NBA News and Notes – Changes in the Celtics Organization

In NBA News this week, after the Brooklyn Nets eliminated the Boston Celtics in five games, we saw plenty of changes around the organization.

Danny Ainge decided to step down from his role as president of basketball operations, and Kemba Walker has been dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Al Horford, who was once a part of the organization.

The Celtics also promoted former head coach Brad Stevens into Ainge’s former role, which has drawn tons of criticism itself, given that Stevens has been underperforming as a head coach recently.

Not only have those moves been made, but there have been plenty of recent reports of organizational dysfunction.

Blake Griffin was reportedly told by an anonymous Celtics player that he should steer clear of signing with the team due to the dysfunction surrounding the organization, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Weiss also noted that there was tension between Stevens and Walker, as Stevens was harder on his point guard than many guys on the team.

There was also apparently an indifference between the players when Kyrie Irving stomped on the logo after the Nets’ huge Game 4 win in Boston, as the only people really upset about that were Celtics fans, certain media members, Kevin Garnett and Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

For some reason, those same people thought it was okay for that disgrace of a human being to throw a water bottle at Irving’s head. Good for the players for not giving a hoot about Irving stomping on that logo, which he had every right to given the vitriol he’s had thrown his way from Boston fans and media members alike.

Those people swear that the Celtics logo is some honorary symbol, but in all reality, it’s just a cartoon character on a logo. Get over it.

Back to Stevens. Given his tendency to butt heads with certain players within the organization and not being able to elevate a team with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to a higher standing in the league, he shouldn’t have gotten promoted.

He essentially quit before the series against the Nets and openly admitted that he didn’t enjoy coaching anymore. There are far more qualified candidates to help turn this franchise around than Stevens.

Outside of Tatum and Brown, the Celtics also have no real assets to give up in order to acquire a third star, and quite honestly, it’ll be hard to convince another star to want to come in and play for the once-proud franchise.

The younger generation of players don’t really care about the Celtics from over 30 years ago. They want to be in a situation where they feel valued and aren’t expendable. Although they were the right trades to make from a business perspective, trading Paul Pierce and Isaiah Thomas really showed that the word loyalty doesn’t exist in Boston.

Having said all of this, there is a vacant head coaching spot in Boston. Chauncey Billups and Sam Cassell, both former Celtics, currently have the best odds to become the next head coach, according to SportsLine.