Brad Stevens warns Boston Celtics of tougher NBA landscape next season
Brad Stevens says the regular season will be significantly harder next year as teams stop prioritising draft positioning
Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has cautioned fans that the team's recent success was partly contextual, driven by a weak NBA landscape where many teams prioritised draft positioning over competitiveness. Speaking during the end-of-year press conference, Stevens stated that the regular season is expected to improve significantly next year, making the challenge much harder for the club.
The coach noted that a staggering 10 teams, representing one-third of the NBA, finished at least 18 games below .500 this season. This environment allowed non-tanking teams like Boston to rise to the top and inflate their record, masking the true level of competition they faced during the regular season.
Stevens confirmed that the trend of teams playing for draft positioning will not continue next year, meaning the league will be a lot better and the regular season a lot harder. He argued that the upcoming schedule will provide a better indication of what every franchise really is, requiring the Celtics to enhance their roster to avoid regression.
The team's playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers exposed specific flaws, particularly a lack of size, which Stevens highlighted as a critical area of concern. He warned that overcoming these deficiencies will be more challenging against the improved competition expected next summer, especially after the Celtics struggled against good teams during the regular season.
Despite winning 56 games and securing the Eastern Conference two-seed, the Celtics achieved this result despite losing Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford over the offseason, and with Jayson Tatum missing most of the year. Stevens emphasised that they cannot simply run things back with a healthy Tatum next year without addressing these roster gaps.
Accordingly, the Celtics have to improve just to keep pace with the league, so it is up to Stevens to enhance the roster this summer and help prepare the team for next year. If they fail to adapt to the tougher schedule, there will likely be some regression next season.
