Utah Jazz make massive change in front office with new hire
The Utah Jazz have just made a major decision about the construction of their front office. Per NBA insider and ESPN analyst Adrian Wojnarowski, the team is hiring Danny Ainge as their alternate governor and CEO of the organization. General Manager Justin Zanick will retain his position, with Ainge overseeing basketball.
Whether this hiring changes anything about how the Jazz conduct business remains to be seen. A glance at Ainge’s track record as the long-time Executive of Director Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics suggests that it at least has the potential to.
Assessing New Utah Jazz CEO’s Track Record
Overall, Ainge’s record with the Boston Celtics could perhaps best be described as polarizing. He certainly earned the nickname Trader Danny by taking some big swings, whether or not they all connected.
Ainge is probably best known for how he formed, and how he dissolved, Boston’s Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. In June of 2007, Ainge orchestrated a trade to land Ray Allen. He sent the Seattle SuperSonics a package headlined by Wally Szczerbiak in return.
Ainge followed that up by authoring a blockbuster to bring the Big Ticket to Beantown, sending the Minnesota Timberwolves five players and two first-round picks for Garnett. Having collected two star players to complement longtime Celtic Paul Pierce, the Celtics had a championship caliber roster, and they made good on that promise in the 2007-08 season.
Flashforward to 2013, and it seemed clear that the partnership had run its course. With the Celtics floundering in the standings, Ainge sent Garnett and Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a total of five first round picks. Jaylen Brown was selected with one of those picks, while another was effectively traded to acquire Jayson Tatum on draft night.
That seems like an impressive track record: Ainge formed a superteam, and when it lost its superpowers, he disassembled it for one of the league’s brightest young cores. However, his tenure with the Celtics can’t be viewed exclusively as a success. Over recent years, Ainge has developed a reputation for “almost” acquiring players, and in the 14 years since that NBA Championship, it’s fair to say the team has underperformed.
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Hopefully, Ainge finds more sustained success with the Utah Jazz. Regardless, his reputation suggests that he should at least make things interesting.