By Jordan Long
The Boston Celtics will have a new President of Basketball Operations as well as a new Head Coach this offseason. Danny Ainge, who has been the President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics since 2003, has decided to step down. Replacing him will be Brad Stevens, who has been the Celtics Head Coach for the past 8 years. Stevens will lead the coaching search.
Ainge has turned the Celtics franchise around. With him in the front office, Boston has made the playoffs 15 times including winning an NBA championship in 2008. Ainge decided to step away because of health reasons. He has been thinking about this decision since his heart attack in 2019. According to MSN.com, Ainge said, “I started thinking about what I was doing with my life. You’re surrounded by your six children in the hospital, and they say, ‘Hey, you need to stop doing this.’ I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t have any plans. Right now, my goal is to get Brad up to speed on the draft…put the Celtics in the best place they can be. I’ll make the decision on the future somewhere in the future.”
With him stepping down Stevens will now move from the court up to the front office. Stevens has been the Celtics’ Head Coach for the past 8 seasons. His record is an impressive 354-282, a winning percentage of .557. Boston ended up in the postseason every year except 2014, his first year as Head Coach. Boston made it to the Eastern Conference Finals 3 times but couldn’t get over the hump. Stevens is now going to be in charge of hiring his replacement.
There are plenty of candidates to take over for Stevens. These include Lloyd Pierce, Jason Kidd, Mike D’Antoni, and Chauncey Billups. Pierce, Kidd, and D’Antoni have Head Coaching experience in the NBA. Pierce may not be the man to turn the Celtics around. He has 183 games of NBA Head Coaching knowledge with the Atlanta Hawks. He was with the Hawks from 2018 until 34 games this year. Atlanta struggled with him, going 63-120, a winning percentage of .344. They never made a playoff appearance with him.
If Stevens is smart, he will stay away from Lloyd. He proved he was not ready to be an NBA Head Coach. Llyod needs another year or two to be an assistant on an NBA staff. This could help him learn from his mistakes.
Kidd was last a Head Coach in 2018. He was with the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014 to 45 games into the 2018 season. Kidd also spent a year with the Brooklyn Nets. His Head Coaching record is 183-190, a winning percentage of .491. That is slightly better than Llyod. Kidd helped his teams make the playoffs 3 times. Since he was fired in 2019, Kidd has been an assistant coach for the L.A. Lakers. It could be he is ready to be a Head Coach again. Kidd may learn from his past errors and make better adjustments in games to help the Celtics win. He wouldn’t be a bad choice.
D’Antoni is the most seasoned out of all these candidates. D’Antoni has been a Head Coach in the past. He would bring 16 years of NBA Head Coaching experience to the Celtics. He has coached the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, L.A. Lakers, and the Houston Rockets. His overall record is 672-527, a winning percentage of .560. His teams ended up in the playoffs 10 times but D’Antoni has yet to win an NBA title.
D’Antoni knows how to turn teams into a winner. It would make a lot of sense to hire him. D’Antoni could help the Celtics make deep playoff runs and maybe advance to the NBA Finals. D’Antoni is currently an assistant coach for Brooklyn. The Celtics should place a phone call. It is worth it to see what kind of interest he has.
Billups is the only one on this shortlist that doesn’t have NBA Head Coaching skill. Billups knows the NBA because he played in the league from 1997 to 2014. Billups is in his first year as an assistant coach for the L.A. Clippers. Billups deserves a shot to be an NBA Head Coach. Celtics may not be the place because there is a lot of pressure to win early. That could be too much for him to handle.
The Celtics might also look in the college game for a Head Coach. Juwan Howard might be a name to look at for them. Howard just finished his second year as Head Coach of the University of Michigan. He has an outstanding record of 42-17. Howard may be able to make the jump from the college game to the NBA.
The Celtics will take their time finding their next Head Coach. Stevens wants a coach who can help this team continue their winning ways. There are plenty of coaches who could do so. Hopefully, the next coach will be able to deliver an NBA championship.
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