BOSTON — As Celtics president Brad Stevens warned when he took the podium, he doesn’t quite know what the team will do this summer yet. Those discussions by the front office will take place over the next few weeks. The C’s saw their season unexpectedly end in the second round to the Knicks, which also means there’s some time before decisions need to be made.
First, the Celtics will have to navigate the 2025 NBA Draft, which takes place from June 25-26. They hold the Nos. 28 and 32 picks as they’ll look to bolster the roster going forward. But any future plans won’t necessarily affect how they approach the draft, Stevens explained.
“I don’t think it changes at all for us,” Stevens said. “We’ll evaluate who we think will be available at 28 and 32. We just got done with two draft workouts today, and so we’ll have plenty of time to thoroughly evaluate who we think those people might be. And if we want to try to move up, try to move back, whatever, we’ll see how it all goes. But I think when you’re at 28 and 32 you’re not exactly able to pinpoint exactly how that night’s going to go.”
The draft will hold some extra importance for the Celtics going forward even beyond this year. How next season looks is uncertain between the roster and Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury that will keep him sidelined for months to come. Of course, it’s still way too early to forecast the Celtics’ 2026 pick considering there are plenty of factors at play.
But the reality is that the Celtics can use cheap production going forward. Last year’s first-round pick, Baylor Scheierman, showed some flashes down the stretch of the season. While Scheierman didn’t play consequential playoff minutes, that’s another guy who could be a contributor in future years. Considering the C’s have an expensive roster, anyone who can affect winning on their rookie deal goes a long way.
For now, the next agenda on the Celtics’ offseason is the draft. That could change based on trades and other moves. But as the organization moves on from the 2024-25 campaign, all eyes are on the future and Banner No. 19.
“The way that you say it is the North Star is to have a championship contender,” Stevens said. “And so you have to do what’s best to give yourself the best opportunity to do that when you can do that. So we just have to look at it all and decide how feasible that is on any given year and make sure that we’re making the decisions accordingly. But the reality is that we have a lot of good players.”
