Jazz hire Ainge as Alternate Governor/CEO
- Thread starter 128
- Start date
"CEO of basketball operations" and "Overseeing basketball decisions" are pretty nice titles for a consultant.
yea, CEO is full-on employment
may have received some sort of ownership stake with Alt Governor status
wonder if Austin joins him
Full Woj story, no quotes yet. Formal announcement later today.
View: https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1471196501208702989
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32876092/danny-ainge-joining-utah-jazz-front-office-alternate-governor-ceo-sources-say
View: https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1471196501208702989
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32876092/danny-ainge-joining-utah-jazz-front-office-alternate-governor-ceo-sources-say
if so, hopefully for not the package of Tatum+RWIII . . .
Also hoping for Danny that there are fewer Chipotles in SLC and he can keep his Na blood levels down.
Thanks again, DA, for 2008 (and 1984 and 1986)
Yeah that’s what I get for rush reading and just seeing the “alternate governor”. My bad.
And you’d think Austin would, just maybe not immediately. Jazz are really freaking good, but this Is the year where they need to make real noise in the playoffs.
I'm a little surprised he took such an intense role.
I assumed his health situation dictated less work
This certainly adds an interesting wrinkle around a trade season where the Jazz are rumored to be active.
even the most ardent Jaylen fans wouldn't put a kibosh on Spider for Brown
Last edited:
It means he's a designee to stand in for the owner at board of governor's meetings when the "owner" can't make it. NBA likes to call the owners "governors" in part because of the optics of some conversations that have happened around old white owners and black players have looked bad.
Well, I guess I have a new Western Conference team. I wish Danny all success that doesn’t come at the expense of the Cs.
I always assumed Wyc & Co let him walk away on his own rather than firing him but we will never know for certain. This played out pretty much as I expected.
Guess he doesn't have to be concerned with chasing plum free agents...they're not coming
wonder if he moves Bojan or Ingles?
The question for me isn't whether Ainge's hiring impacts the Jazz' moves. Given the timing, you have to assume he will have input. To me the bigger issue is whether Ainge's presence in Utah means its more or less likely that Boston could act as a third team in any Jazz deals.
Again, if the Jazz are dealing one of their offensive-minded wings to a team that doesn't really need their services (but money matches and the ++ is attractive to Utah's counterparty), it seems like an opportunity for a third team to jump in and take the Jazz outgoing player in exchange for more future assets, salary relief etc.
Does Ainge need to absolutely win any deal he does with Stevens?
Again, if the Jazz are dealing one of their offensive-minded wings to a team that doesn't really need their services (but money matches and the ++ is attractive to Utah's counterparty), it seems like an opportunity for a third team to jump in and take the Jazz outgoing player in exchange for more future assets, salary relief etc.
Does Ainge need to absolutely win any deal he does with Stevens?
I’m surprised one wasn’t moved last summer. He’d seemingly have to move one of them.
Gay and Royce have both been good plus Clarkson is instant offense from the bench
Jingles is a fan fav and maybe re-signs on the cheap this summer?
I hear what you guys are saying, but their "corner the market on 40% three shooters" strategy seems to be working for them.
What players on Utah would the C's want besides the obvious 2? Bojan and Ingles don't really fit into the long term plan and Ingles is a FA at the end of the year. Bojan would have a year left. Bojan for another year would be nice but it will also be his age 33 season. I wouldn't want to re-sign him.
I could see Utah maybe wanting Smart or some other non Jays if they do move Bojan, Ingles or both. I can't see the C's having any serious interest in anyone on Utah other than Mitchell and Gobert.
If the price is cheap, yeah give me Bojan. It's a short term fix to what has been a long (mid?) term problem tho.
Article from Woj and Tim McMahon:
The Utah Jazz hired Danny Ainge to oversee basketball operations, naming him alternate governor and CEO of Jazz Basketball and the Smith Entertainment Group on Wednesday.
Ainge will work closely with Jazz general manager Justin Zanik, who runs the team's day-to-day operations, and an ownership group that includes new owner Ryan Smith and former NBA star Dwyane Wade.
"Rarely do you get an opportunity to come into a franchise that is this close to being a special team," Ainge told ESPN, referring to the success of the Jazz, who had the NBA's best record last season and are currently third in the Western Conference standings at 19-7. "It's a very unique opportunity for all of those reasons."
Ainge stepped down as the Boston Celtics' president of basketball operations in June and now returns to the NBA with Smith, his longtime friend and fellow Brigham Young University alum. Ainge, a college basketball All-American at BYU, is a popular figure in Salt Lake City.
Smith invited Ainge to join him on a recent trip to the Bahamas for Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge golf tournament, where Smith was caddying for the PGA Tour's Tony Finau. Smith pitched Ainge on the role with the Jazz during the trip, and they came to an agreement before returning to Utah.
"If you have D.A. sitting 20 minutes away in Utah, you put him to work, right?" Smith told ESPN. "Everyone has always asked, 'Is this the plan?' Well, it definitely wasn't Danny's plan until last week."
Ainge spent 18 years as the Celtics' top basketball executive, winning the 2008 NBA title and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017, 2018 and 2020. Ainge was the NBA's executive of the year in 2008.
Ainge said he needed to spend the past six months "playing a lot of golf and visiting family and decompressing" before considering a return to the NBA.
"I've never been ready to talk about this before, but Ryan and I had a chance to spend a lot of time together," Ainge said. "We hashed it out, and we were both excited about this opportunity. I think it was the timing more than anything."
Ainge's hiring comes in the wake of former executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey moving into a consultant's role this summer after building the franchise into a Western Conference championship contender. Lindsey drafted All-Stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell and hired coach Quin Snyder.
"We're in a position of strength to move to another position of strength," Smith said. "We'll be able to have this role be a little different than maybe some in the past. With everything that Quin's doing with the team, it's actually a really good spot. I'm also somewhat active with the team, I would say, like any of the modern ownership groups are. I think it gives Danny a unique opportunity to come in and just help. I think Danny's at a point in his career where he just wants to elevate people."
Jazz president Jim Olson will continue to run the team's business operations. Ainge said the franchise's basketball decisions will be "a collaborative" effort.
"We have great people with Quin and Justin and obviously the ownership group also," Ainge said. "Ultimately, everything will always come down to Ryan as the owner to make tough decisions, but I think I can just help by adding information to the process of making those tough decisions as an organization."
The Utah Jazz hired Danny Ainge to oversee basketball operations, naming him alternate governor and CEO of Jazz Basketball and the Smith Entertainment Group on Wednesday.
Ainge will work closely with Jazz general manager Justin Zanik, who runs the team's day-to-day operations, and an ownership group that includes new owner Ryan Smith and former NBA star Dwyane Wade.
"Rarely do you get an opportunity to come into a franchise that is this close to being a special team," Ainge told ESPN, referring to the success of the Jazz, who had the NBA's best record last season and are currently third in the Western Conference standings at 19-7. "It's a very unique opportunity for all of those reasons."
Ainge stepped down as the Boston Celtics' president of basketball operations in June and now returns to the NBA with Smith, his longtime friend and fellow Brigham Young University alum. Ainge, a college basketball All-American at BYU, is a popular figure in Salt Lake City.
Smith invited Ainge to join him on a recent trip to the Bahamas for Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge golf tournament, where Smith was caddying for the PGA Tour's Tony Finau. Smith pitched Ainge on the role with the Jazz during the trip, and they came to an agreement before returning to Utah.
"If you have D.A. sitting 20 minutes away in Utah, you put him to work, right?" Smith told ESPN. "Everyone has always asked, 'Is this the plan?' Well, it definitely wasn't Danny's plan until last week."
Ainge spent 18 years as the Celtics' top basketball executive, winning the 2008 NBA title and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017, 2018 and 2020. Ainge was the NBA's executive of the year in 2008.
Ainge said he needed to spend the past six months "playing a lot of golf and visiting family and decompressing" before considering a return to the NBA.
"I've never been ready to talk about this before, but Ryan and I had a chance to spend a lot of time together," Ainge said. "We hashed it out, and we were both excited about this opportunity. I think it was the timing more than anything."
Ainge's hiring comes in the wake of former executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey moving into a consultant's role this summer after building the franchise into a Western Conference championship contender. Lindsey drafted All-Stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell and hired coach Quin Snyder.
"We're in a position of strength to move to another position of strength," Smith said. "We'll be able to have this role be a little different than maybe some in the past. With everything that Quin's doing with the team, it's actually a really good spot. I'm also somewhat active with the team, I would say, like any of the modern ownership groups are. I think it gives Danny a unique opportunity to come in and just help. I think Danny's at a point in his career where he just wants to elevate people."
Jazz president Jim Olson will continue to run the team's business operations. Ainge said the franchise's basketball decisions will be "a collaborative" effort.
"We have great people with Quin and Justin and obviously the ownership group also," Ainge said. "Ultimately, everything will always come down to Ryan as the owner to make tough decisions, but I think I can just help by adding information to the process of making those tough decisions as an organization."
was thinking Danny plays the role of McHale this time around and does the Cs a solid
19-7, blow it up! I know you are joking but KG was a little different. The Wolves went 33-49 and 32-50 in KG's last 2 seasons.
Mitchell for Hernangomez, Schroeder, Langford, Nesmith, R. Williams, Pritchard, Fernando, Freedom works in the trade machine.
My question isn't will he do them a favor as much as would he actively try to block their involvement or demand more from their end if they act as a party to any multi-team deals. At present, Utah is not a good match for the Celtics tradewise but they are rumored to be active in the market and some of the names mentioned as outgoings could potentially help Boston if the cost isn't prohibitive. Nobody here has the answer but it would be interesting to know how Ainge and Stevens really feel about one another.
On the court, no doubt. I meant that I expected one of their contracts to be moved once Gobert’s deal kicked in. Long term it isn’t sustainable to keep both unless the Jazz get the go-ahead to pay tax out of the azz.
The C's would probably be worse after that trade, though temporary. It'd be interesting if they could fill out the rest of their roster on the fly during the season. Next season, they'd obviously be 100 times better.
Though, with a closer look, there's no Grant in your trade. So really they'd desperately need a back up C or starting C and they'd be good to go. Let Mitchell play PG. Meh, it's amazing how much drek is on this roster. They could do an 8 for 1 and only need to acquire 1 player to fill out a rotation of 8. I guess that's any team though.
I love your thinking. But no need to trade PP or more importantly, RWIII (or even Freedom)
Ride with:
Smart
DM
JB
JT
RWIII
Bench:
Big: Average Al
Small: PP
Makes me wonder who would be harder to replace, JRich or TL. I'm going to guess JRich, especially at his price. Bigs are just too easy to acquire that I'd actually have to think about who I'd rather move. TL has age on his side but JRich isn't exactly old. TL also has 4 years left with JRich 1. I'm not sure that's an advantage for TL if you buy into the easily replaceable big theory.
None of this is going to happen anyway. I do wonder how much trade value TL has. He's still on his rookie contract to as far as trades are concerned. Not sure if that's a plus or minus either though.
I'm always a fan of making up trades. If the Kings really want to make the playoffs at any price, offer TL, Schroder and Hernangomez for Haliburton and Bagley. Bagley is just to make the contracts work but he'd also probably be the 3rd center behind Al and Freedom. Kings desperately need a C and they get one for 4 years. They also get a replacement for Haliburton and unload Bagley in the process. Of course, this one actually makes sense on both sides.
That's true, but how many expensive wings do you need if you have DM, JB, and JT? Not many minutes left.
I also don't think RWIII's efficiency is that easy to replace. But he's a binky of mine, so maybe I'm overvaluing him.
The Celtics need to immediately trade for Justice Winslow, package him along with PP and RL for Gobert.
Maybe if we add a pick to that, they might listen. They really seem to want Bagley out of there.
He's a good passer but that's not exactly a rare skill for a big these days. It's not often put to use, either.
It's early, but so far the numbers suggest TL is less efficient the more he plays. That's the case with most NBA players. He takes quite a dip, though. All of his rate stats are down bigly, besides TO... which you'd want to be down. His usage is way down as well, despite the minute bump. Even on a per game level, he's averaging fewer assists, steals, and blocks despite playing 8+ minutes per game. That 2 big lineup though. To be fair, TL has been averaging 21.4 mpg over the last 7 and his rate stats haven't bounced back but he's also returning from an inactive stretch. Most of us knew he'd be less effective with more playing time but the advanced stats aren't pretty. That doesn't tell everything though, some of it is just his role and who he's playing aside.
TL and Schroder is less than $10 mil. The right team adding both could be a difference maker. That team isn't the Kings and the return we get probably won't be Haliburton... but packaged together, it should have some value. The trading team gets long term value in TL and adds 2 players to their rotation, possibly without moving one. That would most likely require punting on this year, though.
edit: Coby White and Patrick Williams for TL and Schroder. Williams is out for the year with an injury and White's had a slow start to the year and doesn't really fit the window.
"I need to be at a place where the consequences of my mistakes are less but the pay is the same."
- Lots of people who left the Boston sports scene.
- Lots of people who left the Boston sports scene.
That’s a pretty tough goddamn standard to hold Ainge to. This team has been pretty damn competitive for the last decade-plus. With some different injury luck they have four banners instead of one. And it’s not like they haven’t been fun to watch during that time.
I'll always wonder how things would have turned out had Hayward not suffered a catastrophic injury five minutes into his Celtic debut.
if all it took was adding a 1st to TL/#41/DS it would be done tomorrow.
Haliburton will be SGA by the 2023 playoffs
