How will Joe Mazzulla manage adversity with the new Celtics list? – NBC Sports Boston
The fourth season of Joe Mazzulla as head coach of Boston Celtics will be his most demanding.
The Celtics separated from the main collaborators of Jrue Holiday (trade), Kristaps Porzingis (trade) and Luke Kornet (free agency) in this offseason while they lose their salary to overcome the second apron of the luxury tax. The veteran great man at Horford could be the next starting at the free agency, and Superstar Jayson Tatum will miss more if not the whole 2025-26 campaign that recovers from a broken Achille.
This leaves Jaylen Brown and Derrick White as the first two options on a list of otherwise disappointing Celtics. Boston signed the great man Luka Garza and the striker Josh Minott in the free agency, but they have been an end of the counter options in the last three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves. And while Amphernee Simons (acquired in the holiday agreement) has the rise, his salary of $ 27.7 million makes him an obvious candidate to move this summer.
So, how will Mazzulla manage adversity during what will probably be a rocky season in Boston? Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated shared his interpretation during the last episode of NBC Sports Boston The outside of C’season.
“This is the most fascinating part of this season,” said Mannix. “Because I don’t think Joe Mazzulla is wired for mediocrity. How, how will Joe Mazzulla do to manage a series of four games in six? Or be a team of .500 without any real possibility of competing? Literally since he hired control, this team was a contender of the championship …
“The answer is that I don’t know. Joe is so intense and thus concentrated on the victory every single game and every single matchup every game. The losses personally says. It is tormented by this stuff. I think it will be very interesting to look how he manages all this.”
Chris Forsberg, insider Celtics of NBC Sports Boston, offered an optimistic perspective, observing that Mazzulla embraced the challenges during his mandate.
“I’m on the other side. He loves adversity,” said Forsberg. “Some of his happiest press conferences are when they kicked the butt … I think this really plays in what Joe wants to train.”
This imminent season, however, Mazzulla will not have an elite that will begin five to lean on. The 2025-26 Celtics almost certainly will not break any 3-point shooting record, so Mazzulla will have to find a new approach with the players who probably would not have seen the field often with the core of the championship still intact.
“One thing that came from the first season he said was that he did not do an excellent job of necessarily leaning against younger players. He was thus concentrated on the nucleus and chasing a championship that perhaps he lost sight of the boys who came to coaching and trying to develop,” added Forsberg. “Invariably, this year, the biggest thing for Joe will have to be – in reality he will have to appreciate a debutant. How, he will have to play Hugo (Gonzalez) and see what he can do and play some of these younger kids.
“It will have to be a little change for him, where he is only wired to chase and win. He will have wanted to play Jaylen Brown and Derrick White 40 minutes when he may not be the best thing for this team. He should lean on the (Josh) Minotts of the world and the (Luka) Garzas in the world and see what you got in potential complementary pieces.”
Mazzulla will take his first look at some of his new young talents, including the first round Hugo Gonzalez, when the Celtics Summer League begins on 11 July.
Look at the entire episode of The outside of C’season With Mannix, Forsberg, Drew Carter and Kevin O’Connor below: