Celtics News

[Goldstar88]

PG13 is in the gym with Mazulla and Cassell. Good to see!

https://x.com/celtics/status/2099589373683486860?s=46

[radiohead]

Got him!

The Celtics are bringing in competition for training camp later this month. A team source confirmed to MassLive that Boston is signing Devin Carter to an Exhibit 10 contract. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype was first to report the deal.

I?m excited for this. Low risk, high reward. Maybe Brand wants to see if his head is in check before offering a better contract? After seeing what our staff did to Queta, who knows what could happen here. Queta was drafted 39th, Carter 13th, both by Sacramento.

[Silas]

Carter: King's discard hopefully equals another Celtic treasure, see Queta!

[Goldstar88]

Queta said he hasn?t spent much time worrying about how Robinson?s addition will affect his role.

That?s a Joe [Mazzulla] thing to figure out, Queta said. I?m just out there welcoming my new teammates with open arms. Mitchell is going to be a great addition for us. I?m extremely happy that I don?t have to go against him any more because he used to get all these rebounds, so it?s going to be good to have him on our side.

Queta made a career-high 76 starts last season, averaging 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 25.3 minutes per game. He said there has been plenty to work on this offseason as he continues to round out his game following his first season as a starter.

I?ve been working on different facets of the game, being more versatile offensively, being more complete, Queta said. Making good decisions with the ball, whether it?s a pass, or being able to go get my own shot.

Defensively, being able to be in the right spots earlier, and communicate a little more. It?s the same old stuff. Spacing the floor as well, being able to shoot. It?s been a good offseason of work, and I?ve been working on pretty much everything.

[Goldstar88]

Celtics press conference from earlier today with Brad, Joe, PG13, Connely.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9KT2_DteReU&pp=ygUOYm9zdG9uIGNlbHRpY3M%3D&ra=m

[Jiri Welsch]

Celtics press conference from earlier today with Brad, Joe, PG13, Connely.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9KT2_DteReU&pp=ygUOYm9zdG9uIGNlbHRpY3M%3D&ra=m

Both guys sounded mature and interested in winning. Brad also mentioned kind of unsolicited that he had high expectations for the team.

Will be interesting to see how this year plays out. Still feel like they are susceptible to being exploited by certain teams, but who knows.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Celtics press conference from earlier today with Brad, Joe, PG13, Connely.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9KT2_DteReU&pp=ygUOYm9zdG9uIGNlbHRpY3M%3D&ra=m

Both guys sounded mature and interested in winning. Brad also mentioned kind of unsolicited that he had high expectations for the team.

Will be interesting to see how this year plays out. Still feel like they are susceptible to being exploited by certain teams, but who knows.

Man. We all need someone in our life that looks at us the way Brad Stevens looks at Conley.

https://www.youtube.com/live/9KT2_DteReU?si=L3ZiGj55V7Y_wwHj&t=911

[Phantom255x]

Mazzulla's facial expressions and look was clearly that of someone that's disappointed that they now have George instead of Jaylen 

[ozgod]

Our new most hated player and future pinata had this to say at the presser, for those who haven't/don't want to watch(ed) the video:

?The past couple years have been rough from a physical standpoint, and obviously that weighs on you mentally when you feel or you want to do things that you know your body has a limitation to,? he said. ?I feel great. I feel really good, physically. I?ve worked hard this summer. My body has naturally just healed.

?Just the time that I took off, leading up to coming back [for the playoffs], my body was in such a different place. And then going into the summer really was a chance to continue to work and strengthen my body, strengthen my knee.

?So it?s almost like a kind of rebirth or reborn again to be in a system, be in a winning culture, a winning environment, and to feel good, be able to work. A lot went into coming into Boston with a different mind-set, different mentality, and it?s again all of this just comes naturally. You come into this building and it just hits you like you?re here to work, you?re here to get better, and I?m kind of carrying that.

George said all the right things in the 30-minute session. He expressed a, at least temporary, peace of mind about his health, his desire to make this stop the right one.

?I?m coming in with that attitude, that mentality of being the best version for myself. And again, I?m ready. Feel this is the timing for me, and I?m all in.?

George is one of the league?s most accomplished players without an NBA Finals appearance. He was once one of the league?s rising stars before suffering a severe open compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula during a USA Basketball intrasquad showcase scrimmage in Las Vegas on Aug. 1, 2014.

It altered his game, turning George from an athlete to a technician. He?s managed to make seven All-Star Games since that injury but his stature declined during his Clippers years (from 2019-20 to 2023-24), when his expensive pairing with Kawhi Leonard failed miserably.

He took the 76ers? money (four years, $211.5 million), hoping a change of conference and environment would resurrect his career, but it didn?t. George?s body began to fail him, the 76ers greatly underachieved, and his salary was considered exorbitantly bloated.

But it was that salary ($52.8 million average) that allowed the Celtics to facilitate the trade and move on from Brown. George?s playoff performance also convinced the Celtics? brass George still had an impressive skill set. George?s pledge to blend into the Celtics culture, serve as a compliment to Jayson Tatum and emerge as a primary 3-point threat encouraged president of basketball operations Brad Stevens to praise this team two weeks before training camp.

Of course, George will have to back up those words on the floor. But for now, he offered a salve for those concerns about whether the Celtics acquired an over-the-hill, overpaid player with little value left. George said he has plenty left and it will be up to coach Joe Mazzulla to put him in the position to succeed.

But George promises to be his best self, and that should be better than the George of the past few years.

?I see that with JT being able to play off him, being able to help him, being able to kind of still be a mentor,? he said. ?I can play off another superstar wing and still bring a presence and still be on the side of doing everything to win.

?You play the game as hard as you can and injuries happen. Just hope that?s behind me. Again, I feel great. I feel amazing, and that?s all I can bank on. I haven?t felt like this in a very long time coming into a season, and that alone is a win for me.

?It?s about building and having an expectation to be ready to go when the season starts.?

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/15/sports/paul-george-celtics-nba-basketball/

Let's see what happens. I'm still expecting him to be booed on opening night...he hasn't played a game yet but is on track to be one of the most unpopular players the team has ever had - Mr Optionality 

[Neurotic Guy]

Initially, Im more interested in how JT performs than PG. If Tatum is a legit MVP candidate then it will be perfectly fine for Paul George to be a DW-level player, providing his role - strong defense and reliable, albeit not prolific offense.  Unfortunately, PGs body is unlikely to hold up throughout a rigorous season and that?s the main reason that this trade has been viewed as bad idea. With PG out with injury and with JB playing for another team, the Celtics become a second tier team in the East, and idea of not being a contender when they could have been a contender is agonizing for fans.

[Roy H.]

Just the time that I took off, leading up to coming back [for the playoffs], my body was in such a different place.

The time that he "took off"?  As in, the suspension he got for treating his mental health with street drugs?

[Vermont Green]

I don't get why Paul George would be a hated player.  I get the concern with injuries/durability, but what is the problem in a more general sense?  Is it the drug suspension?  I feel it is highly plausible that he just made a mistake with his mental health medications.  I don't know the details.  But even if this was overt, does that make him a bad guy?  Not sure what I am missing.

I have said this before, I am optimistic that he really can hold up sufficiently to help the team.  He looked good in the playoffs.  You watch Embiid and you see an injury just waiting to happen.  He is gimpy, looks fragile.  Paul George did not look that way.  Now maybe this was just the result of the extended layoff due to the suspension, I can't know.  But he looked good enough to allow me to be optimistic.

[Roy H.]

I feel it is highly plausible that he just made a mistake with his mental health medications.  I don't know the details.  But even if this was overt, does that make him a bad guy?

In terms of plausibility, you think that maybe somebody substituted out his Lexapro with illicit Ketamine?

I hope the guy does well.  My ire is more directed at the stupidity of Brad Stevens here, and secondarily whatever budget restrictions ownership is putting on him.  Brad tore down a contender with its two main players in their prime.

So, I don't hate George.  I will point out when he says stupid things, like calling his illegal drug suspension "taking a break".  But, he didn't choose to get traded here.  It's BS who decided that a broken down, overpaid third scorer with mental health issues and poor judgment related to those issues was worth JB.

[Vermont Green]

I feel it is highly plausible that he just made a mistake with his mental health medications.  I don't know the details.  But even if this was overt, does that make him a bad guy?

In terms of plausibility, you think that maybe somebody substituted out his Lexapro with illicit Ketamine?

I hope the guy does well.  My ire is more directed at the stupidity of Brad Stevens here, and secondarily whatever budget restrictions ownership is putting on him.  Brad tore down a contender with its two main players in their prime.

So, I don't hate George.  I will point out when he says stupid things, like calling his illegal drug suspension "taking a break".  But, he didn't choose to get traded here.  It's BS who decided that a broken down, overpaid third scorer with mental health issues and poor judgment related to those issues was worth JB.

Yeah, I don't know the issues with his mental health and medications, definitely some risk there, but nothing that creates any ill will, at least from me.  Someone referred to him as "our new most hated player".  Others seemed to be playing along.  I totally get not liking the trade, I am more trying to understand why he is viewed as an unlikable player.  Not saying right or wrong, I don't see him that way but trying to understand why others do.

What I am hoping for is 60-65 games of Derrick White level play, keep your medications straight, and be ready for the playoffs.  It may not go that way, but I don't see that as a unrealistic ceiling.