3 Celtics Leaving Boston in the New Year

3. Sam Cassell

The former player turned Celtics assistant coach has been brought up in head coaching talks before, but has yet to land an opportunity around the league. We've seen assistants land head coaching jobs with Boston before, just ask Joe Mazzulla or Ime Udoka, who came over from Brooklyn as an assistant when the team promoted Brad Stevens to President of Basketball Operations.

There are plenty of coaches on the hot seat during this NBA season, with some names being Willie Green of the Pelicans, Brian Keefe of the Wizards, Will Hardy of the Jazz and Mike Brown of the Kings. All of these four coaches have one thing in common - all of their teams are off to disappointing starts or the rebuild isn't progressing well enough. The results haven't been there for these teams nearly 30 games into the season, as these organizations will have decisions to make in the off-season if this stays a trend throughout the season.

Cassell has a long track record as an assistant coach, after his successful 15 year playing career. During his long career, Cassell was a 3-time NBA champion, 1x All-Star and 1x All-NBA. His career averages were 15.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6 assists. He retired after the 2007-2008 season playing for the Celtics. He got his first assistant coaching gig in 2009 for the Wizards, where he stayed until the 2013-14 season. He then coached for the Clippers from 2014-2020, and then for the 76ers from 2020-2023. That leads us to now, where he has spent the last 2 seasons on the Celtics staff.

Seeing how successful the Celtics have been over the past 2 seasons, Cassell should definitely draw some interest from other teams during this offseason. The Celtics have built a perfect formula for today's NBA: abundant (and efficient) 3pt shooting, versatility up and down the roster, and team of players who want to defend. Cassell could try to replicate the Celtics tendencies elsewhere, and winning is what pays the bills in the NBA, as Cassell has done plenty of that over the past 2 seasons with Boston.

It could soon be time to add Sam Cassell to the list of former players turned head coaches, with JJ Redick and Jason Kidd being the most notable.

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