BOSTON — Sunday will be one of the most important days of the 2025-26 NBA season, and it's not because there are two second-round playoff games happening. The annual NBA Draft Lottery will commence in the afternoon, dictating whether or not a struggling squad has a bright future — or if they just wasted a year tanking.
While "tanking" is a dirty word in the NBA, there's no hiding its existence, especially this past regular season. League commissioner Adam Silver is committed to ending the practice of intentionally losing, as the bottom five teams in both the Eastern and Western Conferences weren't even close to qualifying for the Play-In Tournament, let alone the playoffs.
Some execs in the Association play dumb and act like there's no tanking going on. However, Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations is not one of them. On Wednesday morning during his exit interview at the Auerbach Center, Stevens implied that many teams this season were racing to the bottom rather than competing for a title.
"You have to consider, especially for next year, is there were a lot of teams in the NBA that were playing for draft positioning this year," Stevens stated.
The Celtics weren't one of those teams. Although they could've tanked with star forward Jayson Tatum recovering from injury for a majority of the 2025-26 campaign, the Green Team played to win and surprisingly finished in second place in the East with a 56-26 record. But, the Celtics disappointed in the postseason and bowed out of the first round after squandering a 3-1 series lead against the rivalPhiladelphia 76ers.
Stevens maintained an honest tone throughout his exit interview, so despite the fact that he was proud of the Celtics for exceeding expectations, he argued that they still have a lot more work to do if they want to contend with the best-of-the-best in the NBA.
"I think that the moves to get there, obviously, you have to consider the other teams that are at those levels," he said. "The league's going to be a lot better. The regular season is going to be a lot harder. And it will probably give you a better indication of what everybody really is."
Advertisement
Since the 2026 draft class is historically loaded with talented prospects, it's no surprise that multiple franchises, including the Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, and others, were blatantly seeking a top pick.
With Silver cracking down on tanking and multiple teams maybe just one quality pick away from competing, Stevens knows the Celtics can't be stagnant. They'll have to improve and tweak their current roster in preparation for the upcoming season, in which outworking other teams with effort might not be as effective.
"There's another step to take," Stevens admitted for the Celtics. "And whether you're in my shoes or you're in any of our support staff's shoes, or if you're in our coaches' shoes, or if you're in our players' shoes, we got to get better."
Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:
Blue Wire:https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes:https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube:https://tiny.ee/cOW3
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire:Brad Stevens knows next season will be harder for Celtics, NBA
0 Comments