Stevens: The Celtics will not make any decisions hastily this summer, and the playoff loss is not just due to injury

May 20th News Brad Stevens, president of Celtics basketball operations, knows that as this offseason full of anticipated and unexpected challenges is approaching, the outside world will have many questions about him and the management. However, he also made it clear that the team will not rush to make any key decisions.

Earlier, at the season summary press conference, Stevens said: "I know everyone will ask what will happen next, but at the end of the day, all our decisions will still be driven by a core question: 'How can we do to maximize the championship?' I think as we breathe a little and make up for the missing sleep we spent in the past three nights, everything will become clearer."

The toss and turns of the past three nights contain their loneliness as defending champions, the heavy blow of core star Jason Tatum's Achilles tendon tear, and the long recovery process (it is expected to take much of next season), and a series of salary and lineup adjustment problems that affect the team's short-term competitiveness. According to the current plan, the Celtics' total salary next season will be close to $225 million, and taxes may reach $280 million, and a total bill of about $500 million will set a league record under the New Labor and Capital Agreement (CBA).

Considering that the new boss team reached an acquisition agreement in March (an expected final transaction price of at least $6.1 billion), it is still unclear whether they are willing to continue to bear such high luxury tax costs.

"Our goal is always to build a team with championship strength, right?" Stevens said. "So, we have to evaluate every year whether there is a real chance to do this and make the most appropriate decision based on the reality."

Stevens did not disclose too many decision details, but said that he would explain further as the draft approaches. But he admitted that in the current labor-management agreement environment, whether the so-called "window of championship competition" is getting shorter and shorter is still a question worth thinking about.

"This is a good question, and I'm not sure," he said, "but it does become more difficult in some cases."

Of course, even in the face of Jaylen Brown's meniscus tear in the right knee (confirmed by Stevens) and the reality that Christaps Porzingis was unstable due to "Post Viral Syndrome", Stevens knew that the team's stopping in the second round could not be simply attributed to injuries. He said frankly: "I would rather discuss the messy things about the labor agreement. The fact is that we messed up in the first two games against New York, which put us in a passive position. It is not a person's responsibility, nor is it a malicious operation, nor is it a bad luck or a decision-making mistake - we had the opportunity to win these two home games, but we fell into a deep pit."

Regarding the recovery prospects of Brown and Porzingis, Stevens said he is still optimistic. He said Brown told him that his knees were feeling better late in the Knicks series and he was also encouraged by Porzingis' plan to compete in the European Basketball Championship for Latvia in August.

As for whether Brown can play a key role in the event that Tatum is likely to be absent next year, Stevens is still full of confidence.

"They're unquestionable for a long time," he said. "They've achieved a lot and deserve all the recognition, praise and honors. Yes, being the best selves depends largely on their performance."