Danny Ainge's Celtics Can Reinforce Confidence in Jazz Rebuild

The Utah Jazz have a perfect model to take note of for their rebuild process.

Mar 3, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge watches the team warm up before the game against the Detroit Pistons at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Utah Jazz hired Danny Ainge on December 15, 2021, to be their CEO of basketball operations and alternate governor.

It's widely known that Ainge’s team-building strategy is cutthroat and unique — earning himself the nickname “Trader Danny.” His time in Boston prior to joining the Jazz was filled with success, winning a championship in 2008 and building a perennial championship contender before his departure in 2021.

Parallels can be made to how Ainge is constructing the current Jazz roster as his Boston days were not all sunshine and rainbows.

Ainge’s first move in his new role with Utah was the hiring of current head coach Will Hardy after Quin Snyder resigned. During the 2022 NBA offseason, he dealt Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a bevy of assets that included Lauri Markkanen, seven first-round picks, and four first-round pick swaps.

Sound familiar? Ainge hired a young hot-shot coach by the name of Brad Stevens in Boston who also struggled in his first two seasons as head coach. Stevens developed into one of the most respected basketball minds in the following six seasons — meaning it might not be time to give up on Will Hardy just yet.

It gets deeper, remember when “Trader Danny” shipped Celtics legends Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets? Boston received three first-round picks and a pick swap which turned out to be franchise players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. 

“I hate talking trades with Danny because I feel like I’m gonna lose on something. One time, he called me about a guy who wasn’t in our rotation. This guy had played, like, five games in two months. I immediately panicked and called my team and our scouts and asked them ‘What are we missing?" an Eastern Conference GM told Spotrac’s Keith Smith.

The nickname certainly precedes Ainge and has rival executives on pins and needles whenever business is being discussed. With a keen eye for draft talent and a war chest of draft picks at his disposal, Ainge is in a prime position to draft high-level prospects or use the picks to trade for an established star.

Ainge appears to be following a similar blueprint that he developed in Boston. The key is patience when an organization is in the midst of a rebuild.

Before a cake is ready to be baked, all ingredients need to be gathered, and Ainge has the ingredients for a successful team but must be strategic in how to utilize his assets. The harvest will be reaped for the Jazz in years to come as the seeds have been planted for success.

In Danny Ainge we trust.

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