Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis is working out in Latvia, but the team still doesn’t expect him back on the court for several months, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in an interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
Porzingis missed most of the playoffs after suffering a strained right calf in Boston’s first-round series against Miami. He underwent surgery in late June for a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg and was given a five- to six-month recovery timeline that could delay his return until sometime in 2025.
“He’s starting to do more and more and more,” Stevens said of Porzingis, who recently posted an online photo of himself during a workout. “He was in a boot for a while there, but every indication is he’s progressing well and he’s on the right timeline. But it’s going to be a while.”
Surgery had already been planned for Porzingis when he was given permission to return for Game 5 of the NBA Finals. He played 16 minutes as the Celtics wrapped up their 18th championship, saying he was willing to risk further injury to be part of the experience. Stevens explained the process that led to the decision to have Porzingis play.
“He was going to have to have surgery regardless,” Stevens said. “He was moving better than he was before Games 3 and 4 and had probably gotten more used to it. And the outcome wasn’t going to change whether he played or not after that moment. It was just, really, could he do it? I was pretty impressed that he did. I don’t know exactly what he felt like, but I know he wasn’t 100 percent. But the toughness to get out there and do it was awesome. But that didn’t make it worse, and it wasn’t going to.”
Stevens touches on several more topics in the lengthy interview:
- The Celtics have a strong Olympic presence with Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White all playing for Team USA, but Jaylen Brown was upset with the process that led to his exclusion. Stevens said he talked with USA Basketball director Grant Hill, who expressed interest in having Brown as part of the 2028 team. “I think Jaylen is one of the best players in the world,” Stevens added. “And one of the best things about Jaylen is whether he gets the call and makes the team or doesn’t get the call, he’s going to use it as motivation to get better. So I know he’s working and he’s excited about improving. I think he’ll truly embrace the challenges that come with winning last year. That’s who he’s always been. And this will probably add more fuel to his fire. But he doesn’t need much fuel added. He finds it.”
- It’s been a frustrating Olympics for Tatum, who has seen limited playing time so far. Stevens said Tatum hasn’t complained about the experience and suggested he could still be a factor in Saturday’s gold medal game against France. “When we’ve talked, he’s been all about the team,” Stevens said. “This is such a unique opportunity to win a gold medal in the Olympics. He’s always ready. The championship game will be a great road environment, and he shines in those situations.”
- Stevens reiterated his support for head coach Joe Mazzulla, who was under fire last summer after losing to Miami in the conference finals. “[The criticism] was more intense than it should have been on him the year before, and that’s one of the reasons I am happy for him, because he didn’t deserve that the year before,” Stevens said. “And to his credit, I think he’s been super humble about this achievement, because that’s necessary, too. He has to handle this right, because people are going to follow his lead.”
Boston was 31-6 combined season/playoffs when KP missed games last season,
they will be just fine with Horford, Kornet, Tillman & Queta all moving up the depth chart. Just make sure KP’s ready come playoff time.
Porzingis was great when available, but his time with Celtics is almost up. Somebody’s gotta go because the team will be $50M-$60M over apron after this season, and the injury-prone one is the obvious candidate.
He’s among most injured players in the NBA, and these lower leg injuries have a cumulative effect.
Pretty sure they already were able to add up how much everyone made without you telling them bro.
@ Aristotle. I’d doubt it. Why can’t Boston just pay the tax and keep winning? Be getting rid of guys like Hauser and or Pritchard replaced with cheaper options if any.
Yep, look what happened to Denver when money caused them to dump their depth.
You know, wouldn’t it be great to see Kristaps get, & stay healthy, it’s surely not impossible & we know he’s happy as a lark now, and then lead the Celtics to a bunch of NBA titles. I’d bet on that before betting on trouble.
The numbers are public.
The Celtics are at least $60M over the cap for 2025-26, and they have acknowledged publicly that not everyone under contract for that year will be on the roster.
Porzingis is the most obvious not to be back.
I hadn’t heard that … but “trusting in Stevens” has proven to be the best policy for us Celtics fans.
Same as Warriors title runs, whoever wins is paying crazy tax. No different than highest contract in nba history, until the next stud signs that is. If the owners want to pay tax, it isn’t an issue.
Boston’s ownership group is willing to pay that price, these are the contracts handed out just over the past 12-13 months alone…
Jaylen Brown 5yrs/285M
Jayson Tatum 5yrs/313M
Jrue Holiday 4yrs/134M
Derrick White 4yrs/125M
Kristaps Porzingis 2yrs/60M
Sam Hauser 4yrs/45M
Payton Pritchard 4/yrs/32M
Plus numerous smaller deals for roughly 5-6 other players
Wyc Grousbeck’s family did put their share of the Celtics up for sale but that has more to do with Wyc’s father Irv, who is the actual owner and 90yrs old, nearing his end and the family wanted to make the change now while he’s still around.
Their plan is to find a buyer asap and try to keep Wyc on as governor until 2028. I doubt that they’ll find a quick sale and it may take some time.
this C’s ownership group bought in at 360M in 2002 and will likely eventually sell for at least 5B, that’s one hell of a return on profit.
nrg82 , their payroll, including tax, will go up to over $600M in 2025-26. They are locking Ii n their assetts now because ownership has just out team up for sale. It’ll be up to the new ownership to decide which players stay or go.
Ericthredd , I’m sure you know that the cost structure is more complex than this, as are the non-financial penalties to competitiveness. There are year-over-year multipliers that make it prohibitive for any/all NBA teams, including those with the largest revenue bases and valuations like the Warriors and Clippers, to stay over the 2nd apron for more than 2 years. (If you want to understand more, read about why those teams, who have 2x the revenue base of the Celtics and unlimited access to cash, are going under the 1st apron this year).
If you investigate, you’ll learn that Grousbeck is locking up the assets until the sale is complete because that maximizes the valuation. That is very different from paying $700M in payroll (including tax and penalties), which is >$200M more than the Celtics annual revenues. Grousbeck is selling the team this year because, practically, it’s the last year before the massive tax penalties hit.
The newly constituted ownership will determine which contracts to keep. It’s not only a matter of finances, but how the rules penalize teams over the second apron by taking away first round picks, mid-level exceptions, etc, etc.
I definitely tend to nerd out when it comes to Boston’s finances in their near future and I’m well aware of what all of the consequences are for keeping together this very expensive core for the foreseeable future.
I think that any major decision that need to be made in that near future all depends on how the team is playing at that time. Playing similar to last season and finishing off their year in the Finals likely keeps the core together longer regardless of winning the Finals or not.
Also one of the lone positives that came from the new CBA tax changes is, teams will have time to make any necessary changes to their roster if they deem that they need to. If Boston goes onto a championship run in the coming years I guarantee you that their front office won’t care if it cost a first round pick seven years down the line. (I say that sarcastically, of course they’ll want to keep their pick but if the alternative is keep on winning, that pick may not matter at all in their eyes. They still need to due their diligence in the draft till then.)
As a life long C’s fan I’m looking forward to all of it. this franchise has had some great peaks throughout their history and with this current roster locked up like it is, they’re heading into their next run.
Wyc is from Dorchester,MA, trust me when I say he wants to see how this all plays out just as much as the rest of us Green Teamers. He Just wants someone else in to take on some of the financial burdens that are soon coming.
erictheredd, I didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t understand all the finances (few on these boards try to), but, are you aware that the repeater penalty increases year over year, so that in the scenario you seem to be describing the Celtics effective payroll will increase, literally, $500M to $1B per year by 2027 ?
Staying over the 2nd apron for 6 years, or to roughly the end of the decade, would result in, literally, $1.25 Billion in annual losses given the team’s current revenue base.
I’m familiar with the detail of the CBA, but I have not seen what you are describing about making changes to a roster. The CBA is designed to discourage teams from committing to obligations that exceed the aprons. The financial benefit to entering into such obligations comes with added cost and reduced convenience. The CBA is meant to prvent the wealthiest teams (Knicks, Nets, Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, etc) from using their greater means to gain advantage. From the team’s, not the player’s, perspective, the only practical benefit to incurring an unnecessary long-term obligation, as, for example, the Celtics have done with Sam Hauser, is to raise the valuation of the franchise for the purpose of selling an interest in it.
Grousbeck and the Celtics are not in new territory. Rather, they are about to experience exactly the highly-punitive and dynasty-stifling rules that prevents any team from staying over the second apron for more than 3 years, at the most. The NBA created this new system once it became clear that the Warriors and Clippers, were willing to stick to a $500M effective annual payroll. There have been articles about in Forbes, WSJ, and HBR: the NBA has put an end to dynasties.
When you say, in as many words, “so what, the Celtics won’t mind giving away a first-round pick”, you may not be aware that this is just one of several non-financial penalites that the NBA put in place to kill dynasties. Keep in mind that there are owners like Ballmer and the Warriors tech-investors syndicate that are worth several times more than the rest of the league put together, and who could, conceivably, decide to burn a few billion per year for fun or ego. (Something like that has in fact happened in European soccer, with ultra-wealthy Middle Eastern oil money.)
So here’s another example of a non-financial penalty. After 4 years over the second apron, a team with 4 contracts that collectively exceed ~$175 (as the Celtics would be in 2026) is effectively, limited to paying the remaining 10 players on the roster the league minimum, which is ~$30M in total. In other words, Celtics would be able to pay Tatum, Brown, and White, and maybe Holliday if the cap goes up $20M, but definitely not Hauser, Porzingis, Horford, or any other free agent. Plus, no mid-level excpeptions, no trade exceptions, no buyouts, etc, etc.
Grousbeck and prospective buyers are aware that 2024-25 is the top of the cycle for the Celtics. That’s why the time to sell an interest in the Celtics is now. The CBA’s teeth start to bite next summer.
Grousbeck has acknowledged that these obligations would lead to 2025-26 operating losses in the hundreds of millions, but that’s a non-issue because any new ownership group prefers to own these assets and exchange them as they see fit.
“are you aware that the repeater penalty increases year over year, so that in the scenario you seem to be describing the Celtics effective payroll will increase, literally, $500M to $1B per year by 2027 ?”
While I would never pretend to be a cpa I do have somewhat of a grasp of their situation from a fan’s point of view and I am aware of what things will look like 3-4 years from now if they don’t make any financial roster changes.
When I mentioned going forward as-is, roster-wise, i was mainly looking at their immediate future in the next 2 maybe 3 years before everyone’s extensions have kicked in by then. They’re already returned every player of consequence and if they make another Finals run, win or lose, I honestly believe that Wyc would bring back the same core (roughly top 8-9 players) back again.
“I’m familiar with the detail of the CBA, but I have not seen what you are describing about making changes to a roster.”
What I mean by making changes to a roster are simply making changes to their roster. If they decide to trade off some salary by sending a 1st plus/or a player to move off KP, as an example, That Is A Change To Their Roster. If they move someone a salary like Jrue’s into 2 or 3 salaries, that would be another change. I’m talking just basic roster changes that teams make in any given year. In Boston’s case they’re going to cut payroll at some point or another, that’s a given. I just think it would be deferred down the line a year if they remain a Finals participant.
In regards to your other example of non-financial penalty, yes I’m aware of that as well and Boston will need to do their due diligence when it comes to drafting players that can play around their core while being on rookie deals. We all know they’re going to cut salaries at some point, just not when.
We can discuss all of the new CBA changes till the cows come home but I’m honestly not worried about it as much as you’re making the drama over this out to be and I say that with all due respect.
Boston’s front office trio of Brad Stevens, Austin Ainge & Mike Zarren have been the unsung heroes when it comes to building this C’s roster and after Wyc & Brad just handed out all of those contracts in the past 14ish months tells me that THEY are fully aware of every ramification of giving out each and every one of those contracts and what it means to their future. This is isn’t some new multi-billionaire jumping in by throwing loads of cash at every opportunity to try buying a winner. Boston’s front office has a plan and then multiple plans for each avenue they may come to going forward. If they didn’t then they probably wouldn’t have locked in their financial future as it currently is.
Last thought on this, my remark about not the team not caring about some future pick was said t-i-c, I meant it as, losing a 1st rounder is widely considered the worst of the penalties they may face. Yes, there are other penalties but loss of a pick would hurt the most. But the NBA gave teams plenty of time during that seven year stretch where they can basically, get their chit together.
Wyc may be looking for a buyer to come in asap but its not going to be that quick imho. Just the process of any and all buyer groups getting vetted by the league office and other owners is probably at the very least a 12+ month process. Even before that, the buyer groups may take some time being formed unless its a Jeff Bezos type who may come in on his own but I doubt that there are that many types of buyers willing to drop 5B+ on the Celtics.
We’ll see but I’m honestly not to worried about their immediate future because at the very least I expect Tatum, Brown & White to be their main core for the future and they’d could build around those three in many different ways and still be successful.
erikthredd , Grousbeck knows what he’s doing and Celtics have played this exactly right. Tatum, Brown and White are on-board for, at least, the next 4 years. Celtics are prohibitive favorites again this year.
I have total faith in that front office going forward. If i come off a bit blase towards the ramifications of signing this core long term,its just because I believe in that group mapping out their future. That’s all lol. Its been good going back & forth with you this past weekend. This place is much more fun when its not just ripping player/team X or Y repeatedly. ;)
Another leg injury for KP. His injured game will hurt Celtics. Not winning without him.
USA just won gold with 3 Celtics on the team! And another who should have been. So all in all things couldn’t have worked out any better. Jaylen Brown will use the snub to get even better as Brad Stevens says. And so will Jayson Tatum since Coach Kerr didn’t play him a lot (probably because his three point shooter was off). Go Celtics!