Celtics' Brad Stevens says Kristaps Porzingis will probably miss the start of next season
BOSTON -- Kristaps Porzingis will undergo surgery in the near future, which will cost him an opportunity to play in the Paris Olympics this summer. It may also keep him off the court when the 2024-25 Celtics season tips off.
The Celtics announced Tuesday that Porzingis will have surgery in the coming days to repair his torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said that he won't have a timetable for Porzingis' return until after his procedure, but did have a little more of an update during an appearance on Ryen Russilo's podcast.
"We're going to be different right out of the gate simply because we have guys like Kristaps after his surgery -- we don't know exactly when he'll be back. But he'll probably miss at least the very start of the season," said Stevens. "That'll be a great opportunity for us to do things different and have to find different solutions and those types of things that come with it. And then we'll just evaluate our team like we always do."
That was in response to a question about Boston's roster heading into 2024-25, as the Celtics will look to repeat as NBA champions.
Porzingis suffered the injury in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. He didn't play in Games 3 or 4 of the series and was on the floor for just 16 minutes in Boston's title-clinching Game 5 victory -- going against the wishes of the team's doctors.
He played in 57 games during the regular season due to various small ailments and the Celtics doing their best to keep him healthy and rested for the postseason. Boston will likely take the same approach with Porzingis next season, which will put a lot on the shoulders of 38-year-old Al Horford and the rest of the team's big men.
