TORONTO -- Despite a number of injuries, the Celtics have been rolling lately, winning four straight games and five of six overall to re-establish their spot at the top of the Eastern Conference for the time being.
That progress after four straight losses midway through January has been meaningful in the eyes of Brad Stevens, to the point that the head coach doesn't want to see the Celtics do anything too drastic to the roster ahead of Thursday's trade deadline.
“I think the biggest thing we have to be really cognizant of is if we do add anything it’s somebody that really complements who we have," Stevens said when asked about team needs at the trade deadline. "Because we have a lot of guys that have played a really good role in helping us be successful. And we value that up and down the roster. The best example of that’s been the last three games. That was a heck of a week when you compare that week of winning at home versus the last three games we played at home. So there were a lot of positives in that. So I would say regardless, we’re very alert to adding only strengths that would add to our collective group with a willingness to add value to winning.”
The looming signing of Greg Monroe (expected later this week) will provide a boost to the rebounding and scoring in the frontcourt, and also put the Celtics roster at the max of 15 players. That means any trade the Celtics make will involve saying goodbye to another part of the roster, something Stevens might not be crazy about given his desire for continuity. There are some clear candidates to be let go (Abdel Nader) but Stevens has not heard much from Danny Ainge yet about a potential deal.
“I talked to him for the first time in three days today for like four minutes," Stevens said. "And it was absolutely nothing to do with anything that anybody else would be interested in.”
While the Celtics stood pat at the trade deadline last year, Stevens has dealt with plenty of roster movement during his first couple years on the job so he's ready to handle the changes.
“Yeah, I think we’ve got a good idea about how to transition appropriately and all that stuff because of what we’ve been through in the past," Stevens explained. "And I think that’s something that we want to be, if you do add, appropriately patient. But at the same time you’re trying to expedite it as much as possible because after the All-Star break we have 23 games. So you know everybody always says when you hit the All-Star break, well, you’re halfway through the season. That’s not the case with us or anybody else. There’s not a lot of games left when you really look at it.”
Other shootaround notes
- Kyrie Irving (quad) said he will return to the lineup after a three-game absence. Marcus Morris remains questionable with a sore hip.
- The Celtics and Raptors have only faced off one time this year, a 95-94 Celtics win over the Raptors without an injured Irving. Two months later, Stevens thinks the Raptors are a far different team upon reflecting on that game: "We did some things well, we did some other things not so well. They got to their tendencies some, which you have to try your best to take away against really good players. I thought for the most part though we were competitive and locked in. We played without Kyrie, so that was a unique offensive attack for us, but we were fortunate to win because we've seen DeRozan hit that shot 100 times. At the end of the day, it was a really good game. A really hard played game by both teams. We're going to have to play better than that tonight. They're a better team now than they were when we played them earlier."
- Greg Monroe remains unsigned to this point and is not with the team in Toronto. Stevens wouldn't comment on a potential timetable to sign him.