Sam Cassell has labored with Jayson Tatum throughout Celtics camp, however Joe Mazzulla hopes he helps out with everybody

Celtics

“He is working with Jayson, we want him to have 1-on-1 conversations with Jaylen [Brown] and develop Jaylen.”

Sam Cassell has spent plenty of time with Jayson Tatum throughout the leadup to the common season. Barry Chin/Globe Employees

Jayson Tatum was already near one of many new assistant coaches the Celtics employed over the offseason. It seems he’s gotten shut to a different one.

The Celtics star has labored out with Sam Cassell following a number of practices throughout coaching camp. He additionally labored with Cassell throughout the pregame of the lone preseason sport he’s performed up so far.

As many assistant coaches within the NBA usually work 1-on-1 with just a few gamers, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla instructed reporters that pairing Cassell with Tatum was fairly easy.

“‘Hey JT, do you wanna work with Sam?’ I simply requested him if that’s what he needed,” Mazzulla stated of how Tatum started working with Cassell.

However there’s clearly a cause why Mazzulla and the Celtics opted to rent Cassell as they needed to remake their teaching employees following the departure of Ime Udoka final season. Mazzulla shared that he obtained to look at Cassell’s teaching means forward of Celtics video games towards the 76ers, whom Cassell labored for as an assistant over the past three seasons.

“Sam labored with [Tyrese] Maxey and so they had the identical taking pictures time as our guys, so I used to be in a position to observe what Sam was doing pregame with Maxey and among the different gamers,” Mazzulla stated.

Cassell has typically been credited with serving to Maxey blossom right into a 20-point per-game scorer. He labored intently with the guard after the workforce drafted him with the No. 21 total decide within the 2020 NBA Draft, spending frequent time collectively throughout the season and within the offseason.

Cassell’s work with Maxey is what initially caught Mazzulla’s eyes. He grew to become obtainable to rent after the 76ers fired Doc Rivers after the Celtics defeated them within the Jap Convention semifinals in Might. Philadelphia opted to rent Nick Nurse to switch Rivers whereas Cassell, who has interviewed for head teaching jobs over the previous couple of seasons, was skipped round within the teaching carousel.

So, Mazzulla inquired about hiring the previous NBA star, who gained a title with the Celtics as a participant in 2008. He obtained a transparent reply on the finish of the method.

“In the course of the hiring course of, speaking to Sam and Doc about what Doc relied on Sam for and what he was in a position to do, it simply sort of made essentially the most sense,” Mazzulla stated.

“It was quite simple, ‘In case you don’t rent him, another person will,’” Mazzulla added on what Rivers instructed him. “Doc spoke very extremely of him. It was a no brainer. That was it.”

Cassell’s now just a few weeks into his tenure as a Celtics coach. He labored with Tatum once more following Saturday’s observe, instructing the Celtics star ahead methods to function within the put up.

“Sam Cassell, it’s all the time nice to have a former participant,” Tatum instructed reporters of Cassell earlier in October. “He talks greater than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. … However Sam’s nice. He’s filled with power day by day. He additionally has a ton of tales.”

Tatum’s not the one participant Cassell’s spent particular person time with. He additionally labored with guard Jrue Vacation on put up strikes after a latest observe.

Mazzulla is hoping that Cassell can spend a while with every participant on the roster, trusting his basketball data to assist the remainder of the workforce.

“Sam’s been by means of each scenario within the sport as nicely,” Mazzulla stated. “He’s labored with gamers on the court docket and off the court docket. As a lot as he’s working with Jayson, we want him to have 1-on-1 conversations with Jaylen [Brown] and develop Jaylen. Sam labored out with Dalano [Banton] yesterday. Sam’s been round a very long time. He’s been relied upon by actually good coaches to navigate the roster due to all of his expertise.

“Sure, he’s working with Tatum. However we actually want him to navigate the roster, meet every particular person man, see the place he’s at, after which assist them get to the place they should go.”