What about Brad?

[Goldstar88]

NBA Executive of the Year?

I think so.  From making the right coaching hire, to reconstructing the team with players who let the J’s be the best versions of themselves, while also staying under the luxury tax, to the bargain extensions for Rob and Smart, and having everyone in the top 11 of the rotation under contract next year.  The Celtics had lost their way, but they have found it again.

Well said, TP. Every move that he’s made has been the right call it seems.

[Moranis]

Brad is certainly in the running for executive of the year. 

I think Kleiman's big trade of the summer really set the Grizzlies up well this year, though a lot of their success was based on prior off seasons and drafts (which sometime matters in this).

Koby Altman did a fantastic job with the Cavs.  It is a real shame they've had all of the injuries otherwise I think he and Bickerstaff would have run away with the awards (and both could still win). 

Nico Harrison did an excellent job with the Mavs.  The Porzingis trade was huge for the Mavs who have been on fire for the last few months.

And of course Masai Ujiri did his usual bang up job with the Raptors.

[Celtics2021]

Brad is certainly in the running for executive of the year. 

I think Kleiman's big trade of the summer really set the Grizzlies up well this year, though a lot of their success was based on prior off seasons and drafts (which sometime matters in this).

Koby Altman did a fantastic job with the Cavs.  It is a real shame they've had all of the injuries otherwise I think he and Bickerstaff would have run away with the awards (and both could still win). 

Nico Harrison did an excellent job with the Mavs.  The Porzingis trade was huge for the Mavs who have been on fire for the last few months.

And of course Masai Ujiri did his usual bang up job with the Raptors.

I'm not sure Ujiri did much.  They tanked last year due to injuries and the desire to get a nice pick, and predictably rebounded.  Trading a first for Thad Young wasn't terribly impressive.

The injuries were unfortunate for Cleveland, but they didn't recover from them.  Such things have sunk many a franchise over the seasons, and the Cavs didn't handle it any better than most teams (unlike the 2017-2018 C's, when Stevens was completely robbed of his COTY).

I thought about Memphis, but as you say, most of their work was done in prior years.  Their arrow is pointing up, but it was largely due to internal growth of players drafted 2-4 seasons ago.

I think the Spurs actually did a good job, but you can't give the award to a 10th-place team that's far under .500.

[Sophomore]

Right now, you can get +3,000 on the Celtics to win the title.  If I understand correctly, that is 30 to 1 odds, 13th best odds in the league.  This changes every day but is the ball park.  So I guess it is accurate to say they have a chance but according to Vegas, about the same chance that DEN, DAL, CHI, and CLE have.  That may be underselling them a bit, I don't know.  There are 5 EC teams ahead of them in these odds so even ECF has some odds against them.

Those five teams having roughly the same odds makes no sense at all. Dallas and Boston are clearly well above the other three, with a shot at the title. The Denver and Cleveland have no shot, and the Bulls… I mean, they’ll be lucky to be able to buy tickets to the finals game from a scalper.

Post was from the All-Star break.  The oddsmakers wrong then, but they don’t exist now.

Lol - just noticed the date. That makes a lot more sense.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Just remembered this afternoon

In response to Jaylens trade rumors

Brad told Jaylen "nothing doing"

[Goldstar88]

Add extending Smart to the list of good moves by Brad. I know many (including myself) thought the extension was a bit of an over pay, but it certainly looks like a great deal now.

[gouki88]

Add extending Smart to the list of good moves by Brad. I know many (including myself) thought the extension was a bit of an over pay, but it certainly looks like a great deal now.

I thought it was an outrageous overpay. Now, with the DPOY in his pocket, he'd be eligible for a huge amount of money. Since the New Year he's averaged 13/6/4 on 44/37/82 shooting, with the best defence in the league. Crazy!

[Roy H.]

Add extending Smart to the list of good moves by Brad. I know many (including myself) thought the extension was a bit of an over pay, but it certainly looks like a great deal now.

I thought it was an outrageous overpay. Now, with the DPOY in his pocket, he'd be eligible for a huge amount of money. Since the New Year he's averaged 13/6/4 on 44/37/82 shooting, with the best defence in the league. Crazy!

Agreed.  And, Marcus' season is a great example of how statistics can be misleading.  If you look at his stats, 2022 looks like just about any other year.  It's not an outlier in any category, at least in terms of traditional stats.  And yet, he's been so much better in terms of his intelligence on the floor.  He's making the "right play", and he's showing defensive effort and leadership on pretty much every single possession.

I don't think that Marcus makes that game-winning pass to Tatum at any other point of his career.  I don't even know if we get the pump fake at any other point in his career. 

Smart had a very bad 2021 season, in my opinion.  He played pretty average defense, I thought; we were seeing the Bad Marcus / Good Marcus split much more often than we should have, on both ends.  But, Brad trusted him and Ime got through to him, and now he looks like a bargain. 

[Kiorrik]

I really enjoy seeing people own up about being wrong or misjudging things.

There's been a lot to be wrong about, in the past few seasons.

Shows how little all of us know about the game we love.

And how much the people in charge DO know.

[gouki88]

Add extending Smart to the list of good moves by Brad. I know many (including myself) thought the extension was a bit of an over pay, but it certainly looks like a great deal now.

I thought it was an outrageous overpay. Now, with the DPOY in his pocket, he'd be eligible for a huge amount of money. Since the New Year he's averaged 13/6/4 on 44/37/82 shooting, with the best defence in the league. Crazy!

Agreed.  And, Marcus' season is a great example of how statistics can be misleading.  If you look at his stats, 2022 looks like just about any other year.  It's not an outlier in any category, at least in terms of traditional stats.  And yet, he's been so much better in terms of his intelligence on the floor.  He's making the "right play", and he's showing defensive effort and leadership on pretty much every single possession.

I don't think that Marcus makes that game-winning pass to Tatum at any other point of his career.  I don't even know if we get the pump fake at any other point in his career. 

Smart had a very bad 2021 season, in my opinion.  He played pretty average defense, I thought; we were seeing the Bad Marcus / Good Marcus split much more often than we should have, on both ends.  But, Brad trusted him and Ime got through to him, and now he looks like a bargain.

Yeah, his 2021 effort was not good at all, and I was really frightened we were locking up that version of Smart for years. Good Smart has been very, very good

[Vermont Green]

Right now, you can get +3,000 on the Celtics to win the title.  If I understand correctly, that is 30 to 1 odds, 13th best odds in the league.  This changes every day but is the ball park.  So I guess it is accurate to say they have a chance but according to Vegas, about the same chance that DEN, DAL, CHI, and CLE have.  That may be underselling them a bit, I don't know.  There are 5 EC teams ahead of them in these odds so even ECF has some odds against them.

Those five teams having roughly the same odds makes no sense at all. Dallas and Boston are clearly well above the other three, with a shot at the title. The Denver and Cleveland have no shot, and the Bulls… I mean, they’ll be lucky to be able to buy tickets to the finals game from a scalper.

Post was from the All-Star break.  The oddsmakers wrong then, but they don’t exist now.

Lol - just noticed the date. That makes a lot more sense.

Wow, how things have changed.  I guess I did say that I felt that +3000 was underselling the Celtics some but the truth is that at that time, I would not have imagined how far the Celtics would come and that they would be the #2 seed in the East.  They are now a legitimate contender for a title, not just a team with a remote chance.

Big difference!

And yes, very well done Brad.  He had a good off season (Horford, Udoka) and a good trade deadline (Theis, White).  Good signings (Smart, RWill).  And perhaps most important, all the trades he didn't do (Brown, Smart).

I don't know if that adds up to Executive of the Year or not but he is legitimately in the discussion, just like the Celtics are for a title.

[Goldstar88]

Brad’s thoughts on Tatum, the finals, etc.


After Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum had a rough NBA Finals, Brad Stevens had a simple message for his team's franchise player.

"I just told him to go on vacation," Stevens, Boston's president of basketball operations, said with a smile during a videoconference call with reporters after Boston's season ended with a loss to the Golden State Warriors in six games in the league's championship round. "Go get some rest.

"The way I try to look at it is, obviously, we're all subjective in every moment and react emotionally, but when you start looking at it objectively and more so historically, what Jayson and Jaylen have done in the playoffs, historically at their ages, is rarified air," Stevens said. "I think we're very cognizant of the fact that even though Jayson would admittedly not have played his best series, there's no chance we're there without him and without all of his great play all the way through.

"I think back to all of the times ... Game 6 in Milwaukee was one of the best games I've seen an individual play in my time, certainly in person and with the Celtics. Without that performance, we would have had this discussion a month and a half ago."

"This guy gave us everything he had. When you look at the minutes, when you look at the games played ... I've said this many times: He's a superstar that doesn't want to sit. He wants to play, he wants to play all the time. I thought that in the Finals, obviously, I think he would be the first to say that he would like to have some of those moments back, but I thought there were other contributing factors to how he played."

"I think we have to walk a fine line a little bit," Stevens said. "I think teams are fragile. I think the way teams work together and operate together are fragile. And I think your identity as a team, when you find one that's successful, which we did this year on the defensive end of the floor and when we were at our best sharing the ball offensively, those things are fragile. So just to add doesn't mean that you're not taking something away from the group."

-Per ESPN

[Goldstar88]

Shout out to Brad… He just knocked one out of the Park with the Brogdon trade. Gallo signing makes more sense now as well. He’s killing it as GM.

[Goldstar88]

Interview with Brad from the other day. Will try to find the audio…

@ChrisForsberg_
Brad Stevens, on @985TheSportsHubs Celtics Show, on approaching trade deadline: “I think we always have to be looking at how we can improve because … I think we’re in the mix and I think we’re good, I think we’re hard to beat, but there are other teams that are like that, too."

More Brad: "We have a really good core that’s played together in big moments … and know how to get to where we ultimately want to go." Stevens said team is evaluating, “how to fortify your depth, how to make sure you are as foolproof as possible.”

Brad on Mazzulla: "He's done a great job ... He's a leader. He's invested and everyone in the gym knows he's going to work ... You're not going to be perfect ... the key is to get right back at it and make those corrections. And he's terrific at that."

[Ed Monix]

I may be in the minority, but I’ve never been a huge fan of Brad as our GM President.

If you break down what he’s done individually, it’s not that impressive. For me he’s WAY too conservative in his decisions and he’s surviving off what Ainge has created.

Smart, Brown, Tatum, Williams III, Williams and Prichard are all Danny Ainge selections.

Horford was brought back by Stevens, but he too, is an Ainge (free agent) guy.

Malcolm Brogdon has been an impressive pick up, until you hear the circumstances in which Stevens traded for him.

The Pacers told Brogdon they intended a full rebuild, they listed the teams interested in trading for him and Brogdon picked the Celtics because they were a title contender.

IMO, Stevens overpaid for White, because he created ball movement issues after signing Schroder & Richardson.

Stevens signed Gallinari with the Celtics MLE…when his 2022 playoff statistics should have been a huge red flag (.400 FG, .267 3P%, .8 AST, .2 SPG). Meanwhile Bruce Brown was available for the same value, as was Joe Ingles. TJ Warren was available for less than Kornet & Griffin.

Stevens gave away Bol Bol for nothing and has let multiple trade exceptions expire when it’s obvious the Celtics need wing & centre depth.