The Celtics knew they would undergo a significant shakeup last summer, as they worked to dip below the salary cap’s second apron while also staring at an immediate future without injured franchise cornerstone Jayson Tatum. The decisions were obvious, and it was no surprise when Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet all ended up elsewhere.

But president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was unsure how the reshuffling would affect the top returning veterans. Jaylen Brown, for example, had mostly played for teams capable of challenging for NBA championships since the Celtics drafted him in 2016.

Now, for the short term at least, everything was murky. But this group has continued to push forward. This season Brown is averaging 29.3 points on 50 percent shooting, both career highs, and he has helped Boston remain in the mix in the watered-down Eastern Conference.

And Stevens said the impact of Brown and other veterans has gone beyond the box score.

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“I’m so impressed with not only the attack and how they’re playing — Jaylen, specifically — but also just the mindset, the patience with helping grow younger people,” Stevens said. “I think that all of our young wings have shown that they’re capable of something, right? And I think that’s largely due to the fact that we have all of these older guys that are really — even some of the guys that aren’t playing as much right now, like Xavier [Tillman] and Chris [Boucher] and Luka [Garza] — that are giving them that environment.

“And I think it starts with Jaylen. I think it starts with Derrick [White], Payton [Pritchard], obviously, those guys that have been there. Because it’s not easy when you necessarily go through the changes we went through, and the talent that’s lost, to have that kind of patience. To start out 0-3 and to just keep focus on getting better, I thought was a really good sign.”

Brad Stevens has been very pleased to see the Celtics veterans eagerly take on the task of helping lift the young players into real pros. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Stevens was referring to wings Josh Minott, Jordan Walsh, and Hugo Gonzalez, all of whom are under 24. They have given the Celtics a lift with their defensive tenacity and physical play, and it hasn’t hurt that they are all shooting above 44 percent from the 3-point line.

Walsh’s emergence has been particularly notable. The 38th pick of the 2023 draft played sparingly over his first two seasons. And when he opened this year on the fringes of coach Joe Mazzulla’s regular rotation, it invited questions about whether he had a long-term future with the franchise.

But the Celtics have soared since Walsh entered the starting lineup Nov. 12. On most nights he hounds the opponent’s top player, regardless of position.

Stevens pointed out that Walsh’s limited opportunities in prior years were a result of the unusually high level of talent above him, not an issue with his potential.

“He’s got a role, and I think Joe and his staff have done an excellent job of defining what those guys need to do to be good,” Stevens said. “And sometimes it takes steps. You know, you start to see Jordan now occasionally more driving closeouts and dumping it to [Neemias Queta] for a dunk or dumping it to somebody else off of a roll, or kicking it out off of a roll.

“Your role expands when you show that you can consistently be good in the simplest of things. And I say simplest — it’s hard to play that hard, especially against the guys he’s guarding — but he’s doing a good job.”

Stevens has been pleased with the team’s overall growth, and the results have exceeded outside expectations thus far. But the congestion in the conference standings will likely cause a sudden shift eventually. Stevens pointed out that the fourth-place Celtics are also just one game ahead of the ninth-place Cavaliers.

“There’s a fine line between feeling really good about yourself and not feeling so good about yourself,” he said. “And I think we just have to kind of stay in the work. I’ve kind of looked at us on a positive side, a work in progress where I’m really encouraged by both the work and the progress.

“You know, I think that we’re making strides, and so we just have to continue to do it.”

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.