For those lucky enough to have a Brad Stevens Secret Decoder Ring, it’s possible to take some educated guesses — as well as some wild guesses — as to what the Boston Celtics’ president of basketball operations is saying these days. On the flip side, Stevens is not beating up his players and coaching staff with bombastic, over-the-top servings of blame pie, which is often just a clumsy tactic that serves no purpose other than to alienate people and create ill will.

The Celtics held their post-playoffs, going-into-the-offseason, state-of-the-team question-and-answer session Wednesday morning at the Auerbach Center, and Stevens did a good job getting his points across. Sort of.

See, one had to pull away the green-and-white laced curtains, or, for the tougher questions, feel along the wall for doorways to hidden rooms, to understand what Stevens is thinking. For those in a speculative mood, the hints were everywhere.

Three cases in point: 1) Stevens’ thoughts on the job Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla did this season; 2) the team’s infuriating reliance on the 3-point shot (which also relates to Mazzulla); and 3) this new development in which Tracy McGrady got the word out via his podcast that Jaylen Brown’s “frustration lies deeply within the organization.” Of course, these being the Celtics and Brown being Brown, there is always more to the story. Brown took to Twitch on Wednesday night to say, “I can play in Boston for the next 10 years.” Sounds like a little post-McGrady damage control, but who knows?

Stevens had no headline-screaming observations about any of these topics, but he dropped just enough breadcrumbs to allow us to wonder if some big changes may be coming.

Stevens, speaking not just about Mazzulla but about Mazzulla & Associates, said, “I thought our coaching staff did an amazing job this year. This series, I think we all could have done better, there’s no question about it, and I think we’re all looking forward to improving all of that.”

Stevens chose to take some of the blame here, saying, “I think it starts with we have to put the best roster we possibly can together,” but he finished that same sentence by saying, “… and then we need to maximize the strengths of that group. This year, some strengths appeared that I thought were a direct result of really good development and really good coaching. And we need to look at whoever we have next year — in July — and figure out how to build our best team. And play style should be dependent on who’s on your team.”

That’s not a putdown of Mazzulla. It’s not a spirited defense, either, especially when you highlight the part about how “… we’re all looking forward to improving.”

Stevens was asked directly if the Celtics attempt too many 3-point shots.

“The bad ones, yeah,” Stevens said. “Yeah, sure … I look at every shot, and so for me, it’s evaluating each and every shot. But yeah, if we come down and shoot a really tough, contested 3 when a guy’s wide open at the rim, or if we have an action that we can get to, sure.”

Stevens added that Mazzulla “would be the first to say that.” It’s just that Mazzulla’s default mechanism when asked about the 3-point shot is to roll his eyes and assume a sort of my-country-right-or-wrong posture. The mere fact that Stevens wasn’t as demonstrative about the topic as Mazzulla usually is suggests this will be an ongoing offseason discussion between basketball ops and the coaching staff.

And speaking of discussions, Stevens revealed that he spoke with Brown on Monday and that the dialogue was “nothing but positive.”

Given that McGrady and Brown are confidantes, however, there’s merit to the former saying that the latter is dealing with “frustration.” Right?

“He has not expressed those frustrations to me,” Stevens said of Brown. “We’ve been here 10 years together, and I do think that, obviously, I love JB, and everybody around here loves JB, and I think just like any of our other guys, as we get to the end of the season, I’ll be here, and my door is always open. And if anybody ever wants to come in and talk about it, and talk about their team, their place, whatever the case may be, I’m all ears.

“I think it’s really important to be available,” Stevens said. “So I certainly am, and none of that has been expressed to me.”

In this case, it’s possible Stevens is doing some dancing. But if Brown hasn’t spoken directly to Stevens — or if he’s using his representation to do the talking — then, well, the door is open. There’s lots that can be read into that comment, such as: Brown has no interest in sharing another Celtics season as part of a 1-2 punch alongside Jayson Tatum.

A year ago, after Tatum suffered that terrible Achilles injury on the floor at Madison Square Garden and the Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs, Stevens went into the offseason with plenty of work to do. Partly because of the uncertainty over if/when Tatum would play in 2025-26 and partly because of money, Stevens did a major home renovation. Now the Celtics go into the offseason knowing Tatum will be part of the mix for the 2026-27 season, and yet here’s Stevens, again, facing the possibility of more big changes.

If you’re looking for stop-the-presses news bulletins, Stevens said none of these things Wednesday. Nothing about disappointment with Mazzulla. Nothing concrete about the 3-point debate, even if the Celtics often looked like they were using basketballs made of concrete against Philly. Nothing about the future of Brown beyond the fact that Stevens’ door is open.

If and when Brown steps through that door, anything is possible.