Brad Stevens Showing No Concern Over Kristaps Porzingis Injury

Brad Stevens has displayed an even-keeled demeanor in his capacities with the Boston Celtics.

So even after trading Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis as part of a three-team deal and inking the 7-foot-3 Latvian big man to an extension, Stevens isn’t getting worked up about the plantar fasciitis injury Porzingis is dealing with.

Stevens was calm about the whole situation when talking on the “Jones and Mego” show during NESN/WEEI Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon on Tuesday.

“I’m not concerned about that,” Stevens said, as transcribed by MassLive’s Brian Robb. “He’s at the FIBA Tournament with the team so he’s doing his rehab there. We were with him in the 10 days, our training staff was with him (before the tournament) as he was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. He went through all the progressions and he really tried to ramp up and play. He just determined he didn’t want to deal with lingering effects down the road.

“This is something that we should be able to navigate and manage in the next few weeks and be ready for training camp. We’re planning on having him for Day 1 of training camp. He really wanted to try the ramp-up because it really mattered to be there (at the World Cup).”

Stevens admitted the Celtics didn’t know about Porzingis’ foot issue prior to the trade, which also included Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari.

That isn’t causing any concern for Stevens, either, as he believes that the Celtics will be able to manage the injury to prevent any substantial lingering impact for Porzingis.

“You never know how it all ends up,” Stevens said. “From a sports science perspective and physical therapists, they are as good as I’ve been around about navigating, and managing that if we do this now, we’ll be in good shape. If you manage it, if you treat it correctly and you ramp back up at the right rate, it has a lot less chance of being a lingering issue. This isn’t what I would call a significant injury that you are concerned about big picture.”

The injury did keep Porzingis from playing in the FIBA World Cup as he eyed his NBA future only playing for Latvia. It was a move from Porzingis that certainly gained favor with Stevens.

“Those guys that represent their countries, they really enjoy that opportunity,” Stevens said. “He was heartbroken not to do it but he put the opportunity here and took away any chance of having lingering effects by addressing it now. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”