Brad Stevens and the Celtics are following through on their objective to bolster Joe Mazzulla’s staff. And in a big way, too.

A week after the hiring of veteran assistant coach and three-time NBA champion Sam Cassell to serve as an assistant on Mazzulla’s staff, the Celtics have made another move, with Charles Lee hired to be the lead assistant on the Boston staff. Word of Lee’s hiring was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

• Charles Lee is finalizing a deal to join the Boston Celtics as the lead assistant coach, sources tell ESPN. Lee had been the associate head coach with Milwaukee and a finalist for the Toronto and Detroit head jobs. pic.twitter.com/t2WO5r2hHh

  — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 11, 2023

• Lee’s jump to the Celtics comes after five seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, where Lee served as a top assistant under then-Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. It was clear that Lee was a fast riser within the organization, too, as the team promoted him to associate head coach prior to the start of the 2022-23 season.

  Overall, the 38-year-old Lee has spent the last nine seasons in the NBA ranks, and coached under Budenholzer in seven of those nine seasons, dating back to Budenholzer’s time with the Atlanta Hawks.

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  Oct 1, 2022; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks associate head coach Charles Lee gives direction against the Memphis Grizzlies at Fiserv Forum. (Michael McLoone/USA TODAY Sports)

• The Bucks’ decision to fire Budenholzer after this year’s stunning first-round loss to Miami did not impact Lee’s status with the club, but it also didn’t lead to a bump up the proverbial depth chart either, as the Bucks opted to hire Toronto assistant Adrian Griffin over Lee for the team’s vacant head coaching gig.

  Lee did get an interview for the Milwaukee job, and was also considered a finalist for head coaching gigs in Toronto and Detroit, but ultimately lost out on all three of those jobs, with the Raptors gig going to Darko Rajakovic while Monty Williams got a gigantic bag in Detroit.

  If Lee’s name feels somewhat familiar, it’s not just because it’s shockingly close to Chucky’s name before he was put in a doll’s body (that’s Charles Lee Ray), but because he made the Celtics’ initial list of candidates when Brad Stevens led his search for a head coach following his move from coach to front office head back in 2021.

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  Jul 6, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) with assistant coach Charles Lee against the Phoenix Suns in game one of the 2021NBA Finals at Phoenix Suns Arena. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)

• The additions of Lee and Cassell give the Celtics a strong one-two punch behind Mazzulla, and inches the Celtics closer to building out what most would consider to be an NBA-quality staff. This was an obvious issue for the Celtics in 2022-23 following the departure of assistant Will Hardy, sudden promotion of Mazzulla following Ime Udoka’s suspension and eventual dismissal, and in-season departure of assistant coach Damon Stoudamire.

  The Celtics also lost another three assistants — Ben Sullivan, Aaron Miles, and Mike Moser — to Udoka and the Rockets in the immediate aftermath of the C’s season-ending loss to the Heat.

  That, as it stands right now, leaves the Celtics with an assistant coaching staff headlined by Lee and Cassell, and with holdovers Tony Dobbins and DJ MacLeay still listed on the staff. That would seemingly leave the Celtics about one or two more assistants shy of what most would consider a fully-staffed assortment of coaches.

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