The Celtics are staying well above water without Jayson Tatum so far, as they find themselves at 15-11 (fourth-best record in the East) and have won seven of their last 10.
Brad Stevens spoke to the media Wednesday afternoon for the first time since the start of the 2025-26 regular season, about how pleased he has been with the growth of the Celtics through the first 26 games, an update on a potential Tatum return and if the team may make any moves ahead of the February trade deadline.
"I've kind of looked at us on the positive side as a work in progress. I'm really encouraged by both the work and the progress," Stevens told reporters at the Celtics practice. "I think we're making strides, and so we just have to continue to do it."
The Celtics president of basketball operations wouldn't offer a timeline on a possible return for Tatum this season, despite feeling good about the Allstar's recovery just seven months removed from sustaining a raptured Achilles -- Stevens detailed that there are still several crucial thresholds to meet ahead of being officially cleared.
"We're not putting a timeline on it -- as we haven't the whole time," Stevens said. "There's a strength threshold he has to meet, and then after that, several weeks of progressions, right from the standpoints of scripted against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in five-on-five, unscripted, random, all the way up through those. But it's a long progression, and it's almost like, once you hit the strength, then you do your thresholds of a progression of play, and then you're also reconditioning to play real minutes, whatever that looks like. He's obviously made great strides. Right now, we're still focused on the full-strength game."
Stevens also noted how the Celtics did not apply for a Disabled Player Exception with the league, which allows teams to replace an injured player with a player whose salary is worth up to the Non-Taxpayer Midlevel Exception. In order for DPEs to help get approval, it's more than likely an injury would sideline said player at the very least through June 15.
The DPE would allow teams to sign free agents to a one-year deal, trade for a player in the final year of their contract, or claim any player off waivers.
"One of the things that everybody can see is we didn't apply for a DPE this year, which was a conscious decision on a lot of fronts, for a lot of reasons," Stevens said. "But the reality is [Tatum's] not going to be back until he's 110% healthy, and he feels good about it, and that's a big part of it, right? Obviously, he's itching to play. Obviously, he hates watching, but he's also -- I don't want to speak for him -- but very cognizant of the need to meet every threshold, and why there are those things that are put in place. We've had a lot of great talks about it."
As far as any trades, Stevens pointed out that the Celtics haven't ruled against making a move that would help improve the roster in the short-term, especially since 1.5 games separate the third and ninth seed in the East standings -- while also keeping in mind that the long-term goal is to always stay competitive and return to championship contention as quickly as possible.
"I think that we're all still trying to figure out who we are and what we can be," Stevens said. "We will not put a ceiling on this group. If it makes sense for us to look for things that can help us, we certainly will. But it all has to be within good deals. And it all has to be within the ultimate goal, which is the North Star of retooling so we're in position to compete."
With the NBA trade deadline set for February 5 at 3:00 pm ET, Stevens also acknowledged that multi-team swaps are becoming more common, making trades longer to materialize.
"It's always been difficult when you start including third, fourth teams, right?" he said. "So I think that's a real thing, and it's probably why, maybe there will be a deal or two that are early, who knows, across the league -- but would also not surprise me if it takes a while."
Stevens added how the Celtics are open to discussions, despite the uncertainty of the rest of the season going forward: "If I feel like we can do something to reach those things, and it makes sense with another team that's willing to do something, which is very complicated, then we always listen, and we always look, and we're always pursuing that. There's nothing holding us back, necessarily, from that."
It's been an up-and-down start to the season thus far for the Celtics, that most saw as a "bridge" year with Tatum not seeing the floor until the start of the 2026-27 campaign. Still, Stevens doesn't seem surprised to see how the team has performed.
"A lot of positives. We've seen good growth, which is important," Stevens said. "I think we're in the midst of it, as every other team is and there's a fine line between feeling really good about yourself and not feeling so good about yourself. I think we just have to stay in the work."
The Celtics have two home games left between now and the start of the new year against the Miami Heat Friday and Indiana Pacers Monday, before heading out on a five-game road trip starting the day after Christmas.
Joel Pavón
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