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Danny Ainge Poaches Familiar Name From Celtics

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated Jun 2, 2025 12:31 PM ET

Back in 2021, when the Celtics announced that current chief od basketball Danny Ainge would be stepping aside, making way for coach Brad Stevens to move from the sideline to the front office, there was a presumption around the league that he would be taking his son, Austin Ainge, with him.

Austin Ainge had moved up in the Celtics organization gradually over the year, working closely with the team's G-League affiliate in Maine and focusing on player development. But when his father left the Celtics and eventually moved on to a major role with the Jazz--he is the team's CEO--Austin Ainge stayed put.

Until now, at least. Ainge had been the assistant general manager for the Celtics but is getting a promotion to move to his dad's team and become the president of basketball operations for the Jazz.

Shams Charania of ESPN broke the news on Monday.

"The Utah Jazz are hiring Boston Celtics assistant general manager Austin Ainge as the franchise's president of basketball operations, sources tell me and @TimBontemps. Ainge has spent the past 14 years working in Boston's front office, including the last six in his current role," he wrote on Twitter/X.

The Utah Jazz are hiring Boston Celtics assistant general manager Austin Ainge as the franchise's president of basketball operations, sources tell me and @TimBontemps. Ainge has spent the past 14 years working in Boston's front office, including the last six in his current role. pic.twitter.com/OE0hG7R2qa
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 2, 2025

Austin Ainge will go from an orgnization that won a championship in 2024 and is now looking to dismantle and retool the roster after a disappointing 2025 postseason, to an organization in Utah that has been stuck in a rebuilding program ever since Danny Ainge took over in 2022 and oversaw the trading of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.

Utah has gone backward since, winning 37, 31 and, this year, just 17 games. The Jazz have the No. 5 and 21 picks in the first round of this year's NBA draft, and also have Nos. 43 and 53 in the second round.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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