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Celtics' Brad Stevens says "rebuild" will not enter team's lexicon

Celtics' Brad Stevens says "rebuild" won't be part of franchise's vocabulary
Celtics' Brad Stevens says "rebuild" won't be part of franchise's vocabulary 01:12

Brad Stevens had a lot to say about the current state of the Celtics on Tuesday, his first time chatting with reporters since trading away veterans Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. But there's one word the team's president of basketball ops. will not let enter the organization's vocabulary: Rebuild.

Stevens is going with the much softer "retool" when discussing the Celtics offseason, as the team looks navigate its way out of the NBA's second apron this summer before trying to survive a season without superstar Jayson Tatum. He acknowledged the team knew these hard offseason decisions were coming as far back as the Malcolm Brogdon acquisition on 2023, before Holiday and Porzingis were on the team and well before the new ownership group was set to take over. 

As a team in the second apron for two straight years, the Celtics are not only facing the lofty repeaters tax, but also restrictions in how Stevens could build the roster in the near future. There has been no order from new owner Bill Chisolm to strip down the team's payroll, only a directive to maximize assets so the Celtics can retool as quickly possible. Stevens sounds like he has every intention to do so around the core of Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard.

"The reality is that we knew going into this year, regardless of how it ended, we would have hard decisions to make because of the penalties, where this apron is and where we've been the last two years. We were in it the last two years, and now that it's kicked in three years after the CBA started, that was part of our reason to push the chips into the middle the last few seasons," explained Stevens.

It led to Boston's 18th championship last summer, but when the Celtics lost in the second round to the New York Knicks this postseason -- just a few nights after Tatum suffered a ruptured Achilles -- it was clear that changes were on the horizon. Big changes.

The Celtics will rely heavily on Jaylen Brown and Derrick White next season, and will hope that trade acquisitions Anfernee Simon (acquired from Portland for Holiday) and Georges Niang (from Atlanta for Porzingis) along with free-agent signings Luka Garza and Josh Minott can keep them competitive. 

"My expectations are always the same: Compete like hell to win the next game. That will always be the way we try to put our best foot forward. We have new guys and some guys who will have to take on extra in their roles. But we believe in the guys who have been in the building and are looking forward getting the guys who haven't, and all of them working together to try to create a team that functions well together and plays hard as hell," he said.

Rebuilding teams are usually stripped down to its studs and start from scratch. With an All-NBA player in Brown and All-Defensive pest in White, Stevens won't entertain such a drastic step in Boston. 

"The north star for me is winning championships," Stevens added. "This is, without question when you trade guys like Jrue and KP, there is some retooling going on. When I was coaching and the term 'rebuild' came up, it thought it was a crazy term. None of us where here before so it should be 'build,' right? You're always building and growing toward something. With this group, we have so many guys back who are already great players, that won't be part of the lexicon in our building."

Stevens thinks there will be more moves this summer, but said that escaping the repeater tax or even getting out of the first apron are no the priority. He's also confident the current iteration of the team will compete for a playoff spot without Tatum next season.

While there is certainly a retool going on in Boston, Stevens believes the low expectations that now surround the team will give the current crop of Celtics players a huge chip on their shoulder.

"I would never put a ceiling on any team. We were fortunate to have a number of teams as we led up to this window that were really fun. They never cared about ceilings and had a chip on their shoulder – I expect this team will too," he said.

Stevens thanks Holiday, Porzingis 

Even before reporters could hammer Stevens with questions about the second apron and new acquisitions, he made sure to thank Holiday and Porzingis for the impact they had on the franchise in their brief stints in Boston. He also thanked center Luke Kornet, who signed a four-year deal with the Spurs after spending the last four seasons with the Celtics. 

"I want to start by saying thank you to Jrue, KP, and Luke for all that they gave here and all that they meant here," said Stevens. "Jrue being here for only two years and KP only being here for two years, they had a huge impact not only on the team but our city and community. Luke being here a little longer than that, the same thing. We wish those guys well and will be rooting for them from afar."

Stevens acquired Holiday and Porzingis in the summer of 2023, and both played key roles in Boston winning a title in 2024. Holiday especially played a pivotal role with masterful defensive performances throughout the playoffs and some timely shooting.

"Jrue Holiday is, I think he stamped his Hall of Fame candidacy here if he didn't already have it. We look forward to watching and rooting for him from afar. He's as good as a person you can have in your building or be a part of your team," said Stevens. "KP, he fought some health stuff last year but when he played he was awfully good. He'll be awfully good for Atlanta this year."

Stevens had been in communication with both players this summer, and they both knew there was a good chance they'd get dealt this offseason. That still didn't make it any easier for Stevens to break the news to two players who were so important to the organization the last two years. 

"They have been around a long time and know the CBA, and knew the high likelihood of being traded. But it's still hard. We will miss them and we are thankful for them," said Stevens. 

Celtics have made a contract offer to Al Horford

Stevens said the team offered a contract to Kornet before he signed with the Spurs. There is also an offer out to veteran big man Al Horford, who is reportedly mulling a return to the C's, signing with the Golden State Warriors, or retiring after 18 NBA seasons.

Stevens couldn't say much about Horford and his free agency, but made it sound like the veteran will not be in Green in 2025-26.

"I could probably talk about Al my whole press conference and not say enough. I don't want to speak in absolute terms until an ultimate decision is made, but if he goes somewhere else, he's an all-time Celtic," he said.

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