u/___BostonThreeParty

Such a well done video. I'll miss him.

Look forward to seeing his number in the rafters someday.

On his latest podcast, he talks about JB, the trade rumors, his feelings on the JB/JT relationship, etc.

TL;DR version: If true, what a damn mess.

I tried to quote him specifically because I feel like his word choice matters. Bolded parts are mine because they're most relevant:

• Mentions that JB has been in France doing some sports panels and that he wasn't happy about any of this and is acting like he's no longer with the team, according to people he knows.
• Zach Lowe questions Bill about how he thinks the team could have handled it.
• Bill said he rarely disagrees with what the team does, but he felt like we didn't go about the Giannis stuff in the right way.
• He said we approached our deal with Milwaukee (JB and the picks was all we ever offered. He said Hugo was never an option and we never opted to beef up our offer) as we had in the past with Jrue, under the assumption that it would only be between us and Milwaukee and that word wouldn't get out about us offering JB. However with new ownership and them undecided if they wanted to keep JB, they approached potential third teams, and it was via the third teams that word got out.
• Bill questions that if we were going to go down this route of getting Giannis, we needed to just put JB on the trade block period because once the word gets out, we needed to anticipate how he would react to it: "He already feels like he's the Jan Brady of the Brady Bunch on this team, he's the little brother, it's Tatum's team, not his." He said he understands JB's point about what he said on his podcast after our season ended, even though he doesn't feel like he should have said it that way. "Everyone counted them out, over/under was 41.5. He was the only reliable scorer and offensive weapon on the team, went 56-23, they were 2nd in offensive rating. And I think he feels disrespected. So, you put him in one trade and now you have to trade him."
• He said teams know there's blood in the water and now you have to trade him, so you're going to get shittier offers. He said he would have just done it all at once.
• Zach Lowe says, "I thought you meant they should have gone all in on Giannis because isn't JB on the trade block now?
• Bill states that he's only on the trade block now because he's upset about being offered for Giannis and how the process panned out.
• He said people are always questioning/wondering about the nature of JT and JB's relationship. He said he thinks they're probably fine, but that it's "the people around them that always cause the problems." "The circles around them are the ones that start half this shit."
• "I do think it's notable that JB never mentioned JT much during the season. And in these last three weeks, where's Tatum?" He hasn't said anything. Jaylen said at one point, [JT's] coming on his twitch or whatever, he hasn't come on. How about the last couple weeks about, how the guy that could actually squash this, the leader of your franchise, Tatum, who could come in and say, 'I don't want them to trade Jaylen. We won the title together two years ago. I can't control the front office, but I wanna try and win more titles with him, that's my guy.' Nothing. It's been dead silence. Which makes me think that the team has felt, at either some point during the season, or right after, that this is a wrap, and that Jaylen just wants his own team and Tatum probably wants him to have his own team. And that's probably the answer, right?"
• Bill mentions how he believes KD thought after beating LeBron that he would get his flowers and people would consider him one of the greats in the league, of all time. He thinks JB may have had a little bit of similar mindset. "We won a title. I'm finals MVP. I'm conference finals MVP. I carried our team last year. And now the moment Tatum gets back, they're like, 'Thanks Jaylen. We're gonna trade you for Giannis now.'" And I think he wants to leave. I don't think he feels like he was respected in the right way."
• "Now there's a million things we don't know about. Is there behind the scenes stuff? Are there signals that he sent? Go explore a deal for us. He's played 26,000 minutes in 10 years, almost 5,000 playoff minutes. The guy is really fucking good. Even if you're going like, he's got 142 playoff games. I think he's 20 a game for the playoffs. And if you're going like 125 games and up, it's a list of fifteen guys and all of them are awesome. And I just can't believe some of the trades that people think what he's worth." Mentions Portland not wanting to give up Clingan
• Says he thinks it's more likely JB ends up coming back to the team with the offers being what they are. He thinks JB should get more credit for his season this year, doesn't think his contract is ridiculous for a Top-15 player.
• Bill mentions Mazzulla is the key to putting the proverbial toothpaste back in the tube. He thinks if anyone can get it all to work with the Jays, it's him.
• "I don't know if Jaylen has reached the point of no return. He's already won a title, so it can't be one of those things where it's like, 'I don't have a ring yet.' He already has the ring. He already has the respect from last year. Now he wants the respect of the team and the city and he probably knows, 'It's always going to be Tatum's town and not mine.'"
• Zach Lowe wonders if JB's mindset is of, 'What more do I have to do to be of worth?" and Bill wonders if he's already there. "He's there. He's there right now. 'You said we're gonna tank last season. We were building our way to a Top 3 seed and you traded Simons for the corpse of Vuc to save more money. And then you threw JT back in there, you played him too many minutes, and he couldn't play in Game 7. There's no blood on my hands for anything that happened last season."
• "What trade would the Celtics fans accept?" He lists: Pelicans - Murphy, Poole, and two unprotected picks. Portland - Jrue, Kamara, and picks. Denver - Murray, Cam Johnson for JB and Hauser.
• Bill says we went after Giannis because we felt like we could patch together JB's minutes with Hugo, Baylor, and a little bit of Sam and Walsh and that JT could carry more of the offensive load we'd lose by losing JB.

I know people have feelings about whether he's an insider and what he knows, his accuracy, etc., but I wanted to share.

If true - which he seems to have some insider knowledge based on him breaking the Giannis stuff - I can't believe this is our off-season. Truly. Like, what the fuck.

He’s clearly a polarizing figure among fans, at least online.

Similarly - in my opinion - to the strong feelings people had/have (I know some folks who still have disdain for him despite he and KG making amends) about Ray Allen, who was also in trade rumors a bunch near the end of his time here. In addition to his and Rondo’s sour relationship when Rondo is a favorite among many fans.

I understand it’s a bit different as Ray left on his own to a rival in a LeBron led team in the end, which was the precipice for fans ire. But fans have been advocating for JB to get traded from the beginning of his time here.

Fan perception does play a role in player’s legacies and how they’re remembered too, to an extent.

It was only a few years ago we’ve started to see Ray at the Garden again. And he’s a guy who’s trade here helped KG see us as an option, who made tons of clutch shots for us, and helped us win it all in ‘08. Nevermind, all the playoff runs during that Big 3 era.

And this isn’t me saying the situations are identical. Because they aren’t. The environment surrounding Ray’s leaving lingered for years. I remember clear as day fans taking on KG (and to an extent Paul’s)’s perspective on it. Hell, I remember when KG had his TNT segment, Area 21, and at one point had on Rondo, and I think Perk or Big Baby, and maybe Pierce? and they proceeded to bash the dude on air. Watching it at the time felt awkward. 😂

I have to think it would be different than the Ray scenario. They both won championships here and had success. But we did draft Jaylen which makes a difference (I think) and he does a ton of community work here.

How adorable is baby Su in the background? And you can't tell me Bumi, Kya, and Izumi weren't out here sneaking cactus juice while Tenzin (begrudgingly) and Lin kept watch for their parents lmao.

Artwork link.

I love that Kya is getting her own comic because I want to learn more about the Gaang's kids and their dynamics.

It's safe to assume with Bumi, Kya, Tenzin, Lin, and Su all living in Republic City, they were probably close and grew up together, especially knowing Lin and Tenzin were a thing.

Izumi, on the other hand, I'm not sure? I remember back in the day though, when Season 1 hit, fandom thought Bumi/Izumi were a thing because his uniform collar was Fire Nation-esque.

What do you guys think of the Gaang kids? What do you think their dynamics are like? Fun theories?

My thoughts! They're intriguing to me for so many reasons, but also the fact that their parents are children of war, who had a ridiculous amount of responsibility and pressure as children to put the pieces of the world back together. Nevermind did Aang ever have a moment to process all his trauma and loss? Poor dude goes from defeating Ozai to having to assist in rebuilding and keeping peace everywhere. At 12.

• Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin - Bumi and Kya seem closer based on what we know: him saying Kya always knows when he needs a hug, the both of them teasing Tenzin, and feeling similarly about Tenzin & Aang's solo trips. I don't think Tenzin has a poor relationship with either, though, but I think the fact that he was the baby of the family and the only Airbender of the bunch must have been seen as an astronomical deal (understandably) to the rest of the world. Bumi and Kya probably felt that vibe of being "lesser" from the public (not so much from Aang) after it was revealed Tenzin was an airbender, as we see with the Acolytes not knowing who they even were. And that, plus finding out Aang took Tenzin on trips (I'd assume to de-stress from the pressure of learning everything Aang had to teach him as the only other airbender.) probably only made those feelings even heavier. I wonder if both Bumi and Kya liked the idea of traveling because they could form their own identities outside of being Kataang's kids; something Tenzin had zero choice in.
• Lin and Su - Their relationship seems like it was more rocky (no pun intended) than that of their aforementioned friends. Toph was all about giving them the freedom her parents didn't allow her to have. I wonder if Lin spent a lot more time at Aang & Katara's because I'd imagine there was more structure/routine and that seems to be where she thrives. And Toph sending Su to her parents is interesting to me because it implies she must've made up with them at some point???
• Lin and Tenzin - I have to imagine they got together as teens, right? And then as they got into adulthood and figured out what they wanted, realized they were at an impasse and couldn't stay together? But we know their break-up was messy as hell lmao. Lin tried throwing Pema in jail and wrecked Air Temple Island. 😂 I just wanna know Kataang, Toph, and Sokka's reactions to all that going down. We need a comic of that.
• Kya and Lin/Su - I love the idea that she was a pseudo big sister to them. Y'know Kya probably tried to get Lin to meditate with how high-strung she can be. With Toph's job as chief of police, Kataang probably watched Lin and Su a bunch.
• Izumi - We know nothing lmao. I assume she or Bumi are the oldest of the Gaang kids? I'd like to think she would have seen Kataang's kids a little bit because of how much Aang and Zuko - I assume? - would have worked together. I had headcanon-ed that the Gaang and their kids would go on trips to Ember Island to catch up, but Season 3 dashed that when Bumi and Kya said they never went there. I'd imagine she and Kya (and Lin!) have the most epic bending spars as kids/teens where that turtle duck pond is destroyed lmao. Or Izumi and Kya sneaking out of the Palace as teens because Izumi's friend is having a party and there's a girl she thinks would be perfect for her. The idea of Izumi and Bumi having a teenage fling is fun for The Drama because it'd be the Avatar and Fire Lord's offspring, and after Roku being a failure with Sozin, there's no way people/the public wouldn't have opinions on that lmao.

Full quote:

“If the Celtics trade Jaylen [Brown], I don’t think it’s going to be for Giannis. I think it’s going to be a trade like, multiple pieces, more flexibility, guys that would lead to one extra move after this. And I think that’s what they’re thinking.”

This would align with the rumored interest the Pelicans have on JB and that theoretical package of Murphy, Murray, and potential picks.

Thoughts?