The Boston Celtics obviously like the direction they’re headed in. Coming off yet another successful campaign, they have locked up team president Danny Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens to long-term extension.
The team announced the moves on Wednesday.
“A major job of ownership is to find the right people to run the basketball side,” Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck said, via the team’s official website. “We believe we have found them in Danny and Brad. Once you find your people, you need to support them in their efforts and create a work environment that enables them and the team to succeed. If all of that is in place, the topic of extending contracts becomes an easy one, because everybody wants to keep moving forward together.”
There are certainly no surprises here, and really, both of these are smart moves for the Celtics.
Ainge has been an executive with the Celtics since 2003, winning one championship in 2008 and narrowly missing another in 2010.
Perhaps as important, he’s also overseen their most recent successful rebuilding project, turning the team from the era of Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo to the current core, led by Stevens.
While the team had a significant overhaul in coaches in players in just a few years, it resulted in only one missed playoff appearance.
Stevens has coached Boston for the last three seasons, making the playoffs in the most recent two.
He’s yet to lead the Celtics to a postseason series win. But objectively speaking, has done a great job in Boston. His record has gotten incrementally better in his three seasons, going from 25 wins in his first season to 48 this past year.