Wyc Grousbeck says he isn't afraid to say the word "rebuild." But he insists the Celtics aren't doing it.
Appearing on "The Greg Hill Show" for the annual Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon, the Celtics' owner said he expects the team to be highly competitive this year with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both returning — along with veteran depth pieces being added to the lineup.
"We're looking at it as, we've got to take a step forward from last year," Grousbeck said. "Last year was too up and down. We all lived through it. I'm not afraid of any words, basically. I've been on this show a lot and I've said a bunch of words if you go back through the archives. But it doesn't feel like a rebuild when we had two young All-Stars last year, and still have them this year. We have Marcus Smart and Robert Williams playing well. We extended them. It doesn't feel like a classic rebuild. It feels like let's take a step forward."
The Celtics have been handing out a torrent of extensions, signing Smart, Williams and Josh Richardson to longer deals all within the last week. Notably, the contracts provide the Celtics with the financial flexibility to complete a blockbuster sign-and-trade in 2022-23.
It's been a busy offseason for Brad Stevens, who's also unloaded Kemba Walker, brought back Al Horford and signed Dennis Schroder on a discounted one-year deal. The Celtics also hired Ime Udoka as their new coach.
With those changes in mind, Grousbeck pushed back against the notion that the Celtics have just been tinkering with their team.
"I would say it's been a pretty comprehensive reset," he said. "Brad moved into tema president of basketball, and five or six people have changed in and out. The whole vibe, we'll just have to see how it goes. We're taking a very deliberate approach to try and get back all the way. And if that's this year or if this year builds towards that, we'll obviously have to see. Almost the entire team is in their early to mid 20s, and has a path ahead of it. Let's just leave it at that. It's going to be a building process, and we're really excited about it."
Grousbeck says the hiring of Udoka, who previously coached under Gregg Popovich, is one of the biggest reasons for his optimism.
"We hired Ime with the goal of getting to new places and doing better than we're doing and just going to another level," he said. "He was an assistant over there in Tokyo with Jayson, and that mind, and that mindset, and the fact that that team had some adversity and lost a couple of games, and then went on to win the gold, and then Jayson was immediately talking about the Celtics. He's everything we want in a player."
