Brad Stevens Explains What the Boston Celtics Can Expect From Mike Conley

He turns 39 before the season starts, but don't think Conley will spend the whole year waving a towel from the bench. He has something left to give.

Apr 30, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (10) dribbles the ball against the Denver Nuggets in the first half during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This is the next installment in a series of pieces examining what the Boston Celtics can expect from each of their players this season. Yesterday, we looked at their rookies. Tomorrow: Paul George. 

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect player in a Brad Stevens-built locker room than Mike Conley. He is a four-time winner of the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award and a two-time winner of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award. 

The man is as professional as they come. 

“People talk about veteran leadership and they talk about how important vets are, and my argument to that would be ‘good’ vets are really important,” Brad Stevens said in a recent behind the scenes video released by the Celtics. “Guys that have a really great understanding of where they are in their career, how they impact winning, and the appropriate amount of expectation from the individual standpoint. And I think that's what you get with Mike.” 

Of course, this is about playing basketball, something Conley still does, though not quite as well as he used to. He’s been around forever, going fourth in the 2007 NBA draft behind Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, and Al Horford. He turns 39 in the middle of the preseason, and this upcoming regular season will be his 20th in the NBA. 

“And he still, every time he plays, has a big impact on winning,” Stevens said in the video. “And so I think the balance of being able to play at a high level, not needing to play every minute of every game, is an incredibly valuable thing. And it’s usually reserved for guys that have a good perspective on life. And Mike certainly has that.”

It’s clear that Conley is going to rack up a lot of “DNP-Coach’s Decision” box scores this season. Stevens has spent years talking about the value of having players who understand they won’t play all the time and are fine with that. Conley might epitomize that mentality this season, but Stevens clearly expects Conley to make an impact on the floor as well. 

The Celtics aren’t exactly deep at point guard. We can assume Derrick White and Payton Pritchard will be staggered again, just like they were after the Anfernee Simons trade, because the Celtics want to keep a ball-handle on the floor at all times. And while some of the play-initiating will be handled by Jayson Tatum and some other wings on the floor at the time, there will still be pockets of certain games where Conley can provide a few minutes of additional steadiness. 

Obviously, there will be games when Pritchard or White sit and Conley gets some run. But the Celtics could use Conley in some all-shooting, small-ball lineups. He had an off shooting season, which does raise the question of whether he’s lost his touch, but he has historically been a very good three-point shooter. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Conley in lineups with White and Pritchard, another wing like Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheirman, or Paul George, and Jayson Tatum if the Celtics are trying to come back from down 10 with less than two minutes left. Conley’s steady hand and turnover-free basketball gives Joe Mazzulla an extra option he can trust. 

Conley averaged 2.1 turnovers per 100 possessions in Minnesota. Contrast that to Jaylen Brown’s 5.4, and you have an idea of how well Conley protects the ball. 

It’s clear he won’t play much, but we shouldn’t expect Conley to sit in the M.L. Carr towel-waving cheerleader seat all season long. He’ll sort of be the guard version of Horford. He’ll get his moments from time to time, and there's a chance you’ll see it written in this space that Conley won the Celtics a game or two. It won’t happen often, but it can happen.