E12 (7/5/22): Brad Stevens’ Hot Start to Offseason (Gallinari & Brogdon), Gobert Trade, Brooklyn's Rollercoaster Ride, Breakdown of Late Struggles from Red Sox's Big 3

Joey begins the episode by discussing the Celtics signing Danilo Gallinari after he was bought out by the San Antonio Spurs (1:01). Then, he breaks down the Celtics sending Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, and a 2023 first-round pick to the Indiana Pacers for star guard Malcolm Brogdon (4:24). He explains why Brogdon is such a steal (5:55), considering the package that the Celtics gave up in return (11:00). Joey analyzes why the two additions of Brogdon and Gallinari will help solve huge needs for the Celtics (13:23): bench scoring (21:54) and bench depth (15:55), free-throw shooting (19:42), and turnover woes (22:40). He explains why the bench immediately becomes better no matter who starts between Brogdon and Marcus Smart (14:35), and why Boston’s odds to win the NBA Finals have gone up (14:46). Furthermore, he praises Brogdon and Gallinari for their free-throw shooting abilities over their careers (20:05), and breaks down a ton of statistics about where both players have ranked over the last few seasons in the NBA in free-throw percentage, where Gallinari ranks among active players in FT% (20:53), where Gallinari ranks in offensive rating among active players (22:08), and where Gallinari ranks in turnover percentage (22:47).After that, Joey moves onto where Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant currently stand in Brooklyn, almost a week after Durant’s trade request (25:15). He gives insight into a report that the Nets are making offseason moves with the idea that both players will be on Brooklyn’s roster on Opening Night (26:37). Next, he transitions to the Utah Jazz trading star center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for an absolute blockbuster return (28:56). Joey provides a ton of information to prove how good of a player Gobert has been in Utah (29:30), specifically a league-leading and career-best 14.7 rebounds per game (29:39), a league-leading and career best 71.4% field-goal percentage, and a league-leading 25% rebounding percentage (30:36), Moreover, Joey unravels why Gobert’s criticism is not warranted (31:00) by listing his ranks in the NBA in offensive rating (31:07), defensive rating (31:20), and true-shooting percentage (31:27). He emphasizes Gobert’s impact when he is on the floor by stating his statistics again (31:37). Joey analyzes what this move will mean for Minnesota, the future of the Timberwolves, and Karl-Anthony Towns (33:05), and on the other hand, what it means for the Utah Jazz as they prepare for a huge rebuild (33:46).Joey switches gears to the Red Sox (34:30) and highlights Kutter Crawford’s strong performance in yesterday’s series opener against the Rays (34:56). He goes all out with a deep dive into the recent struggles of J.D. Martinez (36:03), Xander Bogaerts (37:08), and Rafael Devers (37:58), in the last two series against Toronto (40:49) and the Chicago Cubs (41:08). He equates their struggles to not being as patient at the plate with all three sluggers striking out a ton as of late (38:20). Alex Verdugo extended his hitting streak to 14 games and has been one of the only hot Sox hitters at the plate lately (39:25). He illustrates the struggles of Boston’s trio of sluggers even more by saying their combined numbers over the last two series (43:37). He debates why Jarren Duran should stay as the leadoff hitter over Kiké Hernandez (45:55) and he updates listeners on the Red Sox injuries (49:18): Chris Sale making progress on another rehab start tomorrow in Worcester (49:22), Garrett Whitlock and Nate Eovaldi progressing (49:51), Kiké Hernandez potential rehab stint (50:28), and Rich Hill’s knee injury (50:39). He closes the episode by praising the Baltimore Orioles for their progression in turning a corner and having their first winning month since August 2017 (52:42).