Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
The 62-17 Boston Celtics, who own the best record in the Eastern Conference by a significant margin, look to be keeping their starting five together for a good long while.
Combo guard Jrue Holiday’s agent, Jason Glushon of Glushon Sports Management, has informed ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the two-time All-Star, one-time NBA champion and five-time All-Defensive teamer has declined his $37.3 million player option for 2024-25 and agreed to a massive new four-year, $135 million contract extension to stick around with the Celtics through the 2027-28 season.
The 15-year pro is averaging 12.5 points on a hyper-efficient slash line of .481/.431/.833 (he’s evolved into a lethal corner three point shooter late into his career), 5.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 steals a night, across the 68 healthy games he’s played thus far. His scoring and passing are considerably down from his 2022-23 numbers while with the Milwaukee Bucks (19.3 points on .479/.384/.859 shooting splits, plus 7.4 assists), but that’s due in part to the fact that he’s playing on a much deeper team, with more talented passers, playmakers and scorers alongside him than he had on a thinner Milwaukee club that fell in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
Holiday, 33, is just the fifth option on offense for the Celtics. All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown lead the way with averages of 27 and 23.1 points a game, respectively. Another newly-obtained trade addition, injury-prone center Kristaps Porzingis, is averaging 20.2 points himself. Holiday’s backcourt mate Derrick White, another defense-first guard, is also essentially the team’s point man, averaging more points (15.3 on .463/.398/.901 shooting splits) and assists (5.2) than the newly-extended vet.
Wojnarowski notes that Holiday’s hefty new contract will put Boston far above the league’s anticipated salary cap in 2024-25 (barring trades), which will significantly impede the kinds of pieces that team president Brad Stevens can add to his team’s roster next year. That said, Wojnarowski adds that the new deal will actually help Boston save money on its overall cap next year, given that it pays him a bit less annually ($33.5 million) than his prior, now-declined player option.
Signing the 6-foot-4 UCLA product through his age-37 season is a risky proposition, especially for a guard whose play is predicated on defense. Yes, Holiday doesn’t seem to have exhibited many signs of age-related decline at this stage, but how will he look in two years? Three?
The Celtics no doubt are hopeful that the team isn’t just paying for past experience, but future production, too. Short-term, the deal makes plenty of sense, as it keeps a core five together that has helped lead the team to the top overall record in the NBA, the league’s best offensive rating (124.7) and its third-best defensive rating (113).
Holiday arrived in Boston as the centerpiece of a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, who acquired him in their deal with the Bucks to land All-Star point guard Damian Lillard late in the 2023 offseason.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
A 20-year-old Boston man is facing a series of charges after prosecutors say he shot at Boston Police officers during an attempted stop in Dorchester before leading them on a foot chase through neighborhood backyards.
Rasiel Carbuccia was arraigned in Dorchester District Court Thursday on a list of charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying without a license and possession of a large capacity firearm, stemming from the Wednesday night incident near Devon and Laredo streets.
According to prosecutors, Boston Police officers attempted to stop Carbuccia when he pulled out a gun and began shooting, striking a Boston police cruiser before fleeing the scene.
Investigators said Carbuccia ran through backyards and hopped fences before he was taken into custody. Officers did not fire their weapons during the encounter.
Prosecutors said investigators later recovered the firearm along the path where Carbuccia had been running.
“It was determined that the firearm was a ghost gun, and it did not possess a serial number,” Suffolk County prosecutor Jacqueline Martinelli said in court.
Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, said the shooting is part of what he believes is a troubling trend of violence this summer and renewed his call for more officers on Boston streets.
“Everybody should be outraged. Bullets flying in the city’s streets at uniformed police officers. How can we possibly convince the general public that they’re safe to walk around their own neighborhoods?” Calderone said.
“We have teenagers pulling firearms and stealing mopeds from others in broad daylight. We have shots being fired at police officers in uniform, officers being attacked, people being shot daily that we can’t solve the crimes,” he added.
No one was injured in the shooting, but Calderone said the outcome could have been much worse.
“Thank goodness, neither officer or a pedestrian, an innocent child or somebody in the middle of the evening did not get killed last night. Just as thankful, at least they caught him. They recovered the weapon,” he said.
After the arraignment, Carbuccia’s attorney declined to discuss the case in detail but indicated mental health issues could become part of the proceedings.
“Ultimately as you guys know this is a process that has to play out and he’s presumed innocent and there’s going to be a number of things that are going to come out in respect to mental health and potentially the investigation, I don’t really have much more to say beyond that,” attorney Bob White told reporters.
According to prosecutors, Carbuccia had two open assault cases and an active warrant at the time of his arrest.
He’s being held in jail without bail and is scheduled to return to court later this month for a dangerousness hearing.
The Boston Red Sox will return to action on Friday to kick off the second half of the 2026 Major League Baseball season with a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The last few weeks have been incredible for Boston and have really gotten the organization right back into the thick of the playoff race. Beforehand, the Red Sox looked like one of the worst teams in baseball. Now, Boston is 46-48 and has won 14 of its last 16 games. It’s why you play the games. The MLB season is long and full of ups and downs. Sure, the first few months of the season were full of many down moments for the Red Sox, but they flipped a switch, got hot, and now are right back in the mix.
Now, there are just over two weeks to go until the 2026 trade deadline and Boston should be looking to add. But who should the Red Sox be targeting? Here are four intriguing options for Craig Breslow and the Red Sox’s front office to target.
The former longtime New York Yankee is a member of the Detroit Tigers and was slashing .280/.395/.395 with a .790 OPS, four homers and 18 RBIs before the All-Star break. Torres is on the Injured List, but has already begun a rehab assignment. Torres has the type of right-handed pop Boston’s lineup needs. Plus, he’s just 29 years old.
Luis Arráez isn’t a right-handed bat and doesn’t have much power, but this is a guy with three batting titles under his belt and has a shot at another one. He’s batting .330 right now and would go a long way for Boston by getting on base towards the top of the lineup.
This would be a pipe dream type of move. Wood is under team control for four more seasons and is just 23 years old, and yet he’s already a two-time All-Star. He blasted 31 homers last year and already has 28 this season in 97 games played. If the Red Sox could get a bat like his, they’d be all set. But it would cost quite a bit to pry him from Washington.
There are few players who were connected to Boston more this past offseason than Isaac Paredes. The Astros don’t look like a team that is going to sell, but Paredes is still worth a call. Houston traded Lance McCullers Jr. to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday in a salary dump.
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A man was flown to a Boston hospital after being hit by a vehicle Wednesday evening in Norwood, Massachusetts, and the driver has been arrested.
Norwood police responded shortly after 7:30 p.m. to the intersection of Washington Street and St. John Avenue.
The victim was found seriously injured. Fire crews treated him at the scene before he was taken by ambulance to a landing zone to be airlifted by medical helicopter.
Police said the woman driving the vehicle was taken into custody. She is facing charges including operating under the influence of liquor.
The crash is under investigation.
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