Some said it couldn’t be done after all the bad luck the Boston Celtics faced over the last few years.
But Brad Stevens, taking over the role as president of basketball operations for Danny Ainge, has pleasantly surprised even those with utmost confidence in the former coach.
Since taking over general manager duties, Stevens has gotten the Celtics out of Kemba Walker’s massive contract (looking more and more like a great move with Walker benched for the Knicks), shipped out Tristan Thompson, brought in veteran presences like Al Horford, Dennis Schröder and Josh Richardson, and extended Marcus Smart and Robert Williams.
So far, so good, according to Ainge.
“I think Brad’s done a great job,” Ainge on Thursday told NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg.
“I think that getting Dennis Schröder in here this summer was huge. Josh Richardson is really playing well for the team right now, especially lately after a little bit of a slow start, but he’s playing really well. And I think that the team has, you know, we’ve seen what Aaron Naismith and Payton (Pritchard) can do. They showed us what they could do last year, but there’s just so much depth on the team, especially in those wing and outside shooter positions that it’s tough. It’s a tough place to coach when everybody is healthy, but the team is at its strongest when their top guys are all healthy. When Robert Williams, Al Horford, Jaylen (Brown) and Jayson (Tatum) and you know, Marcus, Schröder — all those guys, when everybody’s healthy the team is good.
Stevens getting the Celtics out of that mess doesn’t make Ainge regret leaving, though. He’s been enjoying his family and golf while living out in Utah, but hasn’t closed the door completely on returning to the NBA entirely.
Perhaps Ainge could one day return as a special advisor to Boston, or any team in a similar capacity. But with how well Stevens has steered the ship thus far, there’s no reason for Ainge to ask for his job back.
