The question for Celtics faithful uncertain about the team’s short-term future is whether they should have felt better about the state of the franchise after president of basketball operations Brad Stevens’s 27-minute press conference this past week in Brighton.
The answer is a resounding yes.
It’s not that Stevens relayed his master plan to keep the Celtics competitive without their best player — Jayson Tatum — and with the necessity of escaping the second apron, a term repeated more in Boston lately than those “1-800-Kars-4-Kids” commercials.
The reason fans should be more at ease is because Stevens has a plan and is likely to reshape the roster using next month’s NBA Draft and the team’s two picks — Nos. 28 and 32 — as assets to lower payroll and boost young talent.
The Celtics need to get younger and less expensive. There’s not going to be an easy way to shave the estimated $20 million needed to get under the second apron and escape trade and free agent limitations, but change is necessary, especially under the current CBA where team governors who want to invest money into their teams are being discouraged by increasing luxury taxes and limitations.
While the National Basketball Players Association secured record salaries for its players, approving this CBA virtually guaranteed they’ll change teams more often, even if they don’t want to.
“We have an amazing group of guys,” Stevens said. “This is what makes it hard when you come up short. I know people say that all the time, they’re the kind of guys that can go in any gym, anywhere, and win any one game. We just didn’t do it enough.”
Perhaps with a healthy Tatum, the Celtics could run it back one final time because that’s what Stevens planned, giving this group a three-year window to perhaps three-peat. But with Tatum recovering from a torn right Achilles’, Jaylen Brown potentially pondering surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and Kristaps Porzingis dealing with a mysterious virus, it’s time for Stevens to retool the roster, allow younger players an opportunity to play, and nab new talent in the draft.
Celtics roster evaluation, Part 1: Reviewing the bottom half heading into the offseason
“When you’re at 28 and 32, you’re not able to exactly pinpoint how that night’s going to go,” Stevens said. “Will there be fireworks on draft night? I can’t imagine. Again, who knows? I wouldn’t guess with us. One of the concerns with the new CBA is it might limit trade activity or movement and I don’t know. I don’t think necessarily in the big picture that’s the case. I have no specifics at all, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see movement continue to happen across the league.
“But as far as us and moving up to those [lottery] levels in the draft, I would guess that is probably not on the table.”
What do you expect Stevens to say? There’s going to be fireworks? Big trades? Moving up in the draft? The market may dictate such action, such as in Milwaukee, where the Bucks will have to decide whether to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo or rebuild.
What about in Houston, where the Rockets are one superstar away from being a major factor in the Western Conference and are littered with young players and the expiring contract of Fred VanVleet to trade for such a player? Or in Phoenix, where Kevin Durant remains a top-20 player but is the Suns’ only tradeable asset as they attempt to break up their failed Big Three (Devin Booker, Bradley Beal)?
The NBA has become such an unpredictable league, with nearly every team feeling pressure to win, that draft-night deals, free agency, and summer trades will ensure the Celtics may have ample opportunity to reset their salary cap, acquire a less expensive rising player, and remain competitive for 2025-26.
Stevens is not going to dangle Brown or Derrick White, but he will have to make tough decisions on Porzingis and Holiday while also deciding whether Jordan Walsh, JD Davison, and Sam Hauser are expendable as he reshapes the roster and potentially brings on two more draft picks.
This is not an exciting time for the Celtics. It’s a time of transition and perhaps recession, but rebuilding this roster for the 2026-27 season and beyond won’t be easy.
TABLES TURNED
Pacers’ rally put them in spotlight
In Game 1 of their Eastern Conference finals, the Pacers basically did to the Knicks what the Knicks did to the Celtics in the conference semifinals. The Pacers edged the Knicks, 138-135, after recovering from a 14-point deficit in the final 2:40 of regulation to force an extra period.
The following 48 hours were spent dissecting that comeback and focusing on how talented and deep the Pacers are. Indiana has been an emerging power in the East the past few years, losing to the Celtics in last year’s conference finals, a deceptive sweep that had four close games.
“I’m very glad we won,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “A lot of things had to go our way but I’m glad we hung in. After an experience like that you have to be able to wipe and move on. These are all going to be epic battles. They’re going to be physical and we have to be ready.
“We’re a team very reliant on one another. The Knicks are a great team. Some things happened [in Game 1] that fell in our favor.”
Said forward Pascal Siakam: “We’re playing against an ultra-talented team. They took out the defending champs. They’re talented and we know that. It’s not going to be a smooth ride, so we’ve got to be ready for that. That’s the message. It really doesn’t matter if it’s recognition or not.”
The star of Game 1 was point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who drained the tying jumper to send the game into overtime and then mimicked Reggie Miller’s choke sign from 1994 with Miller calling the game courtside. Of course, Haliburton thought the shot was the game-winner — his foot was on the 3-point line — but the Pacers backed up his actions and won in OT.
Haliburton was a member of the 2024 United States Olympic Team but like Jayson Tatum barely played, left out of Steve Kerr’s rotation. He’s one of the game’s rising stars, with the ability to change games with his playmaking or his unusual long-range jumper.
“He has embraced Indiana right from the first time I had dinner with him the night of the trade,” Carlisle said, recalling Haliburton’s acquisition from the Kings in February 2022. “I had a conversation with him basically telling him we’re giving him the ball, asked him if he was comfortable running the team, making play calls, and his eyes lit up. He was really enthusiastic about that and we had a couple of years we were building and he had the opportunity to get into some of those situations, have success, and go through some ups and downs.
“He’s just continued to work the process. He’s a special guy and obviously a special player.”
Carlisle wanted no part of addressing Haliburton’s choke sign.
“We’re trying to make it hard on the Knicks to win games,” he said. “I’m not trying to start controversy, there’s no point.”
Another standout player in Game 1 is a familiar name in Boston. Aaron Nesmith nailed eight 3-pointers and was the key for the Pacers’ late-game dramatics. The Celtics liked Nesmith, but they sought a veteran floor leader and traded him to Indiana for Malcolm Brogdon. They then used Brogdon’s contract to acquire Jrue Holiday, a key player on last year’s title team.
“[Nesmith] is a hard worker; he’s done it the hard way,” Carlisle said. “He got drafted by Boston and he was in a situation where he was behind a lot of great players that were more established. He got some minutes but not a whole lot. But every day he was battling with Tatum and Jaylen Brown and he got better and better.
“He was traded to us in July of 2022. He flew to Vegas on his own and asked if he could play on the summer league team and he was going into his third year. He just wanted to be a part of something and have an opportunity to grow. He’s worked and now an important part of our team.”
ETC.
Warriors also feeling pinch
The Warriors were eliminated by the Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals with Stephen Curry sitting on the bench nursing a strained hamstring and coach Steve Kerr trying valiantly to pull all of the talent out of a flawed and aging roster to compete.
It didn’t work, and that series served as a wake-up call that the Warriors have to get to work to upgrade a roster that has three players age 35 or older who want to go out with at least one more title. Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy has to rebuild a championship-caliber roster around Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler, whose winning time is now.
“I don’t want to cut it short, but I want to see it a little more short term and see it as a one-year opportunity,” Dunleavy said. “We’ll see what happens after next season and how we pivot and do things differently. But for now, we’re going to focus on next year. Steph is an All-NBA player. Draymond is one of the most elite defensive players, not only ever, but still today. Then we have a very special player in Jimmy. How could we not focus on winning it all? That’s got to be our focus.
“I think, as far as how it relates to the rest of the league, the West is tough. It’s a really tough conference. We can’t just say, ‘Hey, let’s get through the regular season and let’s hope for some favorable matchups and health in the playoffs and give it a go. We’ve got to build a team that can get through the regular season. We won 48 games this year, and we’re in the play-in.”
Like the Celtics, the Warriors are in the second apron, making roster regeneration more difficult, especially with Curry, Green, and Butler earning a combined $138 million next season.
“So, it’s very tricky to navigate a whole season with some older players and still win games and be in a position you want to win the playoffs,” Dunleavy said. “That will be the hardest part. It’s not just show up in April, May, and June, and hope for the best. It’s a long haul. We’ve got to be mindful of that, and we’ve got to build a team around that.
“I do believe in the way these guys take care of their body — Draymond, Steph, Jimmy — they all had incredible health this year, and that’s a tribute to our medical staff. The story is Steph missed the last four games because of a hamstring injury. The reality is we managed them quite well and just got a little bit of a stroke of bad luck at the end. I think on the whole these guys’ ages are what they are, but 37, 38, 35, that’s different than it was 10 years ago. I think these guys still got it in them, and we’ll manage it well and hopefully put ourselves in position to compete for a title next year.”
The wild card is the future of swingman Jonathan Kuminga, once tabbed to be a potential cornerstone. After playing 74 games and averaging 16.1 points last season, he was limited to 47 because of injury and falling out of Kerr’s rotation. Kerr called on Kuminga in the Minnesota series and he responded by averaging nearly 21 points on 54 percent shooting.
He’s a restricted free agent, and the Warriors have the right to match any offer. Will it prove too costly?
“Last year we had the option to extend him,” Dunleavy said. “This year he’s a restricted free agent if nothing happens, like there’s no new contracts, so we’ve got to figure something out. That’s what it’s going to be. We value JK. I think he had a resilient season is probably the way I’d classify it. He had some ups and downs playing. Most importantly, he had this injury where he missed 31 games. He came back, it was a new team, there were some adjustments. Overall, commend him for his professionalism. I thought he was resilient.
“And as far as bringing him back next season, I think it’s something we’re very interested in doing because, when I look at the things JK does well, in terms of getting to the rim, finishing, getting fouled, these are things we greatly need. We know he can bring those to the table. It’s not hypothetical. It’s not a guy in the draft that we think can do it. He’s shown for four years he can do that. For that reason, we’ll try to bring him back, but you’ve got to have those conversations.”
Dunleavy lamented the difficulty of living in the second apron, which limits trades, eliminates the mid-level exception, and could freeze draft picks.
“I think the biggest thing, there’s a few, but it makes it hard to make trades,” Dunleavy said. “There’s such limitations on that. So, if you do realize during the season you’ve got to get better in an area or a guy goes down — like this year, for instance, with De’Anthony Melton with us, and turn around and get Dennis Schröder — when you’re in the second apron, it creates some issues. So, avoiding that is generally good, but it’s not something you have to do at all costs. You can obviously work around it, but you’d better feel pretty good about your roster.”
Layups
The Celtics could sustain losses on Joe Mazzulla’s coaching staff. Veteran assistant Sam Cassell has been knocking on the door of head coaching jobs for years and this could be the offseason where he gets his first opportunity. Cassell was approached about the Florida State job, but wants an NBA position, and could be a perfect fit for a team looking for a fresh voice with countless connections around the league. Cassell is one of the league’s more popular assistants. As of now, the lone opening is in Phoenix but that could change as franchises figure out their long-term plans. David Adelman was promoted from interim coach in Denver after leading the Nuggets to Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. Denver perhaps would have had a better chance to win with a healthy Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon … One team to watch before the draft is the Nets, who own four first-round picks — Nos. 8, 19, 26, and 27 — after years of moving stars (Kevin Durant, James Harden) for draft assets. The Nets were disappointed being bumped down to eighth after finishing with the sixth-worst record, but it’s obvious they are not going to use all four picks … The Cavaliers are in regroup mode after being disposed of in the second round by the Pacers. Once tabbed as the primary competitor to the Celtics for the Eastern Conference crown, they lost Game 1 of the Indiana series and had three key players sit out Game 2 with injuries. Because of that, the team’s toughness has been questioned. Last season, center Jarrett Allen missed the Boston series because of a mysterious rib injury while Donovan Mitchell sat out the final two games with a leg injury. The issue is the entire main core is signed to multi-year contracts, so changing the roster will mean moving a veteran player. The most disposable is swingman Isaac Okoro, who has two years left on his contract at $22 million.
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