The Celtics are hoping this summer can bring the moves, staff hires, and internal improvement to get them the next couple of steps forward needed to win a title. This series looks at questions that need to be answered for that to happen.
Joe Mazzulla had to jump into the pilot's seat last season as the plane was barreling down the runway. All he had time to do was pull back on the yoke, try to get this plane in the air, and find a cruising altitude to try to make sense of his situation.
When you consider the circumstances under which he got the head coaching job in Boston, it's easy to see how some things didn't go the way anyone wanted them to. One of the ways I characterized this past season was "painting by numbers," basically Mazzulla relying on statistics and analytical trends to guide his decision making. That worked great in the regular season, but the playoffs needed more experience than he had both on his own, and on his bench.
This year is different. Not only does Mazzulla have a year filled with incredible experience now under his belt, the Celtics have added experience to his bench, and have very clearly catered to his style of basketball. This year, Mazzulla can write up the flight plan, choose his own crew, and inspect the plane before the Celtics take flight. This year, he has his own mistakes from which to learn, and his own experiences on which to build.
Brad Stevens has a deep belief in Mazzulla as a coach. I’ve said all along that Stevens has Mazzulla’s back, even as the team was struggling. That was confirmed by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on The Hoop Collective podcast, when he said “Not only was he never in trouble, Brad Stevens' biggest moves as the president of the team has been to lean into more of the way Joe Mazzulla wants to play, which is high-volume three-point shooting and offense over defense.”
Marcus Smart is being replaced by Derrick White in the starting lineup, a downgrade on the playmaking side (at least on paper right now) but an upgrade on shooting. And while White made an All-Defensive team last season while Smart did not, Smart is capable of switching onto bigger, stronger guys. One of Al Horford or Robert Williams, defensive monsters on the front line, will be replaced by Kristaps Porzingis. And while Porzingis’ rim protection numbers were amazing last season, he is less mobile than Horford and clearly more offensive minded than anyone else in the frontcourt.
Stevens not only has Mazzulla’s back, he’s begun reshaping the roster to give Mazzulla the types of players he prefers, pivoting away from a grittier defensive-minded roster preferred by Ime Udoka.
The Celtics are also focusing on experience on the coaching staff. The additions of Sam Cassell, Charles Lee, and Phil Pressey have added three NBA championships (Cassell has three as a player, Lee has one as an assistant in Milwaukee) and decades of coaching experience to the bench. All three are former pros, giving Mazzulla a staff that can help him grow as a leader while also being able to connect to players and build relationships.
There will be no lingering messiness by holdovers from a coach who some might have felt was punished too harshly. This is Mazzulla’s coaching staff. Reports that Mazzulla was the one to initiate the Cassell discussions are encouraging, because it suggests a level of self-awareness from Mazzulla and a willingness to address a shortcoming.
From here, we’re left with a lot of questions which Mazzulla will answer as the season rolls along. We know he’s committed to a 3-point heavy offense, but is there room for compromise within that? We know he’s chosen offense ahead of defense, but did the playoffs show him the balance was out of whack?
The addition of Porzingis gives Boston a new element, one which Stevens has highlighted in post-trade interviews. The change-of-pace possibilities with Porzingis, specifically his ability to attack switching defenses and score in the post, give Boston an offensive element they didn’t have before.
Meanwhile, Porzingis does allow for some potentially creative defensive wrinkles as well. The Celtics summer league team experimented with a zone defense, something we have rarely seen in Boston. Could the added size lead to a shift in defensive philosophy?
Mazzulla is in a different situation with some different players and different voices in his ear for year two of his tenure in Boston. It’s hard to connect dots on someone when there's only one dot on the paper. We can’t point to this one season and say “look at the mistakes he made” and say that's how things will go for his whole career. People wanted Erik Spoelstra fired early on in his career, too, and he turned out to be a pretty damn good coach.
I don’t know if Mazzulla will ever reach that level. He might, but he also might get fired in a year or two. Where he trends as a coach will start to become clear as this season progresses. How he trends as a coach will have a big impact on where the Celtics can get as a team. If he learns from last season, folds in the advice from his seasoned assistants, and grows as head coach, this team can win a championship. If he stubbornly remains the same guy, then the Celtics will have to overcome his shortcomings to win a ring. They might still do it, but it’ll just be a lot more difficult.
Mazzulla has admitted to a lot of personal faults to grow as a person. If he can do the same as a head coach, the Celtics will be in a very good place.
