Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens addressed reporters Wednesday for the first time since media day, fielding questions about Jayson Tatum’s Achilles recovery, the development of Boston’s young players and whether the team will look to bolster its roster ahead of the NBA trade deadline in February.
Here are four takeaways from Stevens’ post-practice news conference:
1. The latest on Tatum
As he has since Tatum underwent surgery in May, Stevens declined to reveal a timeline for the Celtics star’s return to the court. But he did provide insight on what Tatum will need to accomplish before the team will consider reactivating him.
“There’s strength thresholds he has to meet,” Stevens explained, “and then after that, several weeks of progressions from the standpoints of scripted (workouts) against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in 5-on-5, unscripted, random, all the way up through those. But it’s a long progression, and it’s almost like, once you hit the strength (benchmarks), then you do your thresholds of a progression of play, and then you’re also reconditioning to play real minutes, whatever that looks like.
“He’s obviously made great strides. Right now, we’re still focused on the full-strength game.”
Tatum resumed on-court work before training camp and recently began playing 1-on-1 against Celtics assistant coaches. Stevens stressed he will not play in games until he is “110% healthy” — but he also noted the Celtics did not apply for a disabled player exception, which would have allowed the team to fill his roster spot with another player. A club can only receive a DPE if a league-appointed physician rules the injured player is “substantially more likely than not” to miss the entire season.
“(That) was a conscious decision for a lot of reasons,” Stevens said. “But the reality is he’s not going to be back until he’s 110% healthy and he feels good about it. And that’s a big part of it, right? Obviously, he’s itching to play. Obviously, he hates watching. But he’s also — I don’t want to speak for him — but very cognizant of the need to meet every threshold and why there are those things that are put in place. We’ve had a lot of great talks about it. One of the things that we love about this whole group, and I think the guys that have been here the longest lead the charge, is they love to play.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla said last week that Tatum’s decision on when to return will be “up to (Tatum).”
Derrick White of the Boston Celtics gets tended to by a trainer as Jayson Tatum, right, looks on during the first half of an Nov. 12 game at the TD Garden. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Derrick White of the Boston Celtics gets tended to by a trainer as Jayson Tatum, right, looks on during the first half of an Nov. 12 game at the TD Garden. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
2. “Progress” in Tatum’s absence
The 15-11 Celtics have exceeded external expectations so far this season, climbing as high as third in the Eastern Conference standings amid a stretch of 10 wins in 12 games. Back-to-back losses to Milwaukee and Detroit dropped them to fourth place; as of Wednesday, just 1 1/2 games separated third from ninth in the muddled East.
Stevens said he’s seen “a lot of positive” from his team over the first 26 games.
“(I’ve) seen good growth, which is important,” he said. “I think we’re in the midst of it, as every other team is, and there’s a fine line between feeling really good about yourself and not feeling so good about yourself. 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. I think that we’re making strides, and so we just have to continue to do it.”
Stevens specifically praised first-year starters Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta. Both have excelled in their new, much larger roles after playing sparingly on veteran-laden Celtics teams in the last two seasons.
“I’ve been really impressed how he’s handled it thus far,” Stevens said of Queta, who jumped from fourth to first on the center depth chart and currently is the only true big man in Mazzulla’s regular rotation. The 21-year-old Walsh, Stevens said, “had no prayer” of contributing on either of the last two Celtics squads but has done a “really good job” as a defense-focused wing with an emerging offensive game.
3. Impressed with Brown
Stevens said Jaylen Brown “has been great” as Boston’s No. 1 option while Tatum recovers.
Brown is on pace for career highs in scoring, assists and field-goal percentage, and ranked fifth in a recent NBA.com power ranking of MVP candidates, trailing only Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham. His 29.3 points-per-game average ranks sixth in the league.
Stevens also lauded Brown’s leadership, saying the 10th-year pro’s influence has been vital for the development of younger teammates like Walsh, Josh Minott and Hugo Gonzalez.
“I think that all of our young wings have shown that they’re capable of something, right?” Stevens said. “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 (Payton), 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.”
4. Trade deadline approach
Monday marked the unofficial start of NBA trade season, as players who signed contracts this offseason now are eligible to be dealt. Stevens said the Celtics are open to acquiring players who can help them this season, but that most teams around the league still are evaluating their current rosters.
“Everybody’s a work in progress,” Stevens said. “What’s the difference between third and ninth in the East right now? There’s hardly anything, right? And I think that we’re all still trying to figure out who we are and what we can be. We will not put a ceiling on this group. If it makes sense for us to look for things that can help us, we certainly will. But it all has to be within good deals, and it all has to be within the ultimate goal, which is the North Star of retooling so we’re in a position to compete for what we want to compete for.”
One trade candidate on Boston’s roster is guard Anfernee Simons, who’s on a $27.7 million expiring contract and is coming off the bench behind starters White and Pritchard.
“I think he’s really trying,” Stevens said of Simons, who started more than 200 games for Portland before being shipped to Boston in the Jrue Holiday trade. “First of all, he’s a quiet guy, but just a super person. And so he’s really come in with a great mindset of, ‘I’m going to help the team any way I can.’ Offensively, he knows he’s capable of going nuts on any given game, right? But then defensively, I’ve just been really impressed. Like, he’s picked up, he’s made it hard. I think he’s made great strides in the months he’s been here on that end. And I’m a big fan. I like him a lot.”