The defending champion Boston Celtics will begin their ramp-up to the 2024-25 season a bit early, gathering this week for media day and the start of training camp before heading overseas to play the Denver Nuggets in preseason games in Abu Dhabi. The team's on-court activities will not include center Kristaps Porzingis, who is recovering from summer surgery for the ankle injury he suffered against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
When announcing Porzingis's surgery in late June, the Celtics noted he was "expected" to miss five to six months, putting a return somewhere in the November-January range of this upcoming season. On Tuesday, Porzingis gave an update on that timeline to ESPN.
