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Danny Ainge hired as CEO of basketball operations

framer said:
You don't really know Ainge or Donovan. The fact you are out here being outraged on Donovan's behalf is part of a bigger problem. You don't have the right.

I would suspect that Donovan's largest concerns are professional, not crap he might read on Twitter. I could be wrong, but if Wade likes Ainge, it probably carries more weight than how you feel.

You are most certainly entitled to dislike who you dislike however without me telling you anything different though.
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I don't know how you're flipping this into me being outraged. You made a comment about "If we have to politics check everyone the Jazz do business with, we just need to trade Mitchell while he still has value. He's really not worth all that."

First, we don't need to politics check anyone. But we do need to character check people who are going to take high level positions in the organization. That's what I'm saying. For me Ainge would have failed the character section of my pre-hire checklist for many reasons, not the least of which was his comment about player activism.
 
KqWIN said:
Everyone does know Danny Ainge, but based on recent reports on how people have interacted with him that seems like a bad thing. The players don't like Ainge because of what he did to IT and how he feels about their efforts off the court. Other GM's don't like him because they know he's just trying to rip them off and doesn't negotiate in good faith. I think everyone dislikes him and makes fun of him for his habit of almost making moves that would have been good. That's really why people know Danny Ainge. It's because he played in this league and also made a fool of himself with his "war chest". Maybe people liked him before, but they don't like him now and that is not a good thing.

I don't know why we're typecasting DL as a quiet guy either. As far as we know, he is out of a job because of how opinionated he was. He had the power to make the Dok pick even when he was on his way out. I'd bet that very few GMs are quiet people in the first place, whether you know their name or not.

I've said this many times before, but as bad as some of DL's moves were, he is a huge reason why we're where we are. He had a good run.
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That’s a very one-sided view of Ainge that actually isn’t supported by the spectrum of reports.

And DL wasn’t fired because of how opinionated he was. He was squeezed out because his opinions clashed with Quin’s. There’s a difference there.
 
Jingled said:
Found this really interesting from Tony Jones latest article. Sounds like no one is completely safe but Donovan, not even Rudy.

"The Jazz currently resemble a much more robust version of those Celtics, with veteran depth players who know their roles and how to fit together. It seems the bigger questions are whether they can keep the other key scorers around Donovan Mitchell healthy in the spring and if they can find a way to keep Rudy Gobert in the driver’s seat against playoff scheming. If the Jazz fall short of the conference finals for the sixth year of legitimate contention in a row, Ainge won’t be afraid to finally move Gobert or consolidate Utah’s depth for a more potent three-level playmaker."
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Yeah, I really think Ainge’s imprint won’t start until next year. He may may a fringe move this year.
 
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KqWIN said:
Everyone does know Danny Ainge, but based on recent reports on how people have interacted with him that seems like a bad thing. The players don't like Ainge because of what he did to IT and how he feels about their efforts off the court. Other GM's don't like him because they know he's just trying to rip them off and doesn't negotiate in good faith. I think everyone dislikes him and makes fun of him for his habit of almost making moves that would have been good. That's really why people know Danny Ainge. It's because he played in this league and also made a fool of himself with his "war chest". Maybe people liked him before, but they don't like him now and that is not a good thing.

I don't know why we're typecasting DL as a quiet guy either. As far as we know, he is out of a job because of how opinionated he was. He had the power to make the Dok pick even when he was on his way out. I'd bet that very few GMs are quiet people in the first place, whether you know their name or not.

I've said this many times before, but as bad as some of DL's moves were, he is a huge reason why we're where we are. He had a good run.
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DL is a huge reason why we are where we are today. JZ is following the script that DL created 100%. The Whiteside move was a plug in because Favs didnt work out but the philosophy was and is the same. The narrative that he somehow lost track of the salary cap is as far fetched as anything I have read on any fan board. DL served us well.
 
gomretat said:
DL is a huge reason why we are where we are today. JZ is following the script that DL created 100%. The Whiteside move was a plug in because Favs didnt work out but the philosophy was and is the same. The narrative that he somehow lost track of the salary cap is as far fetched as anything I have read on any fan board. DL served us well.
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DL’s last couple of offseasons are absolutely fair to criticize, braugh. And if someone were to criticize them, they wouldn’t be hating his entire tenure.
 
Gameface said:
I don't know how you're flipping this into me being outraged. You made a comment about "If we have to politics check everyone the Jazz do business with, we just need to trade Mitchell while he still has value. He's really not worth all that."

First, we don't need to politics check anyone. But we do need to character check people who are going to take high level positions in the organization. That's what I'm saying. For me Ainge would have failed the character section of my pre-hire checklist for many reasons, not the least of which was his comment about player activism.
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Look, hiring Ainge wouldn't have been my choice if I bought the Jazz. However, I am not in a position to buy the Jazz, nor do I know jack about how that end of things works. If I was, I may have a different opinion. I do trust Smith. Do you think he is going to fill the team with racist hucksters who will yell at the players during team meetings? Seems kind of out of character to me.

I don't know a thing, but it looks like, to me, that we are buying the expensive foreign car and replacing the reliable Honda to show that we mean business as an organization. Same as bringing on Wade. The Honda is fine, and probably more practical. But the Porche is a symbol that we have moved beyond amateur hour. Zanik has signed Rudy Gay, Ainge has won a championship.
 
NAOS said:
DL’s last couple of offseasons are absolutely fair to criticize, braugh. And if someone were to criticize them, they wouldn’t be hating his entire tenure.
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I hated most of his tenure.
 
framer said:
Look, hiring Ainge wouldn't have been my choice if I bought the Jazz. However, I am not in a position to buy the Jazz, nor do I know jack about how that end of things works. If I was, I may have a different opinion. I do trust Smith. Do you think he is going to fill the team with racist hucksters who will yell at the players during team meetings? Seems kind of out of character to me.

I don't know a thing, but it looks like, to me, that we are buying the expensive foreign car and replacing the reliable Honda to show that we mean business as an organization. Same as bringing on Wade. The Honda is fine, and probably more practical. But the Porche is a symbol that we have moved beyond amateur hour. Zanik has signed Rudy Gay, Ainge has won a championship.
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I really do hope you're right. I really hope that JZ and Wade were onboard with this move. I also hope there is a good pitch in place for selling the team on this move.
 
Not crazy about this. It was always going to happen. But I wouldn't be surprised it it leads to Zanik finding another gig at some point, and he's the one who's really put this team together, the best team in the history of the franchise imo. Well, him and Lindsey.
 
gomretat said:
DL is a huge reason why we are where we are today. JZ is following the script that DL created 100%. The Whiteside move was a plug in because Favs didnt work out but the philosophy was and is the same. The narrative that he somehow lost track of the salary cap is as far fetched as anything I have read on any fan board. DL served us well.
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He 100% lost track of the salary cap in the 2020 offseason. Either that or he willfully ignored it. No team barely pays the luxury tax like we did but DL painted us into a corner. Either way that was a pretty big strike against him in my book. Starting the repeater tax clock a year early so you can overpay Favs Would have been a discussion point in his exit interview.

JZ did what he was trying to do with a minimum deal
 
DL was fine and laid a good cultural foundation. Got a couple home runs on draft picks as well. It’s the finish work and long term planning I had issues with. Either he was saving pennies and space when we could make pretty obvious additions that would help or he spent like a dumbass in his last year and didn’t seem to care about the long term.

JZ isn’t a guy I’d want to build the program from the ground up but he absolutely executed what we needed this offseason with precision. I have one small quibble but will leave that for another day. I hope he stays with us because he’s been pretty impressive thus far.
 
Gameface said:
Man I just went to KSL and read the comments on this story...

99% are head over heels in love with this move.

Sometimes I feel so out of touch with my own community.
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You encountered the BYU blind homer crowd. Which is what this team is becoming. Hopefully not to a fault, but I'm a little worried about that.
 
What I found funny about the ESPN article is that they stated Danny Ainge is well liked in Salt Lake City. I spit out my milk when I read that. Not that I needed any evidence but ESPN is clueless about the Jazz and Utah. My concern is that sometimes having friends around is great but not at work. Time will tell. I think Ainge does some things well but how do we know how he is going to build relations with Justin and Quinn when he can go directly to Ryan. I will keep an open-mind but this could go south fast if Ainge and Ryan allow their friendship into business matters.
 
NAOS said:
That’s a very one-sided view of Ainge that actually isn’t supported by the spectrum of reports.

And DL wasn’t fired because of how opinionated he was. He was squeezed out because his opinions clashed with Quin’s. There’s a difference there.
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Maybe I missed all the stories where everyone is singing his praises, but in recent years he's built up quite the reputation and that doesn't come from nothing. Some of it is probably overblown, sure, but there are not very many GM's that have a negative reputation for a variety of different reasons like Ainge does.
 
cowhide said:
What I found funny about the ESPN article is that they stated Danny Ainge is well liked in Salt Lake City. I spit out my milk when I read that. Not that I needed any evidence but ESPN is clueless about the Jazz and Utah. My concern is that sometimes having friends around is great but not at work. Time will tell. I think Ainge does some things well but how do we know how he is going to build relations with Justin and Quinn when he can go directly to Ryan. I will keep an open-mind but this could go south fast if Ainge and Ryan allow their friendship into business matters.
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It's looking like that is the way Ryan does business so I'm pretty sure you can just expect that.
 
From Ryan and Ainge's press conference comments that I read, it sounds like the intent is to continue to have JZ do what he's doing. If my general impression of Ainge is correct, he is probably too arrogant and controlling to really just let JZ do his job.

We'll see, my impression might be way off.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
DL was fine and laid a good cultural foundation. Got a couple home runs on draft picks as well. It’s the finish work and long term planning I had issues with. Either he was saving pennies and space when we could make pretty obvious additions that would help or he spent like a dumbass in his last year and didn’t seem to care about the long term.

JZ isn’t a guy I’d want to build the program from the ground up but he absolutely executed what we needed this offseason with precision. I have one small quibble but will leave that for another day. I hope he stays with us because he’s been pretty impressive thus far.
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There are a lot of things to criticize DL for, but I do think people take the positives for granted. I mean...we were championship favorites during the second round and pretty much the entire rotation was from the margins. It always amazed me how quick we were to overlook that or just chalk those acquisitions up to luck. At times it felt like we were weighing something like the Matt Thomas miss to trading for and drafting Donovan Mitchell. Insane to me lol. At the end of the day I think you have to look at how great of a shot we have to win championship this year and the same for last year. Even if he wasn't batting 100% you got to appreciate how rare the opportunity is to even have a shot at winning the title.

I don't really know what to think about JZ because we don't really know what he did or how much input he's had over the past couple of years. The cap debacle was really bad, for example, but was that really 100% Lindsey? It can't be right? I think everyone in the FO should hold some shame for that one. A lot of teams seem to have a dedicated cap guy, but I don't know who was for the Jazz. Seems like JZ was the first guy everyone talked to and he's good relationships, which makes sense because he was a player agent first.

Nothing that happened this summer gave me a strong opinion one way or the other. I think signing Gay had more to do with the existing great team and players than the GM. Whiteside was a great find, but I think our reputation as a winning team also had an impact on that one. But he deserves some credit there because a lot of people would have said no to Whiteside even if Whiteside was begging to be here. Ainge I'm uncertain on. It's been said that we're due for a lot of change in the near future, I hope he makes the right moves and doesn't almost make the right moves.
 
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