Former Celtics President Danny Ainge Hired by Jazz as Alternate Governor, CEO

Danny Ainge's retirement did not last long.

The former Boston Celtics president of basketball operations joined the Utah Jazz as alternate governor and CEO on Wednesday. 

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, who first reported the news, Ainge will oversee Utah's basketball operations with Justin Zanik staying on as general manager. 

The 62-year-old stepped down from his post with the Celtics in June as part of an organizational shuffle that saw Brad Stevens move away from coaching to serve as the new head of basketball operations.

While Ainge's resignation wasn't much of a surprise, Stevens' transition to the front office was seen as a major shock around basketball.

Ainge served as the person in charge of basketball operations with the Celtics since 2003, winning the NBA Executive of the Year in 2008 for helping form a championship-winning squad by acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. His tenure in Boston was defined by shrewd, team-first moves that always put the long-term health of the franchise over loyalty.

He famously traded Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets for a franchise-altering haul of draft picks that landed them Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. While that move was lauded as one of the best trades in NBA history, his calculated roster-building alienated some.

When Ainge traded beloved star Isaiah Thomas months after he played through a hip injury—a move that fundamentally altered Thomas' career—the move damaged the executive's reputation with some players and agents. 

The Celtics also declined in recent seasons due to an inability to retain talent. Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Terry Rozier all left in recent offseasons with minimal return. And Kemba Walker, the biggest free-agent signing of Ainge's tenure, was a disappointment due to injuries that limited him to 99 games over the previous two seasons.

Walker was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, along with the No. 16 overall draft pick in 2021 and a 2025 second-rounder, for Horford, Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick in June shortly after Stevens took over for Ainge. 

Utah will be banking on the overall positive impact of Ainge's tenure in Boston being a bellwether of good times.

The Jazz using Ainge in a prominent role should give their already successful front office a smart voice to bounce around ideas. 

There's such a strong foundation of talent already in place in Utah that Ainge doesn't have to dramatically alter what the franchise is doing. Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert have the Jazz off to a 19-7 start this season, third in the Western Conference.