What Brad Stevens said about Celtics’ final roster spot, Jaylen Brown’s Team USA snub

Brad Stevens and the Celtics’ front office understood the assignment this offseason.

There’s an old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and Stevens followed that to a tee.

Coming off a season in which the Celtics dominated with a 64-18 regular-season record and a 16-3 postseason run, outscoring opponents by +1,083 points across 101 games en route to their first title in 16 years, Boston brought back nearly everyone from last year’s championship team.

Within the first three days of free agency, the club inked Jayson Tatum and Derrick White to contract extensions and brought back Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman, and Sam Hauser.

“It’s great. They’re really good players. Excellent people,” Stevens said in Las Vegas on Wednesday on retaining the core. “People that you want to have on your team, and we’re lucky that they’re Celtics and want to be Celtics and are going to be here for a long time.”

Including two-way players, 15 of the 17 players who were in Boston after last season’s trade deadline will be returning. Rookie Baylor Scheierman is the only new face on Boston’s roster.|

“I think those guys value all the good things about being part of a team, about winning, about what the environment should feel like every day. And I give everybody credit for that,” said Stevens. “I give them, I give coaches, everybody that works there credit. It’s a very supportive, fun place to be, and we compete at a high level. Doesn’t mean you’re always going to win, but, obviously, when you do, everybody feels a little bit better.”

The only players from last year's team not under contract are Oshae Brissett, who opted out of the final year of his contract, and Svi Mykhailiuk. Both remain free agents as they explore options for more money and playing time.

Boston has one standard roster spot and one two-way contract remaining, with all signs pointing to second-round draft pick Anton Watson filling the final two-way spot. Stevens was asked about the final standard spot and the possibility of bringing back Brissett in particular to fill that void.

“We have to be mindful with the last roster spot of what our needs might be,” Boston’s President of Basketball Operations said. “Oshae had a terrific year with us, not only when he got the opportunity on the court as a teammate and as a person. Obviously, in his shoes, there might be a desire to play more. I always want to be respectful of that.”

“We loved having Oshae, and as far as how we fill out the rest of the roster, we kept 14 most of the year last year, and then we added two at the end of the year. We’ll see how the next few months play themselves with regard to people’s availability. Obviously, Kristaps [Porzingis] is going to have a long rehab process ahead of him, and we have to determine what the best need is for our team in that 15th spot. Both Oshae and Svi, to me, are good NBA players that, whether here or elsewhere, are good fits for any team. They’re just terrific people.”

Stevens and the Celtics are taking their time to fill the final roster spot, which presents a unique situation for the front office. As they watch prospects like Neemias Queta and Jaden Springer shine in Summer League games in Las Vegas, the other 29 teams across the league can only envy the Celtics. As reigning NBA champions, Boston is in the position every team aspires to be in, with little left to accomplish this offseason—a luxury recognized by Assistant GM Austin Ainge.

“We’ve got almost everybody signed already, so I can just enjoy Summer League,” Ainge said with a smile before the Summer Celtics departed for Vegas. “I’m not running around with a million agent meetings and things. That’s the biggest advantage – we’ve got a really good team, so we’re just running it back.”

However, just because the heavy lifting is done doesn’t mean the summer is entirely drama-free for Stevens and the Celtics; after all, it is the NBA.

Arguably, the biggest story this offseason came from the camp of the champs, when Wyc Grousbeck sent shockwaves through the NBA by announcing that Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. intended to sell their majority ownership share in the Celtics. Like everyone else, Stevens was also caught off guard.

“I learned not long before everybody else did that was going to happen. Listen, I, obviously, am very thankful for Wyc and his family and everything that they’ve done,” Stevens said.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what happens from here. I don’t want to get too far into the weeds of it all, but how does it affect us? It doesn’t really right now. From the standpoint of the corporate side or basketball operations, we’re just head down, doing what we think is best for the now of the Celtics, and the future of the Celtics. We’re lucky we have a good team.”

A few weeks after the Grousbeck news, more drama surrounded the team as Derrick White was chosen over Jaylen Brown to replace Kawhi Leonard on the Team USA Olympic squad after the Los Angeles Clippers star was sent home due to injury. Brown, who had a career year earning both Eastern Conference and NBA Finals MVP honors, openly expressed his frustration at being omitted from the team, unintentionally dragging his teammate into the fray.

“Jaylen’s a great player. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Jaylen could be on any team – could be on any Olympic team in any year. But at the end of the day, his approach, he talked about how we called Derrick, he talked about his own feelings from it,” Stevens said.

“I know this about Jaylen: whether he has success and gets all the accolades like Finals MVP or Eastern Conference Finals MVP, or if he feels like he got left off a team, I know he’s going to be motivated and hungry regardless. That’s what I’ve always loved about him. He always comes back to work.”

Regardless of what else occurs this summer, Stevens and Celtics fans should feel good about their spot entering the 2024-25 season. Opportunities like this are rare, especially with the new CBA, which makes them even scarcer.