The Celtics already hit a home run by hiring Sam Cassell. But, while significant, that was only the first step in strengthening Joe Mazzulla's coaching staff.
Multiple assistants leaving Boston added to that need. The franchise's president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, told Inside The Celtics, "We're gonna look for, with at least one addition to the bench, and he'll (Mazzulla) lead this charge, we'll look for somebody that's got a lot of NBA experience for sure."
Cassell, a 15-year NBA floor general, and long-time assistant, may not have been a bench boss, but he checks every other box, including needing someone on board the players can relate to.
The same applies to Charles Lee, another one of the league's top assistant coaches, who's also linked to Boston.
The former Bucknell star and Patriot League Player of the Year played professionally overseas and worked as an equity trader on Wall Street. In a 2020 piece profiling noteworthy head coaching candidates, ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz shared the following about Lee.
"Those who have worked with him say he has an intuitive sense of how to inspire improvement from players but also understands high-level strategy and the preparation required to implement it."
The long-time Mike Budenholzer lieutenant, who went with the latter from Atlanta to Milwaukee, got squeezed out when the Bucks hired Adrian Griffin as their new head coach. Griffin's bringing Terry Stotts with him as his lead assistant.
And with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reporting the Toronto Raptors are hiring Memphis Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic to replace Nick Nurse, there are no longer any NBA head-coaching vacancies.
There are also minimal available openings to be a top assistant. A team could move on from who it has in that role to bring in Lee, but with the job north of the border going to Rajakovic, the Celtics' pursuit of Lee is now more realistic.
Adding him and Cassell, plus the hope and internal belief Mazzulla will grow from his first year at the helm, could turn Boston's coaching staff into a strength.
With Stevens stating and coming across as sincere when expressing "small tweaks" are the Celtics' best path forward at his end-of-season press conference, that coming to fruition becomes even more essential to the franchise's quest for Banner 18.
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