Maine Celtics

Maine Celtics
Maine Celtics logo
ConferenceEastern
LeagueNBA G League
Founded2009
HistoryMaine Red Claws
2009–2021
Maine Celtics
2021–present
ArenaPortland Exposition Building
LocationPortland, Maine
Team colorsGreen, black, brown, white
Main sponsorVistaprint
PresidentDajuan Eubanks
General managerJarell Christian
Head coachBlaine Mueller
OwnershipBoston Celtics
Affiliation(s)Boston Celtics
Championships0
Conference titles0
Division titles3 (2015, 2016, 2017)
Websitemaine.gleague.nba.com

The Maine Celtics are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo Building. The team debuted in the 2009–10 season as the Maine Red Claws and have since won three division titles. The Boston Celtics purchased the franchise in July 2019 from Maine Basketball, LLC, a company chaired by William Ryan, Jr., and renamed the team the Maine Celtics in 2021.

Franchise history

The Maine Red Claws logo, used from 2009 to 2021
The Maine Red Claws logo, used from 2009 to 2021

On February 25, 2009, the NBA Development League (D-League) awarded the city of Portland, Maine, with an expansion franchise. On July 21, 2009, the Red Claws announced Austin Ainge as the first head coach of the team. On April 2, 2009, "Red Claws" was announced as the winning name after a name-the-team contest, beating out Beacons, Crushers, Destroyers, Swarm, and Traps. The name and logo gave homage to the lobster fishing industry, a major economic engine of the New England area. The use of "Red" in the team's name also served to pay tribute to longtime Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach. During the 2009–10 season, the Red Claws were the only D-League team to sell out all 24 of their home games. This streak continued until the 2011–12 season, ending the streak at 48 consecutive games.

The Red Claws against the Dakota Wizards in the Portland Exposition Building in January 2011.

On June 21, 2012, the Red Claws announced that they had entered a hybrid affiliation with the Boston Celtics, making the Celtics the Red Claws' sole affiliate. For the team's first two seasons, their affiliation was split between the Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats. For its third season, the team's affiliation was split between Boston, Charlotte and the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Red Claws made their first playoff appearance in April 2013, entering the playoffs as the eighth seeded team and being swept by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in a best-of-three-game opening round series.

On July 16, 2014, the Red Claws announced that Mike Taylor would not return for a third season as the team's head coach. He had a 45–55 record as coach over two seasons with the team. He was replaced by Canadian Scott Morrison after 11 seasons as the head coach of Lakehead University's Lakehead Thunderwolves. Morrison spent the 2013–14 season as a D-League assistant. On June 21, 2017, Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics head coach, named him as an assistant coach with the Celtics. In 2017, the D-League rebranded as the NBA G League via a sponsorship with Gatorade.

On July 25, 2019, the Celtics announced they would purchase the Red Claws franchise from original owners Bill Ryan and Bill Ryan, Jr. Before the sale, the Red Claws had been one of the few remaining independently owned G League franchises. Their sale to the Celtics continued the trend of NBA teams purchasing their G League affiliates. The sale was finalized on October 15, 2019.

On December 7, 2019, Bryce Brown set a franchise record with scoring 11 of 11 three-pointers for the Red Claws in a 128–123 loss to the Delaware Blue Coats. The 2019–20 season was then curtailed in March 2020 by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic while the Red Claws were in first place in their division. The following 2020–21 season was then delayed due to the ongoing pandemic-related restrictions and eventually held at a single location in Orlando, Florida. However, the Celtics decided to not have the Red Claws participate and opted out of the season.

On May 24, 2021, the Boston Celtics announced the Red Claws had been rebranded the Maine Celtics beginning with the 2021–22 season.

Season-by-season

Season Division Regular season Postseason results
Finish Wins Losses Pct.
Maine Red Claws
2009–10 Eastern 4th 27 23 .540
2010–11 Eastern 5th 18 32 .360
2011–12 Eastern 6th 21 29 .420
2012–13 Eastern 3rd 26 24 .520 Lost First Round (Rio Grande Valley) 0–2
2013–14 Eastern 4th 19 31 .380
2014–15 Atlantic 1st 35 15 .700 Lost First Round (Fort Wayne) 0–2
2015–16 Atlantic 1st 31 19 .620 Lost First Round (Canton) 0–2
2016–17 Atlantic 1st 29 21 .580 Won First Round (Fort Wayne) 2–1
Lost Semifinals (Raptors 905) 0–2
2017–18 Atlantic 4th 17 33 .340
2018–19 Atlantic 5th 19 31 .380
2019–20 Atlantic 1st 28 14 .667 Season cancelled by COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Opted out of single-site season
Maine Celtics
2021–22 Eastern 10th 16 16 .500
2022–23 Eastern 4th 19 13 .594 Lost Quarterfinals (Cleveland) 100–113
Regular season record 305 301 .503 2009–present
Playoff record 2 10 .167 2009–present

Head coaches

# Head coach Term Regular season Playoffs Achievements
G W L Win% G W L Win%
1 Austin Ainge 2009–11 100 45 55 .450
2 Dave Leitao 2011–12 50 21 29 .420
3 Mike Taylor 2012–14 100 45 55 .450 2 0 2 .000
4 Scott Morrison 2014–17 150 95 55 .633 9 2 7 .221 NBA D-League Coach of the Year (2015)
5 Brandon Bailey 2017–19 100 36 64 .360
6 Darren Erman 2019–2020 42 28 14 .667
7 Jarell Christian 2021–2022 32 16 16 .500
8 Alex Barlow 2022–2023 32 19 13 .594 1 0 1 .000
9 Blaine Mueller 2023–present

Current roster

Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
G 3 Davison, JD (TW) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2002–10–03 Alabama
F/C Knight, Nathan (TW) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 253 lb (115 kg) 1997–09–20 William & Mary
C Queta, Neemias (TW) 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 248 lb (112 kg) 1999–07–13 Utah State
G 8 Smith, Marvin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1995–07–25 UNC Greensboro
G 9 Snell, Tony 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1991–11–10 New Mexico
Head coach
  • Blaine Mueller
Assistant coach(es)
  • Roy Enright
  • Allen Harris
  • Brooks Sales

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (P) Prospects
  • (NBA) On assignment from NBA affiliate
  • (TW) Two-way affiliate player
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: October 22, 2023

Players assigned from NBA teams

Players recalled by NBA teams

NBA affiliates


This page was last updated at 2023-11-10 19:04 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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