‘Terrific leader’: Brad Stevens throws support behind Joe Mazzulla, coach will return for 2nd year

Celtics President of Operations Brad Stevens has no intention of making a head coaching change.

Stevens threw his support behind first-year head coach Joe Mazzulla at the basketball executive’s end-of-season press conference Thursday.

Mazulla’s rookie head coaching season began the day before the team’s media day and ended 48 minutes shy of Boston’s 2nd straight NBA Finals berth. After being thrust into the lead coaching chair after Ime Udoka’s untimely dismissal as head coach, the 2023 Celtics finished second in the league in net offense and defense. Although Boston buried itself in a 3-0 series hole against Miami it couldn’t crawl out of, Stevens commended 34-year-old Mazzulla for his ability to steer the franchise in a year that easily could have turned sideways.

“I think when you consider the position he was thrust into and the overall accomplishments of the group, I thought he did a really good job,” Stevens told gathered reporters. “Was he perfect? Would he like to have some moments back? Every coach would. … And at the same time, our players, our staff, everybody around him believe in him.

“He’s a terrific leader. He’ll only get better at anything that he can learn from this year because he’s constantly trying to learn,” added Stevens.

After Udoka’s dismissal for a reported inappropriate workplace relationship and using crude language with an employee, the Celtics got out to a hot start, shooting the ball at a historic clip as they raced out to the league’s best record through the first several months.

“To start the season the way they did was a bit more remarkable than anyone outside the building would’ve thought,” commented Stevens.

Outside of Udoka, the Celtics’ coaching ranks underwent a brain drain that only made Mazzulla’s job more difficult. Will Hardy took over the Utah Jazz in June, briefly becoming the youngest head coach in the NBA before Mazzulla took the title months later. Hardy turned the Jazz into one of the NBA’s biggest surprises, guiding them to a 37-45 playoff record after the team hit the eject button on the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert era in the offseason. When Damon Stoudemire departed the team in March for the head coaching job at Georgia Tech, Aaron Miles became the only remaining assistant with NBA playing experience, a resource desired by the Celtic’s young core, according to The Athletics’ Jared Weiss.

According to Stevens, Boston will look to add at least one assistant coach with substantial NBA experience to Mazzulla’s staff.

Although NBA rules forbade Stevens from getting into financial specifics, Stevens hinted that the Celtics would like to do all they can to re-sign 26-year-old All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown.

“Without a doubt we want Jaylen to be here and he’s a big part of us and I believe in him and I’m thankful for him,” commented Stevens.

Brown is eligible for a nearly $300-million “supermax” extension this summer that would tie him to Boston past the age of 30.

The possibility of extending Brown is made more complicated by a looming 2024-25 CBA that will institute a second luxury tax “apron” that will impose severe restrictions on teams with salaries of $17.5 million over the tax line.

Among the restrictions imposed by the looming second tax apron:

-- Teams above the second apron cannot use the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign free agents, the only tool tax teams currently have to pay free agents above the minimum salary.

-- Teams above the second apron cannot sign players on the buyout market.

-- The inability to send cash out in trades.

-- Teams cannot trade picks more than six years into the future

- Cannot make trades in which they take back more salary than they send out

Despite Free Agency being a month away, Stevens says the team hasn’t received an official copy of the new CBA.

Stevens was similarly coy regarding the possibility of looming restricted free agent Grant Williams. After sporadically falling out of the Celtics’ rotation, the 24-year-old Williams again emerged as a regular contributor late in Boston’s playoff run.

Stevens dubbed Williams “a good player” but echoed his inability to discuss a new contract until the new league year begins on July 1.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW