The Celtics are making a major organizational shakeup. According to multiple reports, Danny Ainge is resigning as president of basketball operations and Brad Stevens is transitioning from his current role as head coach and moving into a full-time front office role.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic's Shams Charania were the first to report the news. Charania reports that Stevens will lead the Celtics' search for their next head coach.
Ainge was hired as the Celtics' executive director of basketball operations in 2003 and was promoted to president of basketball operations in 2008 after building the team that won the NBA title that season by trading for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Since the end of the modern "Big 3" era, Ainge has rebuilt the Celtics into a team that reached the Eastern Conference finals three times in four years from 2017-2020, with his draft picks of Jaylen Brown in 2016 and Jayson Tatum in 2017 setting a promising foundation.
Stevens has been the Celtics' coach since 2013, helping to guide the post-Big 3 rebuild. He has not held a front office role prior to now. Wojnarowski reports that Stevens was "worn down" with coaching and "welcomed" a move to the front office.
Wojnarowski also reports that Ainge "has been contemplating leaving the job for several months and had been talking about possible succession plans with ownership."
Some of the Celtics' recent big moves have not worked out as planned, with the Kyrie Irving experiment ending in failure. Kemba Walker, the player the Celtics signed to a max deal to replace him, has seen his Boston tenure derailed by injuries to the point where Walker and his contract are widely viewed as untradeable. The Celtics were also unable to adequately replace Gordon Hayward after he opted out of his contract and signed with Charlotte last offseason.
Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported earlier Wednesday that Ainge was not expected to retire and would instead be looking at other opportunities.
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