Current:Home > StocksCeltics have short to-do list as they look to become 1st repeat NBA champion since 2018-InfoLens
Celtics have short to-do list as they look to become 1st repeat NBA champion since 2018
View Date:2024-12-23 16:17:26
BOSTON (AP) — It took more than a decade, savvy front office and draft moves, and some free agency luck for the Celtics to ultimately build the roster that brought an end to their 16-year championship drought.
But with NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown already locked up long-term and fellow All-Star Jayson Tatum set to join him in the $300 million club this summer, Boston doesn’t have nearly as much work to do this offseason to keep together a core that is set up to become the first team since the 2018 Golden State Warriors to repeat as champions.
In the euphoria of locking up the franchise’s record-breaking 18th championship, Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck gave president of basketball operations Brad Stevens a shoutout for finishing a process that began when Stevens was originally hired as Boston’s coach in 2013.
“We all watched the team the last few years. Great teams, but not quite there,” Grousbeck said. “And Brad was brilliant. We knew we needed to make changes ... and he got it done.”
Moving away from longtime executive Danny Ainge — the architect of Boston’s 2008 championship Big 3 of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — in favor of the 44-year-old Stevens was bold. Now, just three years after being pulled off the sideline, Stevens has made good on the belief that ownership had in him.
He did it by taking the war chest of draft picks Ainge left him and borrowing from the aggressiveness his predecessor was known for to immediately go to work.
It started coyly with a February 2022 trade deadline acquisition of Derrick White, a young defensive-minded reserve with San Antonio.
Then, following the loss to the Warriors in the Finals, he steered the team through the suspension and ultimate departure of coach Ime Udoka for having an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the organization.
Facing a franchise-altering moment, Stevens leaned on his gut, elevating back bench assistant Joe Mazzulla to the top job.
Then, after a conference finals loss to Miami last season, he did what was originally unthinkable by trading veteran leader Marcus Smart and reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon in separate deals that brought in 7-footer Kristaps Porzingis and defensive stalwart Jrue Holiday.
The pair turned out to be the missing links for a team that, including the playoffs, finished 80-21 this season, placing it second in team history behind only the Celtics’ 1985-86 championship team that finished 82-18.
It also marks the first time in seven seasons the team with the best record during the regular season went on to win the title.
Most importantly, Boston is set up to keep the current core intact for the foreseeable future.
Brown is already locked up through 2029. Tatum is eligible to sign a five-year supermax extension this summer that will be worth a record $315 million and run through 2031. White, who is set to be a free agent in 2025, can ink a four-year deal worth about $125 million this offseason.
The remaining returning starters, Holiday and Porzingis, have already been extended through 2028 and 2026, respectively.
While some tough, luxury tax decisions could be looming in a few seasons, it’s a team constructed to win now.
Brown said it’s left everyone poised to defend their title next season and beyond.
“I think we have an opportunity. I think we definitely have a window,” he said. “We take it one day at a time. We definitely have to make sure we stay healthy. But, we’ll enjoy the summer, enjoy the moment, and then we get right back to it next year.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
veryGood! (4158)
Related
- Olivia Munn Says She “Barely Knew” John Mulaney When She Got Pregnant With Their Son
- DeSantis’ appointees ask judge to rule against Disney without need for trial
- The Originals' Danielle Campbell and Colin Woodell Are Engaged
- Political leader in Ecuador is killed less than a week after presidential candidate’s assassination
- Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to kick off fundraising effort for Ohio women’s suffrage monument
- Little League won't have bunk beds at 2023 World Series after player injury
- The man accused of locking a woman in a cinder block cell in Oregon has an Oct. 17 trial date
- Mother of 6-year-old who shot Newport News teacher pleads guilty to Virginia charge
- 2 weeks after Peanut the Squirrel's euthanasia, owner is seeking answers, justice
- In ‘Bidenomics,’ Congress delivered a once-in-generation investment — with political promise, peril
Ranking
- Duke basketball vs Kentucky live updates: Highlights, scores, updates from Champions Classic
- Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Rodion Amirov Dead at 21 After Brain Tumor Diagnosis
- Bruce Willis’ Wife Emma Heming Shares She’s “Not Good” and Feels “Doom and Gloom”
- Videos put scrutiny on downed power lines as possible cause of deadly Maui wildfires
- RHOBH's Erika Jayne Reveals Which Team She's on Amid Kyle Richards, Dorit Kemsley Feud
- Testimony from Sam Bankman-Fried’s trusted inner circle will be used to convict him, prosecutors say
- The Blind Side Subject Sean Tuohy Breaks Silence on Michael Oher’s Adoption Allegations
- Michael Oher alleges 'Blind Side' family deceived him into conservatorship for financial gain
Recommendation
-
Vermont man is fit to stand trial over shooting of 3 Palestinian college students
-
South Korea’s Yoon calls for strong security cooperation with US, Japan ahead of Camp David summit
-
Public access to 'The Bean' in Chicago will be limited for months due to construction
-
Mystery Solved: Here’s How To Get Selena Gomez’s Makeup Look From Only Murders in the Building
-
Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
-
Alex Collins, former NFL running back and Arkansas standout, dies at 28
-
California judge who allegedly texted court staff that he shot his wife pleads not guilty
-
2 Missouri moms charged with misdemeanors for children’s absences lose their court battle