Two months into this season, Josh Minott looked like a tremendous find for the Celtics.<\/p>\n
Six weeks later, he was shipped to one of the NBA\u2019s worst teams in a trade-deadline salary dump.<\/p>\n
Minott, who fell out of Boston\u2019s rotation in late December and was traded on Feb. 5, returned to TD Garden on Friday for the first time as a member of the Brooklyn Nets. It also was just the young wing\u2019s second game with his new club, as Brooklyn initially assigned him to the G League before recalling him earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Going from early-season starter on a championship contender to deep reserve on a lottery-bound also-ran can\u2019t have been easy for Minott, but Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said the 23-year-old has handled the move like a professional.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat personality,\u201d Fernandez said before Friday\u2019s game. \u201cYou could say that he\u2019s been a teammate in the group for a long time the way he just blended in right away. He knew what we were about. I sat down with him in my office. Sometimes you feel like it\u2019s going to be a quick conversation, and all of a sudden we were talking for like, 20, 30, minutes. And it was good to get to know this guy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality of the NBA sometimes, you know, there\u2019s trades, and it may be weird. But it\u2019s part of it, and he\u2019s done a great job just trying to right away be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Signed to a veteran minimum contract over the summer, Minott saw action in 28 of the Celtics\u2019 first 29 games, starting 10 and showcasing enticing three-and-D potential. But he eventually fell behind Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez on Boston\u2019s depth chart, then missed most of January with an ankle injury. He made just five appearances after Christmas, all in garbage time. The Celtics traded him for cash considerations.<\/p>\n
After the trade, Minott made three appearances with the Long Island Nets before finally making his Brooklyn debut on Thursday. He played the final five minutes of a 126-110 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, tallying one assist and two steals.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played in Long Island and did a great job,\u201d said Fernandez, whose young team entered Friday with a 15-43 record and a six-game losing streak. \u201cWe needed him to be in game shape, and I think he took advantage of those minutes, and now he\u2019s ready to play here. So (I\u2019m) very happy with him and trying to help him develop and see what we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n
Agent wowed by Mazzulla<\/p>\n
In a piece for HoopsHype<\/a> this week, longtime NBA agent Bernie Lee lavished praise on Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who blew Lee away during a free agent meeting last summer.<\/p>\n After the Celtics lost Jayson Tatum to injury and nearly half of their rotation to trades and free agency, Lee expected them to \u201ctake the opportunity to lower payroll, bottom out, and chase a Top 3 draft pick in what we can all see is a transformational draft\u201d \u2014 aka tank. Then he sat down with Mazzulla.<\/p>\n \u201cI, like everyone else, assumed they would do the same thing,\u201d Lee wrote. \u201cWhen free agency began, they requested a meeting with a client I had at the time who had underperformed for years and was going to be on a vastly reduced contract, with the thought that if he could prove he was healthy, his value would return. I looked at it as a great opportunity for both sides, but I also had my eyes open and expected in the meeting to be told of a different directive than competing for a championship in 2025\u20132026.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was until our meeting began at 6:01 p.m. on July 1st. I have done this agent thing for over 20 years, and I have participated in countless free-agent meetings for players of all levels, and I can honestly tell you I have never in my entire career been more impressed with a coach than I was with Joe Mazzulla.\u201d<\/p>\n (Lee did not identify the player. Real GM\u2019s list of his current and former clients<\/a> includes one who fits that description: former New York Knicks big man Precious Achiuwa, who ended up signing a tryout contract with Miami and now is with Sacramento.)<\/p>\n In their 20-minute meeting, Lee wrote, the agent \u201cquickly realized that (Mazzulla) was a human being who creates his own reality.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf I or anyone else thought for a second that he was a person who didn\u2019t look at what the Celtics were facing this year as an opportunity versus an impossibility, then it probably explained why I watch for a living and he\u2019s the man in the arena,\u201d Lee continued. \u201c\u2026 If anyone asked Joe to do anything other than compete like the world was about to end, they would probably only get the chance to ask him once. Fast-forward 58 games, and not shocking to me, Joe was right.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I am lucky enough to do this another 20-plus years, I highly doubt I will ever see another midstream pivot with this amount of success, and most importantly, a group that was built through adversity versus giving in to it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Celtics entered Friday\u2019s game with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference (38-20) and fourth-best in the NBA.<\/p>\n Roster moves coming?<\/p>\n The end of the Celtics\u2019 bench could look different when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.<\/p>\n