Celtics' Austin Ainge Lands Contract to Be Jazz's President of Basketball Operations

The Utah Jazz hired Austin Ainge as their president of basketball operations on Monday.

ESPN's Shams Charania and Tim Bontemps first reported the news.

"This is an incredible opportunity to lead Utah Jazz basketball operations," Ainge said. "I couldn't be more excited about the bright future of this organization. I look forward to partnering with Ryan and Ashley Smith and our other leaders within the Utah Jazz and will utilize my experience over the last 17 years building a championship-caliber organization. I have lived this my whole life, constantly studying teams, talent, chemistry and the selflessness necessary to win. I look forward to bringing that to Utah and am excited to give Jazz fans a lot to cheer about as we build our program back up."

Ainge, the son of former NBA guard and longtime executive Danny Ainge, was the Boston Celtics' assistant general manager.

Danny followed a similar trajectory, stepping down as Boston's president of basketball operations in 2021 and becoming the Jazz's CEO of basketball ops later that year. Since then, he has worked alongside general manager Justin Zanik.

Joining his father in Utah is likely to bring an added layer of scrutiny for Austin. His family connections will also overshadow a lot of what he did with the Celtics to earn this step up in his career.

Not to mention, having a separate president of basketball operations makes the hierarchy within the Jazz's front office a little cloudier.

Hiring an executive with an eye for scouting makes sense for Utah when the organization is in the midst of a major rebuild. It went a league-worst 17-65 in 2024-25, and things may not get any better in the short term with star forward Lauri Markkanen already a source of trade speculation again.

The Jazz have the No. 5, 21, 43 and 53 selections in the 2025 NBA draft, and picking in the top five presents them with the chance to add a major difference-maker to their young core. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected them to take Texas guard Tre Johnson in his most recent mock draft.

This is a good time for Ainge to come aboard because Utah is still pretty much a blank slate years after trading away stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Another franchise cornerstone on par with that pair has yet to emerge, so ownership will continue to be patient with the rebuild.

The Jazz have a lot of draft capital that can be strengthened further if Markkanen, center Walker Kessler or guards Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton get moved.

Ainge will have ample opportunity to help build on the foundation that Zanik has laid already.