Celtics Brad Stevens says collective break on tap before diving in the monumental outdoor season

Boston (AP) – The past 72 hours since the Boston Celtics was eliminated from the playoffs, was a vortex of emotions, conversations and lack of sleep for Brad Stevens. The team’s president of basketball operations is fully aware that there are many questions for him and the front office, as the Celtics starts on an off -season with challenges both expected and unexpectedly entered this season. He also wants to make it clear that they do not intend to chase any of the decisions ahead for the franchise. “I know there will be a lot of questions about what’s next,” Stevens said at his news conference of the season on Monday. “At the end of the day, I think it will all be driven by the same thing we have always driven, and that is’ how can we get ourselves in the mix to compete the best for championships? “I think it will get more clarity as we take a deep breath, get a little more sleep than we have the last three nights. ‘Those three sleepless nights included the end of their track as defensive NBA champions, the devastating torn Achilles test injury and the threatening rehabilitation that will take up most of the next season, and influence the upcoming payroll decisions and possible timetable movements that will affect the largest part of the next season. With Boston’s payroll for next season on track to amount to about $ 225 million, next year’s tax bill would amount to almost $ 280 million. The $ 500 million potential price tag would be a league record under the current highly restrictive collective bargaining agreement. It is unclear whether the incoming ownership of the team wants to pay the solid fines after agreed to a purchase in March, is expected to have a final price of a minimum of $ 6.1 billion. “The North Star is to have a championship contender, right? So you have to do what’s best to give yourself the best opportunity to do it if you can do it,” Stevens said. “And so we just have to decide how feasible it is on any given year and make sure we make the decisions accordingly.” Stevens mostly refused to give details about what was going on in the process, saying that he would say more about it about the NBA concept. But he did admit that it is unclear whether the so -called championship windows are getting smaller because of the current CBA. “That’s a good question. I don’t know, ‘Stevens said. “I think it’s definitely more challenging in certain circumstances.” He was also clear that although other factors such as Jaylen Brown confirmed what Stevens confirmed, a partially torn meniscus in his right knee, or that Kristaps Porzingis dealing with “post-virus syndrome” did not prevent Boston from becoming the sixth straight defensive champion not to make it the second round. “I’d rather talk about the CBA and all the shit,” joked Stevens. “The reality is that we blew the first two games (against New York), which is why we put ourselves in a difficult place. … it’s not on one person. It is not out of malice. It’s not a bad decision. It’s not bad luck. It had the opportunity to win the first two home games and we put ourselves behind the 8-ball. ‘ As for the prospects for Brown and Porzingis, Stevens said he was hopeful that the absence of the court would not be expanded. He said Brown conveyed to him that his knee felt better at the end of the New York series, and that he was encouraged in August by Porzingis’s plans to play for Latvia on Eurobasket. He also has the confidence that Brown can play during Tatum’s absence next season. “The guys have been the core sections of this program for a while. So there is no doubt about it,” Stevens said. “The guys, they’ve achieved so much. And certainly deserve all the recognition and praise and praise they receive. But yes, this is a big part of us the best version of ourselves. ‘ ___