"Cautiously optimistic" would be one way to describe Brad Stevens' opinion of Kemba Walker’s condition after he had another planned day off of practice on Wednesday.
Unlike the rest of his Celtics teammates on Tuesday, Walker got in a hard day of work on the team’s day off, part of a seemingly new game plan for their All-Star point guard to strengthen his chronically sore knee.
“He did not (practice),” Stevens said of Walker on Boston’s fifth day of practice in Orlando. “He did a harder workout on the off-day (yesterday), so they’ve got him on a one-day off, one-day on plan. He did a lot of running yesterday, shooting. He’s shooting a little bit right now. He’s reacted great, his knee feels good, and that’s a good thing. He’s really prioritizing accumulating strength in that knee, so the day-on, day-off thing will be in effect for a while.”
The Celtics don’t begin scrimmaging other teams until next Friday in Orlando with their seeding game opener coming on July 31st against Bucks, so there will be plenty of opportunity for the team to build Walker up. However, the team admits that additional soreness that popped up last week is what is going to force the team to take this new path in the first place.
“It wasn't anything major,” Stevens said of Walker’s knee soreness. “I understand why the questions are about him. We feel good about progress he's made, we feel good about the fact he's having no pain, we feel good about the fact he's accumulating strength. Strength is the number one thing.
“We've got to make sure he feels as good as possible because the toll, the physical toll of playing these seeding games and the playoffs, especially when you go every other day for the most part, is going to be significant on guys who are playing major minutes, so that's a huge part of it. Any discomfort early, our training staff put a plan in place, and I'm just following it. Whatever's best for Kemba is obviously best for us.”
The Celtics clearly believe they can’t afford to put any extra miles on Walker’s tires at this point, which has the training staff treating him like a 35-year-old veteran already, far from ideal in year one of a four-year max. Whether or not it will pay off remains to be seen, but Stevens knows what’s at stake here even as he rotates other ball handlers into Walker’s spot.
“We have a number of guys who value possessions and value the ball and are capable of making plays with the ball,” Stevens said. “We’re not as explosive an offensive team without Kemba, but we do have a lot of really good offensive players. When he’s not available in practice we’ll have to focus our best actions for others. But every indication is he’ll be available when we’re playing games.”
While the path will help Walker avoid setbacks for now, there clearly won’t be an easy fix if he’s not able to sustain big minutes playing full-court basketball as the postseason approaches. The entire team needs to mesh at some point together after a four-month layoff and Walker is ideally a key part of that. The longer it takes to put everyone together puts the Celtics in the same category as teams like the Rockets and Kings, squads that won’t be able to practice fully until their late-arriving players clear quarantine in the bubble. It's a far from an ideal plan, but the best option the team has at this point to protect their star.
Marcus Smart feeling no side effects from COVID-19
The point guard remains the only member of the Celtics to test positive for the virus, despite not feeling any symptoms back in March. Nearly four months later, the lingering effects that some athletes across the sports landscape have experienced in the aftermath of COVID-19 have not impacted Smart at all.
“I thank God for that. Everything is copasetic for me,” Smart said Wednesday. “My breathing is fine, my heart is fine. It just feels good to be back out here. I think I’m back to myself if not even getting back to being where I was before the season stopped. So for me personally, nothing’s wrong. Everything is as normal as it’s going to get.”
League doctors have tried to stay on top of Smart regardless of his positive test. He continues to go daily testing and players are also getting tests to ensure there are no issues with breathing and oxygen in blood levels.
”Every morning we have to fill out a wellness check that includes your temperature and your oxygen level,” Smart said. “They’re taking all the right measures to try to get a better reading and understanding of what’s going on and to try to detect problems before they become problems. So they’re doing everything in their ability and we’re doing everything in ours to try to get this working and keep it going.”
Free time in bubble
The Celtics have been doing a little of everything in their time at Disney while away from the Garden. Jayson Tatum has tried to take a few teammates under his wing to join his golf hobby, while Tacko Fall was spotted biking around Disney yesterday along with teammates Romeo Langford and Vincent Poirier. So far, the team bonding has continued with the young guys while old veterans like Smart and Brad Wanamaker try to take advantage of the extra rest they can get with no travel involved.
“I’ve been mixing it up,” Smart said. “I’ve been hanging outside with some of my teammates in the players lounge a little bit here and there. But mostly for me I’ve just been resting. For us we don’t have three months to get ready for the season. We’ve got a couple weeks and rest is very important. So I’ve been just taking the time to get my rest and just take the time to work on myself and reflect on myself, becoming more comfortable, uncomfortable. Being by myself and working on my mental state and things like that. So for me, I’ve just been kind if mixing it up. For other guys it might work, keeping them busy. But you’ve just got to find what works for you.”
“I’ve just been relaxing in my room, for the most part,” Wanamaker added. “Playing a video game, talking to a lot of family members. Over this whole pandemic, I was able to catch up with all the family and friends that I haven’t been talking to as much I would liked to have to. But I’ve been chilling. Went to the pool yesterday with a couple of guys for about five hours. Went on a bike ride with Theis one night, so I’ve been trying to make the most of it.”