East Notes: Celtics, Joe Mazzulla, Knicks, Raptors

Celtics

Joe Mazzulla will remain Celtics coach, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told reporters on Thursday.

“Joe’s experience now, you could probably measure in dog years, right? Because he’s now been in three Eastern Conference finals and a Finals,” Stevens said, via Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. “Now he’s been the head coach throughout one of those runs, I mean that’s an experience in and of itself.”

Mazzulla and the Celtics were eliminated by the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals after overcoming a 3-0 series deficit. They lost Game 7 in Boston.

“He’s a terrific leader,” Stevens said. “He’ll only get better at anything that he can learn from this year cause he’s constantly trying to learn and he’s accountable. Those leadership qualities are hard to find.”

• Mazzulla is expected to make some changes to the staff of assistants, with former Rockets coach Stephen Silas perhaps coming on board for next season, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.

Knicks

• GM Scott Perry will not be back with the Knicks next season, as his contract is set to expire this summer, per Steve Popper of Newsday.
• Former Timberwolves GM and current Knicks front office member Gerrson Rosas could become Perry’s replacement, should New York decide to fill the position, per Popper. Rosas and executive VP William Wesley already have a large say in personnel moves.
• Sources tell Popper that Perry is not involved in pre-draft workouts. Instead, his duties are being handled by being handled by director of pro scouting Frank Zanin and director of college scouting Walt Perrin, per Popper.

Raptors

• The Raptors are considering Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic among the candidates for their head-coaching vacancy, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Rajakovic has been an assistant since 2014 and has also spent time with the Thunder and Suns.
• Toronto is still determining which way to go with its roster this season. You can read out full story about it right here.