Gorman: Celtics Won't Dive Too Far Into Free Agent Market
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics are on quite the roll right now, one that has them firmly implanted in a battle for a playoff spot.
The Celtics have won five straight and 10 of their last 13, and are tied with the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference (currently out of the postseason due to a tiebreaker) -- two teams they've beaten over their recent string of success. Boston held off the Pacers Saturday night in Indiana, beating one of the hottest team in the NBA and prompting play-by-play man Mike Gorman to send out this Tweet:
Gorman joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Wednesday morning, and said all of this starts with head coach Brad Stevens.
"I put it out after the Indiana game because that was a special win. [The Pacers were] the best team in basketball since the start of February and everything was going their way, and the Celtics played them to a standstill and beat them down the stretch. That's what Boston is suddenly doing now," said Gorman. "I think what has happened to this team, with [Rajon] Rondo and [Jeff] Green gone, everyone is listening and paying attention to the coach.
"It's remarkable. You ask them about the Celtics' success of late, and the first thing out of their mouth is it's all about the coach," said Gorman. "I think we're finally seeing what the ownership, Danny Ainge and what people in college basketball saw in Brad Stevens -- that this is one of the best coaches, if not one of the top five coaches out there. Given a musical chairs lineup that he's had all season long, he's done a remarkable job. With 15 games to go, this team is in the hunt for a playoff spot. This is a team everyone thought was playing for a top three lottery position."
Stevens and the Celtics have done all of this without a true star on the roster. With plenty of cap space this upcoming summer many believe the Celtics will try to make a big splash on the free agent market. The Celtics lack a big man to protect the rim, and with names like Marc Gasol, Greg Monroe and LaMarcus Aldridge hitting the market, the C's could easily fill that void by luring one of them to Boston.
While Gorman would love to see someone like Gasol in Celtics green (which would likely require a max contract), he cautions Celtics fans not to become too enamored with big names looking for big deals this summer.
"I don't think they want to dive too far into the free agent market. I think Brad has shown here that he works best with young players. Young players listen to him and he's able to coach them," he said. "Gerald Wallace is a great example of an older guy who has bought in, he knows his role and lives his role as the mentor. But it's mostly young players and I think the Celtics are going to stay with young players.
"I know the NBA has a reputation of eating their young, but I think Boston can pull it off. He's that good of a coach," said Gorman. "I can't tell you how impressed I am with how hard they play all the time. People say you can't get NBA players to play hard for 48 minutes a game, but he has done that, and they've done that the last three, four weeks."
Gorman also talks about potential first round matchups for Boston, and shares his thoughts on which pieces currently on the roster will likely stick around for the long haul:
