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Kendrick Perkins: Ace Bailey reportedly isn’t happy about being drafted by the Utah Jazz. The Jazz—under a new owner, Danny Ainge—young, full of energy. He’s not happy about it? Why not? Isn’t that your dream, bro? You wanted to fall to a team where you could showcase that you're a franchise player—wasn't that the case? Utah has one of the best fan bases in the entire league. So what’s the problem? I’ll tell you what the problem is: we have these vultures out here. Vultures preying on these kids. They find them in eighth or ninth grade, take them under their wing, give them money, pay their parents’ bills, buy them their first cars, put jewelry on them, clothes on their backs—and the families don’t realize there’s a hidden agenda. These folks had motives all along. I don’t know the man who’s managing Ace—not the agent, because he’s not qualified. I don’t know him, so I won’t speak on his name. But I will speak on the situation: he’s handled this all wrong. Completely wrong.
Carlos Boozer strode confidently through Zions Bank Basketball Center, the Utah Jazz training facility. Once upon a time, he walked this space as a player. Those were his All-Star days. His Olympian days. The days of Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko and the late, great Jerry Sloan. The days of Utah’s powder blue uniform. Today, Boozer is back with the organization, and, along with Avery Bradley, is a key cog in a front office tasked with selecting the fifth pick in Wednesday night’s NBA Draft. Utah’s war room will be different for Boozer, not only because he’s no longer a player, but also because the building has undergone renovations since his playing days. And we’re talking about a front office that has transitioned in general managers from Kevin O’Connor to Dennis Lindsey, to Justin Zanik, to Danny Ainge, and now to Austin Ainge.
If you guys get the number one pick, would you even listen to offers from others?” Ryan Smith: “Well, I have Danny Ainge running the franchise. He had the number one pick and moved back to get Jayson Tatum—which no one saw coming. So if anyone's open to it, it’s him.”
Stevens had no experience in an NBA front office when the Celtics named him Danny Ainge’s replacement in June 2021. Those with Stevens at Butler still believed he was more than qualified for the job. “Just being around him for so long, you’re like, he’s going to crush this,” said Shrewsberry. “He’s going to absolutely kill it.” The former Butler assistants have nodded their heads several times while watching the way Stevens has assembled the Celtics roster. They see his impact in the way his team has consistently avoided drama, secured buy-in and acquired players committed fully to their development. He has looked for all the same qualities he would have wanted at the school.
“The Jrue Holiday and Derrick White (trades), I’m like, those are Brad guys right there,” said Shrewsberry. “Good dudes. Great reputations. (They) have come from winning, really good places. Selfless. (They) can score and do stuff, but really dig in and guard and compete. I’m like, yeah, those two dudes fit. They fit him.” The whole team does. “The biggest thing he did (at Butler) was he never held anybody back,” said Hahn. “He always let people be who they were because he knew he recruited the right kind of guys in the system. It’s the same thing he’s done with Boston.
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Dwyane Wade on Utah Jazz: 'It's a slow build'
Getting a chance to understand and know the vision of the team, I think it’s having success because we’re in a reload of losing Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and coach Quin (Snyder). We brought in a new coach in Will Hardy, Danny Ainge, and Ryan as a new governor. Everything is new, and you have to have patience. You have to be patient in your rebuild. I think that’s what the Jazz have been doing while trying to build a culture and put together an organization that practices a championship mindset from the top and eventually trickles down to the players. It’s a slow burn. It’s a slow build. But you’ve got to be in this for the long haul. You don’t just walk into this and win championships and be successful. I think we’re all seeing that together. We’ve got a great leader in Ryan, a great leader in Danny, and a great leader in Will.
Sasha Vujačić: “So anyhow, Rudy (Tomjanovich) says, ‘He played for me before. You’re young. You’re coming from Europe. I think we’ll have a better chance with him.’ And I hadn’t even gotten to the locker room—I already called my agent. My agent at the time was also Kobe’s agent, Rob Pelinka. I was going crazy. They’re telling me, ‘Calm down. You might not be in his plan, but you're in the plan of the franchise.’ Then Kobe called me. Kobe calmed me down. I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ Funny fact—one of the teams I was supposed to go to was Boston. Danny Ainge and I had a great workout, and I was like, ‘Damn, do I just kill my dream?’”
Cameron Tabatabaie: Danny Ainge finds Isaiah Thomas for a hug after IT dropped 36 points for the Salt Lake City Stars pic.x.com/AEuKLCI6Nq
Andy Larsen: Jazz pull a victory from the jaws of defeat, beat Warriors 131-128. Jordan Clarkson superb, 31 points on 10-19 FG. Keyonte George hit the game winner, he had 26 points on 8-13 FG. Jazz get a win before the deadline. Danny Ainge didn't come to his seat 2H. PHX/LA/LA trip next.
Kyrie Irving said it was a dream to play together with Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant in Boston
Tim Bontemps: Kyrie Irving said he, Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant talked about playing together in Boston back in 2018, with the hope to do so eventually alongside Jayson Tatum. “It was a dream for Kyrie, AD, KD to be on one team and still keep JT and let him grow and then see how it goes.” AD said you guys talked about playing together back in 2018? Then, I was caught in a hallway talking to KD, and everybody was like, 'Hey, these two are working together.' Then the rumors started with AD around the same time. We all had that vision to play together in Boston. Danny Ainge had a large responsibility in that, trying to make it happen, make sure I stayed in Boston. But we had some young pieces in JT and JB and if we would have traded either one of them who knows if they win a championship. So the franchise had to do what was best for them, and I had to do what was best for me. So then it didn't necessarily make a lot of sense, because the pieces and assets we had, but now, in our older age, as they say, in our league, we get a chance to do something we envisioned awhile ago, when we were young kids, so it's exciting now. So the vision was you, KD and AD in Boston, at one time? Yeah. That has no foreshadowing either, on anything, guys. Just letting you know right now. (laughs) We were discussing in 2018, just for everybody at home that's watching, because I know all of these words are going to be looked at. But yeah, in 2018, it was a dream for Kyrie, AD, KD to be on one team and still keep JT and let him grow and then see how it goes. But back then, those young guys weren't ready to be in trade rumors, man. Our locker room splintered after that, once they found out. It wasn't JB or JT, but our locker room splintered once they started figuring out the trade rumors, and our season started going in a whole different way.
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Danny Ainge had only 30 minutes notice he was facilitating Luka Doncic trade to Lakers
Even the Utah Jazz, the third team that facilitated the transaction by collecting two second-round picks for absorbing Jalen Hood-Schifino, didn't know Doncic and Davis were a part of the deal until about an hour before it was completed, league sources said. Even Jazz President, Danny Ainge, who hails from the Lakers' hated rival, the Boston Celtics, had only about 30 minutes notice, sources said, that Los Angeles was about to acquire Doncic to be the new face of its franchise.
6. Boston Celtics. Brad Stevens has only been in charge for three full seasons since he moved up from the sideline to replace Danny Ainge, but the rest of the Celtics’ organizational infrastructure has been there roughly forever, including vice president of basketball operations Mike Zarren and assistant general managers Austin Ainge and Dave Lewin. The Celtics may have built their team on the elder Ainge’s 2013 swindle of the Brooklyn Nets that yielded the draft picks that became Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but it was Boston’s more recent work to build around those two under Stevens that won great admiration.
Al Jefferson on being traded for Kevin Garnett: I understood from Boston's point of view
Al Jefferson on being traded: I understood from Boston's point of view. KG at that time, you already had Ray Allen. I was thinking, you know, first KG said he wasn't coming. So, it's going to be me, Paul, and Ray Allen, and all of a sudden, I'll never forget. I'm in Jackson, Mississippi, heading to the airport to fly to Boston. Danny Ainge called me and said, 'Yeah, don't come. The trade is probably about to go down.' I said, 'What trade?' He said, 'Yeah, it's probably going to happen.' I appreciated that he told me, and for drafting me.”
Al Jefferson: "I get to the hotel, and I’m sick as a dog the next morning—completely messed up. My workout was terrible. I was off the whole time. I can’t even remember everything that happened. But that’s how I knew Danny Ainge really wanted to draft me, because they offered to have me come back for a second workout. I was too ashamed to go. I mean, after that performance, I couldn’t show my face again. After that, though, I had good workouts with other teams."
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