{"id":45397,"date":"2025-05-20T14:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T14:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/45397\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T14:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T14:55:09","slug":"celtics-boss-takes-methodical-approach-nbc-sports-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/45397\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics boss takes methodical approach \u2013 NBC Sports Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you were hoping for hints on how the Boston Celtics might navigate a murky path forward, then Brad Stevens\u2019 end-of-the-season debriefing<\/a> provided little in the way of guidance.<\/p>\n

Stevens opened his podium session by politely asking to table questions about roster construction, noting the team wanted to let things breathe a bit following a disappointing second-round exit. Cost-cutting changes are inevitable<\/a> as the rent comes due for Banner 18. But Stevens wasn\u2019t about to roll out the blueprint for what comes next.<\/p>\n

So what did we actually learn about the team\u2019s future? Here are five takeaways, including some nuggets from our exclusive chat with Stevens<\/a> after his group session:<\/p>\n

1. Celtics won’t rush Tatum’s Achilles rehab<\/p>\n

The Celtics did not set a timeline for Jayson Tatum\u2019s return to basketball activity after his Achilles surgery last week<\/a>, and Stevens suggested that the team will err on the side of caution<\/a> before Tatum is back on the court for an NBA game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about full recovery,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cAnd helping him get back to feeling like himself ASAP. And ASAP can be as long as it takes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no timeline. There will be different steps along the way that we’ll then say, \u2018OK, you can move on to the next step. You can move on to the next step.\u2019 But, ultimately, I think that’s the most important thing. Let’s let this thing heal. Let’s rehab appropriately and it takes what it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrad Stevens makes clear to Chris Forsberg that the Celtics are not rushing Jayson Tatum to return back from his Achilles rupture.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Stevens offered appreciation for how quickly the team was able to get Tatum into surgery, and how being in New York allowed him to be operated on by\u00a0Dr. Martin J. O\u2019Malley — the same surgeon who did Kevin Durant\u2019s Achilles repair — at the Hospital for Special Surgery, <\/p>\n

Could Durant\u2019s timeline offer a hint on Tatum\u2019s recovery<\/a>? Durant ruptured his Achilles in June of 2019. He sat out the entire 2019-20 season, including the pandemic Bubble restart. Durant returned to the court in December of 2020. Not rushing the process might have helped Durant come back looking much like his pre-injury self. <\/p>\n

If Tatum were to sit out the entire 2025-26 season, his return at the start of the 2026-27 season would essentially be 17 months away from game action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know he’s going to be stir crazy. He just loves basketball,\u201d said Stevens. “He’d be stir crazy even though our season’s over and somebody else is playing. He hasn’t missed a summer of playing for [Team] USA since I can remember. The guy just loves to play. And so, yeah, that’s going to be hard for him and it’s going to be a challenge.<\/p>\n

“I’m thankful we’re on the other side of the surgery and we are only up from here.”<\/p>\n

2. Focus on apron, tax remains the top storyline<\/p>\n

The big summer question as the Celtics chart a path forward is whether Boston will make moves with a goal of simply getting below the second apron, or whether the team might yearn to get out of the luxury tax entirely given the potential for a possible bridge season as Tatum recovers.<\/p>\n

The Celtics are already $20 million north of the second apron line for next season<\/a>, and that\u2019s before deciding the future of free agents Al Horford and Luke Kornet. Asked in general how a GM might balance the penalties of the apron versus the tax, Stevens said his immediate focus will be on the apron, given the handcuffs it places on long-term roster building.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd0a Celtics Talk podcast: What did we learn from Brad Stevens’ debriefing following Celtics’ early playoff exit? | Listen & Subscribe<\/a> | Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

“I start with the basketball penalties part, which is the second apron, and then you weigh those against your chances of being a championship contender,\u201d said Stevens, who got ahead of the curve by both acquiring and extending both Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday in the summer of 2023. <\/p>\n

Now, staring at not only a gaudy tax bill but limited in ways to tweak this roster, Celtics brass have acknowledged the inability to keep all their talent moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But even if this core is overhauled, the Celtics like the potential with what should remain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think one of the best things that we have going for us is we have a lot of good players on good contracts,\u201d said Stevens. \u201cAnd guys that everybody knows, if we put all those guys out on the floor, you have a chance to win the next game, even without Jayson. <\/p>\n

“It becomes a lot harder to be sustainably good without a guy of Jayson’s caliber, but I do think that we just have a lot of winners in our group. And so we’re lucky in that regard.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

3. C’s stung by missed opportunity<\/p>\n

Stevens admitted there\u2019s been a few restless nights in the aftermath of Boston\u2019s second-round exit against the New York Knicks<\/a>. The Celtics spent the season as favorites to repeat, and it hasn\u2019t been easy to digest the early exit given the way the team fumbled away big leads in both Games 1 and 2 against New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year that you don’t end up on top it hurts, and especially when you have a great shot,\u201d said Stevens. \u201cCertainly it stings — we are all stung by it. But we’re all thankful for the journey that these guys did take us on. There’s work to do and that’s the way that you look at it when you\u2019re in my shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens was asked what he\u2019d take from the past two seasons with this championship core, and even then he admitted it\u2019s hard to get past the recent exit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe loss stings way worse than the championship feels good,\u201d said Stevens. “And that’s just the sick and twisted way I live.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4. Vote of confidence for Mazzulla<\/p>\n

Stevens repeatedly offered praise for third-year coach Joe Mazzulla and said the team is fortunate to have him as their coach. What guidance will Stevens given Mazzulla in the offseason?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a good job,\u201d said Stevens. “We love Joe and we’re glad he’s here. My thing with Joe will be the same as it is every year: We\u2019ll see how [the roster] all shakes out, and then you’ll see what you can do to put everybody in the best position to go compete like hell.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that’s what we’re always going to try to do. We’ve got so many good players and so many good people that I trust that we’ll be in good shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChris Forsberg asks Brad Stevens about how he thought Joe Mazzulla did this season.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

5. Eyes on NBA Draft, NIL impact<\/p>\n

Asked to assess this year\u2019s draft class, Stevens noted that the depth of this year\u2019s available players could be impacted more by NIL money than any other in his tenure. <\/p>\n

Stevens noted how the back half of the 2025 NBA Draft could be weakened if players elect to take lucrative NIL money that might be greater than what they can earn as an NBA rookie.<\/p>\n

With his team slated to pick at No. 28 and No. 32, Stevens could have some interesting choices depending on which players elect to stay in the draft. If the talent pool is thinned, might the team try to shimmy up, or move out of the draft entirely in order to push those picks into more talent-filled drafts down the road?<\/p>\n

Like the roster as a whole, we\u2019ll have to wait for draft night for real answers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrad Stevens addresses the impact that NIL will have on this year’s NBA Draft class.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you were hoping for hints on how the Boston Celtics might navigate a murky path forward, then…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,3164,46,11591,3329,77,2675,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-45397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-brad-stevens","13":"tag-celtics","14":"tag-celtics-offseason","15":"tag-chris-forsberg","16":"tag-jayson-tatum","17":"tag-joe-mazzulla","18":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114540742387618371","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}