Author Archives: TheIntern15

TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column 07/02/26 – Part Two

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By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

Welp. This isn’t the first time I’ve eaten crow. Turns out Brad Stevens didn’t think as highly of Jaylen Brown as I do. Nor did Stevens seem to even want him on the team, regardless of the underwhelming potential returns.

I won’t turn on Jaylen now that he’s no longer on my team. I won’t suddenly become an on/off metrics guy when I rarely write about those numbers. It’s not that I don’t believe they’re valid—they are. But in Jaylen’s case, I spent years shrugging them off as they came back increasingly dire. The regular-season wins kept pouring in. They built a team with him as the second-best player that went to the Finals twice and won a title. Sure, JB put us in some bad situations in the past, but he also got us out of them.

The night he was drafted to a chorus of boos, Brown said in his first interview as a Celtic that he’d go to war for this city. He did. And he won that war.

In the end, Brown still wished to return to the Celtics and was traded anyway. I’m sure Stevens loves Jaylen on a personal level. But professionally? I bet he fucking hated him. The reasons were probably his late-game decision-making, dribbling when pressured, and of course the aforementioned on/off numbers that found him repulsive despite a career year.

Brown’s fate was sealed the moment he inked that $285 million contract in the summer of 2023, making him the richest player in NBA history at the time. From that point on, he became a negative asset. It didn’t matter what he did—and he did a lot in the ensuing three seasons—the money was simply too much. 

The Celtics saw no path to contention if their top two players were making over $50 million a year. There was even a chance to snag Giannis. If Brown had the value I’ve been saying he did, the Bucks wouldn’t have taken Tyler Herro over him. There are plenty of other reasons that trade didn’t happen, but this is where we are now. The 2024 Finals MVP was moved to Philadelphia for Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks.

Obviously, I don’t know what Stevens was actually thinking. But that doesn’t mean I can’t pretend to!

My gut reaction is that Stevens thought George > Jaylen. Even though Jaylen was the younger, healthier, and more proven player, that doesn’t change the fact that the 36-year-old George sent the MVP candidate home in this past playoff series.

Brown is the superior wing in basic counting stats. But George’s on/off numbers destroy Brown’s (negative 4.4 for Brown vs. George’s positive 4.9). Perhaps the idea of getting George into the same system that may have propped up Jaylen—combined with George being a better defender, a smoother offensive fit, and the added draft capital—really enticed Stevens.

I honestly thought that when this moment arrived, I’d be able to write more. But the anticipation proved more impactful than the conclusion. Boston is betting that their depth and star power can improve with George in uniform. They’re also betting on the Los Angeles Clippers being bad in 2028 and the 76ers in 2031—or that those picks become valuable assets they can flip for a star in the near future.

Ultimately, their cap situation remains largely unchanged. What Boston gains is flexibility: eight first-round picks and seven second-rounders. Is this the final roster? We’ll see.

The Jays era is over. What a glorious era it was. They brought Banner 18 home. Now it’s up to Stevens to equip the remaining Jay with the help needed to chase number 19.

There’s a lot of work to be done. I won’t get your hopes up. But I also won’t tell you to despair.

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. He does not live in a baby New York.

TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column 07/02/26 – Part One

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By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

Jaylen Brown was traded.

Oh, and Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley are here too. Credit to the Celtics front office for not letting the internet distract them and for remembering there were legitimate holes on the roster that needed addressing. Let’s start with the less heralded signings. I prefer to get the least important information out of the way first.

Mike Conley, age 38 and entering his 20th season, recently signed a one-year veteran minimum deal worth $3.8 million. His career is basically Al Horford if he were a point guard: a player who has bounced around the league, appeared on a few deep playoff teams, and is largely respected as a veteran who can steady the ship on off nights. Of course, this is not the Mike Conley of the Grit and Grind Grizzlies. His minutes per game have dropped drastically due to age and injuries. His defense is not what it once was. One does worry that Conley, at this stage, could become a crutch for Joe Mazzulla to turn to when higher-upside, younger options are on the bench—namely Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman. The rationale for why that might not happen is that those two are more shooting guards than true point guards. Beyond Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, there wasn’t a viable option to eat up minutes at the position.

The basic stats from his last season in Minnesota don’t look pretty. Playing 18 minutes a night, Conley averaged 4 points and 2 assists while shooting 33% from both the field and three-point line. His box-score plus-minus was -1.3. Conley is the type of player you sign when you need a veteran but can’t afford a superior option. My preferred role for him on this team is to eat up meaningful minutes so the stars don’t have to play as much and to serve as an on-court assistant coach. Now on to the free-agent big man the Celtics recently signed using the full mid-level exception.

Robinson, age 28 and fresh off a title with New York, is now a member of the Celtics on a three-year, $43.7 million deal. Prior to this signing, the Celtics’ big-man rotation was the team’s weakest position. Beyond Neemias Queta, they lacked rim protection and defense. Armed with the full MLE, Brad Stevens was able to sign Robinson away from the New York Knicks after owner James Dolan made it publicly known he did not want to enter the second apron to retain his backup center. Robinson was the lone homegrown success story for the Knicks this past season. Drafted in the second round in 2019, he battled injuries before emerging as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate and a key contributor who helped New York to their most successful run in a quarter-century.

Robinson ranks in the 99th percentile as a roll man in pick-and-roll actions, averaging 1.70 points per possession with an 86% scoring frequency. That’s very good. Queta is a fantastic roll man in his own right, and now Boston has another big who can do the same thing. The main concern with Robinson is his health—he has missed 138 games over the past three years. The Knicks took excellent care of him and got lucky to have him fully healthy and available for the playoffs the last two years, where he protected the rim at an elite level. He gave the Celtics fits in 2025 and guarded Victor Wembanyama better than most. Potentially, he is the ace the Celtics needed. He was the ace for the Knicks. It’s all about how his body holds up. There was bigger news today… we’ll talk about that later.

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. 

TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column 06/26/26

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Is the Celtics glass half-empty, or half-full?

By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

It’s been a rough few months for the Celtics, to say the least. It’s not often that people look at a roster featuring a four-time All-NBA First Team superstar, a Finals MVP, a reigning Coach of the Year, and a two-time Executive of the Year — and still feel the team has hit a wall. In some ways, the Celtics have. If there is a fault in Joe Mazzulla’s philosophy, it isn’t shooting too many threes. It’s the lack of an off-switch from their frantic style in the playoffs, when defenses can game-plan around Boston’s desire to win the numbers battle. It’s hard to make your threes when you can’t attack the basket against drop coverage. The Celtics have failed to generate good looks in the clutch during the playoffs in two straight years, and it has resulted in early exits that have dramatically shaken the confidence this group built from their title run.

Getting Giannis was supposed to fix that. But for whatever reason, the pursuit fell through. We can blame Brad Stevens for not going all-in, refusing to include Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, and more picks on top of the two first-rounders the Celtics are confirmed to have offered. Or we can believe the rumor that Bucks owner Jimmy Haslam nudged GM Jon Horst toward accepting Miami’s offer out of fear that Jaylen Brown would demand a trade. (Author’s Note: My source is Kevin O’Connor’s tweet: Kevin OConnor (@KevinOConnor) on X)


No matter who we blame, the Miami Heat now have Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Celtics do not. Their problems remain the same as before, and the clearest avenue to address them is closed. It’s easy to fall into despair and remember the later days of the Big Three era, when it felt like Danny Ainge couldn’t make the necessary moves to prop up an aging core while rivals got younger, faster, and better.

The silver lining is that Stevens isn’t wrong, in a vacuum, to walk away if he believed the price was too high. We’ll see how Miami builds around Bam Adebayo and Giannis. They are undeniably thin in an era where the last three NBA champions have been incredibly deep. They do still hold their 2028 and 2029 first-round picks, and we’re about to find out how valuable those picks are now that Miami won’t be lingering in the play-in. If the Heat can navigate these limitations and win a title or two, Stevens getting cold feet will look worse. If they fail, the bill will come due, the Heat will be in hell, and the Celtics will still have options.

The three most gnawing words fans hate to hear: wait and see.

The advice I’ll give Celtics fans is this: stay off Twitter. Stay off Reddit. If news breaks, you’ll find out the way your fathers and grandfathers did — a friend will tell you. If it’s any consolation, Jaylen appears ready to let bygones be bygones. Unless Stevens pokes the bear and tries to trade the two-time All-NBAer a second time in one summer and that deal also falls through, it’s safe to assume Brown will remain a Celtic for the foreseeable future. The front office will pivot to addressing their pitiful situation at center and may look into trading Derrick White.

For all the faults I’ve previously laid out about “Mazzulla-Ball,” it is uniquely suited to churning out 50-win seasons and making us forget the various weaknesses this team possesses. After all, we entered the past playoffs thinking we were a Finals team with Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, and Nikola Vučević as our centers. We’ll see if White can rediscover his jump shot. If a fully healthy Jayson Tatum will fix Boston’s problem of going 3-11 against the NBA’s best teams last season. If another year of Jordan Walsh as a lockdown bench defender — along with Hugo and Baylor as reserve spark plugs — can move the needle.

Can they beat New York, Miami, Detroit, or Philadelphia as currently constructed? Probably not. And that feeling truly sucks. But there’s no use dwelling on it now. Situations change. Things can shift in a month or two. Even if everything remains the same and the Celtics fail at every plan to improve this offseason, they’ll have plenty of flexibility next summer — perhaps making it easier to trade Brown and/or White under new circumstances.

We. Will. See.

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. He does not live at Boston Stadium.

World Cup Primer – Part 1

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As you may be aware, the United States, along with two other countries in North America will be hosting the 23rd edition of the FIFA* World Cup. You know, soccer? It will be jointly hosted by sixteen cities – eleven in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada. There will be 48 national teams competing, up from the previous total of 32 teams. (This is probably what made the NCAA decide to stuff more teams into next year’s March Madness Tournament.)

(* FIFA Motto- ‘You must first pay us before we tell you what FIFA stands for.‘)

As a public service, over the next few days this site will be providing some information about the nations and teams competing. We hope you find it edifying and enjoyable.

Group A

Mexico

Unlike the 2026 Red Sox, Mexico has played well at home when hosting the World Cup, which they have done twice before. Veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is set to feature at a sixth edition of the global finals while 17-year-old starlet Gilberto Mora is heading to his first as the youngest player from his nation to ever feature at a World Cup.

HC: Javier Aguirre

El Capitan: Edson Álvarez

Team Nickname: El Tri (The Tree)

Home Stadium: Estadio Azteca

South Africa

The final 26‑man squad is built almost entirely on domestic talent, with 19 players based in South Africa and strong representation from Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

Manager: Hugo Henry Broos

Team Nickname: Bafana Bafana

Team Spirit Yell: DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY!!

Vuvuzelas: Yes

Republic of Korea (aka South Korea)

South Korea has emerged as a major soccer power in Asia since the 1980s, having participated in eleven consecutive and twelve overall FIFA World Cup tournaments, the most for any Asian country. Despite initially going through five World Cup tournaments without winning a match, South Korea became the first (and so far only) Asian team to reach the semi-finals when they co-hosted the 2002 Tournament with Japan.

HC: Hong Byung-bo

Team Nickname: Tigers of Asia, Taegeuk Warriors

Captain: Son Heung-min

Top Scorer: Cha Bum-kun

Favorite American Television Program: ‘Franklin and Bash’

Czechia

Czechia’s return to the FIFA World Cup after a 20-year gap is both historic and challenging. The team, captained by Ladislav Krejčí, enters their 10th World Cup as an independent nation. The country registered ‘Czechia’ as its official short geographic name with the United Nations in 2016, which is a bit like having a divorced friend you’ve known for years insist you now call them by their new ‘cool’ nickname, but whatever makes them happy, right?

World Cup Base Camp: Mansfield, TX

Team Nickname: Skákající Češi (The Bouncing Czechs)

HC: Miroslav Koubek

Best finish: Runners-up in 1934 and 1962

‘The O.C.’ character equivalent: Summer Roberts

Group B

Canada

Canada, a first-time host nation will be hosting matches in Toronto and Vancouver. Soccer is the largest participatory sport in Canada and is considered the fastest growing sport in the country. (Hmm, sounds familiar…)

HC: Jesse Marsch

Captain: Alphonso Davies

Team Nicknames: Les Rouges, The Reds, The Maple Leaf Team, The Canucks, The Canuck Red Maple Leaf Raptors

FIFA World Cup equal to Stanley Cup: No

Bosnia and Herzegovina

B&H appeared for the first time in a FIFA WC at Brazil in 2014, which remains the only time the team participated at a major international tournament to date since they have yet to qualify for the Euros. While Serbia is recognized by FIFA as the official successor of Yugoslavia, Bosnian players have played a role in World Cup history before their countries’ independence in 1992.

HC: Sergej Barbarez

Captain: Edin Dzeko

Team Motto: Nisi tako hrabar kad nas je dvoje, jel’ tako? (Not so tough when there’s two of us, are you?)

Dream World Cup Matchup: Trinidad and Tobago

Qatar

After a less than stellar showing as the host of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar qualified for this year’s tournament by beating the United Arab Emirates 2-1.

HC: Julian Lopetegui

Captain: Hassan Al-Haydos

Possible pronunciations: Cutter, Ku-tarr, Cuter, Quieter, Quasar, Quarter, Guitar, Git’r Dun.

Switzerland

Switzerland has a proud World Cup history characterized by early quarter-final glory, recent consistent round-of-16 appearances, and a blend of experienced leaders and emerging talent poised for the 2026 tournament. It plays an offense that is appropriately thrifty, precise, and trilingual, while it’s defense is like their banking regulations.

HC: Murat Yakin

Captain: Granit Xhaka

Team Nicknames: A-Team Nati, Rossocrociati, Devils rouges, Leatherman Multi-tools

Robinsons on the squad: No.

Group C

Brazil (aka Brasil)

Brazil comes to this edition of the Tournament with a storied history of championships won (5) and players that go by only one name. In 114 World Cup matches played, the team has 76 wins, 19 losses, 247 points and a 129-goal difference. It is the only national team to have played in all World Cup editions without any absence nor need for playoffs The team will be staying in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

HC: Carlo Ancelotti

Captain: Marquinhos

Other players with one name: Yes

Nicknames: Canarinho (Little Canary) O país muito bom em futebol (The very good at soccer country)

You know you’re good at soccer when you only have one name.  Half of the Brazilian National Team only have one name.  Science!

Morocco

Morocco is regarded as one of Africa’s most successful national football teams. They have won five continental titles, including the 1976 and 2025 editions of the African Cup of Nations. They won the African Nations Championship in 2018, 2020 and 2024. Morocco has qualified for the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions. In 1986, they made history as the first African team to win a World Cup group and advance to the knockout stage. At the 2022 World Cup, Morocco became the first African and first Arab team to reach a World Cup semi-final. They were also the third World Cup semi-finalist from outside Europe or South America. In 2025, Morocco set a world record for the longest winning streak in international football, achieving 19 consecutive victories across all competitions. Morocco combines experience, tactical discipline, and a confident squad to enter the 2026 World Cup as a team capable of challenging for a deep run, building on their historic achievements and growing reputation on the global stage.

Manager: Mohamhed Ouahbi

Captain: Achraf Hakimi

Team Nickname: Atlas Lions, The Usual Suspects, سُودُ الأَطلَس (The Morocco Moles)

Letters of Transit: MacGuffin

Haiti

Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it, they were under the heel of the French and they got together and swore a pact to the devil.  They said, we will serve you, if you get us free from the French, true story. And so the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free, and ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, yet somehow qualified for the World Cup. Slotted in Pot 4, Haiti will face tough competition against some of the world’s top-ranked teams. It was easier for Haiti to qualify for the World Cup this year because the giants in the Concacaf, Canada, Mexico and the United States did not take part in the qualifiers since they will host the competition.

Team Nickname: Les Beelzebubs (The Beelzebubs) Les Grenadiers (The pomegranate Juice)

Captain: Johny Placide

HC: Sebastien Migné

Has the HC ever been to Haiti: No

Local Angle: Haitian player Frantzdy Pierrot was born in Haiti and grew up in Melrose, as he developed into a top-level forward.

Scotland

Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world’s first international football match in 1872. Hampden Park in Glasgow is the traditional home of the Scotland team. The attendance record of 149,415 was set by the Scotland v England match in 1937. Safety regulations reduced the capacity to 81,000 by 1977 and the stadium was completely redeveloped during the 1990s, giving the present capacity of 52,000. How do you say shrinkflation in Scottish? An eight-time previous World Cup qualifier, Scotland hopes the ninth time is the charm as far as advancing out of the first round goes. They will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina for the Tournament, a state settled in part by a great many Scots-Irish.

HC: Steve Clarke

Captain: Andy Robertson

Supporters Nicknames: The Tartan Army, The Well-Refreshed Hordes

The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lamond: Aye

To be continued-

Guest Patriots Column – Musical Chairs in the WR Room?

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Actual wide receiver room may appear differently.

By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

The dust has settled, the new car has been driven off the lot and onto the road. Now it’s time to get a clear idea of what the Patriots have and what they’ll need to do to sustain it. A.J. Brown, for all the faults I’ve previously attributed to him, remains a very explosive talent with a year or two of above-average production left in the tank. While it’s unlikely he’ll rack up 1,500 yards and touchdowns in the high teens again, you have to be optimistic that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will find ways to utilize him that go beyond the stat sheet.

The 2025 Patriots receivers were a plucky, pugnacious group that punched above their weight class. Rather than relying on a single player to carry the load, they spread the wealth. Stefon Diggs was a focal point of the interior passing game, logging 52% of his total snaps in the slot. Mack Hollins was heavily featured as a “power slot”—a physically imposing receiver who lines up inside rather than outside. Unlike traditional slot receivers, power slots use their size, strength, and blocking ability to exploit smaller nickel cornerbacks.
It was a classic “Do Your Job” team that spread the ball around and played a balanced, flexible style that minimized weaknesses. While the 2026 Patriots are far from perfect, there is reason to view them as superior to the squad that just made the Super Bowl.

Brown made no secret of his dissatisfaction with his role in Philadelphia. While how he expressed that dissatisfaction remains a bone of contention for me, the underlying reasons appear understandable. The Eagles ran a rigid, perimeter-based approach that kept Brown on the outside. He ran a career-low 12.4% of his routes from the slot and was targeted on dig or crosser routes just 22 times. He was locked into a vertical wideout role—something he can do—but it led to stagnation for both him and those around him, as the Eagles couldn’t find the offensive groove they needed.

For McDaniels, it’s fair to assume he doesn’t see Brown as a Randy Moss redux. More likely, he views him as a Rob Gronkowski redux: a physically imposing, gritty “big slot” who will work primarily from the inside. When that isn’t in the game plan, they can utilize Brown in what they called “Spear Routes” last year—two deep posts designed to clear out the safeties so the backside receiver can cut underneath on a deep dig.

Pro Football Focus data highlights Brown’s value in the slot. His grades dating back to 2022 remain strong, and any recent downtick can be attributed more to how Philadelphia ran its offense than to Brown’s own decline.

Among wide receivers, Brown’s slot performance since 2022:

2022: 12-20 | 180 yds, 4 TD | 88.9 grade (t-11th)

2023: 15-20 | 225 yds, 1 TD | 91.6 grade (6th)

2024: 5-10 | 82 yds, 3 TD | 91.8 grade (t-4th)

2025: 11-19 | 154 yds, 1 TD | 85.8 grade (10th) (Stats courtesy of @ThrowbackPATS. https://x.com/throwbackpats/status/2062244366090215923?s=46&t=pAGJU4_47xmQiQLpkIQLyQ)

Of course, adding Brown opens the door to potential locker room discontent—most notably from third-year wideout Kayshon Boutte. He is one year away from unrestricted free agency and just watched his role shrink with the arrivals of both Brown and Romeo Doubs.

Boutte.

I can understand Boutte’s frustration. He was a good soldier playing for a knucklehead like Mac Jones in his rookie year. He was the only player who improved during the debacle that was the 2024 season. In 2025, he remained unheralded but developed into a reliable, explosive deep-ball threat who saved Drake Maye on multiple occasions. If older Patriots fans are reading this (first off, thank you), I hope it isn’t sacrilege to compare Boutte to Stanley Morgan—the original yards-after-catch merchant. Boutte’s 16.7 yards per reception ranked 5th in the NFL, and he caught over 71% of his targets.

Boutte has made it clear he wants a new destination where he can feel secure in his role and protect his path to generational wealth. You’re that close, and playing the good soldier only gets you so far in this league. This is where Mike Vrabel, Eliot Wolf, and Ryan Cowden need to set modern sensibilities aside and smooth things over. They should be willing to endure a few uncomfortable days—Boutte skipping practice, fines being handed out—and work toward a resolution. Trading a 24-year-old wideout who has come up big for you in key games is rarely a recipe for long-term success.

You could argue the Patriots are so deep at receiver that they can let Boutte walk for a meaningless fifth-round pick and not miss a beat. But that underestimates the savage nature of pro football. Injuries happen. Brown has a well-documented history of knee issues and has landed on the injury report multiple times. If Brown or Doubs misses time, Boutte can step in and pick up the slack in ways that less-developed players like Kyle Williams and Efton Chism simply can’t. The Patriots currently enjoy rare depth at a premium position. You can’t put a price on that

If the situation reaches Lawyer Milloy or Randy Moss levels of dysfunction, letting Boutte go becomes understandable—but it would still sting, given how much younger he is than either of those players when their time in Foxboro ended.
There’s also a beautiful irony here: Brown and Boutte complement each other perfectly. Brown will command constant safety help and double teams, creating space for Boutte to get open in one-on-one matchups. New England would win those battles all day. When Brown mauls defenders across the middle, it opens the door for Boutte to thrive as a deep threat. A Brown/Boutte partnership would also help solidify the run game and create higher-percentage throws for Hunter Henry and DeMario Douglas.

You can downplay Boutte’s desire to leave by saying Doubs will replace his value. While Doubs is excellent, it doesn’t change the reality that injuries are common and the trade return for Boutte would likely be underwhelming.
Right now, if my choices are a late-round pick (fifth or sixth) or letting him walk after this season—assuming he remains professional when it matters—I’m leaning toward keeping him. With this group, the Patriots are in far too advantageous a position to do otherwise.

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. He does not live in Jonathan City.

Guest Patriots Column – What Can A.J. Brown Do For NE?

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better start reading Erhardt-Perkins, buddy.

By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

It’s difficult in the moment to gauge how you’ll ultimately feel about a transaction like the one the Patriots just made for star wideout Arthur Juan ‘A.J.’ Brown. The new-car smell evaporates quickly and gives way to pessimism. But the truth is we won’t know for sure until the fall whether this is the move that pushes the defending AFC champions over the top.

The Brown/Patriots/Eagles affair was the worst-kept secret in the league for months. You only had to wait until four o’clock on the afternoon of June 1, when Philadelphia was no longer on the hook for the 29-year-old wideout’s massive $43.4 million dead-money cap hit, to consummate the deal.

The Eagles wanted cap relief and assets; the Patriots wanted a big-name weapon to pair with their blue-chip quarterback and solid wide receiver group. Safe to assume both sides got what they wanted. The Eagles get to split Brown’s salary between the 2026 and 2027 seasons while picking up a 2028 first-round pick in the process. The Patriots finally land the big-name weapon that has eluded this team since Randy Moss (or Brandin Cooks, depending on how you look at it).

Philadelphia had clearly lined their ducks up in a row, knowing Brown wasn’t sticking around. They drafted a wide receiver with their first-round pick this year, promoted DeVonta Smith as their WR1, and stayed relatively quiet on trade partners beyond New England. This entire saga lacked significant drama because it had felt inevitable since October of last season, when Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts had a very public falling out.

The red flags are obvious for the Patriots. Brown is quick to let players, coaches, and the media know when he’s dissatisfied. He stomped his way out of a well-run Eagles organization.

Happy times are here again?

It’s easy to envision him burning bridges with Mike Vrabel, clashing with Josh McDaniels, and forcing Drake Maye to deal with the kind of prima donna behavior that can be cancerous to a young star quarterback.

Historically, you’d rather be the team unloading a vaunted WR1 than acquiring him. Once a big-money wide receiver is over 28, his chances of consistently living up to that contract tend to decline.

Yet the appearance of security a star like Brown provides often leads teams to overlook that reality. Football remains the one major sport where you can realistically build from within and still have the flexibility to pounce on the right opportunity.
You very rarely buy a championship in pro football. What New England is hoping for is that Brown has a seismic enough impact to make the offensive line, linebacker depth, and defensive line concerns irrelevant.

Brown is already showing significant wear and tear after seven seasons of bruising, bully-ball work with the Titans and Eagles. His physical style has taken a toll: double knee surgery after his rookie contract, repeated knee issues, and clear athletic decline (his yards-after-catch average dropped to a career-low 12.9 this past season).

Many are comparing this deal to the Patriots’ past acquisitions of Randy Moss or Brandin Cooks, but the circumstances and player profiles aren’t the same. Moss was older but cost only a fourth-round pick. Cooks was just 24, cost a first- and a third-rounder, and was flipped for two firsts a year later. Brown cost significant draft capital, is five years older than Cooks was at the time, and comes with larger question marks.

Howie Roseman is an excellent general manager. If Eliot Wolf is truly running the show in Foxboro, it’s hard to see him getting outmaneuvered here. The Patriots got their shiny new toy and have officially “won” the offseason. History shows that rarely translates into winning actual games.

Case in point.

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. He was not born and raised in South Philadelphia.

TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column 05/22/26

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Science!

By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

Last summer, the Celtics were in a dire cap situation, paying over $500 million for a roster without its fulcrum. Brad Stevens spent that offseason offloading Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis for meager returns. The point wasn’t to receive meaningful player compensation, but salary relief. The Celtics couldn’t even retain Luke Kornet—a player Stevens had called a top priority—despite holding his Bird Rights. The 2025-26 Celtics were in no position to improve and had to rely on in-house talent and bargain-bin additions.

Nearly a year later, the Celtics have significant breathing room between themselves and the first and second aprons. They are below the luxury tax and now possess tools unavailable last offseason: the full mid-level exception, the ability to aggregate salaries to match larger incoming contracts, unfrozen picks they can trade, and a reset repeater tax clock.

This summer, Boston stands at a crossroads: try once more to build around the current core or reshuffle the deck. The argument for minimal changes is that the team already has solid bench depth. They can chalk up their first-round exit to bad luck, hope Jayson Tatum returns stronger in 2026-27 and pray he doesn’t miss another Game 7.
But the reason Tatum missed that game was calf tightness caused by the heavy minutes he was forced to play. The Celtics had to rely on him as their do-it-all forward because players on the roster simply couldn’t replicate what he does. In the past, the Celtics could count on Tatum as an ironman capable of shouldering that burden nightly.

Post-Achilles tear, however, he is more vulnerable. Tatum has achieved a miracle by returning from such a devastating injury so quickly and looking every bit the franchise player. Yet the circumstances around how much the team can put on his plate have changed.
Watching games from the 2024 season, what strikes me most is how diverse the Celtics’ offense was in the playoffs. Opponents could not simply drop in coverage to stifle Boston’s athletic wings, who prefer to score near the rim, because of the game-breaking presence of Al Horford and, for a brief period, Kristaps Porzingis.

The Celtics won’t win another title until they find a big man who can once again make it easier for them to attack close to the basket. Joe Mazzulla has mastered using shooting variance to turn the Celtics into a regular-season machine, but the past two playoffs have shown—in a smaller sample size—that this approach can backfire horribly without offensive diversity.

Even with the available tools, the Celtics face limited high-impact options unless they shop one of Jaylen Brown or Derrick White. Brown is eligible for a two-year extension this October that would likely keep him in Boston for the rest of his prime and make him a Celtic for life if he signs. Brown has been an outstanding player and person for both the team and the Boston community. But this is a cold business. There is a real argument that the Celtics’ downward trend can only be properly addressed if the Jays era ends with his departure—either for a disgruntled superstar (if possible) or a collection of players who better fill out various roster needs.
The best realistic option at center may be bringing back Nikola Vučević, provided the price is right.


His minutes often looked awkward last season; he frequently appeared unsure what to do with his hands, likely due to the finger injury he suffered in March. Still, he serves a purpose, and Mazzulla has managed him effectively by neutralizing his weaknesses and leveraging his strengths. Re-signing Vooch as a backup veteran big on a modest salary would be a quiet win regardless of Boston’s bigger moves. Other options include using the $15 million mid-level exception on Mitchell Robinson to potentially screw over the Knicks. The catch is that this would hard-cap Boston at the first apron, and Robinson has a significant injury history. Boston could end up doing the Knicks a favor.

An uninspiring pool

The free-agent pool for centers is otherwise uninspiring. Upgrading from Luka Garza by chasing Nick Richards is one modest possibility, but that’s about it. Jusuf Nurkić is unlikely to leave Utah, and Robert Williams III will probably command a larger salary than Stevens wants to pay an oft-injured big.
This all circles back to the broader question of whether it’s time to lay the Jays era to rest. Whether targeting Giannis Antetokounmpo or someone like Domantas Sabonis, the changes this team needs cannot happen without moving one of the three highest-paid players while they are still at peak value. The overarching factor is that the Celtics cannot win another title without a big man who can do what Horford once did.
This league has always been dominated to some degree by centers. The Thunder, Spurs, and Knicks all feature game-breaking bigs who can create for themselves and protect the rim. Even a solid, all-around player like Sabonis would feel like a godsend in Boston because the team hasn’t had a big who could meaningfully expand its offensive repertoire in years.

Teams in Boston’s position often double down on the past and pay the price, or they sever ties and risk digging the hole deeper. Denver remains tied to Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray and hasn’t returned to the Finals since 2023. Milwaukee misidentified its problems by swapping Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard and now faces the possible end of the Giannis era. Boston cannot afford to be stagnant or foolish. Brown has not minced words: he wants to remain a Celtic and retire here. Boston is his home. But can management realistically believe they will recapture glory by recommitting to this core when the roster has so many other pressing needs?

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. He does not live at the Museum of Science.

TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column 05/11/26

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See you in the fall, old friend.

By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

In one word, the 2025-26 Boston Celtics can be described as “confusing.” Heading into the season, the team was top-heavy, with its best player in rehab and its big-man rotation hopelessly thin. On top of that, they asked too much of their top three scorers. From Game 1 of the regular season until the fourth quarter of Game 5 in the first round of the playoffs, we collectively forgot those concerns thanks to players performing above their pay grade, excellent coaching, and championship DNA. From the first man to the last, Joe Mazzulla kept his roster ready. As players saw their roles extended, restricted, and extended again, they remained vigilant and contributed all the same. Prior to the season, the Celtics lost four critical pieces from their championship roster—including three big men and an all-around point guard—and replaced them with bargain-basement finds.

The reason the Celtics are now watching the playoffs instead of participating is that, 12 months ago, Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon. The team viewed the astronomical luxury-tax bill as malpractice if left unaddressed. It was a rare moment of responsibility: essentially burning a year of contention to prepare for Tatum’s return.
Nobody—and I mean nobody—thought in the summer that Tatum would be back by March. To assume anything other than a full-season absence was laughable.

Off the back of a career year from Jaylen Brown, the Celtics exceeded expectations and outperformed their preseason win projection. By the time Tatum returned, they closed the regular season on a strong 13-3 run. Suddenly, the Celtics went from resilient but limited to legitimate title contenders. A rematch with the New York Knicks seemed inevitable.

And then the tides turned. Derrick White couldn’t throw the basketball in the ocean. Mazzulla’s reluctance to bench Sam Hauser for Payton Pritchard led to poor offensive results at the exact moment Philadelphia was discovering rhythm with a returning Joel Embiid. With no sufficient answer for how to defend Embiid, the Celtics got gashed inside and were left at the mercy of their three-point shooting—which often went cold due to a lack of offensive diversity that only became apparent recently.

Game 7’s loss confirmed that this team is in fact going backwards, and the goodwill built from the championship run is on shaky ground. Mazzulla is no longer the epic wunderkind who could turn chicken shit into chicken salad. He’s a flawed architect of a system that relies too heavily on three-point variance and its superstar. Jaylen Brown is no longer the Finals MVP and borderline First Team All-NBA player. He’s now viewed as a braggart who couldn’t cash the checks when it mattered most—never mind that he actually did so before. We have the memory of goldfish.

There are facts that cannot be ignored, even if we wish to downplay the hyperbole. Tatum’s Box Score Plus/Minus this postseason was once again over +8. While fantastic for him individually—especially considering what he went through just months earlier—it highlights a team that lacks answers beyond its star. Fans often share clips of the gravity Tatum commands, with multiple teammates left wide open. The problem over the last two years is that the Celtics have lacked the ability to make defenses pay for that over-help by attacking in the post.

Kristaps Porzingis, in 2024, filled that void even while injured for much of the playoff run. It created avenues for Boston to diversify its offense, allowed Tatum to contribute despite poor shooting, and prevented role players like White from being overtaxed. When Porzingis was sidelined, the Celtics’ offense reverted to “Mazzulla-ball”—a wrinkle that caught opponents off guard because there wasn’t 82 games of film on it. Now it’s a staple, and teams know how to cut off circulation to everyone below the top two.

The discount Boston Celtics are victims of their own success. They got so good they managed to break our hearts in the end. The 76ers are no longer the little brother. After years of stepping on rakes, they are the ones celebrating at our expense. We can console ourselves with the fact that Philadelphia’s entire project since 2013 led to this moment—their crowning achievement. Sam Hinkie tweeting a clapping GIF not because his golden goose won a championship, but because they beat a transitional Celtics team in seven games—where Boston’s best player missed the decisive contest—and they almost blew it anyway.

None of that matters now. The 76ers have the edge. The next time they come to Boston, they’ll bring an undeniable, unbearable swagger that the Celtics must destroy. Reasserting dominance after losing ground is never easy.

Brad will know what to do.



The core of Tatum, Brown, and White is locked in and going nowhere. The Celtics won’t do what Milwaukee did and jettison a core piece for a big name—they aren’t that desperate yet. Mazzulla is on trial with the fans, but Brad Stevens remains committed to his coach. Their cap situation remains complex, with some breathing room but not enough for radical shifts. If they nibble around the margins, stay below the luxury-tax line, and reset the repeater tax clock, they’ll be able to spend back up to the aprons in 2027 without the massive compounding penalties from 2024 and 2025.
We all hate to hear it, but 2026-27 will likely be another gap year. They may use the $27.7 million trade exception from the Anfernee Simons deal to acquire a high-level starter, along with their $15.1 million mid-level exception.

Free-agent bigs that come to mind:

•  Jusuf Nurkić

•  Sandro Mamukelashvili

•  Robert Williams

•  Nick Richards

All situational backup bigs who can do what Garza did—only better.
Trade candidates:

•  Daniel Gafford

•  Onyeka Okongwu

Also situational bigs who would likely cost draft capital and/or a player.

The free-agent pool at guard is barren, with Jevon Carter the only realistic name the Celtics might pursue.

It’s going to be a long, boring summer. Today belongs to the 76ers and their second-round opponents in New York. Hopefully, by the summer of 2027, that will have all changed.

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. He does not live in the past.

TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column 04/20/26

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By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

Heading into the playoffs, the Celtics’ remaining questions center on whether they can beat the team best suited to face them. The New York Knicks have won seven of their previous ten matchups against Boston since the 2025 playoffs. Their wing depth—consisting of Mikal Bridges, O.G. Anunoby, and Josh Hart—presents unique challenges for the Celtics’ wings. The trio finds ways to shrink the floor, stifle Boston’s ball movement, and convert those disruptions into points on their end of the floor with clockwork efficiency.

Knickerbockers



On top of that, dynamic guard Jalen Brunson has made mincemeat of All-Defender Derrick White. In their previous two outings, Brunson has been electric: he scored 31 points in the Knicks’ February 8th drubbing of Boston, followed by a 25-point, 10-assist performance earlier this week. The Celtics have tried adding a wrinkle to their coverage by throwing bigger bodies like Jordan Walsh on him. It worked in their December 2nd matchup, which was Brunson’s worst outing against Boston this year—he was limited to just 15 points.

The caveat to all these losses is that Boston has never faced New York with both Jays available. Typically, the Celtics prefer to sag off New York’s “non-shooters” such as Hart, but that approach is now complicated because Hart is no longer a liability. His three-point percentage this season sits at a healthy 41%. Against Boston in this previous contest, it soars to 71%.

Several Knicks attended Villanova University, in Pensylvania.



The unique issue the Knicks present is that they are no longer as reliant on Brunson as they were in the past.

Mazzulla doesn’t appear to regret his strategy of sagging off Hart. If a scheme alteration isn’t in the cards, perhaps he is betting that a healthy Tatum paired with Brown will overwhelm and exhaust Hart, leading to a less reliable jump shot. New York’s use of Hart against Boston has been crucial to their success. The Knicks also find ways to neutralize Neemias Queta by switching him onto smaller, quicker players and dragging him away from his preferred station near the basket. Queta’s matchups against New York haven’t been encouraging, he’s often been bested by Karl-Anthony Towns and outmuscled by the athletic Mitchell Robinson.

Him?



The February acquisition of Nikola Vučević leads me to believe the plan isn’t to win the battle on the boards, but to make the most of their first chances. Vučević subtly got into a groove in the second half against New York, and it opened the paint up for cutting action.

The Celtics will likely rely on Vučević more than Luka Garza in a hypothetical matchup against the Knicks. Despite Vučević’s defensive shortcomings, his veteran savvy and ability to space the floor make him the better option. While Vučević remains inconsistent, he poses at least a semblance of an outside threat that forces the Knicks to pay attention to him. Garza’s slower feet, lack of athleticism, and rim-centered game make him far less of a threat. Though Garza has shown flashes of brilliance, they’ve mostly come against teams without notable pedigree and in relatively low-stakes contests.

Or him?



The adjustments I can see Mazzulla making the next time these teams meet include placing White on Hart, assigning Brown, Tatum, or Walsh to Brunson, and using Vučević to drag Robinson away from the rim. A potential rematch series will be won in the trenches—in the pillboxes and scrums—and it won’t look pretty. Either the Knicks will rip the Celtics’ heart out, or vice versa. The only thing I’m certain of is that neither team will go down easy.

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. He does not live in any of the five boroughs of New York.

TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column 03/27/26

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You know who didn’t come back from an Achilles injury? Achilles.

By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

It is almost impossible to appreciate anything in our modern, instant gratification world nowadays. It is not enough for a top 5 superstar to return from a devastating injury in less than a year after surgery; if he is not immediately his old self after two weeks, then he’s a bum. Must be comfortable writing 240-character eulogies from the comfort of your couch while wondering what toppings you’ll order for your next pizza pie.

The concerns for Jayson Tatum are real, and they are also expected. If by some miracle he was his MVP-caliber self at this point, I’d consider it a glitch in the matrix. You can compare him to Kevin Durant, but the difference is Durant took 18 months to recover. The argument against Tatum is that he is not the otherworldly shot-maker Durant is. He plays more like a mini-Giannis, utilizing bully-ball to a maximalist extent. Two different players—all they shared was having the same injury at one point during their primes.

But it’s not like Durant is the same player since his injury. The shot-making is still off the charts, but his passing, playmaking, and athleticism suffered. The contrast between what he is now and what he was in 2014, 2016, 2017, etc., is stark. Even as he’s recovered, he lost something that cannot come back. That’s what makes the Achilles worse than most other injuries.

Does our Hoplite still have his hops? So far. The shooting touch will return, in time.

For Tatum, it’s impossible to see what he’s lost yet. It’s hard to attribute his missed attempts to the injury or just growing pains reintegrating into the offense. We probably don’t want to admit it, but the Celtics established a cohesive hierarchy in Tatum’s absence and reinvented themselves from a high-volume three-point team living and dying on variance to a multi-faceted system that incorporates cutting, the post, and near-the-basket action. Essentially, they are a superior version of the 2024 team in terms of the ways they can score. Whether Tatum can find his footing on a team that isn’t as reliant on him is another topic for discussion.

Prior to his return, Tatum said he was not coming back to be a role player. I don’t know why the term “role player” is treated like a slur in NBA circles. Role players are important. They play, well, a crucial role. Role players are the glue that holds your star players together and elevates the rest of the roster. If we look at the Los Angeles Lakers and the little renaissance they’re experiencing, it can be attributed to LeBron James’ usage going down dramatically and clearing the way for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to be their No. 1 and No. 2 best players. It’s something Tatum should be open to so Jaylen Brown and Derrick White can continue leading the show. If Tatum was slotted into a role similar to Baylor Scheierman for the rest of the year, I struggle to see the indignity beyond fat losers online having a laugh.

 (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images) 

It is undersold how difficult it is for Tatum to rediscover his groove in the late parts of the regular season, in the midst of a tight race for the second seed. Tatum is not in basketball-playing shape, and we can’t fault him for that. He’s huffing and puffing, playing nearly thirty minutes a night when less than a month ago he just started playing competitive five-on-five.

The pluses Tatum brings on the floor are his defense and passing. The Celtics’ turnovers are cut down when he’s on-ball, facilitating and moonlighting as the point guard. He’s their best dribbler and passer by far. But what the Celtics aren’t better at when Tatum is on the floor is shooting the basketball. Sam Hauser is critical to their outside game. A development this season has been Brown’s decision-making and ability to not settle for jump shots, whereas in the past he would. He’s a constant attacker who’ll create for himself even while guarded tightly, and can kick out to an open Hauser in the corner after commanding lethal amounts of gravity.


Tatum on the floor in his current state messes with that nucleus. That’s not to say he’s a hindrance. The Celtics sport a +14.1 net rating when he’s playing. And we shouldn’t ignore the fact that Tatum has altered his play style to better complement those around him. He is being more selective in his shot attempts, emphasizing his other skills that don’t involve just scoring. But there are some tweaks needed to make the offense flow smoother.

If Joe Mazzulla can figure out a way to lower Tatum’s minutes, reduce his role into a perimeter shooter, versatile defender who can guard multiple positions and crash the boards—sort of like a high-energy bench player who starts—you’ll basically have a taller version of Derrick White.

In 2026-27, the expectations for Tatum will be that he returns to his All-NBA form. Until then, a role player is what should be expected from him, and he deserves a certain amount of grace for what he’s battled against and what he’s willingly sacrificed for the betterment of the team.

Tatum is not sulking in his tent.

Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com. He does not live on the coast of the wine-dark Aegean Sea.

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