BOSTON (AP) 鈥� The past 72 hours since the Boston Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs have been a vortex of emotions, conversations and lack of sleep for Brad Stevens.
The team鈥檚 president of basketball operations is fully aware there are a lot of questions for him and the front office as the Celtics embark on an offseason that will be replete with challenges that were both expected and unexpected entering this season.
He also wants to make it clear that they don鈥檛 plan to rush any of the decisions that lie ahead for the franchise.
鈥淚 know there will be a lot of questions about what鈥檚 next,鈥� Stevens said during his season-ending news conference on Monday. 鈥淎t the end of the day I think that will all be driven by the same thing that鈥檚 always driven us and that鈥檚 鈥楬ow do we get ourselves in the mix to compete for championships best?鈥� I think that will get more clarity as we take a deep breath, get a little more sleep than we have the last three nights.鈥�
Those three sleepless nights have included coming to terms with the as defending NBA champions, star Jayson Tatum鈥檚 devastating and impending rehabilitation that will take up most of next season, and upcoming payroll decisions and potential roster moves that will affect how competitive Boston is in the immediate future.
With Boston鈥檚 payroll for next season on track to come in around $225 million, next year鈥檚 tax bill would be at almost $280 million. The combined potential $500 million total price tag would be a league record under the current highly restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement.
It is unclear whether the team鈥檚 will want to keep paying those hefty penalties after agreeing to a purchase in March expected to have a final price of a minimum of $6.1 billion.
鈥淭he north star is to have a championship contender, right? So you have to do what鈥檚 best to give yourself the best opportunity to do that when you can do that,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淎nd so, we just have to decide how feasible that is on any given year and make sure we are making the decisions accordingly.鈥�
Stevens mostly declined to provide detail about what will go into that process, saying that he would have more to say on it around the NBA draft. But he did acknowledge that it鈥檚 unclear whether so-called championship windows are becoming smaller because of the current CBA.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a good question. I don鈥檛 know,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淚 think certainly it is more challenging in certain circumstances for sure.鈥�
He also was clear that even though other factors like Jaylen Brown managing what Stevens confirmed is a partially torn meniscus in his right knee, or Kristaps Porzingis dealing with 鈥減ost-virus syndrome鈥� didn鈥檛 prevent Boston from avoiding becoming the sixth straight defending champion not to make it out of the second round the following season.
鈥淚鈥檇 rather talk about the CBA and all that crap,鈥� Stevens joked. 鈥淭he reality is we blew the first two games (against New York), and that鈥檚 why we put ourselves in a tough spot. ... That鈥檚 not on any one person. It鈥檚 not out of maliciousness. It鈥檚 not out of a bad decision. It鈥檚 not bad luck. It鈥檚 we had an opportunity to win those first two home games and we put ourselves behind the 8-ball.鈥�
As for the outlook going forward for Brown and Porzingis, Stevens said he is hopeful that absences away from the court won鈥檛 be extended.
He said Brown conveyed to him that his knee felt better by the end of New York series, and that he鈥檚 encouraged by Porzingis鈥� plans to play for Latvia at EuroBasket in August.
He also has confidence that Brown can play whatever role is needed next season during Tatum鈥檚 absence.
鈥淭hose guys have been the core parts of this program for a while. So, there鈥檚 no question about that,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淭hose guys, they鈥檝e achieved so much. And certainly deserve all the recognition and praise and accolades they get. But, yeah, that鈥檚 a huge part of us being the best version of ourselves.鈥�
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AP NBA:
Kyle Hightower, The Associated Press
