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What’s good, family. It’s Sykes, once again, back with another edition of Layup Lines. A quick word on the Boston Celtics.I can’t help but think they’re the real winners of this offseason so far.
Let’s recap what they’ve done which, honestly, is not much. They just traded Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, some filler and a 2023 1st round pick to Indiana for Malcolm Brogdon. They’re also reportedly picking up Danilo Gallinari off waivers.
Coming into this summer, it felt like there was a chance that there could be some sort of regression from them. After all, everything had to go perfectly for them to climb from the very bottom of the standings to the literal top. We rarely see that. And when we do see it? It’s certainly hard to sustain. It wouldn’t be shocking at all if they took a step back.
But where we are now? It feels like they’re clear favorites to make it out of the East once again. It’s not as much about them as it is about the lay of the land.
Just look around them for a second — it’s pure chaos everywhere.
Kevin Durant has obviously demanded a trade out of Brooklyn and may go West. The Miami Heat haven’t added anything and just lost PJ Tucker to the 76ers. The Milwaukee Bucks added Joe Ingles, which is a solid move, but definitely not one that strikes fear into the hearts of Celtics fans.
Outside of that, they were already head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. The Hawks adding Dejounte Murray? That’s cool. They’re probably unbothered. What about the 76ers building the Rockets East? They’re unbothered by that, too.
There was nothing else they really need to worry about. And if there was? Oh yeah, they just added Brogdon to a rotation of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Al Horford and more. Your favorite team is going to have some trouble scoring here.
We’ll see how things work out with Durant and Irving and everyone else in the East. But right now, nobody in the conference stacks up very well to these Celtics.
And with how young that team is? It might be that way for a while.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
I really have no idea what the Utah Jazz are doing right now. Danny Ainge normally has a plan and is very calculated. His track record in Boston speaks for itself. But I’d be lying if I said their offseason so far wasn’t confusing.
It confused the homie, Bryan Kalbrosky, too. He took a crack at breaking down and made a really compelling case for Donovan Mitchell as a potential trade chip.
Here’s more:
“Mitchell, who grew up near New York City and has long been rumored to want to return home, could be closer to family in Brooklyn. His father is an executive for the New York Mets, anyway.
I’d doubt KD wants to play in Utah, but it’s not exactly up to him. Maybe the Nets decide to just go for it and send Durant to the Jazz if it means they can get Mitchell, who is still only 25 years old, in return?”
Keep your eyes glued to Utah, y’all. It could get crazy.
One to Watch
(All odds via Tipico.)
Lynx (+145) vs. Aces (-3.5, -180), O/U 174.5, 8 PM ET
When I first looked at this game, I thought the line was unbelievably close. Only a -3.5 spread? Something is up. Especially with everyone healthy. But, the thing is, the Lynx have played the Aces really close in their last 3 games — they’ve all been decided by 10 points total. So a close line makes sense.
But, with that being said, I’m taking the Aces -3.5. They’ve only lost two games in a row once this season so far. I don’t expect it to happen again here.
Shootaround
— Brian Windhorst as a meme is the absolute best. Please, Windy, keep this coming.
— Ranking the other 29 teams by who needs to trade for Kevin Durant because, let’s face it, everyone could us a KD.
—Here’s that free agency tracker, once again. This is super useful.
— Brogdon might not be the only move on the table for the C’s.
That’s a wrap, y’all!
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