The Celtics got bounced out of the playoffs nearly as quickly as they entered, and it appears their early exit led to some major changes from an organizational perspective.
It’s not often that we see a head coach replace a general manager, yet that’s exactly what the Celtics are electing to do. Danny Ainge officially stepped down as President of Basketball Operations on Wednesday, and Brad Stevens was promoted to replace him. And while it’s possible that Ainge had been mentoring Stevens for awhile, the fact remains that the 44-year-old has no front office experience.
And that’s why the move has been met with so much scrutiny. But it looks like it had been in the works for awhile, in hearing what Stevens had to say about the timeline and rationale behind the move.
“The thought of going into this position, you know, was never even a thought because Danny was here and he was the best at it and he was the best to work for,” Stevens said, via MassLive. “When he decided to move on and retire and, you know, go enjoy more time with his family and we talked a little about it whenever that was. I don’t remember the timeline, it’s been a while now. It wasn’t six years ago, it was within the last couple months.
“Then it just kind of moved down the road. (Celtics co-owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca), you know, both talked to me a little bit about it. I talked to Wyc for a while one day and we decided that was what was best.”
Normally we’d say a major roster shakeup would be in the works as well, but Stevens may still have a soft spot for his guys. Time will tell. It’s going to be an interesting summer.
