Every season of Joe Mazzulla’s tenure as Boston Celtics head coach has featured a rather unique challenge.
From being thrust into the fire after the dismissal of coach Ime Udoka, to watching the core of the team get overhauled before the 2024 title run, to trying to defend that crown last season with a virtually identical roster, there have been obstacles different from what most young coaches encounter during their initial runs in the big chair.
Even entering Year 4, Mazzulla will be challenged in a new way again during the 2025-26 season.
Mazzulla is now tasked with shepherding the Celtics out of a summer of change. There is new ownership, a new-look roster thinned of talent by a prohibitive second apron, and a glaring void as superstar forward Jayson Tatum rehabs from an Achilles tear.
It’s also another opportunity for Mazzulla to show why the Celtics have put their faith in him. After rewarding him with a long-term contract extension this summer, Boston’s brass has been adamant that he remains the right person to lead this team forward. The goal hasn’t changed, but the pathway to Banner 19 is much murkier.
For Day 14 of our Ramp to Camp series — and continuing our weeklong examination of what comes next for key members of the 2025-26 Celtics — the spotlight falls on Mazzulla.
It’s wild that Mazzulla has already coached nearly 300 games in green (246 regular-season games; 50 postseason). The 37-year-old coach ranks eighth among the 19 coaches in Celtics history in regular-season wins and could slide into the top five before the end of his current contract.
Skeptics will suggest that while Mazzulla can thrive with talent-filled rosters — as evidenced by delivering Banner 18 in 2024 — he must still prove he can make the most out of more inexperienced groups.
And no one will be more excited for that challenge than Mazzulla.
Entering a season where we’ll find out a lot about the players on Boston’s roster, we’re equally intrigued to see how Mazzulla can put his imprint on this team. What’s next for Mazzulla is showing that he can make strategic decisions that help mask potential weaknesses exposed by the departure of veteran talent.
How can Mazzulla make life easy for Jaylen Brown as he elevates into the 1A role while Tatum rehabs? How can Mazzulla maintain the Celtics’ status as a top-10 defense after losing considerable size and experience in the frontcourt this offseason? How can Mazzulla deploy the talent on his new-look roster to maximize what remains? Can Mazzulla tweak the team’s play style — playing harder and faster — to mask some of the talent drain?
Can his so-called “Mazzulla Ball” thrive with the current mix of players? Can Mazzulla embrace playing younger talent in a way that wasn’t always desirable considering the veteran talent this team possessed?
There is little reason to think Mazzulla won’t be up to the task, that he can’t maximize this roster. Maybe his biggest challenge is that his current boss, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, was renowned for his ability to take lesser rosters and produce expectation-exceeding results. Fair or not, Mazzulla must show he can do the same.
Derrick White joins Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk Podcast to discuss how Joe Mazzulla will deal with the challenge of next season
We’re eager to see what changes he’ll embrace. The Celtics certainly seemed to signal a desire to play faster and harder with some of their offseason additions. The cupboards are far from bare with a team bringing back Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard, but there are decisions to be made on the best way to deploy that talent while working in a newcomer like Anfernee Simons.
What’s next for Mazzulla might simply boil down to being more flexible. Maybe he has to lean harder into youth development. Maybe he has to tweak this group’s defensive tendencies or its offensive shot profile.
But as is the case for the players on his roster, it’s a chance for Mazzulla to show off a new side of his talents.
Here’s how our panel responded when asked what they want to see from Mazzulla:
Darren Hartwell, Managing Editor
Play the kids, Joe!
Mazzulla has been hesitant to give significant minutes to younger players, and that made sense when the Celtics were chasing championships. But it’s time for the head coach to think bigger-picture and focus on the development of recent draft picks like Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh — even if that means working through some growing pains.
Michael Hurley, Web Producer
I would say some creativity when the 3s aren’t falling.
I know that’s a critique that’s often most clear in retrospect, but when you’re missing 45 threes in a playoff game and losing by three points in overtime, there is plenty of room for a coach to adjust — even if temporarily — to take care of business on a given night. Thus far, Mazzulla’s “live or die by the 3” mantra has been taken to the extreme, regardless of in-game results.
Sean McGuire, Web Producer
I would like to see Mazzulla develop more of a versatile offense rather than living and dying by the 3.
It was more understandable when you had elite players and big men who could stretch the floor like Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. However, it doesn’t feel like Boston would have the same success without Tatum, and with Neemias Queta (who has never shot a 3-pointer in an NBA game) and Luka Garza (31.4 percent 3-point shooter on 1.3 attempts per game).
Overall, it will be interesting to see how Mazzulla fares with a less-talented lineup than any he’s had before.
Josh Canu, Media Editor
Maximize impact from role players.
This is a new roster with a lot less high-end talent and depth, meaning the pressure will be on Mazzulla to pull the right strings with his rotations and minutes. The bench is almost all new faces, and some guys who had small roles last season will be elevated to bigger roles this season.
I am looking at Joe to help these players develop and find the right role for each one.
Max Lederman, Content Producer
I want to see Mazzulla lean into the defensive side of the court.
He’s known for his “Mazzulla Ball” offense, but if this team is going to overachieve, it needs to be great on defense.
Adam Hart, EP, Content Strategy
Anything that allows the talking heads to stop complaining about how many 3s the team shoots.
