Trades don’t happen in the NBA the way fans think they do. They're generally not contentious discussions with threats and deceit and they generally don’t happen out of the blue. Front offices talk all the time, asking a lot of what-ifs and questions about long-term goals, so when the time comes to start talking, the people in charge have an idea where to go.
There is a tendency for people comfortable talking to one another to continue doing so after a trade is done. If one person likes another’s negotiating style, they’ll end up talking again about something else. So the sudden departure of Austin Ainge to head up the Utah Jazz front office opens up a new line of communication between the two teams.
Of course, Danny Ainge was already in charge there, so he and Brad Stevens already have a good relationship. But Austin Ainge reported to Brad Stevens, which means they have a different level of communication. The younger Ainge has spent three seasons without his dad around, helping Stevens build a championship roster and, more importantly, deal with the ramifications of the second apron.
No one in the NBA knows what Boston is facing quite like Austin Ainge. He knows everything Stevens has been thinking and the goals the Celtics are trying to accomplish. He knows the players on the team better than any rival executive or coach. He knows where they all are in life, where their medicals stand, and how they're perceived inside the locker room.
“I was in a meeting with new Celtics ownership for two hours planning their entire off-season,” Ainge said, explaining when he got a text from Jazz owner Ryan Smith about the job in Utah. That means he is the only rival team boss who knows exactly what team ownership has tasked the team with doing at a critical juncture.
To Stevens’ credit, once the news filtered back to him, he was excited for Ainge’s opportunity. Of course, he had to be if he wanted to maintain that relationship.
“(Stevens) was also so excited, saying that it was the best part of his job that he gets to see this and that it was a super smart move,” Smith said of calling the Celtics about making the hire. “He hopes that Austin still feels as strongly about the trades with you does he did from this side.”
Ainge interrupted, “He tried to negotiate with me, like, immediately. It was great.”
So suddenly, the Utah Jazz seem to be a more realistic trade partner than before, even with the former Boston connection there before. And with players like John Collins ($26.6 million player option presumably being picked up), Collin Sexton ($19.2 million expiring next season), Jordan Clarkson ($14.3 million expiring), and Walker Kessler ($4.8 million and becoming a restricted free agent), there are players that serve some purpose to Boston this season and beyond.
When it comes to minimizing damage, the Celtics could do much worse.
Maybe the Jazz want to take Tre Johnson with the fifth overall pick and have Jrue Holiday there to mold him into a pro. They have room under the tax and aprons to take on a little extra salary if they wanted to. I’ve always thought Utah would be a potential trade partner for Boston because of the types of players they had available, but this move does seem to make it a little more possible.
The Jazz are becoming Celtics-West. They now have both Ainges after long stints in Boston’s front office, former Celtics assistant Will Hardy just signed a long-term deal to remain their head coach, and the Jazz even have former Celtics guard Avery Bradley as their Vice President of Player Development.
Boston’s fingerprints are all over the Jazz, which makes perfect sense. They are trying to replicate long-term success in a place that has had some challenges building those kinds of teams.
“I think this is a great place, and I think you build it the right way, stacking good decisions over and over and over,” Ainge said of his vision for the Jazz. “Players want hope. They want to win. They want great culture. They want great coaching, they want great teammates. So that's what we have to give them.”
The Celtics locker room has been one of the most stable, and frankly, boring places I’ve seen because of the good citizens who’ve occupied it in recent years. The league is starting to rip that apart for financial reasons, so it makes perfect sense to use some of those jettisoned pieces to help build something new. The Jazz aren’t the only team to do business with this summer, but suddenly they seem like a team to watch as both franchises try to move forward.