The Boston Celtics (and 3 other teams) are having a bad start to free agency
"There’s been plenty of good and bad so far in NBA free agency, but the Boston Celtics and three other teams are off to terrible starts.
It’s the happiest time of the year in the NBA, and that fact is compounded with the combination of the draft and free agency in the same week. Of course, if it’s not a happy time, it’s the absolute worst time, and for a handful of teams (led by the Boston Celtics), it’s been downright awful.
Let’s take a look at just why the Celtics have had a terrible time so far, and then we’ll go on to a few other teams having just as bad of a time.
Why the Boston Celtics are having a miserable free agency
The Boston Celtics always seem to be on the verge of making a big deal for a star, only to decide they’re fine without a blockbuster trade and come up just short in the end. Over the last couple of seasons, it’s even worse than that. Not only have the Celtics been unable to swing a big deal for a star or two, they’ve been losing their own.
Last season they lost Kyrie Irving in free agency, receiving nothing in return. While considering how poorly the relationship was by the end of Irving’s time in Boston, it’s fair to say that getting him out of the locker room was a win by itself, but it’s still a poor result for a max-level player.
This time around, they lost Gordon Hayward also for nothing. He opted out of his $34 million 2020-21 salary, and while he and the team were apparently working to find a sign-and-trade in order to maximize him as an asset, he ended up departing to the Charlotte Hornets and signing a gigantic four-year, $120 million deal.
That contract is certainly an overpay and not something the Celtics should have tried to match, but losing top-end players and replacing them with nothing so far isn’t the best way to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Maybe the Celtics will turn it around, but so far they’re one of our headlining teams for Bad Times During Free Agency."
"Why must it always be brother against brother ... why?" Irving said in early October. "If I'm addressing anyone, I'll say their name. Come on, y'all. Don't listen to the false narratives. Let people live their lives! It's just a game.
Minnesota Timberwolves Face Masks"I wanted it by the front of the door because I wanted everybody to see where we actually came from," Adebayo said. "And that doesn't matter who walks in. You're going to always see that picture. My whole goal [of] putting it there was just so everybody can see where we actually come from. And I was raised at what I went through, the struggle, to get my mom a brand new crib and the conditions she lived in. So that's the main point of the picture."
Philadelphia 76ers Face MasksMonths ago, LeBron James bit his tongue when Kyrie Irving's comments on Kevin Durant's podcast seemed to disparage the Los Angeles Lakers star's late-game abilities. Now, James has opened up about his former teammate's take on a podcast appearance of his own.
Boston Celtics Face MasksNBA Power Rankings: Who are the best teams in the league now?
Harden previously requested to be traded to the Brooklyn Nets to form a superteam with former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
New Orleans Pelicans Face Masks And then there’s the 25-year-old newcomer best suited to raise their ceiling and evolve their offense: Wood, who averaged 22.3 points and 9.5 rebounds and shot 41 percent from downtown in his last 15 games. Some might judge that late-season surge as more flash than substance. But Houston is betting on him as a late-blooming star who will be the most complementary luxury item Harden and Wall have ever played with.
"In a decisive and momentum-shifting Game 5 of the NBA playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks fell to the LA Clippers, allowing a record scoring night in the loss.
Just when it seems the series was just beginning to get even more interesting the Dallas Mavericks collapsed and the momentum shifted back in favor of the LA Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The Clippers came full force Tuesday night and refused to let their foot off the gas in an absolute throttling of the Mavs in Game five.
Prior to Tuesday’s loss, in which Dallas gave up 154 points, the most points the Mavs allowed in a playoff game were: 1) 137 points against the Sacramento Kings on May 10, 2003, 2) 134 points against the LA Lakers on April 28, 1984, and 3) 133 points against the LA Clippers in Game 4 of this series on Sunday night. It also ties for the largest playoff loss in franchise history at 43 points, which happened at the hand of the LA Lakers on April 28, 1984, at Staples Center.
Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
In fairness, the Clippers had a historic night on the offensive end, being the first team in NBA history to score 150+ points on 60+ percent from the field and 60+ percent from 3-pt range in a playoff game. They also set multiple franchise records: most threes in a playoff game (22), most field goals in a playoff game (53), highest field goal percentage in a playoff game (63.1 percent) and their biggest playoff win (43 points).
Though this was just a blip on the radar on social media once video surfaced of Clippers’ Marcus Morris Sr. appearing to purposely step on the injured ankle of Luka Doncic."
