The Celtics brain drain isn’t finished, with a familiar name getting set to pluck one of Brad Stevens’ top lieutenants from the Boston basketball operations.
The Utah Jazz are hiring Celtics assistant general manager Austin Ainge and will make him the president of basketball operations, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Tim Bontemps reported Monday.
Austin Ainge is the son of former Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, who is currently the CEO of the Jazz. Danny Ainge brought Austin Ainge into the Celtics organization first as a head coach in the then-D League before eventually hiring him into the front office in 2011.
Austin Ainge has been in the Celtics’ front office since, deciding to stay with the team even after his father retired in 2021. That retirement was short-lived, lasting about six months, before the elder Ainge was named CEO of basketball operations and alternate governor of his home state club.
In a story for ESPN.com co-authored by Bontemps and Charania, there’s an interesting tidbit about how the hiring process supposedly played out.
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“(Jazz owner Ryan Smith) told ESPN that he led this hiring and informed Danny Ainge of his decision.”
If that’s how it truly played out for the Jazz, good for them, but it is slightly hard to believe Austin Ainge didn’t have a slight lead out of the gate based on, well, you know.