It was a successful first season for Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, who's team came within two victories of an NBA title.
Stevens made a few key moves in his first offseason heading the Celtics' front office, trading for Al Horford and Derrick White which helped put Boston in a position to play for a title. He's been just as busy in his second offseason, making a move for guard Malcolm Brogdon and signing forward Danilo Gallinari. But when Stevens was asked what he's learned in the 13 months of his front office career, he looked away from the on-court moves.
"I look at our role as 5-to-10 percent roster construction and 90 percent support network," Stevens said, per video provided by NBC Sports Boston.
"The part that I probably didn't realize is how little time you actually spend on roster construction. It's so very little, when you factor in the 70 people in basketball operations -- or 60 people in basketball operations and all of their careers as well.
"So whether it's building a team on the court that plays well together, or being a part of a group that builds a team that plays well together -- we have a lot of people who are adding a lot in this building."
The path to becoming a championship team was anything but easy, as Stevens' track record is far from perfect. His decision to add Dennis Schröder to Boston's roster didn't pan out, as the guard didn't fit with the Celtics' core. He rectified that by trading for White in a move that amplified the strengths of his team, learning a valuable lesson of how making a ton of moves won't necessarily lead to success.
"We didn't have a lot of change from when I moved over. Obviously the coaching staff changed, we had a few personnel changes from a playing standpoint, but we have a lot of familiar people in the building.
"We've just tried to make (the organization) robust with the appropriate adds in the building as well, so that's been my focus and taken a lot of my attention. We've got a great building, a building that works in one direction, a building that stays on point with the message and understands how hard it is to be a player and a coach in this league. Our job is to be here to support, and we're going to keep trying to do that."
Boston's front office shouldn't have a hard time supporting their new team, as the Celtics' rotation sits 10-12 players deep. If the front office does need to make a change, however, there's comfort knowing that Stevens has done it before.
