The Boston Celtics don’t have Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis or Luke Kornet in their locker room anymore.
Jayson Tatum is expected to miss most, if not all of the 2025-26 season.
The Celtics still have head coach Joe Mazzulla running the show, however.
Sam Quinn of CBS Sports ranked the NBA’s 30 head coaches on Monday and placed Mazzulla in seventh overall, in tier II, among the “elite.”
The 37-year-old is notably placed directly behind Mark Daigneault of the champion Oklahoma City Thunder and former Boston head coach Ime Udoka (now leading the Houston Rockets).
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“It is obvious, based on watching their teams for full seasons, that Mazzulla and Daigneault excel in the less visible components of coaching. … Mazzulla probably needs to be a bit more flexible with his shot-selection, but the system he’s installed has done far more good for Boston than harm,” Quinn wrote. “There is a chance these are one day the two best coaches in the NBA.”
Mazzulla is entering his fourth season as the Celtics head coach, compiling a 182-64 regular season record and a 33-17 mark in the playoffs thus far.