NBA Insider drops MASSIVE report on the Celtics...

An NBA insider just released a massive report that has some implications for the future of this Boston Celtics team. Folks, we are getting closer and closer to regular season NBA basketball, to Boston Celtics basketball. It is currently training camp. The Boston Celtics under head coach Joe Mazzulla are currently in South Carolina doing training at the Citadel, doing bonding, all of these things, etc. But what is this new report? What does it reveal? What does it show about how other teams, other executives among the league feel about the Boston Celtics going into this season? Well, folks, I'm Kellen Frangione here with Celtics Digest, and we are going to break it all down here today. On today's edition, I'm excited to get into it, folks. But what am I talking about? Well, I am referring to the following here from Zach Lowe, an NBA insider, a guy who does work with the Ringer, that's also with Bill Simmons, a huge Celtics fan. But folks, it says, a poll of 30 league executives, out of a poll of 30 league executives, rather, a majority picked the Celtics to be their non-Knicks pick for the team to come out of the East. Now just think about this for a second, folks. They're not picking the new look Philadelphia 76ers, even with all the star power that they have now. They're not picking the renewed Miami Heat with Giannis. They're not picking the Pistons, who were the one seed this previous season. They're not picking the Cavaliers with Donovan Mitchell and talented Biggs. They are picking the Celtics to be their non-Knicks pick, despite all the changes that have happened. But folks, before we get any further into this, if you are extremely confident in the Celtics' performance this season, as some of these executives are, I invite you to place a little yes or no contract on it. You can go for 45 plus wins, 50 plus wins, or even if you're extremely confident like they seem to be, 55 plus wins. 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So thank you to Calshi for sponsoring. We really appreciate it. But back to it, folks. Zach Lowe, known NBA insider guy, works with Bill Simmons on The Ringer, does a ton of stuff like that. He polled all these people, and they are still believing in the Boston Celtics. I think that speaks volumes because we know all of the trade stuff that happened, a major shakeup of the roster, Tatum now has to be the guy. But people are remaining confident. And now an article breaks it down a little further. And so I'm just going to read some of the snippets from this article that go into a little more detail, talking about this tweet and talking about the quote from Zach Lowe. It says that The Ringer Zach Lowe polled 30 coaches and executives around the league in the latest episode of his show to find out which team was the biggest threat in the Eastern Conference behind the defending champion Knicks. Lowe reports that the Celtics were the overwhelming winners of the poll, putting them ahead of the New Look Sixers and Miami Heat, among others. It continues to say the following. I was actually shocked at the level of optimism for Boston as a finals team, Lowe said on the Zach Lowe show. A lot of it was simply based on the fact that they felt safest about Boston alongside the Knicks being a top three seed in the conference when the regular season is over. Boston currently sits in third place behind the Knicks and Sixers in Eastern Conference finals odds, according to ESPN bet, but finished comfortably ahead of Philadelphia in Lowe's poll. The Sixers, Raptors, and Heat all tied for second place behind Boston, with the Indiana Pacers coming in a distant third, it continues to say. All teams behind the Knicks in the New Look East face major injury questions up and down their rosters, including Boston. The Sixers lack depth at center behind Embiid, while the health of Kawhi Leonard and Giannis has been a question mark in recent seasons. They've missed a lot of games. Tyrese Halliburton also hasn't played a game in nearly 17 months while coming off of his torn Achilles, Boston has as much depth as any of these teams up and down their rosters to help handle any absences from newcomers Paul George and Mitchell Robinson. Tatum is also upbeat about his condition after some extended recovery this summer, following his early return from an Achilles tear last March. I feel great Tatum said last week, just going into the offseason, knowing that I had the whole summer to get my body right and get the rhythm of playing basketball again. I feel so much more confident from a mental standpoint and physically than I did last March. That's how it should be. It's a long journey from the injury I had and I feel great and the Celtics will kick off the regular season against the Pistons in two weeks on October 20th at my time of recording. That is 15 days away. Folks, I cannot be more excited for the season, but there is a lot of question marks. And folks, it's important to keep in mind that the Celtics are always pretty good in the regular season. I mean, if we take a look at it, you'd see it right here. The Celtics have been a top two seed in the Eastern Conference for five straight seasons and 21-22. The second seed, 51-31, went to the finals. Obviously, we saw that turn out. We lost to Steph Curry and the Warriors. 22-23, second seed again, 57-25 and reached the ECF. 23-24, the first seed, 64-18. We know what happened there. Banner, 18, won the NBA Championship. 24-25, second seed at 61-21, but lost in the conference semis to the Knicks. That was very, very disappointing. And then, obviously, the most recent year where we were without Tatum for basically the whole regular season, Jalen Brown was able to take us to the two seed. We lost in the first round to the Sixers. But that run makes Boston only the fourth team since the 16-team playoff format began in 83-84 to secure a top two seed in five consecutive seasons, a genuinely rare level of sustained regular season dominance, even with just the one title to show for it, which we're hoping to make a lot more, but it might be a little wait, folks. I'm not sure it's going to be this year, but we always got to stay optimistic. We know the Celtics are dominant in the regular season, but we have to take it with a grain of salt, folks, because preseason rankings, preseason thoughts and ultimately mean nothing. And Joe Mazula touches on this in a new quote from him that I just want to talk about right here. Joe Mazula on reports of the Celtics vibes being high at training camp. Every team you lead is the most together team right now because we haven't traveled, no one's gotten benched, no one's been on a losing streak, no one's gotten blamed in the media, no one's had to go stand in the corner for 10 minutes and not get the ball. So you learn those things as the season goes on, and you just learn how to work through those things together. And you can't simulate those. It just comes with time. And so right now, I would say all 30 teams feel great about themselves. And we got to wait till adversity hits. And adversity is even a strong word. There's nothing really adverse about playing in the NBA, but we got to wait until stuff doesn't go your way. And then you got to figure out who we are, how we are going to be at our best. And I think this is a perfect and insightful quote from Joe Mazula. He's not wrong. It doesn't mean anything yet. The Celtics haven't got on the court with this new group yet in the formal NBA setting. They have not played a game yet. You can't judge it off of this. Now, obviously, there's always speculation. Everyone's always going to rank before the season starts. That's just how it works in the sports media world. You want to find something to talk about, but the Celtics are not proven. Despite all the changes, they're not proven. And a great example of this, I think, I just want to bring in NFL for a second here. The Los Angeles Rams, I think, are a good example of this, this year's edition of them. Heading into this season, they were about as close to a unanimous preseason number one, as you'll see. And obviously, the Celtics are not unanimous number one, but they're still being talked about pretty highly, despite all the changes. The Rams were number one overall in nearly every major power ranking across all of these major organizations. Super Bowl favorites, ESPN's FPI gave them a 14.9% chance to win the title, which is the highest of any team, and a projected best case 14 and three record. They have projected win totals ranging from 11 and a half to 12 and a half wins. And just you see it. They had a ton of hype. But where are the Rams right now, folks? I'm not sure if all of you follow NFL, but I'm sure most of you do. You see what has been happening to them so far. Through four games, they said just two and two. Currently third in their own division, the NFC West, and it's a far cry from that title favorite billing. They also lost on Sunday Night Football to Denver, 30 to 26. 30 to 26, the very game where the best roster in a generation narrative was already being tested against a good defense on the road. They were tested and they broke. They bended and they broke. It's just a great example of what Joe Missoula is talking about. The vibes are always going to be high before things start, before things can go wrong. So got to ride it out, folks. But it's also a good reminder, you know, as I was saying, the regular season dominance and also just to make ourselves feel a little better. Obviously, a lot of this includes Jalen Brown, but the Celtics are 405 and 196 with Jason Tatum all time. That is a win percentage of 0.674. That's pretty good, if I do say so myself. I'm pretty confident being in Jason Tatum's hands, and I think that's where a lot of the executives are coming from. And just the whole regular season dominance, the resume that the Celtics have built, these people are confident that the Celtics will be up there somehow. And also with Joe Missoula at the helm, I think people are confident. But all that aside, just regular housekeeping things also happening with the Celtics. Mitchell Robinson getting in some work at training camp in Charleston. The video just shows him working out, working on his physicality, his layups, as well as Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Shireman working with the joint player development coach Tyler Lashbrook. Keep in mind, this is still at the Citadel in South Carolina. The Celtics are actually not even in the Northeast right now. That is Joe Missoula and his choice as Will was telling you guys in our previous video. But overall, folks, thank you for watching today's video. We were discussing the fact that this poll has the Celtics being the non-Knicks pick to win the East, which I think is good praise for the Celtics, good buzz for them going into the season, making them feel confident. But as always, Joe Missoula is keeping them grounded. Folks, let me know your thoughts in the comments. How do you feel about the season being so close now? What is your realistic prediction for the Celtics? We've talked about it in many videos in the past. I believe the Celtics are still going to be a top four seed in the Eastern Conference, really anywhere in that ranking. I would hope that they end up even top three or top two as they have been in previous years, but it's too early to say, folks. Injuries could always get in the way. Bad things are going to happen. Unfortunately, we got to keep our heads up. Heads high, folks. Thank you for watching today's video, and I'll see you all in the next one. Thank you.