Brad Stevens is eager to rebuild the Celtics' identity

PLYMOUTH — Ahead of the 12th annual Shamrock Foundation Golf Tournament fundraiser on Monday, Wyc Grousbeck met with his head coach about the upcoming season and couldn’t help but come away with sense of optimism after his conversation from Brad Stevens.

“We just were standing there watching some of our guys work out and some of our guys play and I just think there’s a lot to be excited about,” Stevens said of the meeting.

Amid a whirlwind of change this offseason, the Celtics enter the 2019-20 regular season with questions everywhere from the starting lineup to the frontcourt rotation. However, one thing that the team did not lose in the offseason that saw Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and several others depart is a sense of excitement from their head coach.

As Danny Ainge pointed out in a recent conversation with WBUR, Stevens was clearly not a happy person at times last season as he tried to fit the pieces of a complicated puzzle together. Those efforts led to uncharacteristic losses and lackluster efforts over the course of the rollercoaster campaign, culminating in an embarrassing final defeat to the Bucks in the second round of the postseason.

“I mean, I think we all know what kind of weight as far as just the way that we ended as a team,” Stevens admitted. “And we didn’t play as well as we had hoped. And I’ve said this many times: That starts with me. So it was my job to do a better job of getting ready, and I think we’ll be better as far as the important stuff. And then we’ll find out how good we can be as time moves on.”

While the expectations are understandably lower after so much talent departed, a number of obstacles from last year have been largely removed. Catering to Irving on and off the floor no longer has to be worried about. Guys in contract years (Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris) have moved on. An underdog group with a strong work ethic is seemingly back together and those are the type of teams that Stevens has done his best work with at the college and pro level over the past 15 years.

Team sources told BostonSportsJournal.com that there have been more players around the practice facility all summer than any year of Stevens’ tenure and the head coach has noticed a renewed kind of buy-in from everyone from Kemba Walker down to the guys competing for the 15th roster spot.

“My biggest thing is not about what they look like, it's about what they've invested, what they've put in, you know, some sweat equity together and just to be ready to roll together,” Stevens said of the summer work. “And there's been a lot of guys that have worked really hard. That's not different than other summers, and if they weren't here, that's OK, too. They’ve been working hard wherever they’ve been. So I think at the end of the day, putting all those investments together and then kind of changing... not changing the lens, but making sure the lens is focused on it's about we, it's about being the best that we can be."

Getting the group to pull together in one direction was a problem frequently last year but more clearly defined roles and the sobering result of last season should be a wakeup call to the returning veterans.

“I thought we did at times, I didn’t think we were as good as a couple years before,” Stevens said of effort issues last year. “But I mean, that’s not brain surgery. I realize that every time we say that, that’s the headline, but at the end of the day, this team’s done a good job of flipping the page and moving forward and focusing on itself. I really like the guys that are in our gym right now.”

Walker is one of the players setting the tone on that front after being one of the more frequent visitors to the Auerbach Center in the past week even after the World Cup ended. He’s expected to be fully cleared for training camp after suffering a neck injury in China. The same goes for Jayson Tatum (ankle) and Marcus Smart (quad). Rookie Romeo Langford (thumb) has been fully cleared for a month as well. A healthy 15-man roster appears to be ready to roll next week with Tacko Fall (sprained knee) looking like the only player that’s dealing with an issue that could linger.

Stevens and his staff will have his work cut out for him to make all the pieces work together but the head coach has a group that he can get creative with. Walker isn’t the player that Irving is but he also isn’t going to dog it from an effort standpoint like Irving did at points. Stevens isn’t going to have to cater to anyone on the bottom half of the roster either. This should be an incredibly competitive training camp in the battle for minutes at several spots off the bench and there won’t be any internal politics that keeps guys from getting handed minutes, outside of perhaps Enes Kanter to start the year. Stevens has operated best when he’s been able to mix and match without juggling other factors and that freedom will return this year as he makes his priority entering camp very clear.

“I said this the other day, my care is that we play with great effort and togetherness. That is it,” Stevens explained. “That’s what we’re looking for, that’s what we want to be. All the technical basketball plays and system, all that stuff, that stuff will figure itself out. I feel like we’re in a good foundation there, but we’ve got to play like a Boston team should.”

Whether or not that leads to more wins remains to be seen. The challenge will be great against an improved Eastern Conference (in the top half). Still, Stevens will be able to coach this year with a clear mind without the micro-managing behind the scenes. That should be a refreshing change from a year ago and help produce a bounceback year from at least a coaching perspective.

“I think we have a different challenge this year from a pure tactical standpoint than we’ve had in the past with some of the strengths of our players, especially at our bigger positions,” Stevens said. “So that will be new in some ways. But that stuff will take care of itself with good work and good focused work and the right mindset. And I have no reason to think we won’t have that.”