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Celtics add Jeff Van Gundy as senior consultant: ‘It’s a no-brainer

BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla’s supporting staff was already beefed up with experience this summer.

Now the Celtics have another seasoned mind to help them. Jeff Van Gundy — who has coached and worked in the NBA for more than three decades — has been hired by the Celtics as a senior consultant. MassLive.

com first reported the news on Saturday, which was revealed on the Celtics’ website as he was added under the coaching staff section. A team official clarified that Van Gundy will work in an advisory role for the entire basketball operations department, not just the coaching staff, and his responsibilities will include the G League Maine Celtics. Mazzulla said the veteran coach will not be on the bench during games, but that he’ll be in every meeting and games when he’s in Boston. He’s excited to have another experienced person behind the scenes.

Any time you can add high character, high level, professional people, I think it’s a no-brainer,” Mazzulla said. “So, fortunate enough that he’s here, not just for the coaching staff, but for everybody and he’s been through every imaginable situation in the NBA, in coaching, FIBA, NBA and so we’re just lucky to have him. And he’s a great listener and a great worker.

So he’s added a lot of value, even in the first couple of weeks.” Van Gundy began coaching in the NBA in 1989 when he was named an assistant with the Knicks before becoming a head coach for 11 seasons, seven with the Knicks and then four with the Rockets. After his firing in Houston in 2007, he pivoted to broadcasting and became a color analyst for ESPN’s top announcing team through last season. He was laid off in June as part of the network’s reduction in force.

Van Gundy also has coaching experience at the international level. He was the head coach of the senior United States team and guided them to the gold medal at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup. The 61-year-old Van Gundy is the latest experienced mind the Celtics have added this offseason after they hired longtime assistants Charles Lee and Sam Cassell this summer.

Mazzulla has already picked Van Gundy’s brain on many things. “A lot. Try to run a lot of stuff by him,” Mazzulla said. “It’s good to get a guy who hasn’t been here before that can kind of have an unbiased opinion as to where he thinks things are, and where they need to go.

And so he’s kind of like a fresh set of eyes because he’s not around all the time. And he’s looking at it from an unbiased position, which kind of gives us an advantage because you kind of see it in a different perspective.” Cassell making impact The hiring of Van Gundy wasn’t the only no-brainer addition for Mazzulla’s staff this year. After Doc Rivers was fired by the 76ers following last season, Mazzulla chatted with Rivers about the possibility of adding Cassell — who was an assistant to Rivers in Philadelphia — to Boston’s staff. “It was very simple,

” Mazzulla said. “It was like, ‘If you don’t hire him, someone else will.’ And so Doc spoke very highly of him and it was very like, it’s a no-brainer. So that was it.” Cassell, a former point guard, has been working closely with Jayson Tatum one-on-one and his value has already been apparent beyond just coaching up the Celtics superstar. “I think just Sam’s been through every situation in the game,” Mazzulla said.

“He’s worked with players on the court and off the court, right? So as much as he’s working with Jayson, we need him to have one-on-one conversations with Jaylen (Brown), develop Jaylen. Like, Sam worked out with Dalano (Banton) yesterday. … Sam’s just been around a long time and he’s been relied upon by really good coaches to just kind of navigate the roster because of all his experience. And so like, yes, he’s working with Tatum, but we really need him to navigate the roster, meet each individual guy where he’s at and then help them get to where we need them to go.

” Queta earning keep New Celtics big man Neemias Queta is only on a two-way contract but has impressed in his two preseason games with toughness and hustle plays and is building a case to potentially earn some backup center minutes.

Queta has mostly played against other backups but he could get an expanded role to further prove himself? Mazzulla said he hasn’t thought ahead but that they will continue to keep a close eye on Queta over the final two preseason games. “He’s earned minutes, he’s earned opportunity,” Mazzulla said.

“He’s done everything we asked him to do. And he’s coming every day and has worked. I really liked how he’s gotten better and better each time he’s been on the floor. So we’re excited that we have an opportunity to develop him and, over these next two preseason games, it’s definitely a goal to see how he does. Can he continue to get better, can he continue to execute on both ends?”

… Sam Vincent, who was drafted by the Celtics in 1985 and was a member of the 1986 championship team, was a special guest at practice on Saturday.

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