The Celtics are not messing around when it comes to bolstering their coaching staff.
For a second consecutive week, the Celtics have added a highly respected veteran assistant coach from a rival. After reportedly hiring 76ers assistant Sam Cassell last Sunday, the Celtics are finalizing a deal to hire Bucks assistant Charles Lee to be their new lead assistant coach under head coach Joe Mazzulla, according to a report Sunday from ESPN.
The 38-year-old Lee was reportedly a finalist for the head-coaching openings in Detroit and Toronto, but when both of those franchises went in a different direction – the Pistons hired Monty Williams and on Saturday, the Raptors went with Darko Rajakovic – the Celtics swooped in for Lee, who has reportedly been on their radar for years.
Lee was an assistant to Mike Budenholzer for the last nine seasons, including the last four in Milwaukee before the Bucks fired Budenholzer following their first-round loss to Miami. Last season, Lee became Budenholzer’s lead assistant after Darvin Ham left to become the head coach of the Lakers and he helped guide the Bucks to the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the best regular season record in the NBA.
Lee went undrafted as a guard in the 2006 NBA draft before embarking on a short playing career overseas that included stops in Israel and Germany. He then began his coaching career, first with his alma mater Bucknell as an assistant coach before transitioning to the NBA with the Hawks under Budenholzer.
Report: Sam Cassell to join Celtics’ coaching staff as assistant under Joe Mazzulla
The Celtics expected a revamp of their coaching staff and have made it a clear priority to surround Mazzulla with more experience in the early days of this offseason. The Celtics essentially lost three coaching voices last season with Ime Udoka’s suspension and ultimate dismissal, Will Hardy’s departure to Utah and Damon Stoudamire’s midseason departure to Georgia Tech, and never replaced them.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said at his end-of-season press conference that they tried to replace those coaches but couldn’t make it happen.
“I think one of the things is obviously we had a change in coaches five days before the season started,” Stevens said. “And we did try to add to the staff at that time. But you’re also weighing, like, you’ve got a lot of people that are really talented in here. I’m sure you’ll see, as we’ve talked about, our assistants this year and our assistants pretty much every year are going to be called and asked by a lot of teams. So we have a good staff, and I think that’s one thing that kind of gets lost in the shuffle, because we did have a lot of people that we lost, too.
“But the staff we had was good. And we did try. Losing Damon in March we again tried. But those timings are tough for people to up and move or up and join a new team that they don’t know anything about or don’t know. But that was just to be supplemental, because we believed in the people that were here. So, moving forward we’ll have at least … we’ll see how everything shakes itself out with what the staff looks like. But we’ll at least have one addition that we’ll make now that we have a summer to make it, and then we’ll go from there.”
Stevens said then that the Celtics would try to add at least one assistant with NBA experience. Now they have two. There could be more changes and additions coming as the Celtics are expected to lose Ben Sullivan – who was Mazzulla’s lead assistant after Stoudamire left – who is rumored to be joining Udoka in Houston, and other assistants are reportedly on the move.
Mazzulla’s inexperience as a rookie head coach was exposed at points during the playoffs and it was clear he needed some more guidance with a depleted coaching staff, especially after the departure of Stoudamire who had extensive experience as a player and coach in the NBA. But the additions of Cassell and Lee – two veteran voices were each reportedly finalists for head coaching openings – just weeks into the offseason should arm Mazzulla with plenty of help as he heads into his second season in charge.
