BOSTON – In piecing together a championship-caliber roster behind the scenes, Brad Stevens has earned some shine in the spotlight.
The NBA announced Tuesday that the Celtics’ president of basketball operations has been named the 2023-24 Executive of the Year after building Boston into a league-best 64-win team.
Stevens won the award in a landslide, receiving 16 out of 29 first-place votes. No other executive received more than four such votes. He also earned six second-place votes and three third-place votes for a total of 101 voting points. Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti finished a distant second with 47 voting points.
Stevens is the third Celtics executive to achieve the honor, joining Red Auerbach in 1979-80 and Danny Ainge in 2007-08.
“I am so thankful to work for the Celtics,” Stevens said. “Our ownership group has given us the support and resources to build this team. The players, coaches, front office, and support staff are amazing - superstars in their jobs across the board. This recognition has everything to do with the team and nothing to do with any one individual. Great teams require that everyone in the building is fully committed to each other and moving in one direction.”
The Celtics have been moving in a positive direction ever since Stevens was elevated from head coach to president of basketball operations following the 2020-21 season. During his first year in his new role, he made a few trades and signings that turned into significant long-term pieces, such as the re-acquisition of Al Horford, the signing of undrafted free agent Sam Hauser, and dealing for Derrick White midseason ahead of Boston's 2022 NBA Finals run.
After failing to make it back to the Finals last year, Stevens made several franchise-altering decisions leading into the 2023-24 campaign which helped to shape Boston into the best team in the league while also setting it up for potential long-term success.
The two main moves were trading for Kristaps Porzingis on Draft Night and then dealing for Jrue Holiday at the start of Training Camp.
Both trades required great sacrifice, as the C’s had to give up Marcus Smart to acquire Porzingis and lost both Rob Williams and Malcolm Brogdon in the Holiday deal. But there is no question that both acquisitions were upgrades.
The Porzingis move completely changed the dynamic of Boston’s offense. His scoring versatility as both a low-post threat and a knockdown perimeter shooter took a great deal of pressure off Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum this season, plus, his 7-foot-3 presence has provided the Celtics with elite protection at the rim.
Tatum summed up KP’s value after Game 3 of the first round by claiming he is “the most important guy on our team for what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Holiday’s presence has also been of utmost importance. And his acquisition was just about as shocking as that of Porzingis. Holiday had initially be traded from Milwaukee as part of the Damian Lillard trade, and soon after he arrived in Portland, Brad Stevens brought him back to the East. The C's had to give up Williams and Brogdon in the process. Still, it was ingenious to acquire a player who had been a key cog for a Milwaukee team that was considered Boston’s biggest Eastern Conference competition.
The move paid off tremendously, as the Celtics went on to win 64 wins, while a reshaped Bucks team finished with 49. Holiday became Boston's most impactful defender, a jack-of-all-trades offensive contributor, and a valuable locker-room presence as a respected teammate and someone with championship experience.
Not only did Stevens acquire two former All-Stars, but he also committed to both of them long-term. Porzingis signed a contract extension shortly after being traded, and Holiday did the same just before the end of the regular season.
Stevens also extended two longer-tenured core players, inking Brown and Payton Pritchard to long-term deals.
Not only did these decisions establish the Celtics as a present championship threat, but they have also set the team up for a bright future. For that, Stevens deserves to bask in the spotlight, even though we know how much he thrives working behind the scenes.