‘We agreed not to bring back the same team again’: Wyc Grousbeck explained why Celtics made changes to roster this offseason
Grousbeck is confident in his new team's changes and chances to win.
The Boston Celtics have been close to winning a championship for two years in a row, but failed to do so both times.
Celtics
Celtics governor Wyc Grousbeck believes his team can still hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in the near future, but also admitted that some changes had to be made to the roster this offseason.
“When I met with [president of basketball operations Brad Stevens] and [head coach Joe Mazzulla] after the season to plan going forward, we agreed not to bring back the exact same team again, but to be open to changing the mix and bringing in additional talent,” Grousbeck told The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach in an interview.
The Celtics certainly changed their mix this summer. They said goodbye to veterans Marcus Smart and Grant Williams and welcomed Jordan Walsh, Oshae Brissett, Dalano Banton, and most importantly, Kristaps Porzingis.
Since trading for Porzingis, various members of the Celtics’ front office have lauded his talent and work ethic. Grousbeck became the latest Celtics decision-maker to praise his team’s newest big man.
“He is a committed and now seasoned and effective player,” Grousbeck said. “He’s a real force. I’m really impressed with his commitment to being part of a winning Celtics team.”
One thing that Grousbeck admires about Porzingis is how team-oriented the All-Star is. Grousbeck said that Porzingis considers basketball as a team game and doesn’t care much about his personal statistics, something
“I met with him when he came up for the press conference and spent some real time with him, and he’s so happy to be here,” Grousbeck said. “He’s so ready to shine at this stage of his career. But he sees a team concept, not the KP show. He’s continually improved over his career, and he thinks this is his prime.”
Grousbeck also said that the Celtics weren’t the only team vying for Porzingis’ services. They earned the right to trade for him because he wants to be a part of the Celtics’ team-first culture and sees an opportunity in Boston to win his first championship.
“He’s about the team, his teammates, and the banner,” Grousbeck said. “He chose us. There were other people, I hear, that wanted him. And he chose us. He wants to be here and he wants to win a ring.”
The catch to trading for Porzingis was a big one: it cost the Celtics Marcus Smart. Grousbeck said that he will still cherish Smart and will maintain a personal relationship with him, regardless of whose jersey he wears.
“What I remember most about Marcus is his energy and his smile,” Grousbeck said. “He brought so much to this team and will definitely be missed. Our friendship is going to continue. [My wife] Emilia and I are going to attend his upcoming wedding, and that’s the way he and we want it.”
One of Boston’s most consequential decisions last season was promoting Joe Mazzulla to head coach of the Celtics. The exile of Ime Udoka in Sept. 2022 led to a head coaching vacancy, and Stevens pushed Grousbeck to let Mazzulla take the job. And now, after Mazzulla’s first season as Boston’s head play caller, Grousbeck and Stevens trust Mazzulla even more.
“If Joe had done a poor job, I would have thought about replacing him, but he did a very good job,” Grousbeck said. “He took us within one game of the best record in the league and then one game of being in the Finals, as a rookie coach. So I’m comfortable and happy to have Joe as head coach.”
Despite all of the changes the Celtics have made over the past few years, one aspect of the roster remains the same: their stars. The Celtics know how important Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are to this team, which is why they gave Brown the richest contract in NBA history this summer.
“They’re the best two people I could imagine building a team around,” Grousbeck said. “We’ve had them since the beginning. We’ve been very lucky to have them here for their whole careers, and we’re building the team around them.”
Boston is more than just Tatum and Brown, however. Grousbeck said that the new-look Celtics are a very formidable team from top to bottom and that their entire rotation contributes to winning basketball.
“But you add the next eight guys to the list. You take our top 10 and we’ve got a really good team. The focus is naturally on those two because they’re All-NBA players and All-Stars, but I like the whole roster.”
Only time will tell if that roster will be enough to win the Celtics a championship. But to Grousbeck, the changes his team made bring them one step closer.
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