Celtics Lab NBA Basketball Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Prognosticating Boston's 2021-22 season with Chris Forsberg Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

The Boston Celtics have played their first game of their 2021-22 preseason slate, giving fans around the world their annual first taste of mostly meaningless games to over-react to. And far be it from us at the "Celtics Lab" podcast to miss out on such cherished annual festivities.

To that end, we brought on a special guest, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, to try to predict what sort of a team we're going to see in the 2021-22 season based on lineups and rotations we may see little or even none of during the regular season. We also try our best to prognosticate the season from standings at the end of the season, hardware, and more.

In the podcast's 69th episode (nice!) as the Celtics Lab, we dive as deep as ever with Chris into everything Celtics basketball with a dash of Red Sox aversion and even some hair care tips.

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Media Day, impersonal decisions and the season to come Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

Along with most of the NBA on Monday, the Boston Celtics held their annual Media Day proceedings. And like most of the other teams, there was a lot of hope and good vibes inflected with a tinge of controversy as the league's vaccination status became a topic of conversation touching almost every franchise in some way.

The Celtics as a team were without head coach Ime Udoka -- absent to isolate after an asymptomatic case of the viral malady in question -- but had plenty to say about new expectations, new roles, new faces and new challenges to come along with the arrival of the 2021-22 NBA season.

On this episode of the "Celtics Lab" podcast, your usual hosts Alex Goldberg, Justin Quinn, and Cameron Tabatabaie have plenty to say about all of the above, balancing our excitement against our disappointment in areas you can probably already divine.

Get your bearings on the season to come with our assessment of the annual season kick-off event, with Boston's preseason set to start in a little less than a week.

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Camp deals, player rankings and access for the differently-abled Sep 24, 2021

Show notes

Less than a week away from training camp, we find ourselves about as anxious for Boston Celtics basketball as we have been since the pandemic hiatus, chasing after whispers of potential star trade target disgruntlement and arguing over meaningless player rankings. But for many, visiting an NBA arena or even watching a game on television is a luxury beyond the usual reach.

A significant number of Celtics (and sports more generally) fans are disabled in ways that make enjoying and participating in sport a serious or even insuperable challenge without the help of teams and their arenas to accommodate those people. The Celtics are among a group of professional sports organizations who have made the choice to do something about this, working with the Beautiful Lives organization to make sports and sporting events as accessible as possible for their fans.

In this episode of the Celtics Lab podcast, we got together with that organization's co-founder, Bryce Weiler, to talk about what Boston and other teams are doing to such an end.

Of course, we also quibble about player rankings and opposing general managers irking their star players as you might expect -- but for this episode, we are proud to help spread the word of the great work Bryce and company have been up to.

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Building Boston superteams, targeting Zach LaVine, the Hoops Hall and more Sep 15, 2021

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With news that the Boston Celtics might target Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls should Washington Wizards star guard Bradley Beal prove out of reach of the Celtics, the hosts of the "Celtics Lab" podcast got to thinking on just how hard it is to create a true contender in the NBA right now.

With a fair amount of talent coagulated in just a handful of superteams, the pod's hosts Justin Quinn, Cameron Tabatabaie, and Alex Goldberg tried their hand at creating even vaguely plausible superteams, stretching the definition of that star-studded roster status to its limits in the process.

Join us in the depth of the NBA doldrums as we do our best to make the Celtics into a contender with imaginary trades while talking about the LaVine rumbles, some Celtics moves around the margins, the Hall of Fame, and more.

Listen to the pod embedded above to see how the Celtics might get to superteam status in every way imaginable, including trading for Zion Williamson to standing pat.

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Taking stock of the NBA's Eastern Conference with Ky Carlin and Ajayi Browne Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

With one of the most active offseasons in the entire league this summer, you will be forgiven as a fan of the Boston Celtics if you have lost track of what the other teams in the NBA's Eastern Conference have been up to, much less what the consensus is on where they may end up in the standings by the end of the next season.

But at the "Celtics Lab" podcast, hosts Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie, and Justin Quinn have been surveying the 15 teams on Boston's side of the league with expert help from Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire and Ajayi Browne of Nets Wire to see where the Celtics sit in contrast to their East peers.

We also get caught up on a surprisingly busy week of news for so late into the summer, with trades, signings and some pre-gaming the looming Hoops Hall induction of Celtics legend Paul Pierce.

Listen to the podcast embedded above to get caught up on what's shifted in terms of expectations for the league's Eastern Conference as the doldrums of summer settle in.

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Grading the Boston Celtics offseason with SI's Michael Pina Aug 31, 2021

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Assessing the Boston Celtics' 2021 NBA offseason has become something of a cottage industry in recent days with the assumption that the team has more or less wrapped up its major moves for the season after handing out a spate of contract extensions.

So far be it from us, your "Celtics Lab" podcast hosts Cameron Tabatabaie, Justin Quinn and Alex Goldberg, from avoiding a reckoning of new team president Brad Stevens' first stab at team building. To that end, we were lucky enough to be joined by Sports Illustrated writer Michael Pina, who recently gave the Celtics high marks for their offseason moves.

Listen to the podcast embedded below to hear us debate the finer points of Boston's reconfiguration in context, as well as our assessments of other moves around the league.

We even get into some random Jaylen Brown love dating back to Pina's GQ interview with one of our favorite Celtics.

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Dissecting the impact of the Timelord and Richardson extensions Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

The Boston Celtics started their offseason with a bang, making major moves to create cap flexibility and seeming to signal they were all in on pursuing a max deal star in free agency perhaps as soon as the 2022 NBA offseason.

Until it became clear they were not. Now, more recently, the Celtics have been handing out contract extensions to the players on their rosters like candy on Halloween, with veteran guard Marcus Smart, rising big man Robert Williams III and recently acquired wing Josh Richardson all getting additional years -- four apiece in the case of Smart and Timelord -- added to their contracts.

What might be the plan here? How does it impact what we already know about the team? How do we feel about the moves?

Join your usual hosts Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie and Justin Quinn as they dive into these important questions and the news of the week on this episode of the Celtics Lab, including Kevin Garnett's jersey retirement news and the release of the full 2021-22 schedule.

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Making sense of Boston's cap situation, and what it can tell us about the future Aug 19, 2021

Show notes

The Boston Celtics started their offseason with a bang, making a splash into the realm of cap flexibility when they moved on from former starting point guard Kemba Walker's contract almost before the dust settled on their 2020-21 season.

They continued to make moves to free up their cap, which many thought signaled a plan to pursue a star -- perhaps Bradley Beal? -- via free agency. Since then, signing veteran guard Marcus Smart to a long-term extension has blown those assumptions to bits, so what can the Celtics moves this offseason signal about their plans for the future of the franchise?

Add in the sign-and-trade executed with the New York Knicks regarding the services of a one Evan Fournier, and the haziest bits of a picture might be coming together if you know how to read the proverbial tea leaves.

To that end we brought on friend of the pod Yossi Gozslan of Hoops Hype to share with us his knowledge on the NBA salary cap, and what the Celtics might be hoping to achieve.

We also talk about Las Vegas Summer League, Yam Madar's next step and more with two of your usual hosts, Justin Quinn and Cameron Tabatabaie (Alex Goldberg is getting in some much-needed offseason R&R). Give a listen to hear their takes on a pretty eventful summer, and if you like what you hear, tell a friend -- or better yet rate and review the pod.

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Dennis Schroder one-year, mini-MLE signing emergency podcast Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

Just hours after the most recent episode of the Celtics Lab was recorded, free agent point guard Dennis Schroder announced his plans to sign with the Boston Celtics, presumably on a one-season deal for the taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE) of approximately $5.9 million.

To that end, your hosts Alex Goldberg, Justin Quinn and Cameron Tabatabaie put together a short emergency pod to talk all things German Rondo and how Schroder's signing changes Boston's offseason, potential, and other moving parts. How long is Kriss Dunn for the team? Does this change Marcus Smart's extension calculus? Will we get to see Yam Madar join the team this season, or has the inking forced a return to the Israeli Premier Basketball League for the Beit Dagan native?

Listen to the podcast embedded below to learn more about Schroder's strengths and weaknesses, likely future with the team and more.

(Minor corrections: it is the NON-taxpayer MLE that triggers a hard cap, and extensions can be signed until the first day of the new season.)

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If not Bradley Beal, who might the Boston Celtics be targeting? Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

There's been a lot of ink spilled on what the Boston Celtics might be planning, who they might be after with their apparent push to keep their books clean enough to sign a max player in free agency next offseason or soon after, and just what it would take to get the presumptive target to Boston.

But what if that target -- Washington Wizards All-NBA guard Bradley Beal -- isn't who the Celtics are keeping the proverbial powder dry for, or they fall short in their pursuit? What other potential options are out there for Boston to lure into signing with the franchise, or to push all their chips in to trade for?

Recorded just hours ahead of the Dennis Schroeder signing, we won't be covering that juicy nugget of Celtics news in this episode -- be on the lookout for that in a future pod coming soon.

But, your regular hosts Cameron Tabatabaie, Alex Goldberg and Justin Quinn have plenty to say about who Boston might be monitoring for summer 2022 in the meantime.

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