How two July 2013 moves altered the course of Celtics history
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How two July 2013 moves altered the course of Celtics history originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There’s been plenty of discussion this month about the Boston Celtics’ future. Will Jaylen Brown sign his supermax extension and stay in Boston for the next five years? Can Kristaps Porzingis help get the Celtics over the hump and raise Banner 18?
But with the present in a holding pattern, it’s worth remembering the past — specifically two transactions from exactly 10 years ago this month that helped vault the C’s back to NBA relevance.
First, let’s set the stage by recalling the state of the franchise in June 2013.
The backstory
Morale was low entering the 2013 offseason, to put it mildly. Ray Allen had defected to the Miami Heat the previous summer, leaving the aging duo of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to lead a depleted squad that went 41-40 in 2012-13 and got bounced by the New York Knicks in the first round.
June 2013 began with the departure of head coach Doc Rivers, who left to join the Los Angeles Clippers after nine seasons with the Celtics. With Pierce and Garnett both on the wrong side of age 35, it felt like the end of an era with dark times ahead in Boston.
That was true to some extent — but there was an unexpected light at the end of the tunnel.
Move No. 1: The coaching hire (July 3)
Exactly one month after Rivers’ exit, the Celtics named 36-year-old Butler head coach Brad Stevens their 17th head coach in franchise history.
It was a bold move at the time: Stevens came from a non-Power Five college program with zero NBA coaching experience, and while he led Butler to back-to-back Final Fours in 2010 and 2011, many were skeptical that he could manage the egos of an NBA locker room.
But Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge put his faith in Stevens, and it paid off: After a 25-win campaign in his first season as head coach, Stevens guided a plucky Celtics squad back to the playoffs in 2014-15, and they haven’t missed the postseason since –…
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