Picks 'n Pops: Sale skepticism, Boston's 3s, and why sports are cool

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I still didn't make the opening day roster. 

- I don’t know what to make of Bill Chisholm at this point, but there are too many reports and questions about his ability to pay for this deal to ignore. It might just be nothing, but I’m actually waiting to see if the NBA approves this deal. 

- Commissioner Adam Silver on the sale: “It’s very early days in that transaction. We’re just learning about it. We haven’t had a chance to not just vet potential owners but to really dig into the specifics of the deal … it’s just being presented to us now. We really haven’t had a chance to discuss it, even … the way the deal is structured. We really got to get into that with them and better understand it.”

- Brad Stevens on Chisholm: “Every indication is it’s pretty much business as usual, so I’m excited about that. But again, you spend a lot of money on these things, so you have every right to come in and put your stamp on it however you want. So I’m looking forward to working with him.”

- Cooper Flagg is only 18. 

- Jaylen Brown, after the Phoenix game, on his knee issues: “I'm still working my way back, just building up. I’ve been on a minutes restriction, but still just making the right steps. My body still doesn't feel 100% but today was a good step in the right direction.

“It’s new for me. I haven't really had issues with my knees ever in my career. So, just trying to find a good routine to make sure I'm prepared and ready to go every night. But it's definitely been a challenge, mentally.”

Despite how he looked against the Suns, it doesn’t seem like this is going away right now. Considering the timing of everything, I don’t know if it will go away without extended rest. 

- I have talked so much more about the Connecticut Sun than the Phoenix Suns that I forget the NBA team’s nickname is plural sometimes.

- Jayson Tatum is the Black Knight. 

- Tatum’s story about Joe Mazzulla is an All-Timer: 

I’m dying here because I 100% believe Mazzulla is serious.

- The realization that Jordan Walsh is closer to Ean Horford’s age than Al Horford’s hits hard. What hits harder is that I’m much closer to Tito Horford’s age than Al’s. 

- I did not anticipate liking Baylor Scheierman as much as I do right now. I was down on him to start the season but he’s really come around. 

- Grayson Allen on Boston’s offense: “They don't just come down and jack 3s … You know a team is gonna shoot 'em and you wanna take 'em away, and they still get 'em, that's tough"

That's right. They DON’T just come down and jack 3s. They generate good looks and take the best shots, a lot of which ARE 3s. That's the difference I’ve been trying to explain. If people don’t want to take my word for it, how about taking the word of a guy trying to defend that offense?

- Derrick White breaking Boston’s 3-pointers made record on the anniversary of Isaiah Thomas setting it, against the San Antonio Spurs, HAS to happen. 

- The Indiana Pacers scored 162 points last night and had 48 assists. I do not want to face them in the playoffs. 

- Stephen A. Smith’s beef with LeBron James is one of the dumbest things I’ve seen. And now Smith is saying he’d fight LeBron if James touched him? 

Can we get over ourselves, please?

- Tanking is prevalent around the NBA right now. Cooper Flagg is proving himself worthy of the chase and teams are getting creative by “quiet quitting” mid-game. The Toronto Raptors are great at starting their good players and finishing with their bad ones to satisfy not only league requirements but also their own desire to lose. 

“I understand what the motivations are for a team,”  Silver said after his Board of Governors meeting yesterday. “Worst part of my job is fining and chasing teams and seemingly getting into coaches’ decisions about minutes and everything else. But we also want to make sure we’re upholding the integrity of the competition, as well.

“I don’t have an answer sitting here today as to what we’re going to do other than to say that we recognize it’s an issue, and it’s an issue for our fans, so we’re paying attention to it.”

I don’t know that there's an answer here. No matter what the system is, there will be some level of tanking. The better the draft, the worse it will be. 

- The Lakers led by five with 13 seconds left last night. Then all this happened: 

They got what they deserved. LeBron didn’t bother to close out on Patrick Williams and then he threw that lazy inbounds pass. It was very fitting that Josh Giddey hit that heave in his face. 

- Speaking of tanking, shouldn’t the Bulls have been tanking this season? What did these wins get them? A spot in the play-in and a chance to be swept by Cleveland or Boston? 

Yay!

- As long as both teams are over the second apron, this trade is impossible: 

Neither team can make a deal that takes in more money than they send out. No one on the Celtics makes what Durant makes to the penny. Neither team can aggregate salaries in a deal.

I don’t know how this deal would even get done without blowing up the whole thing. 

Honestly, I think this is Nick Wright just trying to mess with the Celtics because he hates them. 

- Shout out to Celtics fans on the road. They are snapping up tickets and filling these road arenas, coming in hot with loud “Let’s go Celtics” chants. 

"When they ran out it felt like an away game," Utah Jazz guard Brice Sensabaugh said. "It kind of rubbed me the wrong way."

- Damian Lillard has a blood clot in his right calf and is done for the foreseeable future. He joins Victor Wembanyama on the list of guys whose seasons were ended by a blood clot. 

First of all, I’m happy he’s okay and that he’s getting treatment before something serious happens. Secondly, and much less importantly, this ruins the Bucks season.

- Congratulations to NBL Champion Justin Tatum!

- I’ve never hated anything in life as much as Eddie House hates Skechers.

- Alex Ovechkin getting his team back on the ice to shake hands with Marc-André Fleury after their final matchup is one of the reasons sports are so freakin’ cool. 

- Another reason why sports are cool: Chris Finch starting Joe Ingles because his son, who was diagnosed with autism, was able to attend an NBA game. 

- Another reason why sports are cool: Grudges that never die

- This week’s AI-generated image: Trying to get Jayson Tatum to take a day off.

- Kristaps Porzingis didn’t just have a monster few games to prove that he’s pretty much back, his mid-season optimism that things would turn around has been rewarded. To me, he’s having the Best Week Ever!

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