How good has Brad Stevens been for the Celtics franchise ?

[tenn_smoothie]

My answer would be Brad has been, overall, a slight negative.

As Coach - Overall positive, but with a few concerns. He brought a college, small-ball, finesse philosophy. He was seen as the prodigy coming in with new ideas. His first few teams were fun to watch and easy to love. Intensity and hustle were not a problem. Played tough in tight games. Then we drafted Brown and Tatum, the new foundation. Danny made a mistake acquiring Kyrie. Think about that team without Irving and the addition of Hayward. But I digress. Brad did a lot of good things as coach, but in the end, he wasn't up to coaching all-star level players and his softball approach has stayed with the team to this day.

As GM - What can you say ? He has constructed a great roster, very talented players who fit well together (for the most part that is) and a team, though soft-hearted, does seem to care about winning as their top priority. The addition of White and then Porzingis and Holiday have been genius and were executed without giving away much. As much as we loved Marcus, his absence, it appears, has helped that locker room.

Of course, the big negative has been his coaching decisions. Still not sure what Ime did, but we would sure be better off with him still here. I understand that might have been out of Brad's hands somewhat depending on who was involved. It sounds like they could have made a decision earlier than two days before training camp. The biggest issue, however, is that after Brad watched a full season of Mazzulla's incompetence and knowing he had a very serious title contender in their prime years, he brings back a guy who is still learning and may never be a good coach. Was Brad trying to prove he wasn't wrong after all for making a last second panic hire after the franchise bumbled the entire situation ?

[celticinorlando]

Brad and Wyc’s rush to fire Ime without any real explanation is still head scratching. NBA put no discipline on Ime at all.

[SparzWizard]

Zero NBA experience prior to 2013, and only NBA experience as a HC nothing else at the time. Great with college guys. Very 3-point centric/small-ball philosophy. Those are what I see with Brad the coach.

Brad the GM has done a pretty stellar job in terms of roster management with players. It's just the HC title-granting of Joe was a wildly wrong move.

If Brad can get the Celtics an NBA championship that would be exceptional.

[aefgogreen]

Longest playoff streak in the league - five terror to conference finals and one to finals. I was disappointed with Ime too but we don’t know what happened. Didn’t Henry to mortgage future in terms of draft picks or bad contracts. I’m happy with Stevens. My guess is that he will get Executive of the Year and it’s well deserved

[aefgogreen]

Longest playoff streak in the league - five times to conference finals and one to finals. I was disappointed with Ime too but we don’t know what happened. Didn’t Henry to mortgage future in terms of draft picks or bad contracts. I’m happy with Stevens. My guess is that he will get Executive of the Year and it’s well deserved.

[green_bballers13]

Brad has been very solid.

If fans only want to count championships, they will inevitably be disappointed. There are 30 teams in the league. Gone are the days when the Celtics win 11 out of 13 championships with 8 teams in the league.

[Moranis]

Ime had to go. You cannot sexually harass anyone especially your subordinates.  And that decision did not come from Brad, it was the owner.  Brad had nothing to do with it.

[green_bballers13]

Ime had to go. You cannot sexually harass anyone especially your subordinates.  And that decision did not come from Brad, it was the owner.  Brad had nothing to do with it.

Yes, this is not controversial. People are cancelled for less. A leader of men can't do this.

[celticinorlando]

Brad has been fine. Only wish he would have hired a coach with some experience for this group after Ime.

[Roy H.]

As a coach, initially he was great.  He lost control of the locker room in Kyrie's last year, and then after the bubble he got burned out and couldn't reach the team anymore.  Realistically, if he had remained coaching and had another year like he did in 2021, he should have been fired.

As a GM, he's been very, very good.  This is no longer Danny's team.  Brad has acquired KP, White, Jrue, Horford and Hauser.  Adding those to preexisting building blocks, we have the best team in the NBA.  It's hard to criticize that result, even if there can be minor quibbles about certain free agent misses or having no draft success.

With coaching, the one time he did a full coaching search, he landed Ime, who on the court was a fantastic hire.  Last year was a debacle, but I think that was largely outside of Brad's control.  If he gets blame, it's for not lining up contingency plans in July when the team knew about Ime's HR problems.  There was a talent drain among the assistant coaches, and the team didn't replace them.  Brad's fault?  Wyc's?  I don't know.

I think Joe sucks.  I can't imagine that he would have been the coach Brad or anybody landed on with a full coaching search.  Giving him first crack at the job wasn't a terrible decision, although it's not one I would have made.  The terrible decision was taking off the interim tag and deciding not to due a full coaching search after last season.  Again, I don't know if he had the authority to fire Joe and hire somebody new and expensive, but if so, that's a black mark. 

But, I have a hard time with finding him to be a net negative.  I think his ledger is very much in the positive right now.  That said, if the same results happen this year, Brad needs to make a move.

[green_bballers13]

But, I have a hard time with finding him to be a net negative.  I think his ledger is very much in the positive right now.  That said, if the same results happen this year, Brad needs to make a move.

It is an interesting proposition. If they lose to a lesser team like Miami in the ECF, I think Joe gets the boot.

What if they lose to Denver in the finals? Jokic would be the best player in the series by far. I think he is much better than Tatum. Not a knock on Tatum- I just think Jokic is one of the best basketball players ever.

[Roy H.]

But, I have a hard time with finding him to be a net negative.  I think his ledger is very much in the positive right now.  That said, if the same results happen this year, Brad needs to make a move.

It is an interesting proposition. If they lose to a lesser team like Miami in the ECF, I think Joe gets the boot.

What if they lose to Denver in the finals? Jokic would be the best player in the series by far. I think he is much better than Tatum. Not a knock on Tatum- I just think Jokic is one of the best basketball players ever.

From my perspective, it depends upon what led up to that, and how much fight we show against Denver.

As a baseline, there's no real shame in losing to the Nuggets.  I see them as co-favorites, maybe even the 1A to our 1B.

But, if we mess around in the early rounds and repeatedly lose games we should win, that would count against the head coach.  If we're not playing with energy to start games, that would reflect on the coach.  If we're blowing several 10+ point games, and losing the majority of close games we play, that would reflect on the coach.

It wouldn't mean it's all Joe's fault.  But, it would be a sign that something needed to change, and the easiest way to inject a change of perspective into your team is through a coaching change.

[green_bballers13]

But, I have a hard time with finding him to be a net negative.  I think his ledger is very much in the positive right now.  That said, if the same results happen this year, Brad needs to make a move.

It is an interesting proposition. If they lose to a lesser team like Miami in the ECF, I think Joe gets the boot.

What if they lose to Denver in the finals? Jokic would be the best player in the series by far. I think he is much better than Tatum. Not a knock on Tatum- I just think Jokic is one of the best basketball players ever.

From my perspective, it depends upon what led up to that, and how much fight we show against Denver.

As a baseline, there's no real shame in losing to the Nuggets.  I see them as co-favorites, maybe even the 1A to our 1B.

But, if we mess around in the early rounds and repeatedly lose games we should win, that would count against the head coach.  If we're not playing with energy to start games, that would reflect on the coach.  If we're blowing several 10+ point games, and losing the majority of close games we play, that would reflect on the coach.

It wouldn't mean it's all Joe's fault.  But, it would be a sign that something needed to change, and the easiest way to inject a change of perspective into your team is through a coaching change.

I agree. It is much easier to blame (and fire) one person than a team of 8+ players. Cutting guys like Tatum and Brown is a ridiculous idea, while coaches get fired all of the time.

I wonder if it's possible that the Celtics can get beat versus beating themselves. I think they should have beat Miami, but deserved to lose to Golden State in the finals. I could see Denver winning the championship in a similar fashion.

I don't think Joe sucks, but is merely average. I also think he's improving and has the potential to be a good coach in time. I think he should be fired if they lose an early series, but not if they lose a couple of leads and still win the series. It would have been wild to fire Doc because he lost a couple of first round games to the Hawks in 08.

Regarding GM Brad- he should win executive of the year. His ability to get KP and Holiday was very impressive.

[celticinorlando]

Getting to the finals and losing to Denver means Joe probably keeps his job.

Not getting to the finals means he has to go.
The east is not as tough as it once appeared and any losses the Celtics incur will probably take a lot of help from the Celtics themselves (like we have seen in the past).

Brad has changed the roster drastically. If they can’t get to the finals the only thing to change would be the coach.

[green_bballers13]

Getting to the finals and losing to Denver means Joe probably keeps his job.

Not getting to the finals means he has to go.
The east is not as tough as it once appeared and any losses the Celtics incur will probably take a lot of help from the Celtics themselves (like we have seen in the past).

Brad has changed the roster drastically. If they can’t get to the finals the only thing to change would be the coach.

I bet a majority of Celtics fans think Finals or bust for Joe this year, versus Championship or bust.