Brad Stevens: President of Basketball Ops

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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When was the last time you made a post that wasn't a pedantic reminder that we don't have access to all information?
Was my post directed at you? This forum stands out for me at taking small bits of information and creating whole cloth narratives out of them. Its like we miss the Glob columnists of old who liked to "shape" the stories.

In any event, you do you and I will do me.

Back on topic, you wonder if the whispers of this affected the team's performance, especially down the stretch. In retrospect, its feels like it certainly could have been a factor.
 

bakahump

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I wonder if Jayson Tatums "Thats not my job" comments got Wyc to immediately hit the speed dial and call him.
"So yeah Jayson, been meaning to mention how Danny is probably gonna step down....Oh yea we all LOOOOVE Brad. I am thinking . . ."
 

kfoss99

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I think once his comments came out about players and their irrelevant voices became widely known, and his lack or awareness of racial tension, he was a dead man Euro-stepping.
I was thinking that was a big mistake by Ainge, especially coming off last year, where the Players flexed their leadership off the court. Looks like it may have contributed to him losing his job.
 

Ale Xander

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Please no Kidd, please no Kidd, please no Kidd.

No wife-beaters please of any kind.
 

Cellar-Door

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Hate the Kidd rumor, not high on Pierce either.

I'd like to see a fresh face:
Udoka from BKN
Bryant from NYK
maybe even.... Billups?
 

cheech13

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Jason Kidd must have a phenomenal agent with the way he is instantly connected to every good job opening.
 

Auger34

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View: https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1400101209546051586


Haynes reporting that Jason Kidd and Lloyd Pierce are both in consideration. If that's the way the team goes, I'm not going to be pleased. Kidd has always been awful, and the Hawks became a much better team once Pierce was gone.
I was going to post this in another thread where everyone was shitting on Lloyd Pierce but Brad was a HUGE fan of his.

Both of those names don’t inspire much confidence. In fact they’re both pretty awful. Hopefully it’s a smokescreen and someone else is hired
 

PedroKsBambino

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Kidd is an awful person as well as a bad coach. I cannot imagine that they will seriously consider him---and if they do I will be very worried about their new decision making.

I can, however, easily imagine his agent saying that he will be a candidate since the one thing he has done as a 'coach' is puff himself up and seek every promotion and higher-profile gig on teh market
 

bankshot1

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I think the coach hire has to be someone with some NBA experience who can hit the ground running in the NBA. Brad's going to be busy on the GM learning curve, and turning down the opportunities to getting screwed on trade offers for J&J.
 

Light-Tower-Power

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Wonder if Becky Hammon gets an interview at least? Not usually a bad choice to pick from the Pop coaching tree, and she seems to be very well respected by players across the league.
 

Cesar Crespo

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I mean, I love it mostly precisely because I was looking for a 76ers style reset. Very reasonable to have an instant reaction.
I love that Ainge is gone. I knew I'd be happy, just not this happy. So basically, I'd be happy with almost anyone other than Ainge.
 

bakahump

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Could be lots of people. Also I think we too often think of these guys as TV Villains or Heros.

Maybe They sat around a table and Austin Said (like many or Sosh) "hey I love Brad but we need to shake things up". Maybe it was Wyc himself. Doesnt mean they didnt think alot of Brad.

Also Maybe Danny (and Wyc) knew that Danny was leaving. Losing both Stevens and Ainge would have created chaos. So Danny says "No....we keep Brad" knowing they would need him.

Sometimes people do the right thing for the right reasons with the info they have and are not Machiavellian back stabbers.
 

Clears Cleaver

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Stevens is probably doing this until coach K dies or quits, then takes over at Duke.

The C's are are talent depleted and have little salary cap solutions short of getting rid of Kemba in a package with Tatum or Brown, so its a rebuild regardless. There's no upside in the Basketball Ops job in next 3-4 years. BS was likely burned out, his players started to tune him out, he realized he couldn't get all out effort every night like he did in first couple years, so...move up, get paid and then go back to college when Duke opens up.
 

PedroKsBambino

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I'll tell you what I'd love, but which probably isn't in the cards: Stevens brings on Sam Hinkie as an advisor for the first year or two as a GM.
 

fairlee76

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You go for one 45 minute dog walk and all hell breaks loose...

I realize Billups has very limited coaching experience but he really intrigues me as a candidate. A lot of talk about this year's team being soft and listless on this board. I don't see that happening with Billups as coach.

Please, god, no Jason Kidd or the guy that the Hawks would not play for.
 

RG33

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Stevens is probably doing this until coach K dies or quits, then takes over at Duke.

The C's are are talent depleted and have little salary cap solutions short of getting rid of Kemba in a package with Tatum or Brown, so its a rebuild regardless. There's no upside in the Basketball Ops job in next 3-4 years. BS was likely burned out, his players started to tune him out, he realized he couldn't get all out effort every night like he did in first couple years, so...move up, get paid and then go back to college when Duke opens up.
This post is the equivalent of hiring Jason Kidd as the next Coach of the Boston Celtics. I don’t like it, I don’t want it, and I wish it didn’t exist.
 

Caspir

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I'd happily take Juwan Howard, and he has some Riley/Spo grooming so it would be sweeter if he turned out to be a home run. Agreed they need a former player and not another college coach or X's and O's guy. Someone who has been on the court would make a big difference, IMO.

I'm not sure Howard is leaving Michigan for this job though, crazy as it sounds.
 

Cellar-Door

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I was going to post this in another thread where everyone was shitting on Lloyd Pierce but Brad was a HUGE fan of his.

Both of those names don’t inspire much confidence. In fact they’re both pretty awful. Hopefully it’s a smokescreen and someone else is hired
Pierce could be okay. I wasn't impressed with his season this year, but the year before they did well, and their young guys developed well under him, I don't know if we have enough data on him to see if he's really a bad coach or things just snowballed on him this year.

Kidd is both a mediocre coach and a bad human being.

I mentioned some first time head coaches upthread, but if they want a guy with a lot of experience Hollins or Gentry makes some sense.
 

bankshot1

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I've no idea who can or can't coach in the NBA, but I like the way Kenny "The Jet" Smith communicates the game and seems smart and a genuinely decent man. Kind of like Doc. I think he commands respect. But he'd probably never leave TNT's desk
 

radsoxfan

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So interesting, wow.

I think highly of Brad as a basketball mind, and am hopeful in his new role. He was certainly involved in at least the draft side of things over the years, lots of quotes about how closely he worked worked with the FO on that (for better or worse).

Count me as another person very hopeful Zarren stays on. That would definitely be important.

Please no Kidd. Please Please Please no Kidd.
 

mauf

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I think Danny Ainge is a top-notch personnel guy and am sad to see him go. But he’s 62 and has had health problems; this is almost certainly what’s best for him personally.

Short of hiring someone who has been a successful GM elsewhere — and I’m not aware of anyone like that who’s available — I’m not really sure what kind of experiences are most predictive of success as an NBA GM. So I don’t know what to think about Stevens’ elevation. I guess I’m fine with it.
 

OurF'ingCity

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David Fizdale
Chauncey Billups
Sam Cassell

all reasonable choices.
The latter two, sure. Fizdale? Blech. His career record is 71-134 and he hasn't been able to keep a coaching job for even two full seasons. The Knicks were atrocious under him - that's obviously not all on him but their relative success this year makes pretty clear that he was certainly a part of the problem there.
 

teddykgb

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I will be livid if they maneuver all this to end up with Kidd as coach. That’s a disaster scenario to me. Not enamored either Pierce either it seems Atlanta’s rise after he left is a strong data point that he didn’t know how to maximize his roster.

This is all very unnerving to me. I can’t believe how optimistic some of you are about a coach being able to make GM decisions.
 

128

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How can people "love" or "hate" this news. Its literally breaking and we clearly don't have all the details. But if you were looking for your 76ers reset, here it is.

Based on the pace and timing, this has been in the works so you wonder if they already have their HC candidate lined up. I suspect he won't be a ref whisperer (screamer?) like many here seem to feel this team is lacking but who knows.
This is exactly like those absurd WINNERS/LOSERS stories posted a few hours after every NBA draft.
 

Auger34

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Wonder if Becky Hammon gets an interview at least? Not usually a bad choice to pick from the Pop coaching tree, and she seems to be very well respected by players across the league.
Awesome suggestion and I think this is who they end up hiring
 

8slim

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Stunning news, even though an Ainge departure from the GM role has been rumored for a while. Reading the news pieces this morning, it struck me that I'd somehow forgotten how long his tenure has been -- 18 years on the job, and 62 years old (please let me look like Danny at age 62!).

I'll be at the front of the line in the "Thanks, Danny" thread. Cs basketball was really a joy to follow for a solid dozen seasons from 2007 to 2019 (save for the 2014 reset year). It's a shame the Kyrie signing turned out to be such a mess, and that Hayward got hurt. The pieces were there for another title contending run, just didn't happen.

Will be interesting to see what kind of GM chops Brad has. I have a nagging suspicion that he'll get the coaching bug sooner rather than later. At 44 I can't see him walking away from that role for too long, but maybe I'm wrong and he's more Ainge than I think.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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In addition to possible wariness from ownership anyway, Ainge himself probably wasn't excited about seeing through this retooling around the Jays. First off, hasn't Danny had a few health scares on the job? I bet he was getting pressure from his family that he couldn't be much longer for this job. On top of that are the stories about resistance from other GMs who felt Danny was trying to always fleece the other GM on a deal. His day-to-day relationships or lack thereof with other teams' executives must have not been great for morale.
 

nattysez

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Pierce could be okay. I wasn't impressed with his season this year, but the year before they did well, and their young guys developed well under him, I don't know if we have enough data on him to see if he's really a bad coach or things just snowballed on him this year.

Kidd is both a mediocre coach and a bad human being.

I mentioned some first time head coaches upthread, but if they want a guy with a lot of experience Hollins or Gentry makes some sense.
Beyond his personal issues, Kidd has proven to be a back-stabber. There is no way an org in flux is bringing in a guy like that, unless they are asking for things to go terribly wrong.

Edit -- can everyone PLEASE stop calling Stevens "the GM." He is NOT the GM and that is NOT the role of the "Director of Basketball Ops." Zarren is almost certainly going to be the day-to-day GM.
 

RG33

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David Fizdale
Chauncey Billups
Sam Cassell

all reasonable choices.
One of these things is not like the other.

I would love Chauncey or Sam to get a shot with the Celtics, not having any real knowledge of what their capabilities are, but they fit the mold of the former player, known for their smarts, point guards that ran a team, etc.

Fizdale has fizzled out everywhere he has been, not sure what makes him attractive. Hard pass.
 

cardiacs

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They can't really be considering Kidd? He's one of the most hated Celtics advisories of all time and a shitty person. Not to mention he's unproven as a coach.
That would be Valentine x 10
 

AlNipper49

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Granted, lots of first year coaches have gone to optimal situations, but the track record of rookie coaches and winning titles has been pretty good for the past 5-6 years. If they thought that GMBS is the best choice as someone to evalaute talent that seems like a decent trade off versus head coach.
 

shawnrbu

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https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/pressrelease/danny-ainge-announces-retirement-brad-stevens-promoted-president-basketball

Good to read this was an amicable split and not like a Parcells/Tito ugly divorce.

In his 18 years guiding the team, Ainge's teams made 15 playoff appearances, seven Eastern Conference Finals, two NBA Finals, and brought the team a championship in 2008, the franchise's 17th and first in 22 years. Ainge was the first, and to this point, only general manager hired by the current Celtics ownership group, led by Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca. Since the 2007-08 season, the Celtics have won more playoff games than any team in the NBA.
 

Cellar-Door

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They can't really be considering Kidd? He's one of the most hated Celtics advisories of all time and a shitty person. Not to mention he's unproven as a coach.
That would be Valentine x 10
I assume the minute the news broke Kidd's agent was on the phone the Haynes.

One thing to remember about Haynes is that even by NBA reporter standards he's a water carrier. 99% of what he writes is pay for play for the same few people he's trying to ingratiate himself with
 

bakahump

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I wonder if Garnett would pause on spending his gazillions and come Ubuntu this teams ass.