Departed assistant Darren Erman could potentially be replaced from within

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/06/boston_celtics_rumors_2015_dar.html



Boston Celtics rumors 2015: Departed assistant Darren Erman could potentially be replaced from within



Print Email Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com

on June 07, 2015 at 10:00 AM





The Boston Celtics could potentially replace departed assistant coach Darren Erman from within, team president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told the Boston Herald.

"It's not that we have to replace him," Ainge said. "There's only so much air in the room."

After news of Erman's relocation leaked last week, head coach Brad Stevens said he will take his time to figure out what's next for the staff. Losing reputable assistants is nothing foreign to him; he said it has happened "pretty much every summer I've been a coach."

Last summer, No. 1 assistant Ron Adams departed for the Golden State Warriors -- a move that ultimately prompted Stevens to add Erman to his staff. Ainge had re-hired the young defensive guru for the front office weeks earlier despite not knowing exactly what role he would serve.

After one year on Stevens' staff, Erman accepted an associate head coach position with the New Orleans Pelicans. The Celtics would have liked to keep the sharp basketball mind on their side, but could not provide similar upward mobility because nobody ahead of Erman planned to leave.



bob
MY NOTE:  What a tough situation for Danny and Brad.  They want to give a guy a career path but they're happy with the guys ahead of Erman on the coaching depth chart.  What do you do?  Do you go to Larranagga and ask him "So, Jay, do you have any offers you're considering?".  Granted, in the NBA, you have to ask permission to interview another team's coaches but still, what's Larranagga going to say besides "Nope, I'm stickin'".?


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Promoting from within is consistent with the Celtics tradition.  But it also narrows (dramatically) the field of candidates and makes it less likely that the "winner" will have the extensive defensive pedigree that would be desirable.  They don't need someone who's a Jack-of-all-trades including a little defensive ability.  They need a defensive specialist.

Sam