Boston Celtics: Assistant Scott Morrison is one element to the new-look C’s

Newly promoted assistant coach Scott Morrison discusses his new role with the Boston Celtics and potential upcoming challenges

The summer of 2017 began a remodeling process for the Boston Celtics. Their roster will only feature four returning players after a season in which they finished with the top record in the Eastern Conference in the regular season and reached the Conference Finals in the playoffs.

Still, the organization hasn’t stayed complacent despite their success and continues to pursue avenues of improvement.

Say goodbye to the man bun and ponytail of Kelly Olynyk; the stifling defense of Avery Bradley; the underachieving James Young; the athletic Amir Johnson; Swedish Larry Bird in Jonas Jerebko and others in Tyler Zeller, Jordan Mickey, Demetrius Jackson and Gerald Green. And no, the parting of Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the 2018 Brooklyn Nets first-rounder for Kyrie Irving wasn’t forgotten. The blockbuster deal between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Celtics was just finalized and completed.

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With a mix of starters, veterans and limited role players now gone, Boston kept their team fresh and young. They’ll have five rookies and five new veterans added to their roster, including Kyrie Irving. It’s a huge change Danny Ainge and his team felt was necessary, after he famously said that the roster had “a lot of good players but needed great ones.”

They also began preparing for the future by making internal changes, parting ways with Ed Lacerte (trainer) and Brian Doo (strength and conditioning coach) after 30 and 14 seasons with the team, respectively.

Gone is their heart, grit, and toughness. Arriving is a new era in Boston led by Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, along with an eye to the future with their internal changes. One under-the-radar change the team made was promoting Scott Morrison from the head coach of their G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, to being an assistant coach on the main roster.

Morrison, a Canada native, has coached the under-19 national team for his country and coached the Red Claws for three seasons. While in Maine, he received the Coach of the Year in 2015 after leading them to a franchise best 35-15 record. Another feather in his cap is being the winningest coach in franchise history.

In just three seasons, he left his mark on the Celtics’ affiliate, after taking a leap of faith and leaving his Canada to pursue his NBA dream in the G League.

“It’s a great development tool,” said Morrison via phone. “It’s a great experience for players and also coaches. I’m hoping that we’ll see more and more coaches also move up the ranks like we’re seeing the players do.”

The league has seen numerous coaches from the developmental system brought up to NBA positions – Nick Van Exel (Memphis Grizzlies); Damon Jones (Cleveland Cavaliers); Earl Watson (Phoenix Suns); and Nancy Liberman (Sacramento Kings) to name a few.

Usage of the G-League has been changing over the past few seasons, with more teams creating their own teams for one-to-one affiliates. From teams incorporating their own systems to create a funnel system for coaches and front office personnel to the continued success stories each season of an unknown player becoming an NBA headline. Hassan Whiteside, Jonathan Simmons, and Jeremy Lin are a few of the poster guys for the league.

“I think the league is getting better and better,” Morrison said. “With the emergence of the two-way player, the NBA’s paying more and more attention, and investing more and more into the league, which makes it that much better. I notice the difference every year. Just in the amount of talent; amount of attention the league got from the NBA. I think it’s just going to keep going and going as the league expands.”

“I want to help this team get better in any way that I can, and hopefully keep continuing to climb throughout my career.”

-Scott Morrison, Celtics assistant coach

The Boston Celtics can go down as one of the architects for efficiently using their affiliate team to develop players, coaches and front office personnel. From Austin Ainge, who coached in Maine and is now the director of personnel in Boston to a young player on the team such as Abdel Nader, who won Rookie of the Year there last year and is now on the main roster. Along with Morrison, the possibility of moving up within the organization is conceivable.

The only difficult part might be transitioning from a dominant role such as being a head coach to an assistant. Only time Morrison has ever been an assistant on a team was when he coached the under-19 Canadian team. Besides that, he’s been the main guy. It’s an adjustment he’s ready for, especially with Stevens at the helm.

“For me, It’s going to be a change,” Morrison said. “Going to be the first time in 15 years that I haven’t been the head coach. I’m really excited to just learn more and more about the NBA style and what it takes to plan and be a competitive team in the NBA. I’m just going to do whatever I’m asked to do and do it to the best of my ability and hope I can affect our success in some small way.”

“There’s literally no other coach that I rather work for than coach Stevens. He’s one of the best and he’s also one of the best to work for.”

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Remaining an assistant isn’t the ultimate goal for Morrison, as he isn’t content just making it the NBA. His sights are high, and he plans on continuing to work and improve on his craft until he gets there. Until then, it’s all about helping this Celtics team get better as a unit and bringing an 18th banner in the 617.

“I’m not quite to the point where I want to be,” Morrison said. “I want to help this team get better in any way that I can, and hopefully keep continuing to climb throughout my career.”