Anybody hoping Brad Stevens would lay out a detailed plan for the Celtics’ offseason Monday afternoon came away from his end-of-season news conference disappointed.
Boston’s president of basketball operations did not want to discuss the potential for significant roster moves in the months ahead as the Celtics stare down a tsunami of second-apron luxury tax penalties. He’d do so, Stevens said, closer to the 2025 NBA Draft, “after meeting with all the key stakeholders and everybody else about what next steps might be.”
Stevens wanted to keep the focus of his nearly 30-minute-long presser on the Celtics’ ultimately unsuccessful title defense, which came to an unexpectedly early end last Friday with a blowout loss to the New York Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
His lengthy sitdown with reporters did, however, include fresh insight on several players’ statuses, as well as how the Celtics are approaching the upcoming draft. Here are six takeaways:
1. Silver lining to Tatum’s injury
Jayson Tatum’s ruptured Achilles was a devastating, potentially career-altering injury that’s likely to sideline the six-time All-Star for at least a large chunk of next season. He and the Celtics were fortunate, however, that he suffered it at Madison Square Garden, which sits a short drive away from renowned Achilles surgeon Martin O’Malley.
O’Malley, who also repaired Kevin Durant’s ruptured Achilles in 2019, was able to operate on Tatum less than 24 hours after Stevens helped the 27-year-old superstar off the court at MSG. That quick turnaround should aid Tatum as he begins his grueling, months-long rehab process.
“We know that there is a long road ahead and that there’s going to be several steps that he’ll have to take before he ultimately gets back out on the court,” Stevens said. “But the positive was we were 15 minutes away from Dr. O’Malley, who is a terrific surgeon, who has done a number of these, and (Celtics team) Dr. (Anthony) Schena was on the phone with him before we left the building on Monday night, and he was out of the MRI and consultation and done with surgery by the time we had an injury report the next day, because there was real benefit to doing it early.
“So as tough as that injury is and as tough as that was that night … I thought it was about as good of a transition in about as bleak of a feeling as you could have.”
2. Surgery not likely for Brown
Stevens said he does not expect Boston’s other franchise centerpiece, Jaylen Brown, to need surgery after he played through persistent knee pain for the final three months of the season.
“The good news is I think, first of all, Jaylen wants to play,” Stevens said. “Jaylen’s a warrior. Jaylen takes great pride in being out there. And at the same time, we also – he saw obviously our team docs and a couple of other people, and as he even said a couple weeks ago, the knee’s in a good place structurally. So I think he felt comfortable getting out there and going after it. And hopefully, he’ll feel better after being off it for a couple weeks here. The unfortunate part is we’re done in the middle of May, but some of these guys who have some nicks, bruises and other things, that it’ll be good to get some rest.”
Stevens also clarified that Brown’s partially torn meniscus, which ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported Saturday, was not a new injury.
“What was reported this weekend, that’s been something that he’s had for a while, and it’s been stable,” he said. “That’s been several scans through and through. So we’ve known that for a long time, and he’s known that for a long time. … He was definitely experiencing some discomfort there in March, but you guys all watched it in the last couple of weeks. I thought it got better and better and better, and I think he actually felt better — or at least he told me he felt better — at the end of the Knicks series.”
Unless he’s involved in some sort of blockbuster trade — a possibility Stevens did not address — Brown will be the undisputed face of the Celtics until Tatum is able to return.
“The reality is we have a ton of good players and everyone leans on,” Stevens said. “That said, Jaylen and Jayson have gotten the majority of attention because of how good they are. And I have full faith that any game that you have those guys on the court, or one of those guys on the court, you have a great shot. And so I have full faith in Jaylen.”
3. Porzingis’ diagnosis
What exactly was the mysterious illness that sidelined Kristaps Porzingis for two weeks in March and then Monstar’d his energy and production during the Knicks series?
“The way it was described to me, it was just post-viral syndrome, which is just lingering effects of a long illness,” Stevens explained. “I think we’ve seen that and probably all read too much about that over the last several years.”
Stevens said the Celtics were optimistic about Porzingis’ condition as the regular season wound down, noting that he was “so good” in the team’s final matchup with the Knicks before the playoffs. But then, his symptoms returned “out of the blue,” and the big man was unable to shake them.
“For whatever reason, he just didn’t feel as good there early in the Knicks series and never really felt great,” Stevens said.
Porzingis plans to play for his native Latvia in EuroBasket 2025 this summer, which Stevens called “a good thing.” He is a logical trade candidate as he enters the final year of his contract, but his spotty availability (65 regular-season games missed over the past two seasons) will hurt his market.
4. What went wrong vs. Knicks
Asked to diagnose how the defending champion Celtics failed to advance past the second round, Stevens admitted they “blew the first two games” of the East semis, which “diminished (their) margin for error” and gave New York momentum and confidence.
“I’ve said many times, we could easily have been up 3-1 when Jayson got hurt (late in Game 4), but the reality is we were probably not winning that game anyway, so we were going to be down 3-1,” Stevens said. “Last year in the Indiana series, they could have easily been up 3-1 on us. I think that that’s just kind of these series. You get these opportunities, and one team takes advantage of them and that team usually moves on.”
The Celtics squandered second-half leads of 20, 20 and 14 points in their first three losses to the Knicks before being blown out 119-81 in the series clincher. They were the sixth straight NBA champion to bow out before the conference finals the following season.
5. Stevens backs Mazzulla
Stevens voiced his support for third-year Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who faced criticism for his game management during the team’s disastrous second-round series.
“Joe’s great,” he said. “Joe’s done a great job. … We’re lucky that we have Joe here, we’re lucky that we have the staff that we have here, and we’re thankful.”
6. Flagg trade not happening
The report that the Celtics met with Maine native and no-doubt No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg at the NBA Draft Combine raised eyebrows, but Stevens said that was just the team doing due diligence on a player it wouldn’t be able to interview otherwise.
“The people we know who we can’t get in to work out is how we decide who we want to talk to (at the combine),” he said. “Otherwise, we may never get to talk to them again.”
Stevens said the Celtics, who own the Nos. 28 and 32 overall selections and had two unidentified prospects in for pre-draft workouts Monday, are open to trading up, trading down or sticking and picking at those spots depending on how the board falls. But don’t expect them to try to pry the top pick away from the Dallas Mavericks.
“As far as us and moving up to those levels in the draft, I would guess that that probably is not on the table,” Stevens said.
Originally Published: May 19, 2025 at 4:08 PM EDT