Picks 'n Pops: Bizarre stats, how Queta levels up, and a picture that stings

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I couldn't figure out why the Patriots were wearing denim jerseys last night. 

- The Celtics are currently 10th in offense, 8th in defense, and 7th in net rating. The Celtics are the only team in the top 15 in net rating without a winning record. You have to get to 20 before you find a team with a losing record. 

Interestingly, the Lakers are 21st in net rating and they're 8-4. I think this is the power of blowout wins and losses in a small sample, but it will be interesting to see which side of this equation holds. 

Either the team will play to their net rating and the Celtics will start winning more while the Lakers start losing more, or the rating will catch up to their records and the Celtics will drop while the Lakers climb. 

- I think Neemias Queta working in the short roll can be a good thing for the Celtics. There is a still a lot of work on both sides, him and his teammates, to make that happen. 

“I feel good out there, getting the ball in the middle of the paint,” Queta said at the team’s Friday practice. “I feel like I command so much attention when I get it out there and after that, it's just making the right reads, whether it's the score for me, hitting the guy in the seam, the cutter, the corner guys for three, just taking my time and making the right read.”

My biggest criticism of Queta is that he doesn't control his body well. Here is in the short roll against Memphis: 

That the same play that was called a charge against Philadelphia, and it will continue to be called one most of the time. I think he got lucky on that play. 

He needs to be able to stop and read the situation a lot better than he does right now. Because he’s out of control, he misses all of his options. I’m not saying hitting an open Baylor Scheierman is bad, but he has three options on this play and he didn’t see two of them. 

A quick bounce pass to Josh Minott looks good, but I understand if he’s not confident enough in that. Personally, I would have gone with Derrick White over Scheierman, but he didn’t see that play. Here’s Luke Kornet showing how it’s supposed to look.

If Queta can figure this one thing out, he’ll improve exponentially. Of course, part of figuring this out is controlling his body better, which alone would improve him exponentially. I think part of the issue is that Queta is thinking score while Kornet was thinking pass. I think a mental shift there will be a great starting point.

Once he can land and quickly process situations, he can see the floor and make the right read. Queta would never make the pass that Kornet made right now (the pass to White would have been close to it). If he can get to that place, then we’ve got something big here. 

- I don’t know if Minott’s role was reduced because of something he did, if Jordan Walsh simply passed him on the depth chart, or if Joe Mazzulla is doing some kind of merry-go-round to intentionally get different guys in different situations to see how they respond. I honestly think each scenario is plausible. 

- I thought tonight would be a great chance to get Hugo Gonzalez to go to Maine, get a start with the Maine Celtics, and play 36 minutes to get a chance to work on his entire game. The Celtics haven't assigned him, which seems to indicate they think he’s simply a part of this rotation and there's no need to push him. 

I do wonder if his recent ankle injury is playing into this. Maybe the three days off were more important than the game. I still think getting him some opportunities to play a full, free game is beneficial. 

- Enjoy Jayson Tatum doing somewhat normal things at practice today: 

- The Warriors won four of their first five games and people were ready to declare them fully back. I’ve been saying all along that I wasn’t falling for their hot start. They're 3-5 since, and Draymond Green is calling out teammates for having agendas. 

I’m starting to think Al Horford is bad at choosing non-Celtics situations to join. 

- This moment kind of stung a little, though. 

Either of these guys would have been a big help. Having both would have made this a much different season. 

- Joel Embiid’s knee is already acting up again. He’s never going to be the same. 

- Nico Harrison absolutely deserved to be fired by the Dallas Mavericks. I still can’t believe the Luka Dončić trade happened. I can’t believe that he was selling it as a master stroke that only he saw because he was so great. And I can’t believe that it ever made its way past ownership. 

Which is why I’m also shocked the owners aren’t getting crushed as much as Harrison right now. They could have said no. At the very least, they could have forced a bidding war to get a better return. 

It’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen in the NBA. I’m mad they got Cooper Flagg out of it all. They don’t deserve any shred of hope right now. 

- The Mavs, Kings, and Pelicans are three teams ready to start blowing things up. The second apron was designed to send the high-level talent from these teams to bottom-feeders like Brooklyn, Utah, and Washington. The entire idea of stripping teams down was to redistribute the talent to mid/lower tier teams to raise them up and create parity. 

However, this upcoming draft is supposed to be loaded, so I don’t expect any of those teams to make a move. If anything, I’m wondering when they’ll also become sellers. Which begs the question, who will be the buyers?

I don’t know if the Celtics are going to be among them, necessarily, but they are positioned to get in on multi-team trades. Anfernee Simons’ contract is a great one to use for salary-matching when dealing for a monster salary, so maybe the Celtics can pick up a good, useful player or two in exchange for some help on the business side of a big trade. 

Either way, this is going to be a fascinating trade deadline. 

- Joe Mazzulla wants the Celtics to defend half court heaves.

“Now that the rule has changed, is just as important as the last play of the game, because it can decide that,” he said. “We have to guard the heaves just as well as we have to guard the last possession of the game. It’s just as important. And we left (Cedric) Coward open in the Memphis game, but it wasn't an eight-point game and he ended up missing it. And so people will look past that possession and focus on the last two minutes of the game, but guarding a heave is just as important as the last two possessions of the fourth quarter and in two games we didn't guard the way we need to. And that's part of the problem. Every possession matters.”

We can go back to the Quentin Grimes’ heave in the Philly game. The Celtics did try to challenge that one, but that was a huge three points in a game Boston lost by two. 

- This stretch from Victor Wembanyama this week is as confusing as it is amazing. 

I hope he stays healthy. I need to see this guy reach his absolute peak. 

- RIP Lenny Wilkens, who, among all his accomplishments, was also an All-American at Providence College. He’s a true giant of the game. 

- This Jalen Johnson stat line has never been accomplished before in the NBA: 

- Congratulations to Thunder GM, and Concord native, Sam Presti, who was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame Thursday night. 

- Jordan Walsh picked up his first career start this week, and he looks like a guy who might be part of the long-term plan in Boston. We all know that things can change quickly around here, but Walsh is doing some fundamental things well, which is a great base for doing bigger things. For me, that makes this his Best Week Ever!

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