The Boston Celtics will have more playing time for younger players next season
As a result of this unusual -- at least for the Celtics -- state of affairs, the team's incoming rookie class and younger players, who will get more of a chance to spread their wings and show what they can do when their number is called.
The hosts of the CLNS Media "Garden Report" podcast, Bobby Manning and Noa Dalzell, broke down how the team's youth movement will have a lot more playing time in the season to come. Check it out below!
If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network: https://ytubl.ink/3Ffk
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Boston Celtics jersey history No. 27 - Jordan Crawford (2013-14)
The Boston Celtics have had players suiting up in a total of 68 different jersey numbers (and have three others not part of any numerical series) since their founding at the dawn of the Basketball Association of America (BAA -- the league that would become today's NBA), worn by well over 500 players in the course of Celtics history. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Celtics Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. With 25 of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Celtics to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover. And for today's article, we will continue with the 11th of 13 people to wear the No. 27, Boston guard alum Jordan Crawford. After ending his college career at Xavier, Crawford was picked up with the 27th overall selection of the 2010 NBA Draft by the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets. The Detroit, Michigan native would play part of the first season of his pro career with the Atlanta Hawks after a draft night deal. He also played for the Washington Wizards before being dealt to Boston in 2013. His stay with the team would span just 27 games before he'd be dealt again, this time to the Golden State Warriors in 2014. During his time suiting up for the Celtics, Crawford wore only jersey No. 27 and put up 9.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Bruins 2028-29 roster projection: How does the rebuild turn out?
The Boston Bruins have taken a big step forward in reordering their future. Fraser Minten and Will Zellers were among the returns in their selloff at the 2025 trade deadline. James Hagens was the prize for finishing with the NHL's fifth-worst record in 2024-25. So what could this look like in three years? Advertisement David Pastrnak will be 32 in 2028-29. Charlie McAvoy will be 31. The two cornerstones should be well within their windows of being franchise chain-pullers. But will the quantity and quality of Pastrnak's and McAvoy's next-generation reinforcements be robust enough for the Bruins to be Stanley Cup contenders? General manager Don Sweeney has made it a habit to spend liberally in free agency. There's no reason to believe that pattern will break. For this exercise, we'll peek ahead to 2028-29 using only current Bruins and internal prospects. It should provide a sketch to determine how aggressively management will need to supplement their existing veterans and inbound youngsters with trades and signings: Morgan Geekie will be halfway through his six-year, $33 million contract. Geekie, who will be 29 years old, could still be paired with Pastrnak. As for their prospective center, Hagens will be 21 at the start of the 2028-29 season. By then, the 2006-born center could have two-plus years of professional experience. The question is how good Hagens will be. Hagens' upcoming sophomore season at Boston College should give the Bruins better insight into what he will become. He was good enough to produce at a point-per-game basis as a freshman while centering Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard in 2024-25. The Eagles will ask Hagens to assume more offensive responsibility in 2025-26. It won't be easy without Perreault and Leonard as go-to wings. 'In some ways, it's going to benefit him,' player development coordinator Adam McQuaid said of Hagens' expected workload without his flammable linemates. 'Just continue to ramp up the compete level and consistent impact he's capable of having. That's a big thing for a lot of young players — just bringing the consistency night in and night out. It's not always going to be perfect. But just bringing the effort and wanting to be a driver and difference-maker.' Advertisement Unless Hagens turns into a top-tier smash, it's unrealistic to project him as a legitimate No. 1 NHL center at his age. But if Pastrnak and Geekie can carry the day, Hagens can continue his on-site development without the expectations of driving the line. The second line is full of wildcards. Will Zellers, the USHL's leading goal scorer in 2024-25, has yet to play a shift of NCAA hockey. He has work ahead of him to ramp up his pace and build the rest of his game. While he has top-six potential, Zellers will need time to develop. He will be a freshman at North Dakota this fall. 'I think he can get stronger, certainly, in order to play an offensive game at the NHL level,' amateur and college scout Parker MacKay said. 'That's going to come, though.' Will Moore is in the same category. He has second-line skill. But the incoming freshman at BC will need at least two seasons of college hockey to put on the weight required for NHL battle. Dean Letourneau has one year of NCAA experience. But it was a trying one. The 2024 first-rounder did not score a single goal. It's possible he may have to transition to an in-the-corners right wing who uses reach, physicality and puck protection to earn a pro living. 'He got much better with his stick,' McQuaid said of Letourneau once BC coach Greg Brown used him on the penalty kill. 'Just little details. He took all that in stride. But yet was like, 'I still want to do more. I believe I can do more.' Those are all positive things.' It's much easier to project the third line's performance because of their NHL experience. Elias Lindholm will be 33. He should be well into a phase of bottom-six, defense-first, penalty-killing shifts. Marat Khusnutdinov could develop more offensive presence by then. But he's on pace to be a third-line fixture. It's not as easy to determine what Matt Poitras will become. He is a natural center, but whether he has the all-around game to work the middle in the NHL permanently is unknown. Shifting to right wing could ease him of responsibility. Advertisement On the fourth line, Tanner Jeannot will be entering the fourth season of his five-year, $17 million contract. Minten, who will be 24, is trending toward becoming a trustworthy checking center. Chris Pelosi, the team's third-round pick in 2023, has the speed and puck-hungry approach to make it as a fourth-liner. Players not in the 2028-29 lineup (projecting to be traded or not extended) include Viktor Arvidsson, Johnny Beecher, Mikey Eyssimont, Fabian Lysell, Mark Kastelic, Sean Kuraly, Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha. The Bruins know what McAvoy is. It's not so with Mason Lohrei. The left-shot defenseman has the skill set to be the Bruins' version of Evan Bouchard: an offensive catalyst in charge of the power play. By 2028-29, Lohrei will be 27, perhaps more polished and more dependable defensively. Hampus Lindholm will be 34. He may not have the jump needed to push the offensive pace like he's currently capable of doing. It's possible Lindholm will have shifted more toward a matchup defenseman. Frederic Brunet, meanwhile, will be 25 and reinforced with three more years of pro shifts. He is a smooth skater who likes to go up the ice. On the No. 3 pair, the Bruins hope that Liam Pettersson, one of their two 2025 second-round picks, will have added the weight required for 200-foot shifts. The 6-foot-2 Pettersson was most recently listed at 170 pounds. Nikita Zadorov will be 33, still aligned with his defense-first window. Traded or not extended: Michael Callahan, Jordan Harris, Henri Jokiharju, Andrew Peeke Jeremy Swayman will start 2028-29 as a 29-year-old. Assuming 2024-25 was an exception, Swayman could still be peaking as a full-fledged ace. The Bruins do not currently have a high-end goaltending prospect, but they might not need one if Swayman is in elite form. Philip Svedeback, the organization's fourth-round pick in 2021, will be 26. Advertisement Traded or not extended: Michael DiPietro, Joonas Korpisalo, Simon Zajicek A much-needed infusion of youth is helping. More is coming: two first-round picks in 2026 and two more in 2027. But it's still not enough to offset the four first-rounders the Bruins traded between 2018 and 2023. Hockey operations will have to be aggressive on the trade market and in free agency to add NHL players, especially up front. The Bruins need game-breakers.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Not everyone thinks the Boston Celtics should sign ex-Clippers backup big man Ben Simmons
While there have been plenty of very good cases made for why the Boston Celtics ought to sign him, not everyone thinks that the Celtics should risk signing former Los Angeles Clippers backup big man Ben Simmons. For some, the sins of his past stints with the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets are unpardonable, for others, his lack of a shot from beyond the arc (or even an attempt at developing one in-game) make him a non-starter for Boston. There is a case to be made that even the minimum salary is not worth the opportunity cost (and the minutes he would be taking from some of the Celtics' younger players), with this eternally polarizing player not appealing to a significant subset of Boston fans and analysts. We can count among them WEEI's Meghan Ottolini, who recently took some time on "WEEI Afternoons" to talk about why Simmons isn't the right fit for the Celtics. Check it out below!
