In the last decade he’s labored within the NBA – eight years because the Celtics’ head coach and now two as their president of basketball operations – Brad Stevens has made certain to maintain his ear open to gamers across the league who may doubtlessly be a superb match together with his staff.
Whenever he heard about Mike Muscala, Stevens solely heard good issues. And so when he had the chance to commerce for the veteran huge man forward of Thursday’s deadline, he didn’t hesitate to pounce.
“When people described Mike, that I knew well, whether in coaching or playing with him or whatever, they always talked about the way he approached his work, the way he was as a teammate, the way he competed to win,” Stevens mentioned. “That was the most important thing. Anybody that played with him would tell you they love playing with him, which, like, an alarm goes off in your head. That’s a person you want to have around.”
While the C’s actually wanted a backup huge man to assist spell starters Al Horford and Robert Williams, Stevens didn’t need simply anybody. Blockbuster trades across the league involving high-profile stars headlined deadline week however Stevens operated from a place of energy main the first-place staff within the NBA and targeted on buying the correct match, not desirous to mess with the expertise and chemistry of a championship-ready squad.
Stevens mentioned the Celtics had been engaged with Oklahoma City for a time frame about Muscala, who represented the qualities they had been on the lookout for.
“We thought he was a guy that can fit with really any combination of our bigs,” Stevens mentioned. “And within the final couple years we’ve been good once we performed huge. He’s versatile sufficient to do some issues defensively, however he’s additionally clearly super-skilled and makes the correct play, ball doesn’t stick in his fingers very lengthy, all that stuff. …
“It’s exhausting to search out guys that may play with Rob, can play with Al, can play with our different bigs. And the opposite factor that’s sort of the exhausting half about this staff is that if we had been gonna make a transfer the place we usher in an individual that’s going to play a ton of minutes, you virtually should subtract someone that performs a ton of minutes.
“I think our team has a good way about itself,” Stevens continued. “I think we’ve got 13 players that can play and impact each other in a really good way, but we also have a bunch of guys that don’t need to do it every night. So that ability to play but not have to need to play is a big deal, and I think that’s what we need to have as a team. It’s not about an individual. This is a goal and I think Mike understands that and our other players understand it.”
Muscala was energetic, sporting No. 57 for the Celtics on Friday night time in opposition to the Hornets. The 7-footer – described as a “sniper” by Williams – obtained some textual content messages on Thursday morning telling him he’d been traded by the Thunder and flew from Los Angeles to Boston to affix his new staff.
“I’m definitely grateful for the opportunity here, be part of a great team and here in Boston, I’ve heard so many great things about this city,” Muscala mentioned. “I’m excited to get to know the town extra and get to know the followers and go play some ball. …
“I’m just trying to stay in the moment. Still obviously a lot of work to be done, so just trying to take it as it comes and just stay focused.”
How does Muscala assume he might help the Celtics?
“My experience, my shooting,” Muscala mentioned. “I play hard. I’m a good teammate. I just want to win.”
Buyout market subsequent
The Celtics, as deep as they’re, will not be carried out filling out their roster. They have an open roster spot and will doubtlessly pursue gamers within the buyout market.
“We’ll take our time and evaluate that appropriately,” Stevens mentioned. “If we find somebody we feel that can fit, that’d be great.”
The Celtics may probably use some wing depth, however discovering the correct match extra sophisticated than it could appear.
“There’s a lot of different ways to look at it,” Stevens mentioned. “But I believe the way in which (to have a look at is), ‘Can play but doesn’t must play.’ And that’s a tough needle to string, proper? And I don’t blame anyone that wouldn’t need to fill that position. But I believe we’re actually deep proper now. And we have already got a bunch of fellows which are giving up for one trigger, and so they carried out it. …
“If there was something that moves the needle even differently, then we have to consider it, obviously. But I think that that’s probably the most likely thing. And so you’ll look at it and you will decide, okay, is there somebody that fits that need and who’s really excited to be here if that’s the case, or is it do you feel like you’ve got that all filled and maybe invest in a younger player. And so we’re going to assess all that over the next few days and try to figure it out.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com