S4 Boston Celtics Presser
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2025 5:33 pm
Good morning everyone, I hope you are all well today. Please allow us to go through a moment of silence as we run a montage of the players we “lost” this offseason that helped us get to the playoffs last year.
Maurice “do a little dance sing a little Mo” Cheeks
He was a valued member of this roster, dating back all the way to the creation draft where we took him with our first overall pick. He was instrumental in all our builds while on the roster (given we had multiple in such a short span). A true locker room presence that showed up every night. We ultimately felt that keeping him was not best for both parties. We were destined to not be a competitive team this year and he was going into UFA next offseason. We saw what Johnny Moore did in UFA this year, leaving Dallas who made him an all start, for another team, and felt it was even more justified to move him.
Mark “I just want to keep” Eaton and LaSalle “park the bus” Thompson
We got both players in the draft last year hoping to build around them long term. Both played well last year with Eaton being the defensive presence we expected. A guy, a little older than your normal rookie, who will anchor many defensive teams this next few seasons. LaSalle was another guy who always showed up. He played bench role and starter with equally well and didn’t complain. We drafted him thinking we would eventually trade him, but do think he may wind up a better player than Eaton when all is said and done.
Ultimately, both were sent out to consolidate with Ralph Sampson, who we will get into later.
George “Don’t call me Bob” Gervin
An in season addition that made the biggest impact on our ye. He was the missing piece that put us in contention. He wasn’t here a long time, but it was a good time.
Dr. J
Another player we got in season last year that were forever grateful for. He wasn’t the leader of the team. His experience was something Boston missed when we sent out Kareem and he will also forever be in our Boston lore.
As you can see from above that’s five players. We lost our whole starting unit that got us to the playoffs last year. While it hurt doing it, I felt it was the best decision. This roster was limited I felt in how high we could climb looking at our books and roster age. Also add on the previously mentioned Cheeks UFA, and fear that Dr. J or Gervin would fall off a cliff in TC, we decided we needed to finally reset.
This season was the reset we were planning last offseason before we realized we didn’t have our own pick. This was after hastily trading away some players and then being told there was zero percent chance we would get our pick back. That lead to the aggressive moves to get win now players of Gervin and Dr. J. Their offense was what the team needed and they propelled my team to a winning season. However, with those move, we knew this roster was not a long term fix but a bandaid at best to spite others for not giving us our pick back.
Finally, no one believed we would make the playoffs too. Even up to the last sim, people were saying the Jazz would catch us. But we did. Then people thought the Cavs would sweep us. Well, we swept them! I put that on the back of our knowledge and experience of the players and coaches.
So with the season done out the above players, plus more, went for a new centerpiece of Ralph Sampson, Andrew Toney, Allen Leavell and TBD. We felt that Sampson was a better, younger, version of Mark Eaton who is able to provide on both ends of the court, and also is on the young side that provides switching capabilities similar to LaSalle. We like the idea of him also getting ROY this season. We have also noticed a spring in Ralph’s step in addition to him looking stronger, so look out for that.
We also approached UFA 1 with the idea we would get other support role players. Guys who would be great adds for the long term, instead of fighting for the top end b/b players. We got Leavell who we didn’t expect, given the Kings all in mentality that they expressed before UFA, at what we think will be a discounted price in a season or two. We also signed, unexpectedly, Andrew Toney with a max. We weren’t really wanting/thought to get a player on a max, but honestly of the possible players to sign, were happy with him. He’s young and will be a good compliment to Ralph, and the roster we’re trying to build here in bean town. We also signed Valentine, who we are happy with, but have already been offered trades for him that we are seriously considering it.
All in all, we think it was a radical change over that will lead to better long term success than what we had. With that, any questions?
Maurice “do a little dance sing a little Mo” Cheeks
He was a valued member of this roster, dating back all the way to the creation draft where we took him with our first overall pick. He was instrumental in all our builds while on the roster (given we had multiple in such a short span). A true locker room presence that showed up every night. We ultimately felt that keeping him was not best for both parties. We were destined to not be a competitive team this year and he was going into UFA next offseason. We saw what Johnny Moore did in UFA this year, leaving Dallas who made him an all start, for another team, and felt it was even more justified to move him.
Mark “I just want to keep” Eaton and LaSalle “park the bus” Thompson
We got both players in the draft last year hoping to build around them long term. Both played well last year with Eaton being the defensive presence we expected. A guy, a little older than your normal rookie, who will anchor many defensive teams this next few seasons. LaSalle was another guy who always showed up. He played bench role and starter with equally well and didn’t complain. We drafted him thinking we would eventually trade him, but do think he may wind up a better player than Eaton when all is said and done.
Ultimately, both were sent out to consolidate with Ralph Sampson, who we will get into later.
George “Don’t call me Bob” Gervin
An in season addition that made the biggest impact on our ye. He was the missing piece that put us in contention. He wasn’t here a long time, but it was a good time.
Dr. J
Another player we got in season last year that were forever grateful for. He wasn’t the leader of the team. His experience was something Boston missed when we sent out Kareem and he will also forever be in our Boston lore.
As you can see from above that’s five players. We lost our whole starting unit that got us to the playoffs last year. While it hurt doing it, I felt it was the best decision. This roster was limited I felt in how high we could climb looking at our books and roster age. Also add on the previously mentioned Cheeks UFA, and fear that Dr. J or Gervin would fall off a cliff in TC, we decided we needed to finally reset.
This season was the reset we were planning last offseason before we realized we didn’t have our own pick. This was after hastily trading away some players and then being told there was zero percent chance we would get our pick back. That lead to the aggressive moves to get win now players of Gervin and Dr. J. Their offense was what the team needed and they propelled my team to a winning season. However, with those move, we knew this roster was not a long term fix but a bandaid at best to spite others for not giving us our pick back.
Finally, no one believed we would make the playoffs too. Even up to the last sim, people were saying the Jazz would catch us. But we did. Then people thought the Cavs would sweep us. Well, we swept them! I put that on the back of our knowledge and experience of the players and coaches.
So with the season done out the above players, plus more, went for a new centerpiece of Ralph Sampson, Andrew Toney, Allen Leavell and TBD. We felt that Sampson was a better, younger, version of Mark Eaton who is able to provide on both ends of the court, and also is on the young side that provides switching capabilities similar to LaSalle. We like the idea of him also getting ROY this season. We have also noticed a spring in Ralph’s step in addition to him looking stronger, so look out for that.
We also approached UFA 1 with the idea we would get other support role players. Guys who would be great adds for the long term, instead of fighting for the top end b/b players. We got Leavell who we didn’t expect, given the Kings all in mentality that they expressed before UFA, at what we think will be a discounted price in a season or two. We also signed, unexpectedly, Andrew Toney with a max. We weren’t really wanting/thought to get a player on a max, but honestly of the possible players to sign, were happy with him. He’s young and will be a good compliment to Ralph, and the roster we’re trying to build here in bean town. We also signed Valentine, who we are happy with, but have already been offered trades for him that we are seriously considering it.
All in all, we think it was a radical change over that will lead to better long term success than what we had. With that, any questions?