Kristaps Porzingis remains confident he'll be ready for Celtics regular season

BOSTON -- The foot injury to Kristaps Porzingis has put a slight damper on a promising Celtics offseason. But the new Boston big man remains optimistic that he'll be ready for the regular season.

Porzingis was set to play with the Latvian National Team in the FIBA World Cup this summer, but is now dealing with plantar fasciitis. He discussed the injury and his next steps with Sporta Studija (translated through Google).

"The foot hurts after exercise, I feel almost nothing when walking, it's a really funny injury," Porziņgis said of the ailment. "I have an idea what the origin of the injury might be, but it's something that builds up over the course of a career and pops out at one point. It got worse during the training process - when it started to hurt, then I couldn't get rid of the inflammation either."

Though he can't play, Porzingis remains with the Latvian team to offer his support through the tournament. The Celtics wanted him to return to Boston and rehab his injury with the team, but understood his desire to remain with the Latvian team.

"Boston wanted me to continue my recovery there, but I told them it was very important for me to be with the national team even though I wasn't playing. They supported my decision," he said. "Also there, most likely, I will have a long season ahead of me - it is important now to spend time with my teammates in the national team, family at home. Boston respected all of that and supported me." 

The Celtics announced that Porzingis would engage in a four-to-six week rehab program and that he is expected to be cleared for training camp. One week later, Porzingis said that he feels good in the early part of his recovery and sound confident that he'll be out there for Boston when the regular season arrives.

"Feelings are good," said Porzingis. "Of course, I am not yet in such a shape that I can play and train fully. But going step by step, everything should be fine by the start of the season."

That's a good thing for the Celtics, who invested heavily in Porzingis this offseason to come in and be a third wheel behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Brad Stevens really wanted to add Porzingis to the Celtics, pivoting to work out a three-team trade that sent Marcus Smart -- the longest tenured member of the team -- to Memphis after a three-team swap with the L.A. Clippers fell apart. 

The move came with plenty of risk given Porzingis' injury history, and that is already playing out before the big man has stepped foot on the floor for Boston. Porzingis sounds confident he'll be good to go when the season starts, but now there is some serious concern if he'll be able to make it through the entire season.