Celtics Beat | Covering The Nba & Boston Celtics | Clns Media Network

NFL Kickoff Weekend means that we’re one week closer to the start of the NBA season.  And we continue our Boston Celtics primer series, this week not looking at an NBA Playoffs foe, but rather a supplier of highly valued first round selections in the NBA Draft: Our Yearly Preview of the Brooklyn Nets. Ian Eagle, Nets play-by-play announcer for the YES Network, stops by for his annual September appearance on Celtics Beat.  Brooklyn cleaned house this off-season, new GM, new coach, new players.  So, it goes without saying: How will it work out? What are the philosophies of Sean Marks and their rookie head coach Kenny Atkinson? Are they going to put an emphasis on player development and not worry about the repercussions of sending more high lottery picks Boston’s way.  And yes, we’ll do it.  Point blank: Will the Nets be the worst team in the NBA? And if not, what is their best case scenario for 2016-17? And while this is a Celtics-centric show, most are well aware of Ian’s role as one of the NFL on CBS top pl

Happy Labor Day! Summer is now officially over here on the East Coast.  The NBA season is now just weeks away and the Boston Celtics are counting down the days to training camp and the 2016-17 campaign.  And in doing so, we continue our primers of the Celtics premiere competition in the NBA’s Eastern Conference here on Celtics Beat. Stephanie Ready, color commentator for the Charlotte Hornets on FOX Sports South is first up.  The Hornets were one of the surprise teams in the league last year and are generally regarded to be one of the best coached teams in the league.  What makes this band of castaways go? Last year, they rode productive seasons from many free-agents-to-be such as Al Jefferson, Courtney Lee, Jeremy Lin, Marvin Williams and Nic Batum.  Lin, Lee and Jefferson are gone and weren’t really replaced.  Will these losses drop Charlotte from being a team to be taken seriously? And if not, how will they be replaced? Despite finishing with identical records last year, can we get Stephanie to admit that

Training camp is now less than a month away and Labor Day is next week.  The summer is winding down which means the NBA season is right around the corner.  Which gives Celtics Beat ample opportunity to preview some conference rivals for the Boston Celtics in 2016-17. Quinn Buckner, longtime NBA veteran, former Celtic, and current Indiana Pacers color commentator on FOX Sports Indiana is back on the CLNS Radio airwaves once again to give a primer on the Pacers and their off-season.  No team outside of Oakland added more talent to their roster this season than Indiana. What kind of challenges will there be to get all these pieces to mesh? What other weaknesses do the Pacers have that the Celtics could exploit? And would Paul George, being the best player in a potential playoff series, knock off teams like the Celtics and God forbid, the Cleveland Cavaliers? It doesn’t end there.  Coach Jack Armstrong of TSN also stops by to talk about the Toronto Raptors, and their quiet summer which was highlighted by retain

Turn the page: We are now well into August and everything is in the bank for the Boston Celtics and the NBA.  Last season is now last season and this past summer is now last summer.  The NBA schedule has now been released and it’s now about looking forward to the 2016-17 NBA season. Kristen Ledlow of NBAtv and Turner Sports is back on the broadcast to talk about the biggest takeaway from the new schedule: The Boston Celtics are featured on national TV 22 times.  Wow! That certainly provides plenty of discussion for the show.  Does that Al Horford addition really make that much of a difference? Can the Celtics really be considered as a (gulp!) dark-horse title contender? Kristen also gives a rundown of which games she is most looking forward to for the 2017 NBA’s regular season. It’s all on this wee’s Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available for download on iTunes and Stitcher on Sunday, August 21st 2016.  Powered by CLNS Radi

Cherry on top: The 2016 Boston Celtics Off-Season is now likely over and the countdown to NBA Training Camp is officially on.  The Celtics had a very busy NBA Draft, made a major splash with Al Horford, almost lured Kevin Durant, and were quiet again on the trade front.  Unquestionably a better team for 2017, the Celts are rapidly rising in the NBA ranks. Austin Ainge, Boston Celtics Director of Player Personnel returns to CLNS Radio to recap the entire Off-Season with Larry H. Russell in this week’s very special Summer in Review show.  Starting from the immediate fallout of the playoff defeat, Austin provides exclusive insight into how the team planned to approach the summer then; what the brass felt would be the best pathways to immediately improve the roster while maintaining long-term flexibility. LHR and Austin review the transpirings of the summer in chronological order: Did the NBA Draft go as well as the team planned? What did they get out of it? Why weren’t the able to get any potential moves done?

Summer Forecast 2016: How much will our predictions for the 2016-17 Boston Celtics change in the immediate aftermath of their off-season until the eve of the 2017 NBA campaign at the end of October? Well, we’ll find out on episode #169 of Celtics Beat. Chris Forsberg has been conducting the Summer Forecasts with various members of the Boston media over on ESPN.com for the past six summers.  And this year, the expectations are the highest for the Celts as they have been in years. Is 50 wins the bare minimum? How many games will Boston win? Who’s starting at center on Opening Night to complete the starting five? And will that be the same come mid January? How about the back-end of the roster, who gets the final two spots? Does it matter? And how about this: Can the Boston Celtics have the #1 defense in the NBA in 2017? Find out who says Hell Yes and a whole lot more. It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network

July 31, 2007: The nine year anniversary of Kevin Garnett being traded to the Boston Celtics. Many have drawn today's date as the "line in the sand" for potential trades to occur. Today, Jimmy Toscano of the Boston Metro joins Nick Gelso to fill the host duties for Larry H. Russell. A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE is today's featured guest.  With Doc Rivers recently back in the news for his candid interview on The Vertical Podcast, Toscano, Gelso and Blakely discuss everything nostalgic from the Kevin Garnett Era, Paul Pierce retiring with the Boston Celtics.  Heck, even Dennis Johnson's name creeps into the conversation. In current Celtics news, Sherrod discusses Jae Crowder taking exception to his 2017 Free Agents Article on Twitter, who will make the roster, Marcus Smart's potential and they even go cliche and give their win predictions if the season were to start today.   It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Far

Are things beginning to quiet down? That’s been the case on Twitter.  Does that mean it is in the real world for the Boston Celtics and the rest of the NBA? CLNS Radio and Celtics Beat presents two people who may have the answers: The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach and The Vertical at Yahoo! Sports’ Michael Lee.  They’ll stop by to provide the answers to the following questions: How close are the Celts on a deal for Blake Griffin? Is Jahlil Okafor a potential option or is that just media day dreaming? While there’s seemingly zero talk for Russell Westbrook now, what about during the season when the Oklahoma City Thunder will likely struggle? And most importantly, should the Celtics bother going for it with how good the Golden State Warriors will be this season? Oh, and we have major groundbreaking roster news: Gerald Green has signed with the Celtics and Tyler Zeller is back! It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Far

The NBA off-season is still red hot, both in the rumor mill and on the court in NBA Summer League out in Las Vegas.  Are the Boston Celtics on the verge of something massive? Could their next super team feature Blake Griffin and Russell Westbrook to go along with Al Horford? Who would go and who would stay on this current Celtics roster? Michael Smith, former Celtics and current Los Angeles Clippers color commentator goes over it all on the Blake Griffin trade front.  Are the Clips really interested in breaking up their team? If so, what would it cost on Boston’s end? Is it worth it for the Celts? Would a Griffin-Westbrook-Horford group be a title team? And that’s not all.  Brian Robb was in Las Vegas and chatted up with CLNS Radio’s own Jared Weiss to give the lowdown on the NBA Summer League and what to make of many of the young Celtics’ performance. It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available

Kevin Durant has spurned the Boston Celtics, dumped the Oklahoma City Thunder and has decided to join the powerhouse Golden State Warriors.  It still stings and it’s utterly flabbergasting.  How could someone be so hell-bent on taking the easy way out to win a championship and join a bitter rival to meet an end goal? Danny Leroux of realGMRadio will stop by to attempt to answer those questions.  At the very least, it should be a lot of fun.  But will it be as fun unless the Warriors come out like gangbusters next year and 2007-Patriots the league? Or will they cruise to make sure they win the NBA championship? That’s not all there.  Abby Chin of CSNNE will stop by to talk about...yes, the Boston Celtics.  They who just signed Al Horford and introduced him this past Friday afternoon.  Is the off-season still good enough for the Celts and should they be more aggressive or lay low for the next few years knowing the Dubs will likely dominate the NBA? It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to

Al Horford to the Boston Celtics - yay! Well, the big fallacy that the Celts have never signed a major free agent is over.  And it’s more than just that.  The Celts added a major piece.  How much does Horford improve the team? What kind of repercussions does it have in the rest of the Eastern Conference? And will the Celts get Kevin Durant?! Justin Poulin is up early to provide instant analysis to the mayhem. Howard Beck will also stop by for a few brief moments to rundown the rest of NBA Free Agency.  There’s a ton of money being thrown around, and outside of maybe Horford, a lot of it is on lesser players.  Will a lot of teams regret many of these players signed to these deals? What type of long term impact will it have for the NBA not just on the court, but off? Is a labor crisis looming or is the league just so healthy that nothing will stop the train from rolling along?  It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farme

Was it a clunker? There was a lot of hype and anticipation heading into the 2016 NBA Draft for the Boston Celtics, but universal sentiment has everyone from fans, media and possibly those within the organization far from enamored about the night the Celtics had back on Thursday evening.  Sure they didn’t make a big move, but what about the rest of the night? Did anything go right? Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com and NBAtv will check into Celtics Beat first to give a rundown on the six selections the Celts utilized.  Let’s cut right to the chase: What can Jaylen Brown do? Does he seriously have the highest bust potential of all the top players? How fearful should people be of his lack of production at Cal? Is he even better to last year’s top target, Justise Winslow? And what about the other players, including the three second round selections? What are their strengths and do any of them have futures in the NBA? That’s not all there.  There was plenty of fallout from the NBA Draft.  Where does Thursday leave

Double duty this week: After last week’s impromptu interview with free agent-to-be Jared Dudley, we’re going to have to double up this week on Celtics Beat with a 2016 NBA Draft Preview as well as a Boston Celtics trade primer...all in one show!   Chris Forsberg of ESPN will take care of the trade primer with LHR.  It’s all about possibilities here.  We know it’s a lock people would be more than willing to part with lottery selections for Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Blake Griffin, and Kevin Love.  But what about rolling the dice on some aging and pricier players like Carmelo Anthony and Marc Gasol? And what about Jahlil Okafor? What should Boston consider in a potential package for him? And who are some other names that fans aren’t hearing about who the Celts could target beginning on Draft Night?   And FINALLY...a Draft Preview.  Nicole Auerbach of USA Today tags in after Chris to give the Celtics Beat audience an in-depth look at the college talent incoming to the NBA, running all the way down the l

There are few teams in the NBA more appealing than the Boston Celtics.  Don’t take it from us, take it from today’s featured guest. Jared Dudley, veteran NBA swingman and current free agent wants in on the Boston Celtics.  Dudley discusses the reasons as to why, from everything to the stability of the organization, to how good of a coach Brad Stevens is, and the fans of Boston.  He is talks about why his skills such as his versatility and outside shooting would help fill some deficiencies that the Celts have as of now.  Jared also believes his leadership skills and veteran presence would be essential to a young, up-and-coming team like the Celtics. He doesn’t stop there.  With the new salary cap, he won’t exactly come cheap.  Tune in to find out the price, and to also hear Jared discuss his future after the NBA, his relationship with the media, and the massive influx of analytics and advanced data into the NBA since the new decade. It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apr

Continuing in the spirit of special edition shows, this week will take an in-depth look at free agency this summer in the NBA...for the Boston Celtics of course. Sean Deveney, NBA Insider for the Sporting News is back once again for appearance number six.  He and LHR will list out what they believe are the Celts top five free agent targets this summer.  Who Boston probably wants; who they should want; who they should stay away from.  What free agents will get a deal that teams will regret some ten months from now? It’s everything and anything.  And before looking at what the Celts can add in the off-season, they first have to keep.  So what are the odds on return for Jared Sullinger, Evan Turner, Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko? What would it take to keep them? It’s all on this week’s edition of Celtics Beat. Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available for download on iTunes and Stitcher on Sunday, June 5th 2016.  Powered by CLNS Radio. Learn

With the fate of the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA Draft now sealed, Brad Stevens, Danny Ainge, team management and everyone else now know what the Celtics have on their hands as they enter the summer of 2016: Three first-round draft choices including the third overall as well as $50+ million dollars of cap space.  So therefore, we can now finally preview the 2016 NBA Off-Season. Sean Grande, Celtics radio play-by-play for 98.5 FM The Sports Hub in Boston will do so with Larry H. Russell.  Sean and LHR will spend the entire show together, take one last look back on the season -- all that was accomplished this year, both short and long term and use that to assess where the Celts are heading into this summer and what legitimate opportunities there are out there for the team.  Will the organization and fans just have to accept this will be a longer process where Boston will build through the draft? What free agents out there will the Celts target and who will be the best fit? What about the future of Evan Turn

The 2016 NBA Draft Lottery has yielded the third overall selection for the Boston Celtics...courtesy of the Brooklyn Nets.  Boston held serve for the first time in a while.  Should fans and team executives be disappointed at the lack of lottery luck? Jeff Goodman of ESPN is back on Celtics Beat to breakdown the coming NBA Draft and lay out all the scenarios for the Celtics.  Goodman gives a rundown and scouting reports on all potential draftees for the Celts, and lays out scenarios and his own predictions as well.  How likely is it that the Celts even use the pick anyways. There’s more: Goodman discusses the value of the Celtics pick courtesy of the Nets NEXT YEAR, what they should do in this coming off-season, as well as discusses if Boston has the best future of any NBA team.  And if not, who does? It’s all on this week’s episode of Celtics Beat.  Brought to you by Blue Apron, audiblepodcast.com/celtics, Casper, and American Farmer’s Network.  Available for download on iTunes and Stitcher on Sunday, Ma

Time for the unofficial official 2015-16 Season in Review show for the Boston Celtics.  It was still a bit too fresh from their loss to the Atlanta Hawks to do it two weeks ago, and there was still a lot to take away from that particular postseason series in the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals.  But now, it’s time... Mike Gorman, Celtics play-by-play announcer returns to the show and joins LHR to run through the entire 2015-16 campaign on the 157th edition of Celtics Beat.  The Celtics’ voice will not just recap the entire season which began at this time last year with the off-season, but Mike will go through his off-season intuitions, pre-season predictions, in-season thoughts and other musings and thoughts that come to his mind when recapping this last calendar year.  Mr. Gorman and LHR will shoot through what they felt was the turning point of the season, what was less-obvious things were accomplished this year, the wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, the early-season frustra

Scrap those five-point plans on getting Kevin Durant to the Boston Celtics this summer.  There’s still a bit of a wait-and-see game there with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the midst of a huge playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Playoffs.  So until that series reaches a conclusion and if the Spurs can take care of business, the Thunder remain overwhelming favorites in keeping their superstar.  So let’s talk about what we have in front of us and that still being a fairly fresh, and wildly successful 2016 Celtics campaign in the NBA.  This week, we’ll get the red pen out and dish out report cards. Kyle Draper, host of Celtics Pre + Postgame live on Comcast Sports Net New England is today’s only guest and he’ll play the role of professor as he and LHR hand out their grades.  Where did they agree and disagree? How much should injuries detract from the breakout seasons of Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk and Jae Crowder? Despite struggling in the postseason, can you give anything less than a straigh

That’s a wrap on the 2016 NBA Playoffs and season for the Boston Celtics.  The Atlanta Hawks have dispatched the Celtics in six games and are moving on to the second round to face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers while Boston is going home.  We’ll put the final bow on the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals series and recap Game 6 with Jared Weiss of The Garden Report. Bob Ryan returns to the show as today’s featured guest segment.  Mr. Ryan too will recap the series against Atlanta and go a bit more in depth as he offers his take on whether or not Brad Stevens was outcoached by Mike Budenholzer; whether the Celts’ effort levels at times during Games 5 and 6 were acceptable; whether Boston should’ve rested a few bodies down the stretch.  Professor Ryan will also get his red ink out and grade the Boston Celtics in 2016 as well as take some preliminary looks at the Celts’ off-season which starts with the NBA Draft Lottery on May 17th. It’s all on this week’s episode of Celtics Beat.  Brought to you by a