Who will coach the Celtics in 2021-22?

[Hal14]

Juwan Howard not interested in leaving Michigan according to the Wiretap.

From the little I know about him as a coach, I liked his combination of experience and personality. Thought he might be a good fit.

Yeah, Howard does seem like he's good a good demeanor/makeup/personality to coach.

Guys like him and Cassell. I like how they kept on playing, long past their prime. But they didn't retire, they just kept bouncing around from winning team to winning team as a bench warmer for another few years when most guys would have retired. And you got the sense that they were bench warmer players / assistant coaches without the actual title of a coach. And no surprise that both of them (and others who fit that description like Ewing) got into coaching as soon as they retired as a player..

[TheOGJabroni]

I was surprised with low few links there were to Howard's name across all vacancies; makes a lot more sense now.

[ILC]

Darvin Ham for me. Seems like a defense first coach from what I heard him speak and the last thing I'd want is a ideological coach like Dantoni or Lue.

Would not hate Steve Clifford either.

[JediMasterRevan]

2 THOUGHTS:

Still on the:
Head Coach: Cassell
Assistant: Pierce

Assistant: Ham or Atkinson


2nd thought:

Anyone other than me think that Juwan Howard looks like someone tried to draw Will Smith from Memory?

[Hal14]

2 THOUGHTS:

Still on the:
Head Coach: Cassell
Assistant: Pierce

Assistant: Ham or Atkinson


2nd thought:

Anyone other than me think that Juwan Howard looks like someone tried to draw Will Smith from Memory?

i always thought robert horry looked more like will smith

As far as assistants under Cassell, I could see a bunch of different ways he could go:

Ham (they played together in milwaukee)

Pierce (probably not gonna happen but maybe he wants to get another real job so to help his reputation and public image)

Perk (probably wouldn't want to leave his cushy TV gig but the guy clearly knows the game, and has a passion for it, and he has celtic pride)

KG (he said he doesn't want to coach but maybe he just doesn't want to be head coach and would be ok being an assistant? Him and Cassell were teammates in both minnesota and in boston, they seem tight, there was only about a handful of former teammates KG mentioned in his.HOF speech and cassell was 1 of them)

Scal (knowledge and passion for the game, celtic pride, maybe he sees this as a step up for his career over being on celtics TV broadcasts..)

Kenny Smith (former teammate in houston, tons of knowledge/passion for the game, good personality, well respected across the league, probably wouldn't leave his high paying TV gig but maybe he would because a) he's been at TNT forever so might be time for a change and b) help out his former teammate who finally gets a head coaching gig, not sure how tight him and cassell are though..)

Horry (former teammates in houston and in phoenix, Horry just seems like a dude who could be a good coach, no experience though other than coaching his son's AAU team)

Posey (former teammate in Boston. Posey was assistant with the cavs a few years ago but clearly wants to get back into coaching based on these 2 articles:
https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-steve-nash-brooklyn-nets-james-posey-head-coach-hired-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving-steve-kerr-search-sean-marks
https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2020/10/13/nba-boston-celtics-james-posey-assistant-coach/

Sam Mitchell (they played together in minnesota. Mitchell has a ton coaching experience and also some broadcasting experience. he won nba coach of the year with raptors in 2008, since then has been an assistant for 3 different teams. Hasn't coached since 2019 but maybe this is his way of getting back into coaching if he joins cassell's staff)

That's 9 guys listed above. Cassell could bring on 1 or 2 of them as assistants..

Imagine a Cassell/Kenny Smith/Robert Horry staff? Or a Cassell/Sam Mitchell/Garnett staff? Or a Cassell/Posey/Perk staff?

[Curmudgeon]

Why not Kenny Smith as head coach? Anyone who played for Jack Curran is ok with me (well, maybe not Kenny Anderson).

[Hal14]

Why not Kenny Smith as head coach? Anyone who played for Jack Curran is ok with me (well, maybe not Kenny Anderson).

I could see it. I could see him being a good head coach for sure. The personality, the knowledge/passion for the game, respect across the league.

Smith as a head coach and Horry as assistant. That could be good.

[GotDaSauce]

Why not Kenny Smith as head coach? Anyone who played for Jack Curran is ok with me (well, maybe not Kenny Anderson).

He's got a sweet tv gig and I feel his personality might wear thin on the players. It could just be pumped up for tv but he can get pretty annoying!

[Curmudgeon]

Why not Kenny Smith as head coach? Anyone who played for Jack Curran is ok with me (well, maybe not Kenny Anderson).

I could see it. I could see him being a good head coach for sure. The personality, the knowledge/passion for the game, respect across the league.

Smith as a head coach and Horry as assistant. That could be good.

Horry might actually take a jo with the Celtics now that Ainge is gone.

[31to6]

Why not Kenny Smith as head coach? Anyone who played for Jack Curran is ok with me (well, maybe not Kenny Anderson).

He's got a sweet tv gig and I feel his personality might wear thin on the players. It could just be pumped up for tv but he can get pretty annoying!

Kenny is WAY too far gone into the media world, like, by a couple of decades, I can't see him returning to the grind from that.

Plus after one team scored the first basket of any/every game, he'd be like "IT'S OVER, IT'S OVER, LET'S GO HOME!!!!" which is the most annoying call in the history of sports broadcasting.

[Demon22]

I have nothing to add here, except that I went to school with Ime Udoka's older sister, Mfon, who was a heck of a power forward/center.

[GoCeltics123]

Billups appears to be the favorite in the race. He established himself as a floor leader and astute basketball mind as a player and a potential front office executive and head coach after his playing days. What’s critical to Stevens is finding a coach who has the respect and command of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, someone with NBA stripes and perhaps even a championship.

Gary Washburn

[31to6]

Billups appears to be the favorite in the race. He established himself as a floor leader and astute basketball mind as a player and a potential front office executive and head coach after his playing days. What’s critical to Stevens is finding a coach who has the respect and command of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, someone with NBA stripes and perhaps even a championship.

Gary Washburn

I like it if true.

Kidd is a sleaze and I'm not sure a 'former player' like Ime Udokah moves the needle much at all. Even Cassell's prime was so long ago, and he was kind of an underrated star in this league anyway. Chauncey is THAT GUY from a team that beat Kobe and Shaq, and there's not many of those guys on this Earth. Want to get Jayson's attention? Hire someone who beat Kobe in his prime. Bonus point for being a Celtic once upon a time. Bonus point for having a strong jawline and a cool name.

[JHTruth]

Billups appears to be the favorite in the race. He established himself as a floor leader and astute basketball mind as a player and a potential front office executive and head coach after his playing days. What’s critical to Stevens is finding a coach who has the respect and command of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, someone with NBA stripes and perhaps even a championship.

Gary Washburn

I like it if true.

Kidd is a sleaze and I'm not sure a 'former player' like Ime Udokah moves the needle much at all. Even Cassell's prime was so long ago, and he was kind of an underrated star in this league anyway. Chauncey is THAT GUY from a team that beat Kobe and Shaq, and there's not many of those guys on this Earth. Want to get Jayson's attention? Hire someone who beat Kobe in his prime. Bonus point for being a Celtic once upon a time. Bonus point for having a strong jawline and a cool name.

Chauncey will have his pick from at least us and Portland it seems. Interesting to see where he goes

[threrf23]

I'm not against Billups or Kidd if our front office is sold, but I also don't think their resumes would instantly command the players' respect. IMO the world is changing, and the league is changing, and more than anything else, all else equal, I think it is increasingly ideal to simply be relatively young and/or relatable. Below a threshold perhaps, I don't think accomplishments and status mean as much they used to mean.

IMO Brad was young, not necessarily relatable but a good communicator, and in recent years it felt to me like his actions as coach sometimes ran counter to his statements as coach and that loses respect regardless of who you are. Also, in general I feel like he tended to command respect by working hard and communicating well, and the stresses of the pandemic probably worked against that.

Billups and Kidd aren't real old, but are relatively old school IMO. Kidd was a great floor general, I'm not sure he was ever the leader he gets credit for, and I didn't think he was impressive in his stints as a head coach (I didn't think he was unimpressive either). Billups was a relatively smart guy and a decent if not good leader, but I wouldn't have called him a floor general. Neither player won more than one championship, neither player put up big numbers during their teams' championship run.

[MrGreenRunsDeep]

What y’all think of Mike Budenholzer? Bucks might fire him ..

TheMilwaukee Bucks did not give Mike Budenholzer a mandate for how far the team would have to advance in order for him to keep his job. Milwaukee trails the Brooklyn Nets 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals following their Game 3 win.

"If Game 3 was the apex of this series for them, I think it's very unlikely and very difficult for them to keep Bud," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "He has a year left on his deal. They could have extended him early in the season or in the offseason. They chose not to. They were going to really ride this year out.

"I don't know if he has to come back and win it... If it ends in a thud, it's hard to imagine he's back."

Malika Andrews added that the Bucks need to at least show "progress" for how the team can improve moving forward and better their title odds around Giannis Antetokounmpo. Andrews said the Bucks had a "thud" in 2019 when they blew a 2-0 lead to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals, and then a different "thud" in 2020 when they were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the second round.

[threrf23]

What y’all think of Mike Budenholzer? Bucks might fire him ..

As an assistant under Ime Udoka, who he has a relationship with him?

**** yeah, sign me up!

In both Atlanta and Milwaukee, he has been a system coach whose teams overachieve if not dominate the regular season before disappointing in the postseason. He has had better rosters almost by the year, and he has had a lot of time to make adjustments, and we can do better than him at HC.

Having said that, I think there's a real chance the Bucks get past the Nets and maybe even win the championship this year. I feel like this Bucks' roster is better than past rosters, and this landscape is less competitive than previous landscapes. But even if that happens, I think it is the exception to the rule.

[SmartWentCrazy]

What y’all think of Mike Budenholzer? Bucks might fire him ..

TheMilwaukee Bucks did not give Mike Budenholzer a mandate for how far the team would have to advance in order for him to keep his job. Milwaukee trails the Brooklyn Nets 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals following their Game 3 win.

"If Game 3 was the apex of this series for them, I think it's very unlikely and very difficult for them to keep Bud," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "He has a year left on his deal. They could have extended him early in the season or in the offseason. They chose not to. They were going to really ride this year out.

"I don't know if he has to come back and win it... If it ends in a thud, it's hard to imagine he's back."

Malika Andrews added that the Bucks need to at least show "progress" for how the team can improve moving forward and better their title odds around Giannis Antetokounmpo. Andrews said the Bucks had a "thud" in 2019 when they blew a 2-0 lead to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals, and then a different "thud" in 2020 when they were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the second round.

Milwaukee and Atlanta fired him for the same reason why we cant hire him to be our HC. As an assistant, a la MDA in Brooklyn? Hell yah. As HC? **** no.

[Hal14]

Billups appears to be the favorite in the race. He established himself as a floor leader and astute basketball mind as a player and a potential front office executive and head coach after his playing days. What’s critical to Stevens is finding a coach who has the respect and command of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, someone with NBA stripes and perhaps even a championship.

Gary Washburn

I like it if true.

Kidd is a sleaze and I'm not sure a 'former player' like Ime Udokah moves the needle much at all. Even Cassell's prime was so long ago, and he was kind of an underrated star in this league anyway. Chauncey is THAT GUY from a team that beat Kobe and Shaq, and there's not many of those guys on this Earth. Want to get Jayson's attention? Hire someone who beat Kobe in his prime. Bonus point for being a Celtic once upon a time. Bonus point for having a strong jawline and a cool name.

Good point. Billups was finals MVP in 2004 when they beat kobe/shaq/payton/malone 4 games to 1.

And he was coached on that team by Larry Brown, who some people think is the GOAT NBA coach. He definitely learned a thing or 2 from Brown as well as Rick Carlisle and George Karl.

That Pistons team was known for its defense, team play and the way they meshed together as a unit. It was like 5 guys truly playing like 1, rather than 5 individuals. That (tougher defense, more of a defense mentality and more togetherness/team chemistry) are all things this celtics team needs badly.

Plus, only 44 years old (7 years younger than cassell) means that billups likely a) can better connect with today's young players and b) his career was more recent so he can probably better understand the new/modern NBA and relate to the way the NBA has changed/evolved over the past 10-15 years. The game is vastly different from when cassell retired - it's almost a different sport. Billups retired 6 years after Cassell, though. Billups retired in 2014 so he was going against guys like Harden, Durant, Westbrook, Curry, Chris Paul, Lebron, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Lillard, etc. he went against those guys quite a bit - a lot more than Cassell did..

Plus, Billups still (at least in 2017 when this article came out) feels disappointed that the celtics weren't more patient with him and we traded him before he developed into a star. Well, here's his chance to make it right. Rather than having the celtics be a franchise that he has bad memories of, and rather than us being his "what if" team, he can come here and change the narrative, and make it so this is now a city where he is beloved. This is his chance to flip the script and have Boston be a city that he thinks of fondness instead of resentment:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/celtics/2017/02/04/gary-washburn-chauncey-billups-wishes-celtics-had-been-patient-with-him/1VsmgRC9cuyOU6pXThJxlK/story.html

He can make it right if he coaches here. If he goes to Portland, what then? He wouldn't be making anything right. He would just be another one of Portland's coaches. He has no prior relationship with the Blazers..the only narrative for him there is being able to help a star PG (Lillard) win a title, a guy (Lillard) who he used to play against when Billups was a player. Billups has seen Lillard have a great career, but a ring has eluded him. Billups senses that Lillard is losing faith in Portland - he can go there and save the day, help Lillard win a ring as a star PG like Billups did back in 2004..

[Hal14]

I'm not against Billups or Kidd if our front office is sold, but I also don't think their resumes would instantly command the players' respect. IMO the world is changing, and the league is changing, and more than anything else, all else equal, I think it is increasingly ideal to simply be relatively young and/or relatable. Below a threshold perhaps, I don't think accomplishments and status mean as much they used to mean.

IMO Brad was young, not necessarily relatable but a good communicator, and in recent years it felt to me like his actions as coach sometimes ran counter to his statements as coach and that loses respect regardless of who you are. Also, in general I feel like he tended to command respect by working hard and communicating well, and the stresses of the pandemic probably worked against that.

Billups and Kidd aren't real old, but are relatively old school IMO. Kidd was a great floor general, I'm not sure he was ever the leader he gets credit for, and I didn't think he was impressive in his stints as a head coach (I didn't think he was unimpressive either). Billups was a relatively smart guy and a decent if not good leader, but I wouldn't have called him a floor general. Neither player won more than one championship, neither player put up big numbers during their teams' championship run.

Um, Billups was finals MVP in 2004 when a team with 0 superstars beat Shaq/Kobe/Payton/Malone in 5 games.