We don’t hear from Brad Stevens much anymore outside of his weekly radio hits on the Sports Hub. Today he offered his postseason thoughts on the Celtics, the run they made, and the offseason direction of the team.
Here are some key quotes and my takeaways from what he said.
ON ADDING TO THE TEAM…
“I think we have to walk a fine line a little bit. I think teams are fragile. I think the way teams work together and operate together are fragile. And I think your identity as a team, when you find one that’s successful, which we did this year on the defensive end of the floor and when we were at our best sharing the ball offensively, those things are fragile. So just to add doesn’t mean that you’re not taking something away from the group. And to change significant pieces in the group doesn’t mean that that might not totally take your identity and shift it in a direction that’s not as successful. And so it’s quite a fine line. If you ask me right now what we need, I’d like to have a little bit more scoring – consistent scoring – off the bench. I think we have some short-term needs there, but I believe in a couple of the guys that didn’t get a chance to play as much, that they will continue to improve and be knocking on that door soon. So we have some development opportunities within our own organization and we’ll continue to scour and look at what our opportunities are with our trade exceptions and the draft and our limited resources in free agency.”
Stevens is saying a lot in this quote.
He acknowledges something we all know, which is the need for more bench scoring. That's a priority (and something I outlined yesterday). Consistent, reliable scoring off the bench is critical to this team, but he also classifies it as a “short-term” need. He’s not looking for someone to be in Boston for the rest of his career, he’s looking for one of those two-year contract guys. If that person prices himself out of town in a couple of years, Stevens will probably look for a cheaper replacement.
Stevens also clearly is hoping that some of the bench shooting comes from within the team. Seems to me that he’s referring to Payton Pritchard and probably Aaron Nesmith when he talks about development opportunities within the organization.
Limited resources for free agency simply means they only have that approximately $6.4 Taxpayer MLE to work with.
The most important part of this quote is all the stuff about teams being fragile. That is so true, and there is tightrope to be walked every summer for team front offices trying to bring in help but also not upset the balance of a successful team.
Just look at the Dennis Schröder addition this past season. That seemed like a no-brainer of a move at a really cheap price, yet it’s obvious his fit was so bad that even at the deep discount he was detrimental to the team. I’m sure some of what Stevens is saying about the fragility of teams is tinged with the results of the Schröder signing and his past experiences with less-than-ideal locker room presences who may or may not be wearing out another welcome as we speak.
Boston has an identity as a team, and that's being tough and defensive-minded. Stevens will not upset that applecart. Keep that in mind when advocating for certain moves, because the Celtics are not going to take a big defensive hit to add offense. As noted by Keith Smith in the new Locked On Celtics podcast, that's what the Knicks did, and they went from surprisingly good to mediocre in a hurry.
ON THE TEAM’S NEEDS…
“I think we need a little bit more playmaking. I think that's real. I think we need more playmaking but I don't think we can be stagnant. We have to make sure that we continue to play with pace. When we are at our best we play with pace, and when we create one advantage the ball whips around the court and I just thought we played pretty slow in that last series and again credit them, they impacted us for sure, but all that said we had a chance to go up 3-1 in Game 4 with five minutes to go, and maybe we feel a little bit different. But there's no question in this league, the more guys that can make a play offensively the better, and the challenge again is making sure whatever you do around the margins of our roster, we have a unique identity and we have uniqueness in our size and our ability to be versatile all across the board, so we have to take that into account when we are adding to our team, but if we can maintain that and add some playmaking, yeah, without a doubt, you want to do that.”
Basically, anyone who can shoot, dribble, pass, and defend, and is willing to do all that for $6.3 million is welcome. Alternatively, if there's someone out there doing all that for $17 million or so and that team wants to trade him away for a lowwww first round draft pick, that will also be welcome.
What I’m saying is that it’s going to be tough realistically get all that in a player, but what Stevens can hope for is someone who just reads defenses well and is able to make the next right play in a quick way. That's what the playmaking is.
They're not necessarily just looking for some spot-up guy, although that will also be helpful. Stevens is hoping whomever he brings in can do just enough to break down a defense.
Also note the “around the margins of our roster” line. Don’t expect a major trade from the Celtics. This is about adding to and accentuating the already established core.
ON USING ONE OF THE MANY TRADED PLAYER EXCEPTIONS BOSTON HAS…
“There's a reason why a lot of the trade exceptions go unused. We have a bunch of them right now. We have one that expires, obviously, the big one expires in July, we’ve got a couple of others that expire later, they’re all reasonable amounts that we can take good players in with, so you balance that on, OK, what’s the cost that you’re going to have to pay, are you going to bring somebody in that’s going to add to – not necessarily take away, which you obviously don’t want to do. So it’s still about being prudent and thoughtful about what the deal is. But we’re going through the whole list and we’re trying to find guys that fit what we need and will fit into how we want to play and how Ime wants to coach and makes it so that this train can take off from the get-go next year.”
The Celtics clearly want to start the season a bit better than they did last year. They don’t want to be 18-21, which Stevens referenced later in this same quote.
This means the Celtics want experienced players who can fit in well and contribute right away. Reclamation projects and former two-way players are probably not what Boston is looking for, unless that player potentially has a skill that works well with this particular mix.
Generally, though, Stevens is looking at established guys with a track record that can be trusted.
Basically, Boston has gone from gambling on talent to investing in it. They're hoping to hit it big with anyone, they're looking for a history of returns.
That's not to say Boston can’t get creative with the Evan Fournier TPE. They can use it to trade for a salary dump and acquire an asset like a future pick for their troubles, and then turn around and use that salary and pick as, essentially, an extension of the TPE for a mid-season trade.
Regardless, this answer provides some insight into the type of player Boston is going for.
ON BEING ABLE TO SPEND MONEY THIS OFFSEASON…
“We've got the okay to do whatever we need to do.”
Boston is already in the tax, so they're going to spend what they need to spend.
However, they're not going to go crazy here. They’ll spend what they need to spend on the roster, and if there's some excess fat to carve off that can cut their tax bill, they’ll also do that.
They don’t have unlimited resources, but they will spend into the tax over the next few seasons to put a contender on the floor.
ON HIS MESSAGE TO JAYSON TATUM AFTER THE FINALS…
“I just told him to go on vacation. Go get some rest. This guy gave us everything he had. When you look at the minutes, when you look at the games played, I've said this many times, he's a superstar that doesn't want to sit. He wants to play, he wants to play all the time. I thought that in the Finals, obviously, I think he would be the first to say that he would like to have some of those moments back but I thought there were other contributing factors to how he played but -- we had several guys that really struggled in the Finals.
“I thought their defense, again, was excellent. I thought our offense got stagnant and the challenge of the long year adds up but that's part of the learning experience about getting to the point where you have a great idea about what it takes to get all the way through. The way I try to look at it is obviously we're all subjective in every moment and react emotionally, but when you start looking at it objectively and moreso historically, what Jayson and Jaylen (Brown) have done in the playoffs, historically at their ages, is rarified air.
“I think we're very cognizant of the fact that even though Jayson would admittedly not have played his best series, there's no chance we're there without him and without all of his great play all the way through. I think back to all of the times -- Game 6 in Milwaukee was one of the best games I've seen an individual play in my time, certainly in person and with the Celtics. Without that performance, we would have had this discussion a month and a half ago.”
The Celtics don’t want to tax these guys like this again. Tatum and Brown need help and I think everyone understands that.
ON WHETHER ANY OF BOSTON’S INJURED PLAYERS WILL NEED SURGERY…
“Nothing that I anticipate. Those guys just need some rest and they should be good to go. And obviously, they played anyways. (Robert Williams’) knee, as he went through the whole course of the playoffs, especially when we were playing every other day in the second round and in the third round, it was very much how he reacted day-to-day within the 48-hour window. He felt much better in the finals, and obviously played pretty well in the finals. But he needs to take some time. Both our doctors and others that we have consulted with have said the same thing. There's certainly no risk and being out there. But when it's over, you need to take a few weeks for it to completely settle down, and so that you're not putting as much load on it as we do as you go through the playoffs."
If there are no procedures this offseason and rest is the answer, then Boston is in a good spot injury-wise to start the season.
It might impact how these guys prepare for the season, but good health is the most important part of this. I’ll take Williams back exactly as he was at 100% health on day one over any realistic alternative that I can think of.
ON IME UDOKA OFFERING UP A PARTICULAR PREFERENCE FOR A STYLE OF OFFENSE…
"Everybody wants to be able to score in three ways. You gotta be able to break your guy down when the shot clock runs down. But you gotta be able to score in pick-and-roll against every single coverage. Then you gotta be able to score in movement. I think that we would both really prefer to play with a little bit more movement. So, ideally, that would be the case.
“But those are conversations that we'll have down the road. I think Ime did a really good job of fitting the pieces together and again, creating an identity when we were at our best, certainly, defending and sharing the ball. I think that hopefully we can build off of that. Like I said, with whoever we bring in, we haven't met after the season, the season just ended. I'll give him a chance to take a deep breath and we'll talk during the draft stuff this week and as we go through some of the names. But I think at the end of the day, we both have a pretty good idea of what we need and what we want to do that doesn't take away from the group. I think it's important as we consider all of this to remember that Ime's in only year one with staff and this group. So there's still a lot of continuity that can be built and gained from being together."
The bottom line is this: The Celtics know what they want to run on both ends. Udoka probably doesn’t have to say much about the offense because he just wants it to run the same way Stevens does. And that’s because Stevens idolizes that offense Udoka won a championship with in San Antonio as an assistant coach.
That's why the emphasis is on another guy who can make plays, why they're so focused on maintaining the team’s current identity, and why they're looking for seasoned additions.
ON THE TEAM’S INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS…
“I think it takes a selflessness. I think it takes a self awareness. Any time you have a good team, it takes people giving a little. And then it takes the hunger you derive from what we just went through. There should be a bitter taste after a great season, which isn’t all bad, because then it can propel you into being ready when it all starts next year. So, again, I think starting next year is important. I think that’ll be an emphasis.
“I don’t think that anybody is satisfied with where they are. But as we all go out to improve individually, when we come back we’ve got to take those individual improvements and our own strengths and add them to the team. And I think that’s the challenge with a lot of teams when you start at the start of a new season, is you want to show what they got good at. So, we’ve got to get good at some things, but we’ve be able to do it within the context of getting better as a team.”
That's a great observation from Stevens, because I can tell you that if I spent my offseason working on becoming a 40% 3-point shooter, I’d come back in the first preseason game and take one every time I touched the ball.
Guys are going to improve, but there is also a line of where certain things fit within the team dynamic. If one guy comes back trying to do too much, a good fit can turn into a bad fit in a hurry. But because this is the NBA, some of a player’s motivation has to do with getting as good as possible at as much as possible so as to get as big a contract as possible.
A team’s motivation might be to get certain players to just keep doing what they're doing while players might decide they want to add more to their game. It’s an interesting wrinkle to watch for.
ON IME UDOKA…
“I thought Ime did a great job. As I said in the first 40 games or so, he went through pretty much everything you can go through as a coach in Boston. I think that's a testament to the way he stayed even-keeled. I thought that he found a rhythm in coaching this group that obviously was really good as we went through the regular season and into the playoffs and did a good job of maintaining his competitiveness, but also his perspective and evenness throughout the playoffs. I've told people I'm close to all along, I think his ability to bounce back after the tough losses in the playoffs was really special and his ability to always stay humble and hungry throughout it all was really special.”
Udoka did an amazing job with this team. He was the primary reason, I believe, for getting guys to buy in and turn the season around. I think next season’s Coach of the Year award is his if the Celtics are any good. They don’t even have to be the best team. Unless OKC rises from the ashes and shocks everyone with a 50-win season, I think voters will be very willing to retroactively reward Udoka for this Finals run.
ON THE CONSTANT BICKERING WITH OFFICIALS…
“I’ve always thought that, when I was coaching in my most emotional moments, I would go back and watch the game afterwards, and most of the calls were usually right. I think that it wasn’t always the case, but it was most of the time. And so I think that the longer you go through it and the more that you’re in it, you’ve just got to control what you can control. And certainly those are conversations that you have throughout the course of the year. Those are things that will continue to be focal points. And certainly, I thought that we had some areas where we shot ourselves in the foot. That would probably be the least of those. I think that the turnovers in the finals – and there were a lot of contributing factors to that – and the 2-point shooting in the Finals and again, a lot of contributing factors to that, including Golden State’s excellent defense. But those are the things that, as we go back and kind of reassess where we came up short, I think it was more of our offensive production than it was anything else. But there’s no question, just like anything else you’ve mentioned whether it be officials, whether it be how you sleep, how you travel, how you eat, how you take care of your body, there’s 1,000 things that go into being prepared to being your best and controlling what you can control.”
This is a very Brad way of agreeing that guys need to shut up about the refs and just play basketball.
This quote reminds me of a particular foul at the end of the Brooklyn series where Jayson Tatum was very demonstrably adamant about not fouling Kevin Durant but then afterwards admitting that he did.
It’s fine to have a conversation with an official about a call, but Celtics players often take it to extremes that cost them in games. Also baked into Stevens’ answer is something that I always say, and that's there are always other things in a game with pivotal officiating calls that could have taken away from how pivotal some of those calls were.
Hopefully they come back next season with this lesson in mind and they leave the officiating alone.