Jones & Keefe: Should the Celtics be in on Damian Lillard?

Watch Jones & Keefe: Should the Celtics be in on Damian Lillard? - WEEI-FM / WEEI on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00What do you think Lillard's going to have left in the tank?

00:01Because I get what Keefe is saying, where you do want to retool the team for 2027.

00:07Like, I want them to compete in a wide-open East this year,

00:09but I acknowledge they're not winning a championship.

00:11Even competing in a wide-open East, a championship is not a realistic expectation.

00:16It could be in 2027.

00:18So I do get the interest level in Lillard.

00:21That's assuming he's even the Lillard you got in Milwaukee,

00:23never mind the Lillard you got in Portland.

00:25He's older, he's on the wrong side of an Achilles.

00:27What do you think they would actually get or whatever team signs him

00:30will actually get when he's back on the floor?

00:33I mean, that's the interesting part.

00:34I mean, because a lot of his game, too, is finesse and it's acceleration

00:38and all that stuff that you need your Achilles.

00:40And threes, which would be a good thing for the Celtics.

00:43But he turns 35 next week, assuming he misses all of next year.

00:46He's going to be 36 when he hits the floor again.

00:48And I think the financial aspect of it makes a lot more sense, right,

00:52because he's got all this money still coming to him from Milwaukee

00:55that he can take less to come to a team like Boston.

00:58And I also think there just won't be as much stress on him.

01:00Assuming the core stays intact, where you'll have Jason Tatum as your clear number one,

01:04you'll have Jalen Brown, you'll have Derek White, and you'll have Peyton Pritchard,

01:07you'll have all these scorers around you that he's not going to be asked to do

01:10what he was asked to do in Portland or even in Milwaukee.

01:13So I think there is – it makes sense for both sides to at least consider it,

01:18especially if he wants to go out and actually try to have a chance to win something.

01:21I think if there's going to be – if you're the Celtics, right,

01:24I think a lot of teams are going to do this.

01:25You're going to dip into the second apron, then you're going to dip back out,

01:28and it's just kind of going to be like a back-and-forth type of thing.

01:30That's the way the league is set up right now,

01:32and I think it makes a lot of sense for him to at least consider it,

01:34especially if he wants a chance to win.

01:36And you've mentioned a couple times now.

01:37The Eastern Conference is wide open.

01:39Oh, yeah.

01:39You get Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown back on the floor together,

01:41and you've still got Derek White and those guys.

01:44Like, this is a team that's going to be ready to compete again when Tatum's back.