Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is a superb talent evaluator and deal-maker.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is a superb talent evaluator and deal-maker.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
All things considered and all common sense ignored, I do wish the Celtics could keep this group together for one more run, even if it comes in the form of, oh, 46 wins and an anticlimactic last hurrah.
Even absent Jayson Tatum for most of if not all of next season, and with the franchise’s championship hopes in the past tense for the time being, it’s too bad that this likable core of players cannot remain in cahoots just a little longer.
What’s that? Yes, of course, this comes from a sentimental place. Entirely so. Like you didn’t know that Tuesday was the one-year anniversary of the Celtics’ Game 5 throttling of the Mavericks to clinch Banner 18.
Some of us, many of us, watched highlights of that championship run this week, and let me tell you if you do not know, it was the perfect elixir to stop thinking about how this season got away from them and appreciate what they achieved a season ago.
I miss watching that team, and I’m going to miss the players from that team when some of them inevitably depart for other NBA destinations this offseason.
I don’t want the Celtics to change. But they must. Life moves fast in the NBA, and a punitive collective bargaining agreement is going to make teams’ championship windows slam shut even faster than before.
The money and the math demand that the Celtics’ — who are approximately $20 million over the second tax apron, a phrase all of us prefer to have never heard — make changes now, or face even more punitive punishments, ones that affect roster-building, a few long dribbles down the road.
It’s not practical to stand pat, and most likely it would not have been even if Tatum hadn’t popped his Achilles’ during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Knicks. The bill was coming due no matter what.
But there is one compelling consolation. Brad Stevens, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, isn’t just practical. He’s proven a superb talent evaluator and deal-maker, a more-than-worthy successor to Danny Ainge, since moving from the bench to the front office four years ago this month.
And now we’re going to have the chance to watch him cook.
As much as I’ll miss any 2023-24 champion that moves on this offseason, I’m fascinated to see how Stevens approaches this.
This much is certain: If and when he makes a major move, it would be a surprise if anyone sees it coming until it’s about to happen or already has. I don’t anticipate a long build-up of suspense or any leaks about what they might do given how his front office operates. I anticipate being blindsided.
Every significant trade Stevens has made — starting with his first, in which he got out of Kemba Walker’s deal and brought back Al Horford — has been a win for the Celtics.
Yes, that includes the move that sent Aaron Nesmith — a terrific shooter who has learned to crash into people more efficiently for the Pacers — out in a package for Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon helped bring Jrue Holiday here a year later, and Holiday helped put that newest banner in the rafters.
But Stevens’s degree of difficulty is far higher than it has ever been. The franchise’s tax circumstances are no secret, and any general manager with a clue will be trying to pry talent away at a discounted cost.
That could be Holiday, who because of age, contract, and appeal to would-be contenders seems likeliest to move on. It could be Sam Hauser, whose extension has painful tax implications. It could mean Kristaps Porzingis, if one team watches his 2024 highlights on YouTube rather than the grim video of his 2025 playoff performances.
WHAT A RETURN FOR KRISTAPS PORZINGIS 🔥
18 PTS
7-9 FGM
2 3PM
2 BLK
He's the 9th player since 1976-77 to put up 18+ points in the first half of their NBA Finals debut 👏 pic.twitter.com/tbOjKIo2c6
— NBA (@NBA) June 7, 2024
It would be most surprising if Stevens traded Derrick White, who does everything right and ought to be part of Tatum’s on-court support system upon return. But if there’s a Desmond Bane-type offer — four first-round picks, a pick swap, a couple of useful players — Stevens will at least have to think on it.
And what of Jaylen Brown? It would be tricky to trade him in a few ways. Only the Nets could take on his salary without sending salary back. And his appreciation for and understanding of Boston matters.
But Stevens does have to consider it if a team such as the Rockets or Spurs makes an enticing offer. It was jarring watching the 2024 Finals highlights and realizing how much more explosive Brown was in that postseason than this one, when he played through a partially torn meniscus. He’s had surgery, and perhaps that explosiveness comes all the way back. But these playoffs could be considered a glimpse at what Brown might be as a player when his athleticism starts to wane — a good one, for sure, but one who must become more efficient as he gets older. I’m not sure he will.
The Celtics also have picks 28 and 32 in next week’s draft. Stevens has made just one first-round pick during his tenure, taking Baylor Scheierman of Creighton 30th overall last year. Scheierman looks promising, and Stevens must use the picks wisely again this year for a team that will require some young, low-priced talent to emerge. I’ll reiterate: I’d love for them to find a way to land Georgia’s Asa Newell, an energetic teammate of Cooper Flagg’s at Montverde Academy.
It won’t be long now before the unflappable Stevens begins to shape the Celtics’ future. I sure will miss the accomplished players who won’t be part of those plans. But I can’t wait to see who he chooses to succeed them.
Chad Finn can be reached at chad.finn@globe.com. Follow him @GlobeChadFinn.