When players get old, you don't have to pay them for what they used to be,” Barkley said. And he’s right, but that's not how the league works. Or should I say … worked. 

With the new CBA in place, teams are going to think twice about giving lifetime achievement contracts to anyone but former MVP-level players who might be a little past their prime. That kind of money just can’t be thrown around anymore because the penalties for being too expensive are too punitive. We could see a shift in how these players are handled. 

Jimmy Butler will be a real test case in Miami. Watch how that goes closely. 

- Congrats to Jaylen Brown for winning an ESPY for … something, I don’t know, I don’t pay attention to that stuff but I guess guys care about it so … congratulations. 

- The worst part about Brown’s reaction to Team USA might be that he gave Stephen A. Smith a chance to sound off again after Brown had shut him up with the Finals run. 

- I honestly think Team USA invited Kawhi Leonard as a courtesy. His knee was never going to allow him to play. 

- Amica is replacing Vista Print as the team’s jersey sponsor, which probably means those ridiculous commercials with the over-the-top Boston accents are done. I sprained my thumb three times last season by hitting the mute button too hard when those came on.

- Wyc Grousbeck on Amica taking over as jersey sponsor: “You can basically say you're just funding Jayson like, a couple weeks.”

- Anthony Edwards quotes need to be heard, not read. When he says stuff like “I'm still the No. 1 option … They've gotta fit in to play around me" when talking about his USA Basketball teammates, it reads as ridiculous bravado. But when you hear it, and see the smile that comes with it, it seems more playful. 

He’s young, he’s great, and he will only get better. He’s going to be a fun part of the league for a little while. 

- It’s nice the Kings got a bigger-name player in DeMar DeRozan. I’m not sure how that's going to work, but it’s nice that they got someone. This is what the new CBA wanted. It wants the talent spread around the league. 

That fit is going to be weird, though.

- When the season started, I didn’t expect it to end with Jrue Holiday hanging out with Tenacious D, but here we are. 

- Today’s Bing AI-generated image: Sure, having summer league in the Las Vegas desert in the middle of July makes total sense. It's only, like, 118 degrees every day. 

- Here are my latest podcasts, if you’re bored: