Boston Celtics: The Tatum/Brown combo is always enough to keep you interesting
I mean, I’m open to suggestions if anyone else has a better reason.
The Celtics didn’t do anything that should make Boston fans feel great this offseason and it seems pretty clear that they’re just collecting tradable contracts. The extensions for Marcus Smart and Robert Williams as well as the contract for Josh Richardson all seem to be in place for the sole purpose of making the cap work if and when they decide to try and land the next disgruntled NBA superstar.
That doesn’t do much for them right now, but Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown are awesome and should at least keep them in the mix while they try to go big-game hunting in the trade market.
Memphis Grizzlies: Ja Morant’s playoff performance
Memphis seems content to play the long game and stay patient – a strategy that makes sense given the age of their core players, but it may be frustrating in the short term for fans. They didn’t take any concrete steps forward in the offseason, but they have Ja Morant who is officially awesome at basketball.
Morant’s first career playoff series against Utah may have ended in a loss, but he was the best player in that series on either side. He averaged 30 points and 8 assists on 48% shooting (way up from his season splits of 19/7/45%) and gave Memphis a chance in a series that no one thought they’d even be playing in, let alone competing in. As long as Morant is in Memphis, they’ll be a team to watch.