Boston, MA
The Boston Celtics Offseason Begins With A Coaching Staff Splurge
The last time Sam Cassell was part of the Boston Celtics, he was a veteran player helping Paul … [+]
Getty ImagesIn case you haven’t heard, the Boston Celtics are not NBA champions. In the aftermath of their Eastern Conference Finals elimination, the Celtics addressed one of their prime weaknesses by making the bold move of hiring three new assistant coaches. It’s not exactly the blockbuster move that fans were hoping for, but it might be more impactful than you would think.
On Monday, the Celtics announced they would be adding Phil Pressey as an assistant coach. He will be joining Sam Cassell—who provided valuable veteran leadership with the 2008 championship team—and newly appointed head assistant coach Charles Lee. With the move, head coach Joe Mazzulla will now have a much more experienced staff than he did last go around.
These aren’t signs that the Celtics don’t believe in Mazzulla, who was promoted to interim head coach after the unexpected suspension of Ime Udoka last year. The Celtics removed the interim tag back in February. The organization has gone out of its way in establishing Mazzulla as the team’s leader, even if certain Celtics fans will always miss how Udoka would call out his players.
Looking back, the turning point of the Celtics season might have been when assistant Damon Stoudamire left the organization for Georgia Tech in March. It wasn’t a big story at the time, but his abrupt departure right before the NBA playoffs might have had lingering consequences.
Despite the obvious talent on their roster, the Celtics often looked lost for long stretches of time during the postseason before the Miami Heat put an end to their title hopes. Mazzulla came off looking like the rookie head coach that he was and it was hard not to believe that things would have gone differently if there were someone with more experience helping him out.
In this context, it makes perfect sense that the Celtics didn’t wait for the NBA Finals to end before announcing that Sam Cassell would be part of their coaching staff. He’s a perfect fit for this Boston team. In the best case scenario, Cassell could provide crucial support for Mazzulla. In the worst case scenario, he could take his place should things go awry.
With the coaching situation theoretically settled, the Celtics will now turn to their roster, where their options to make offseason improvements will be severely hampered by recent changes to the CBA. If the team signs Jaylen Brown to a supermax extension, as is widely believed will happen, that will put them in a tight salary cap situation.
Not only will it be difficult for the Celtics to sign impact free agents this offseason, they might even be forced to make painful moves involving players currently on their roster. To be more specific, it’s highly unlikely that Malcolm Brogdon, Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard will all be wearing Boston green next season, with Pritchard the most obvious candidate to be moved.
Even if the Celtics are willing to go well over the luxury tax in order to keep the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown core together, it’s going to be a challenge to construct a championship team around them in the new CBA era. Thankfully, however, there is no salary cap when it comes to coaching hires.