Danny Ainge Reflects on Celtics’ NBA Finals Journey

The Utah Jazz executive has his fingerprints all over Boston’s roster.

SAN FRANCISCO – Danny Ainge is no longer part of the Celtics organization, having taken the top executive job with the Jazz last December. That doesn’t mean Ainge, who exited Boston last spring, ending an 18-year run with the franchise, isn’t still invested in them.

“You know, it’s been fun to watch,” Ainge told SI in a telephone interview. “You invest a lot of time in the relationships with all the players. It’s fun to see them get opportunities and play up to their potential. It’s a fun process to go through and watch it blossom.”

Boston will play in its first Finals since 2010 when the series begins on Thursday. They are here because of Jayson Tatum’s scoring. Marcus Smart’s defense. Jaylen Brown’s playmaking. Ime Udoka’s coaching. Brad Stevens, er, general manager-ing.

But they are also here because of Ainge. When healthy, the Celtics play an eight-man rotation. Ainge drafted six of them. He engineered the trade with Brooklyn that acquired the picks that produced Tatum and Brown. He was booed—literally booed—on draft night in 2016 for taking Brown by a Boston fan base clamoring for Providence’s Kris Dunn. He was scorched in 2017 for moving off the No. 1 pick, bypassing the opportunity to draft Markelle Fultz to move down and take Tatum. Robert Williams, Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard were all late first round picks.

He had his misses, sure.

But the picks he hit on are a big reason Boston is still playing.

Take Tatum. It’s easy to forget how risky the decision was to trade down in ’17. Fultz was a consensus No. 1, a big, polished point guard in a league loading up at that position. Ainge swapped picks with Philadelphia—collecting an extra first rounder in the process—to draft Tatum. Tatum flashed scoring potential in his first season, was an All-Star by his third and this year entered the MVP conversation.

“I think that all of the great, great players, I don’t think anybody really knows how good they’re going to be,” Ainge said. “You know they’re good, but you’re never sure how good. There are so many factors of just their mental toughness, their work ethic and choices they make as their careers progress. There was a lot of characteristics about Jayson that were special. It’s been fun watching him grow into being such a great player.”

Smart had plenty of skeptics when Boston handed him the starting point guard job last fall. For years Smart has been cast in a combo guard role, backing up or playing alongside Isaiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker. Ainge, though, says he believed in Smart’s ability to be a lead guard, largely because that’s the role the Celtics envisioned when they drafted him.

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“We drafted Marcus as a point guard,” Ainge said. “His strength might be his versatility. Because we’ve had Isaiah, and Kyrie, and Kemba, some All-Star point guards that he’s had an opportunity to play with, his versatility allows him to play the one, the two, the three. I’ve always felt his greatest strength was as a point guard because he could utilize his size as an advantage. He’s a very special and unique, versatile player. He has good vision and he’s pretty good in the paint at finishing shots.”

Grant Williams was an unheralded prospect when Boston grabbed him in 2019. But the physical Williams has become a key figure in the Celtics top-ranked defense. At Tennessee, Williams shot 32.6% from three-point range his junior year. This season, Williams connected on 41.1%.

“I liked Grant’s shot mechanics,” Ainge said. “The other thing is just his toughness. I really believed that he could be a switching perimeter guy and defend a lot of different positions, and really add to your defensive versatility. He played inside most of his life. I did have hope when we saw him in the draft workout and saw him shoot free throws. There was hope that he could develop into a three-point shooter. I didn’t think that he would lead the Celtics in three-point shooting, but I did think that he had a chance to make shots.”

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Ainge’s fingerprints are all over the roster. But his absence has been impactful, too. Ainge’s exit—and Stevens subsequent elevation to his old job—opened the door for Boston to hire Udoka. “Ime is tough minded,” Ainge said. “He seems to be able to demand respect. I think that he's got a toughness about him that the players like.” And Stevens, in his new role, executed key deals that added Al Horford and Derrick White to the mix.

“I think Brad has done a really good job,” Ainge said. “I thought he did a good job in the offseason. I thought he did a good job at the trade deadline. You know, just when things aren’t always going as great as you want, although the team was on a pretty good roll, like right when he still pulled the trigger on a trade for Derrick. It opened up minutes for Payton, who’s played really well down the stretch. I think that made it easier on Ime. There was kind of a log jam at the wing positions and the backup point guard. I think that cleaned that out and I think that’s been beneficial to the team.”

Would Ainge, notoriously protective of draft picks during his time in Boston, have done deals that cost the Celtics multiple first round picks?

“I think that what happens is, you want to trade draft capital if you get the right deals and if you feel like you’re close enough to winning,” Ainge said. “None of us know what would have happened in different circumstances. The bottom line is, Brad did deals. The deals have helped the team, and he deserves all the credit for sure.”

Ainge has a busy offseason ahead in Utah. The Jazz are at a crossroads. It’s unclear if Quin Snyder will return as head coach and Ainge will have to decide if the team should continue to build around Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. But he will watch the Finals, an unabashed biased observer.

“Of course, these are people that I’ve invested a lot of time in relationships with. Add the fact that Brad and [Director of Player Personnel] Austin [Ainge] and [Assistant GM] Mike [Zarren] and [Assistant GM] Dave [Lewin] and the whole group is still there, and all the players that I’ve invested a lot of time in. Of course I’ll be watching. I’ve watched pretty much every game all year, and I’ll continue to watch them and root for their success.”