published on July 25, 2024 in Celeb Gist

Former Celtics GM Danny Ainge joins Utah Jazz as CEO

Danny Ainge is the new CEO of the Utah Jazz, the team announced Wednesday. The move serves as something of a homecoming for the longtime Boston Celtics executive, who starred in college at BYU.

“Joining the Jazz was a natural and perfect fit for me, as my roots in Utah are deep and strong,” Ainge, 62, said in a statement. In his 18 years of running the Celtics’ front office, Boston reached the NBA Finals twice, winning one championship, and made four other appearances in the Eastern Conference finals. Ainge stepped down in June after a first-round playoff loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

Ainge will report to new Jazz owner Ryan Smith, a technology businessman who purchased a majority share of the team in October 2020. Smith said Wednesday that the hiring of Ainge was part of an organizational philosophy of “adding the best talent to all facets of our organization,” which includes Coach Quin Snyder and General Manager Justin Zanik. In April, former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade bought into Smith’s ownership group.

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring Danny on board to work alongside Justin, Quin and me,” Smith said in a statement. “Danny will help make our organization stronger in pursuit of our collective goal — winning an NBA title.”

Danny Ainge, Utah's new CEO of Basketball, on leaving Boston: "I needed a break from Boston - and by the way my 26 years in Boston were an amazing experience." He will serve more in an advisory capacity with the Jazz.

— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) December 15, 2021

The Jazz, which began play in 1974, has never won an NBA championship. It came agonizingly close in 1997 and 1998, but teams featuring Karl Malone and John Stockton lost both times to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Utah notched the best record in the league last season but was upset in the Western Conference semifinals, despite taking a 2-0 series lead over a Los Angeles Clippers team that lost its best player, Kawhi Leonard, to a knee injury during the series.

With a 19-7 start entering Wednesday that placed it third in the West, the Jazz is again among the best teams in the league. It boasts all-stars in Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and a strong supporting cast, but Smith could be hoping that Ainge’s track record of making deals — which earned him the nickname “Trader Danny” — helps Utah add pieces to put it over the top.

Hired in 2003 as the Celtics’ director of basketball operations, Ainge’s most successful moves were the 2007 trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen that completed a “big three” with incumbent star Paul Pierce and propelled the franchise the following spring to its 17th NBA championship. In 2013, with the Pierce-Garnett era in Boston appearing to have run its course, Ainge dealt them to the Nets in a blockbuster package that delivered a bounty of high draft picks in return.

One of those picks turned into the top selection of the 2017 draft, which Ainge then traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for the third pick and a future first-rounder. The Celtics came out ahead on that swap by snaring Jayson Tatum at 3, while No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz was a disappointment for the 76ers.

Not all of Ainge’s moves worked as planned, including a 2017 trade for Kyrie Irving and the free agency signing that year of Gordon Hayward. The selections of Tatum and, with the third pick the year before, Jaylen Brown — neither of whom were obvious choices at the time — did leave the Celtics with a talented young core.

Smith praised the “acumen and experience” of Ainge, who was succeeded in Boston by former Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. According to the Jazz, Ainge will also serve as an alternative governor for Smith’s ownership group, making him eligible to represent the team at NBA Board of Governors meetings.

Excited for this next chapter with the Jazz! This is an amazing team with great leadership. Here we go! #TakeNote

— Danny Ainge (@danielrainge) December 15, 2021

ESPN reported that Smith and Ainge came to an agreement after discussing his possible role on a trip earlier this month to the Bahamas, where Smith caddied for Tony Finau at the PGA Tour’s Hero World Challenge.

“Ultimately, everything will always come down to Ryan as the owner to make tough decisions,” Ainge told ESPN, “but I think I can just help by adding information to the process of making those tough decisions as an organization.”

In his statement Wednesday, Ainge hailed the Jazz as “a team that has a tremendous foundation of players and people.”

“I am excited to collaborate with them, be a resource, and share the perspective I have,” he added, “as we work together to bring our fans the success that they deserve.”

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