It’s already that time of year to consider what the reigning champs must do to return to the NBA Finals, and if you have a fraction of a second to follow along, here’s the answer for the Boston Celtics:

Stay healthy.

End of story.

OK. So maybe that’s not the whole truth and nothing but. It’s a chore to make a roundtrip to June basketball, much less raise the trophy back-to-back. NBA history isn’t so kind to defending champs — the Denver Nuggets just said hello to that — because the landscape can get freaky. Stuff happens sometimes.

That said … the Celtics are the rare champs who:

• Don’t have a looming free agent issue.
• Aren’t aging at the core.
• Are blessed with players who seem to enjoy being teammates with one another and therefore won’t suffer from what Pat Riley once famously said, “the disease of me.”

Therefore, yeah, staying healthy is the No. 1 goal. Let’s explore that a bit.

Health is what cost the Milwaukee Bucks after winning in 2021. Khris Middleton got hurt. Giannis Antetokounmpo got hurt. And hurt again. You can make the argument that, had the Bucks stayed healthy, they would’ve won at least another title between then and now.

And the health bird is circling above these Celtics mainly because of Kristaps Porzingis, of course. He has a history of pulling up lame, you know. He missed just over a month during the playoffs and two games in the NBA Finals.

The Celtics managed to win without him, a credit to this team’s depth. But if Porzingis spends ample time on the bench next season, isn’t that pushing their luck a bit? Especially since Al Horford is 38 and Boston isn’t loaded with quality front-line big men.

Maybe they’ll need to go through Joel Embiid next season, and perhaps Nikola Jokic. They dodged those great centers this summer.

The good news is, aside from Porzingis, the Celtics are a relatively sturdy and dependable group. Neither Jaylen Brown nor Jayson Tatum has ever had a serious season- or career-threatening injury. Same for the rest.

Also, the main ingredients of the Celtics are 30 or younger. This isn’t a team on its last legs. Thanks to the smart roster assemblage by Brad Stevens, the Celtics are built to last from an age and talent perspective.

About that last part: Boston lacks a major weakness. Assuming Porzingis can remain upright for a reasonable amount of time, the Celtics have balance in both frontcourt and backcourt, with interchangeable swingmen, bigs who can stretch the floor, guards who can handle, and defenders on the perimeter and at the rim.

From a financial standpoint, all is good. Tatum is supermax extension-eligible this summer, in the $300 million range, and he’ll likely sign it. If so, both he and Brown would be locked up throughout their prime.

Horford and Derrick White will enter the final year of their deals in 2024-25. White might get an extension offer before next season, although he could also wait until next summer, turn to free agency and go shopping.

Jrue Holiday signed an extension already and is locked up for another three years, four if he accepts the option year. And Payton Pritchard took security over free agency and the Celtics have him for four relatively cheap years.

The only money issue is with pending free agent Xavier Tillman, who played well for the Celtics after being obtained from the Grizzlies at the trade deadline. Hard to see him leaving a championship team, but he has yet to make big money, so he could defect.

Stevens could sit tight with the roster this summer and resist any changes on the rotational fringes. He might not have much choice; the Celtics lack assets beyond their top seven players. He’ll likely wait to see what shakes loose at next year’s trade deadline, much as he did last February with Tillman, and grab a bargain.

So, to recap: The Celtics are in terrific all-around shape. Their twin stars are peaking and others in the rotation are set in their roles and showing few signs of decline, if any.

And there’s also Joe Mazzulla, who went through the fire two years ago while transitioning from the bench to the big chair. He’s a smarter and better coach today and, as Stevens predicts, could blossom into a great coach.

There’s always a chance, a good one actually, that the competition will load up in the East. The Sixers have gobs of room under the salary cap and will sign one or maybe two quality free agents to place next to Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The Knicks are growing into a threat. The Bucks will be back, maybe with a more settled Damian Lillard.

But those are issues beyond Boston’s control.

As it currently stands, the Celtics are equipped to go into next season as the East favorite to reach the Finals.

This isn’t the 1960s with Bill Russell and John Havlicek and Red Auerbach and a dynastic decade, yet seeing the Celtics in the Finals two straight years would not be the least bit surprising.

Their biggest threat: Poor health.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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