The Celtics are adding more experience to their bench, bringing on Charles Lee as their new associate head coach, according to ESPN.
Lee joins the staff after spending nine years with Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta and Milwaukee. He will join Sam Cassell as new hires for Joe Mazzulla’s staff.
Karalis’ take:
This is another great hire for the Celtics, adding more experience to help support Mazzulla. It’s very clear the Celtics understood the same thing we did after the season ended: Mazzulla’s inexperience was a glaring weakness that needed to be addressed. The additions of Lee and Cassell are the best ways to do so while keeping Mazzulla as head coach.
It’s a little surprising to see Lee get the title of Associate Head Coach, but as long as he and Cassell were clear on that hierarchy coming in, that shouldn’t be much of a problem.
The direction Boston is taking with the staff is very clear, and once again it’s obvious that the front office is influencing the decision-making process of who sits alongside Mazzulla during games. Mazzulla lacked experience, and so that experience is being added to the bench to help guide the young head coach.
The experience also comes in the form of former players. Cassell is obviously a long-time NBA star while Lee went undrafted and carved out a short overseas career before turning to coaching. These are both guys who are relatable to the players on multiple levels, which speaks to making sure both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are fully on board with the changes.
Both Lee and Cassell will certainly be mentioned in future head coaching searches, which means this isn’t a staff built for the long haul. This is a quick infusion of experience meant to give Mazzulla as much information, guidance, and intuition as possible in a short time until Mazzulla himself can hone his coaching ability.
Think of Mazzulla as Luke Skywalker, while Lee and Cassell are Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda. They're going to train him as fast as possible before likely going away. The hope is he has enough knowledge to blow up the NBA death star and win a championship along the way. They're human performance enhancers.
Boston has a small window thanks to the new CBA. They basically have two seasons left with the current core before a massive roster decision has to be made. If Boston can win a title in that time (two if we’re being greedy), that might significantly change this team’s future and how long they stick with Brown and Tatum.
There will likely be more additions to the coaching staff, and I’m really curious to see where these next hires go. For now, Boston’s biggest weakness -- their coach’s inexperience -- is clearly the priority for the Celtics. So far, they’ve hit a couple of home runs.
Here are some more thoughts: