Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens had a new first-round pick to discuss in Hugo Gonzalez, but there were more pressing issues to address as he met with the media following Wednesday’s draft, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. After agreeing to separate trades this week involving Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, Stevens talked about their contributions to the franchise and whether any more cost-cutting measures might be on the way.
“The biggest thing is there clearly is a need to prioritize regaining our flexibility,” Stevens said. “Maximizing from an assets standpoint what we can. As far as whatever moves those are a part of, those are all separate, hard, and things that you’re going to have to do your best to make sure you’re in the right position. We knew this was coming. We’ve got to prioritize flexibility.”
Parting with Holiday and Porzingis enabled the Celtics to move below the second apron, freeing them up to aggregate salaries in future trades, send out cash in deals and use trade exceptions. They’re projected to save nearly $200MM in luxury tax penalties, but Stevens emphasized that flexibility rather than frugality was the main motivation for trimming salary.
“Our owners are committed to spending,” Stevens said. “There’s a lot of things that go into these moves and a lot of things that are really important. The second apron basketball penalties are real and I’m not sure I understood how real until they were staring me in the face in the last month. I do think that can’t be overstated.”
There’s more from Boston:
- Without a reliable center currently on the roster, Stevens said the team hopes to re-sign free agents Al Horford and Luke Kornet, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Horford made $9.5MM this season while Kornet played for the league minimum and has a chance to get a significant raise on the open market. “I think the biggest thing is, as you look at the rest of the team and what we’re trying to do, there is no question our priorities would be to bring Al and Luke back,” Stevens said. “Those guys are huge parts of this organization,” Stevens said. “They’re going to have, I’m sure, plenty of options all over the place, and that’s well-deserved, but I think that would be a priority. At the same time, I don’t want to put pressure on them. It’s their call ultimately. But, yeah, we would love to have those guys back.”
- Stevens revealed that Joe Mazzulla received a contract extension at some point since he was promoted to head coach two years ago, Robb adds in a separate story. “I keep any of those discussions in house,” Stevens said. “But we’ve got Joe under contract for multiple years right now. So, we certainly want Joe to be around here for a long time.”
- Regarding Gonzalez, Stevens confirmed the 19-year-old Real Madrid wing won’t be a draft-and-stash project, according to Souichi Terada of MassLive. “Just a big fan of how he plays,” Stevens said. “He’s tough, he’s hard playing, he cuts, he goes after the ball, he competes. He’s got all the intangibles of a winning basketball player. There’s things he can get better at just like everybody else at that age, but competitiveness is at a high level.”
- Stevens also provided updates on injured stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, relays Kyle Hightower of The Associated Press. Stevens is pleased with Tatum’s progress since undergoing Achilles surgery and emphasized that the team won’t do anything to rush his rehabilitation process. “We won’t put a projected timeline on him for a long, long time,” Stevens said. “… It’s baby steps right now. He’s actually progressed great, but I don’t know what that means in regard to projected timelines. But that will be in consultation with him … and everybody else to make sure when he hits the court he is fully ready, and fully healthy. And that will be the priority.” Brown, who recently had a minimally invasive procedure on his right knee, has already returned to the Celtics’ facility to do some light ball-handling and work around the rim, Stevens adds.
Not a contender, but if they get Horford and Kornet back, they’re a 45 to 50 win team all while playing the young guys and getting them some experience. Should be a fun year
Let al go
Let him ring chase one last year
No need to chase 45 wins.
Gives minutes to some of the younger guys to see what you got
They’ll have the ntpmle and Biannual exception next summer
I mean, Al can go if he wants, obviously. You think the Celtics decide where he plays?
They aren’t “chasing 45 wins.”
They don’t have any “younger guys” at the 5 to give minutes to other than Queeta.
#freeAlHorford
Celtics made a good draft selection. In the weakest east in awhile, they should easily be a top 4-6 team.
People were talking about how weak the East was last season, and yet last season the East-West win percentage was higher than in 23-24 and actually higher than the average over the last 25-year period.
Not as high as in 21-22 and 22-23, when the East had a better record vs the West, but not horrible. The East started last season poorly, many struggling teams like Milwaukee, Philly and Indiana were in poor form in October-November and were losing a lot against the West, but then it kind of evened out.
And without OKC, who were an outlier with their 29-1 record over the East, it was basically even. I don’t get what do people watch when they state things like “lower play-in in the West would be 3rd-4th in the East” etc., when many good Western teams like Minnesota, LAL, Denver had a worse win% against the East than against the West.
Celtics will be a top 4-6 team, I think so too, but not because “the East is weak”, but because they are good, and will be among the 10 best teams in the league and a play-off team in their conference.
Peter- that’s a good topic for a longer discussion, but you’re overlooking the historically big IMBALANCE between good and bad teams in the East.
There were 4 good teams in the East. There were, literally, 5 tanking teams in the East: CHA, BKN, WAS, PHI, and, at times, TOR. The 9 and 10 teams were were under .500.
As a bettor, I can tell you that never in the last 25 years was it easier for a good team to have a winning record in an NBA Conference (because of the weighted intra- vs inter-conference schedule). About 35% of games between Eastern team were “non-competitive”, meaning that bettors couldn’t be certain in advance that one of the teams cared about winning. It’s bad for the league, bad for fans, bad for advertisers, and bad for bettors.
The East will be heavily imbalanced again this season, with BKN, CHA, and WAS playing exhibition games. That means ~5 extra wins for East teams out of the gate. Any East team that isn’t tanking should finish over .500.
200 mil is an insane number. NBA has to adjust this.
Yeah they wanna adjust it even higher
Cj mccollum is a moron
This is what had to be done to end the Warriors dominance. They couldn’t beat em on the court so they beat em off. Now we all pay the price. Sure we get fake parity, but no reason to get emotionally invested in the team anymore.
Sounds like you’re still a tad emotionally invested.
According to rumors
Celtics talked to Spurs about Brown and White trade yesterday.
To me, that is waste of time. Spurs are not planning to make handsome offers.
I don’t trade Brown unless I’m getting Giannis if I’m the Celtics.
Great to hear budding superstar Jaylen Brown is already back in the gym after his meniscus procedure. (Improve your handle!) This could be Jaylen’s big year, I’m sure he’ll seize the opportunity. This upcoming season is his chance to lead the Boston Celtics and show he’s worth his “biggest contract in the NBA.”
Delighted to read Brad Stevens knows we need Luke! He was fabulous last year and looks ready for years to come. Al, of course, will stay with the Celtics, it’s a love fest.
So Brad Stevens just saved Celtics owners some $200 million dollars? Wow!