The Utah Jazz have hired Austin Ainge away from the Boston Celtics to make him their president of basketball operations, the organization announced Monday.
Ainge spent 16 years with the Celtics organization, including the last six as the assistant general manager. He is the son of Jazz CEO and alternate governor Danny Ainge. The two worked for over a decade together in Boston; Danny served as Boston’s president of basketball operations from 2003 until he left the franchise in 2021.
The younger Ainge first joined the Celtics organization in 2009 as head coach of the franchise’s G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws. He transitioned into a front office role in 2011. Ainge also played four seasons at BYU from 2003-07.
This is the second big move the Jazz front office has made this offseason. In early May, the organization signed head coach Will Hardy to a long-term contract extension through the 2030-31 season.
The Jazz finished the 2024-25 regular season with a 17-65 record.
Suns Narrow Down Coaching Search
The Phoenix Suns’ search for a head coach has zeroed in on two finalists from the Cleveland Cavaliers: associate coach Johnnie Bryant and assistant Jordan Ott. That’s the latest report from ESPN’s Shams Charania, who said a decision is expected later this week.
Bryant and Ott, of course, played roles in helping the Cavaliers finish with an East-leading regular-season record of 64-18 record. Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson also won NBA Head Coach of the Year honors, though the Cavs ultimately bowed out of the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Suns fired head coach Mike Budenholzer on April 14 after the franchise failed to qualify for the Western Conference Play-In, finishing the regular season with a 36-46 record. They are now searching for a new head coach for the third consecutive offseason. After their last three coaching hires (Budenholzer, Frank Vogel, Monty Williams) were candidates with previous head coaching experience, Phoenix will now be hiring a first-time head coach in either Bryant or Ott.
The outcome of this search may also hold slight intrigue for Portland Trail Blazers fans. That’s because Portland head coach Chauncey Billups had been linked in speculation as a candidate for the Phoenix position before he signed his extension with the Blazers this spring.
Phoenix’s reported interest in Billups dated back to last summer’s search. Additionally, a report in April from NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer (subscription required) said Billups was “poised to emerge as a candidate” for the Phoenix vacancy and the Denver Nuggets head coaching job before he signed his extension. (Our trackers at Blazer’s Edge missed that bit of April intel, apologies).
Rather than Billups entering those respective coaching searches, he’s staying in Portland. David Adelman took the Denver job, and now either Bryant or Ott will become the next head coach in Phoenix.
NBA Finals Starting 5s
This next piece of the roundup is less news and more so a cool fact about the NBA Finals matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers: The combined starting lineups from both teams feature just one top 10 pick from the NBA Draft.
That’s right, Thunder big man Chet Holmgren — the 2022 No. 2 pick — is the only top 10 pick in the starting lineups of both teams. Take a look:
Indiana Pacers
- Myles Turner (No. 11 pick, 2015)
- Pascal Siakam (No. 27, 2016)
- Aaron Nesmith (No. 14, 2020)
- Andrew Nembhard (No. 31, 2022)
- Tyrese Haliburton (No. 12, 2020)
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Isaiah Hartenstein (No. 43, 2017)
- Chet Holmgren (No. 2, 2022)
- Jalen Williams (No. 12, 2022)
- Lu Dort (undrafted, 2019)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (No. 11, 2018)
This fun fact came to my attention from an exchange on Bluesky. Perhaps, it gives Blazers fans some hope as the franchise heads into the 2025 NBA Draft this month with the 11th pick.
