The Boston Celtics’ season came to a crushing end in the playoffs, as they threw away a 3-1 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in their first-round series. Changes are coming this offseason, and while everyone is speculating about the moves that could be made to the roster, the coaching staff could also look quite different next year.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla is going to reprise his role with the team for the upcoming season, but the makeup of the staff around him could look different. While Mazzulla may look to move on from some folks who are part of his staff, reports indicate that he may end up losing one of his top lieutenants, Tyler Lashbrook, to the Portland Trail Blazers head coach opening.
Tyler Lashbrook Set to Interview for Trail Blazers Head Coach Opening
During his short stint as Boston’s head coach, Mazzulla has become notorious for being one of the most unique basketball minds in the world. Mazzulla bucks conventional wisdom by having his team shoot an otherworldly number of threes, and he frequently goes viral for his blunt quotes or unorthodox coaching practices.
In just three years, Lashbrook has quickly become one of his most trusted assistants. After spending nearly a decade with the Philadelphia 76ers, Lashbrook initially joined the Celtics in 2023 as a player development coach. For the 2024-25 campaign, Lashbrook worked as the head coach of the C’s G-League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, before shifting back to the NBA to work as part of Mazzulla’s staff again for the 2025-26 season.
The Trail Blazers have turned heads with their coaching search, as they are looking to cut costs at every possible turn. With that in mind, the team has identified some under-the-radar candidates, with Lashbrook being one such example. In fact, Lashbrook has already earned an in-person interview for Portland’s head coach opening, indicating that he is a serious candidate for the job.
“Sources say that Celtics assistant coach Tyler Lashbrook has also advanced to an in-person interview with Portland for the team’s head coaching vacancy,” NBA insider Jake Fischer reported in a post on X.
Celtics Hoping Tyler Lashbrook Doesn’t Leave for the Trail Blazers
GettyThe Celtics could lose Tyler Lashbrook to the Trail Blazers head coach opening
Mazzulla could probably benefit from adding a senior assistant coach to join his staff, but in a perfect world, the changes to his staff would be made on his end. Losing a guy like Lashbrook would simply create another void that would need to be filled, which is obviously less than ideal. The Celtics already have a lot of work to do this offseason, so having to replace an assistant coach they don’t want to lose would be a tough pill to swallow.
Nothing is official yet, but the Trail Blazers appear to be quite interested in Lashbrook. With their head coach being so strange, though, it feels like anything could happen here. It will be worth keeping tabs on Lashbrook’s status to see if he ends up accepting this job, but even if he doesn’t, he could wind up angling for a promotion with another team in the league when all is said and done.
Celtics Reportedly Could Lose Key Coach to Trail Blazers