The Boston Celtics just announced that they have signed head coach Joe Mazzulla to a multi-year contract extension, keeping him in town for the foreseeable future. Mazzulla helped Boston lead the franchise to its 18th championship in 2024 and has made the playoffs in each of his three seasons with the Celtics.
A Rhode Island native, Mazzulla took the top job in Boston back in 2022 after Ime Udoka was suspended indefinitely and then ousted from the spot. Since then, Mazzulla has implemented his own style of basketball, highlighted by the aforementioned championship run in 2024, led by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and an elite core.
But now, he faces his biggest challenge yet.
What’s in store for Joe Mazzulla?
This offseason, the Celtics made an array of moves with the primary goal of ducking below the second apron. They traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks for Georges Niang and draft capital.
After that, they flipped Niang to the Utah Jazz in exchange for rookie RJ Luis Jr. (on a two-year, two-way contract) in a pure salary dump. Boston had to attach two second-rounders to Niang in the deal.
Now, heading into next season, Mazzulla has a shell of the roster he once had to work with, giving him the biggest challenge of his career. Even Jayson Tatum, the centerpiece of everything Boston has done for the better part of the last decade, will be out, rehabbing his Achilles injury.
Mazzulla will be left with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard (maybe) Simons, and an unproven center core to compete with: Neemias Queta, Chris Boucher, Luka Garza, and Xavier Tillman.
The Celtics don’t want to tank. The front office doesn’t want to tank. Brown, White, and Pritchard don’t want to tank. And Mazzulla certainly won’t want to tank.
With Tatum sidelined, Mazzulla will have to restructure the Celtics’ offense. Brown will almost definitely lead the way, but he’ll still have the three-point support of White, Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and others, with the first two of that bunch taking on larger shot-creation roles.
Boston’s defense will look a lot different, too, missing key pieces like Tatum, Porzingis, Holiday, and Al Horford. Guys like Baylor Scheierman, Pritchard, Hauser, and Queta will have to make serious strides on the defensive end if the Celtics want to find success on that end.
Mazzulla will be sticking around in Boston for a while, but the first test after his new extension will be a doozy.