BOSTON — Brad Stevens spoke to reporters for the first time since the NBA season began, taking questions on a slew of topics at Celtics practice on Wednesday afternoon. Steven weighed in on the likelihood of Jayson Tatum’s potential return this year and shed light on what the team might do ahead of the February midseason trade deadline.
Overall, the Celtics general manager has been pleased with the Celtics’ growth through the first 26 games of the season, which currently has them with the Eastern Conference’s 3rd seed and a 15-11 record.
“I’m really encouraged by both the work and the progress,” Stevens said. “I think that we’re making strides.”
Here’s what Brad Stevens had to say in a lengthy media availability on Wednesday afternoon. (This is the first part of a two-part series on CelticsBlog — the other part addresses Stevens’ early thoughts on the team’s early-season success and breakout players.)
Will Jayson Tatum be back this season?
That’s the million-dollar question (or, in this case, the $54.1 million question).
Since the first time Stevens addressed Tatum’s potential return last Spring, he made clear that there was no recovery timeline, but also that Tatum wouldn’t return unless he was perfectly healthy. That outlook didn’t change on Wednesday.
“We’re not putting a timeline on it — as we haven’t the whole time,” Stevens said.
Stevens did detail that there are a number of markers the Celtics superstar has to meet ahead of a potential return.
“There’s a strength threshold he has to meet, and then after that, several weeks of progressions, right from the standpoints of scripted against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in five-on-five, unscripted, random, all the way up through those,” Stevens said. “But it’s a long progression, and it’s almost like, once you hit the strength, 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.”
Stevens also noted that the Celtics did not apply for the Disabled Player Exception, unlike several other NBA teams that have ruled a player out for the season. (The Chicago Bulls, for example, were recently granted a disabled player exception for Noa Essengue after the rookie suffered a season-ending injury).
The DPE allows teams to sign free agents to a one-year deal, trade for a player in the final year of their contract, or claim a player off waivers.
“One of the things that everybody can see is we didn’t apply for a DPE this year, which was a conscious decision on a lot of fronts, for a lot of reasons,” he 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.”
Will the Celtics make a move ahead of the trade deadline?
Stevens pointed out that the difference between the 3rd and 9th seed in the East right now is slim — just 1.5 games in the standings — and that the Celtics, like many teams, are a work in progress.
But, it doesn’t sound like the front office has ruled out making a move that would improve the Celtics in the short-term, while keeping the long-term goal of sustainable championship contention at the forefront.
“I think that we’re all still trying to figure out who we are and what we can be,” Stevens said. “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 position to compete.”
Stevens acknowledged that multi-team trades are becoming more common, which means it’ll probably take longer for any trades to materialize. The NBA midseason trade deadline is February 5th at 3pm ET.
“It’s always been difficult when you start including third, fourth teams, right?” he said. “So I think that’s a real thing, and it’s probably why, maybe there will be a deal or two that are early, who knows, across the league — but would also not surprise me if it takes a while.”
Still, despite the uncertain nature of thi sseason, the Celtics general manager is open to discussing potential midseason trades: “If I feel like we can do something to reach those things, and it makes sense with another team that’s willing to do something, which is very complicated, then we always listen, and we always look, and we’re always pursuing that. There’s nothing holding us back, necessarily, from that.”
