Jumping the gun after three games can be a bit over the top, especially when those games are preseason exhibitions.

But the Boston Celtics are earning every bit of the hype and anticipation surrounding them after a near-flawless three-game stretch entering the regular season — and that’s no exaggeration.

Both behind the scenes and on the court during their preseason trail runs, the restructured Celtics are starting to click. It’s only been two weeks since training camp began, but head coach Joe Mazzulla’s crew is already taking shape. By now, the newcomers have a strong feel for Mazzulla’s world and what it takes to thrive in it.

“He gets on my ass a lot,” Mitchell Robinson told reporters after Wednesday night’s 114-93 win over the Charlotte Hornets, improving their perfect 3-0 preseason record.

“The way that he takes everything in and gives us all the information, literally down to a T, those are things that can help us be successful,” Robinson continued.

For the team’s preseason home finale, Mazzulla unexpectedly paired Robinson with Neemias Queta, introducing an intriguing double-big combination. Together, Robinson and Queta showed flashes of their potential as a co-existing option Mazzulla can lean on. They challenged Charlotte on both ends of the floor, particularly with their rotations, helping Boston’s offense operate more efficiently.

“Mitch is one of the smartest players I’ve been around,” Mazzulla told reporters.

Robinson and Queta combined for 28 points, unlocking a new option for a team already built on flexibility.

The Celtics, much like last season, aren’t committed to a fixed rotation night in and night out. Rather, as they’ve shown throughout the preseason, they’ll attack in a variety of ways to maximize their roster’s strengths and wear down opponents.

Experimenting with the clipboard is a strong suit for Mazzulla that made last year’s counted-out Celtics into winners of 56 games, good for second-most in the Eastern Conference.

Getting Robinson and Queta accustomed to playing alongside each other wasn’t the end of Mazzulla’s trail runs with Boston’s big men. Queta, who attempted eight 3-pointers all of last season, totaled three attempts against the Hornets, each with plenty of room but off the mark.

Nevertheless, the 7-footer is confident he’ll turn those attempts into a reliable source of offense.

“I think it can help us,” Queta told reporters postgame. “It can be a weapon that we can use at certain points. Obviously, it’s not gonna derail my attention span off what I do best on the court, but it can still be used as a weapon and a strength.”

Needing to adjust and get a new group going comes with pressure, but Mazzulla doesn’t see it that way. Giving Queta and Robinson an audition in the preseason is just a snippet of Boston’s preparation and philosophy. There’s a buy-in that all Mazzulla-led teams, including the 2024 championship group, need to invest in. And so far, that’s exactly what last season’s Coach of the Year winner has received with less than a week until Opening Night.

Paul George, the organization’s return piece for Jaylen Brown, too, has bought in.

Poised for a role with greater responsibility than was demanded in Philadelphia, George has passed the eye test. Outside of shooting a combined 5-for-20 from the floor in two preseason appearances, George has played the part needed from him.

He’s allowed team leader Jayson Tatum to shine while complementing the rest of the group seamlessly. George’s shooting slump hasn’t deterred him from grabbing six rebounds against the Hornets or five steals Saturday night against the Sixers.

George and Tatum have challenged each other during training camp, avoiding playing together during scrimmages to make their preseason debuts their first official time sharing the court as teammates.

Tatum and Mazzulla have already expressed their excitement to acclimate George to the team, aware that a nine-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer still has plenty left to offer, even at 36 years old. In return, George has also expressed his excitement to be a Celtic.

“It definitely fuels you,” George told reporters after debuting on Saturday night. “It makes you play hard. It makes you want to win for everyone in that arena, and it is like a badge of honor to wear that green.”

Once the shots start to fall, George’s contribution will carry even more weight.

In the background, the reserve unit has made plenty of noise this preseason.

Devin Carter made an immediate impression, scoring 17 points in the team’s preseason opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Hugo González has attacked the basket with greater confidence. Baylor Scheierman has experimented with his range while slinging passes that channel his inner Jason Williams, and Luka Garza has remained a lead-by-example presence, always ready to step in and deliver.

Mazzulla also made note of Jordan Walsh’s defensive strides, which made him integral at points last season.

“Jordan continues to be really good at the start of games, guarding the team’s best player, getting off to a good start defensively, something he’s done well for us those last couple of games,” Mazzulla told reporters on Wednesday night. “It’s a huge role for him that we’re going to need from him.”

With one final preseason game left against the Sixers on Friday night, the Celtics have checked every box.

Turning their scrutinized offseason into a contender capable of a deep playoff push will require everything the Celtics have shown so far. Getting the fanbase on board after a heartbreaking front office decision is difficult — and a challenge much deserved — but Mazzulla’s group has proved it’s possible.

There’s a lot to unlock in the versatile Celtics.

Whether they can sustain that promise over 82 games is the bigger challenge ahead.

Folks, we’ve got a full plate of news in today’s edition of Heard ‘em Say, including fresh intel on how the Bucks are trying to whittle down their roster to 15, another draft-related horror story, and a Bucks fan favourite has started a podcast. Let’s rip into it!

Roster developments

On Wednesday, Jake Fischer reported on social media that Milwaukee is exploring trades to address its roster crunch, as I noted in The Feed. We now have more specifics on how the Bucks plan (or hope) to make those trades happen via another edition of The Stein Line.

Bucks, Lakers discuss Jericho Sims-Dalton Knecht swap

Per Fischer, the Bucks and Lakers have held “exploratory trade discussions” about a deal that would send former first-round pick Dalton Knecht to the Cream City, along with second-round draft capital, in exchange for Jericho Sims. However, Fischer also points out that he’d heard some pessemism that such a trade will actually eventuate.

The Lakers have had interest in Sims for a while now, which I mentioned in my Bucks trade value rankings for 2026-27, where I ranked the bouncy big 11th and said he could fetch an early-to-mid second-round pick. Apparently, he’s worth more than that.

Granted, Sims’ value is somewhat inflated because, well, the Lakers need a viable backup big. Milwaukee’s own Kevon Looney currently occupies that spot, and he isn’t exactly playable anymore. In short, Horst would have the upper hand in negotiations, which I can only assume is why the reported deal is Knecht plus picks.

Fischer notes that if no deal materialises, LA might have to waive the former Tennessee wing before Monday’s deadline. Knecht is guaranteed $4.2m for the 2026-27 season after the Lakers picked up his third-year team option, so they would have to absorb that money if they waived him instead of trading him.

Interestingly, Fischer also reports that Sims is a name to monitor for the Philadelphia 76ers after their original backup centre, Ariel Hukporti, tore his Achilles in the opening minutes of the preseason.

Bucks weigh deals involving Kevin Porter Jr. and Caris LeVert

The other Bucks-related tidbit from Fischer is that Milwaukee has weighed potential deals involving Caris LeVert and Kevin Porter Jr.—along with possible Sims trades—to avoid waiving contracted players. Crucially, Fischer states that the Bucks want to keep fan-favourite Pete Nance and know they risk losing him to another team if they waive him in hopes of re-signing him to their final two-way contract.

(Another) draft-related Horst horror story

Folks, we have another “close, but no cigar” story relating to Jon Horst’s drafting. Last year, I wrote about Washington Wizards wing Kyshawn George’s appearance on the Old Man And The Three podcast, where he revealed he was shocked the Bucks didn’t pick him at 23 in the 2024 NBA Draft after strong workouts and feedback.

Well, it appears the same thing happened (in that same draft!) with OKC Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell. Even more ironically, Mitchell appeared on the same podcast this year to detail his draft story and Milwaukee’s interest in him during the pre-draft process.

“My agents were like, ‘There’s a chance you get picked late first.’ Milwaukee had the 23rd pick. I went in there, they really liked me. My sister lived in Wisconsin, so I could see that connection. My whole family was like, ‘You might be in Milwaukee, and that would be great.’”

Instead, Milwaukee selected AJ Johnson, not Ajay Mitchell. However, Horst still had a chance to save himself: Mitchell wasn’t taken until pick 38, and the Bucks also had pick 33, but as we all know, they used it on Tyler Smith.

But wait, there’s more! In the same article above where I detail the Kyshawn George story, I also share a tidbit from Zach Lowe: the Bucks were basically deciding between Andrew Nembhard and MarJon Beauchamp for pick 24 in the 2022 draft. In the end, they went with Beauchamp, who quickly flamed out. Sigh.

I want to curl up into a ball.

Kyle Kuzma starts a podcast (just like everyone was asking for)

To top it all off, Kyle Kuzma has announced he is starting his own podcast, Read the Room, where he will “sit down with founders, investors, athletes, and creators to talk about the boldest moves, the pivots, and what they learned along the way.”

Do with that information what you will.

I had thought that both the Rockets and Thunder might not play their starters at all tonight. Both teams had a hefty number of “Game Time Decisions” and “Day To Day” players. It seemed like it might be a slightly nonsensical clash of deep benches, and guys who are likely headed to the GLeague.

This was not to be. We certainly saw some deep roster players in action tonight, but the first quarter, and much of the second was more or less starters and rotational players, minus a couple of absences. We didn’t see Steven Adams for the Rockets, nor Chet Holmgren or Jaylin The Other Williams for the Thunder.

The first quarter went the Rockets way, as neither team could really hit jumpers, but Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun could dunk the ball at the rim pretty easily. The R0ckets ended up winning the quarter 33-15. The beginning of this game, the Rockets offense was basically just dunks by Amen on cuts, and clever passes from Sengun. Nice to see that again.

The Thunder came back in the second quarter, winning it 32 to 21, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen The Main Williams got going a bit.

The third quarter saw a switch from starting players (Durant came out at the half in street clothes.) to rotational players, and the Rockets Bogdan Bogdanovich, Tari Eason, and Reed Sheppard all made shots, particularly BogBog, who was 5-8 from three, and looked to be moving very well.

We also saw minutes with Marcus Smart, but he wasn’t particularly effective tonight, going 0-3 and notching 2 assists to 2 turnovers. Fred VanVleet was the primary point, and in the distribution role he was again a sight for sore eyes, logging 8 assists and 0 turnovers. His shooting was not as good as the first game, as he went 3-13 overall. He needs to keep shooting, though, as he’s been away from basketball for a year, and we need to see if some consistency will return to his shooting.

We’re also going to have to see if the idea of Marcus Smart being the secondary point guard is a good one. There are other players who might do as well, and offer better shooting.

The fourth quarter was basically the deep benches, but the Rockets deep bench could hit 3pt shots, and the Thunder couldn’t. The Rockets put up 53 three pointers tonight, which is far beyond their average of 31.6 last season. We’ll see if that holds up in any way.

I’m not sure there are any particularly surprising takeaways from individual play, but there were some changes in approach from the Rockets we might hope to see continue.

The first is, not setting up in the same spot every time, and very few screens being called up anywhere, and certainly not as a reliable certainty. Last year screens mainly served to drag another defender into the area of the ballhandler, congesting their movement. Right now the Rockets are staying spread out. They don’t move, but they do actually space the court, forcing defenses from the paint.

The second is, the Rockets are attacking on offense early in the clock, with very little surveying and pounding the ball. Certainly some of this is attributable to Fred VanVleet, but the set up is simply different as well, from the past two seasons. I’m cautiously optimistic. Attacking a defense like the Thunder early is the way to go. The Thunder want to swarm and slap on defense, and the longer a team holds the ball, the worse it gets. They’re good at it. What they aren’t, in general, is big and powerful, or even especially quick. Decisive attacks that force reactions, and might lead to passes off cuts, like Sengun to Amen, are a way to break them down. Sure, it’s preseason, but that’s a good recipe no matter when.

Third, we’re seeing an actual fast break attack. Despite the Rockets size and athleticism, they were one of the lower ranked fast break teams in the league last season.

Finally, are they going to shoot more threes? They might well have better personnel to do it than anytime since The Harden Centuries.

Anyhow, preseason is now over, and the Rockets start the real season at home, against Dallas, on Wednesday the 21st. See you there.

Karl-Anthony Towns was facilitating like it was the 2026 playoffs. 

The All-Star center collected six assists and five points in the first 7 ½ minutes of Thursday’s 122-120 preseason finale victory over the Raptors, setting the tone for a stat-stuffing evening while using his height and vision to create from the top of the key. 

It was a flashback to the dominant postseason run from Towns, who unlocked a dominant Knicks offense by transforming into a triple-double threat midway the first round. 

Coach Mike Brown said he would revisit Towns as the hub this season and Thursday’s evidence was on display early. Towns, whose stagnant extension negotiations have hovered ominously over preseason, finished one assist shy of a triple-double with 15 rebounds and 13 points in 28 minutes. 

“Yeah, I feel good,” said Towns when asked about his rhythm. “I feel really, really good.” 

It represented KAT’s best performance of preseason, and also New York’s as a team as it finished 1-3. But the lone win arrived with a caveat. 

Towns was unstoppable unless guarded by Toronto’s top defender, Scottie Barnes, who drew the assignment in the third quarter and subsequently shut down KAT. 

It was the type of adjustment that is sure to define the start of the Knicks season. Towns as the hub was a new wrinkle in the playoffs, and the opponents are equipped with enough film to discover ways to counter. 

The Knicks start the real games against the Sixers on Tuesday’s Banner Night, when Towns as the hub will resurface as a strategy that the opponent will have to deal with. 

Thursday showed it can work again. 

“I thought today was a good dress rehearsal,” Towns said. “It was cool, it was very nice to get back out there and get back into our flow and be really good. Obviously we have a lot of things to work on. But it was a good way to end the preseason.” 

Josh Hart was the only starter who did not play in Thursday’s preseason finale. He had a sore right ankle but Brown said it shouldn’t impact Hart for the season opener Tuesday.