Latest news with #NBA-worst
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Jazz hire away longtime Celtics exec Austin Ainge
The Utah Jazz hired longtime Boston Celtics executive Austin Ainge as their new president of basketball operations on Monday. Ainge, 43, worked in the Boston front office for 17 years, most recently as an assistant general manager, and is the son of Jazz CEO and alternate governor Danny Ainge. 'We're absolutely thrilled to welcome Austin Ainge as our new President of Basketball Operations,' said Jazz governor Ryan Smith. 'Austin is one of the brightest minds in the NBA -- his 17 years with the Celtics have given him incredible insight into every part of an organization. I've known Austin for 15 years, and I've watched him grow into an accomplished, innovative, and strategic basketball executive who's ready to lead this organization.' Justin Zanik will remain in his role as Utah's general manager and will work together with Austin Ainge and head coach Will Hardy moving forward. 'I couldn't be more excited about the bright future of this organization,' Austin Ainge said. 'I look forward to partnering with Ryan and Ashley Smith and our other leaders within the Utah Jazz and will utilize my experience over the last 17 years building a championship-caliber organization. I have lived this my whole life, constantly studying teams, talent, chemistry and the selflessness necessary to win. I look forward to bringing that to Utah and am excited to give Jazz fans a lot to cheer about as we build our program back up.' In his time with the Celtics, Austin Ainge also worked as director of scouting and player personnel and served as head coach of the NBA G League's Maine Celtics (2009-11). His efforts helped Boston reach the Eastern Conference finals six times and capture the 2024 NBA championship. 'We are thrilled for Austin as he embarks on his new journey with the Jazz,' said Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens. 'He's clearly ready for this next step, and I know how much he's looking forward to leading a team. He's obviously very bright and has experienced success as a player, coach and executive at various levels of the game. On top of that, he leaves no stone unturned -- he's a strategic thinker that's motivated and is an extremely hard worker. We will miss him in Boston, but could not be happier for Austin and his family.' Austin Ainge is already a familiar name for basketball fans in Utah. As a two-time team captain at BYU, he appeared in 101 games from 2003-07 and helped the Cougars win two Mountain West Conference titles and make three trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Jazz finished with an NBA-worst and franchise-worst 17-65 record in 2024-25, missing the playoffs for a third consecutive season. Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oklahoma City Thunder's Sam Presti named NBA Executive of the Year
Oklahoma City Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti has been named the NBA Executive of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday. Presti got 10 first-place votes, ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers' Koby Altman and Trajan Langdon of the Detroit Pistons. Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, who made the most impactful move of the season with the blockbuster trade for Luka Dončić, finished sixth in voting. But he received a contract extension in April and was promoted from general manager to his current position. (And for anyone who may have been wondering, Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison, who traded Dončić, was not among the 13 executives who received votes.) Sam Presti earns executive of the gets a second and third place vote. — Steve Popper (@StevePopper) May 6, 2025 Presti finally won the award after finishing as runner-up in 2010, 2020 and 2024. He has been the Thunder's general manager since 2007, going back to the franchise's final year as the Seattle Supersonics. During his tenure, the team drafted superstar talent including Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook, while also executing major trades, such as acquiring Paul George from the Indiana Pacers and Chris Paul from the Houston Rockets. He later traded George to the Los Angeles Clippers, which provided Oklahoma City with its current star and MVP candidate, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Presti's many deals also allowed the Thunder to stock up on first-round draft picks, which have been used to build around Gilgeous-Alexander with players including Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace. Under Presti's roster construction, in addition to hiring head coach Mark Daigneault (2024's NBA coach of the year), the Thunder developed into a team that finished with the NBA's best record this season at 68-14. Affirming excellence was a trend among voters for the Executive of the Year award. Altman was the runner-up after the Cavaliers finished with the top record in the Eastern Conference at 64-18, and Rockets GM Rafael Stone built a team that was second in the West at 52-30. The one turnaround artist receiving recognition was Langdon, who hired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and oversaw the Pistons' revival from last year's NBA-worst 14-68 to a 44-38 record this season, avoiding the play-in mix as the No. 6 seed in the East. The Thunder resume their second-round NBA playoff series versus the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Oklahoma City trails 1-0 in the series with Game 2 scheduled to tip off at 9:30 p.m. ET in OKC.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jazz sign coach Will Hardy to long-term extension after team finishes with worst record in the NBA
The Utah Jazz believe Will Hardy is the right person to lead the franchise back to prominence. The team announced a long-term extension with Hardy on Monday. Hardy's extension is reportedly for six seasons, keeping him with the Jazz through the 2030-31 NBA season, per ESPN's Shams Charania. It's a bold move for the Jazz, which finished with an NBA-worst 17-65 record last season. Despite that, Utah feels good about Hardy's ability to lead and develop talent. 'Will is an incredible teacher, communicator, and partner, " Jazz general manager Justin Zanik said. 'He's invested in individual development and development for us as a team. I'm not sure there's anyone better in the league in investing in our group. He got players to believe in their own development and take charge of it.' Hardy received high marks for his ability to connect with players. Near the end of the season, he received a vote of confidence from Walker Kessler, who praised Hardy for his intelligence and said the coach "actually cares about people. He's checking in on people off the court too." Hardy spent time as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs for five seasons before joining the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season. He spent just one year in Boston, as the Jazz swooped in to hire him as their head coach. Hardy was hired by the Jazz ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season. He has an 85-161 record in three seasons with the team, good for a .346 winning percentage. The team's poor performance last season, gives it a decent chance to secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Jazz have a 14 percent chance of earning the top pick — which is tied with the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets for the highest odds at winning the first pick. The Jazz have never held the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. This story will be updated.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jazz sign coach Will Hardy to long-term extension after team finishes with worst record in the NBA
The Utah Jazz believe Will Hardy is the right person to lead the franchise back to prominence. The team announced a long-term extension with Hardy on Monday. Hardy's extension is reportedly for six seasons, keeping him with the Jazz through the 2030-31 NBA season, per ESPN's Shams Charania. Advertisement It's a bold move for the Jazz, which finished with an NBA-worst 17-65 record last season. Despite that, Utah feels good about Hardy's ability to lead and develop talent. 'Will is an incredible teacher, communicator, and partner, " Jazz general manager Justin Zanik said. 'He's invested in individual development and development for us as a team. I'm not sure there's anyone better in the league in investing in our group. He got players to believe in their own development and take charge of it.' Hardy received high marks for his ability to connect with players. Near the end of the season, he received a vote of confidence from Walker Kessler, who praised Hardy for his intelligence and said the coach "actually cares about people. He's checking in on people off the court too." Hardy spent time as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs for five seasons before joining the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season. He spent just one year in Boston, as the Jazz swooped in to hire him as their head coach. Hardy was hired by the Jazz ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season. He's compiled an 85-161 record in three seasons with the team, good for a .346 winning percentage. This story will be updated.
Los Angeles Times
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Lakers solve one problem in Game 2 win over Timberwolves, but about the other?
Hey everyone, it's L.A. Times writer Dan Woike, welcome to the Lakers newsletter, a once-a-week look into the team Netflix comedy 'Running Point' is loosely based on. Nothing funny about the first two games of the Lakers' postseason, eight quarters of basketball that have been incredibly physical, mostly rhythmless and incredibly even. Yet there's one thing the Lakers can do to make things a little bit easier. Let's examine it. After the Lakers lost the series opener to Minnesota on Saturday, they had only two things they needed to fix. That was the good news. The bad news? The two things were the defense and the offense. The Lakers were able to even the series Tuesday night with a mostly dominant defensive performance in which they were able to play as hard and as physical against Minnesota while doing it smarter and more intentionally. It was an A-plus response on the defensive side. Yet the reality that's been hammered home is that the Lakers still haven't cracked the other half of the code, the offensive side of the ball, where their 94 points Tuesday were enough — but far from optimal. In six games against the Timberwolves this season, the Lakers have failed to exceed 95 points four times, including both playoff meetings. Their effective field-goal percentage, a metric that accounts for threes being worth more than twos, never has been 50% against Minnesota. They've been below 50% 17 times this season — and six (yes, SIX) have been against Minnesota. 'I think when we were organized in the right spots, we did … we ran some good stuff. And frankly, yeah, I thought we missed some open threes,' coach JJ Redick said. '[Austin Reaves] got some great looks. So other than just a couple disorganized plays we played good offense tonight.' To be fair, Redick gave that answer in response to the viral, rage-driven timeout he took in the third quarter that he called 'just coaching,' but anyone who heard him would've sworn he was 'just cursing.' There are plenty of four-letter words that apply to what's happened when the Lakers have tried to put points on the board. In two games of the playoffs, the Lakers' first-quarter offense has been terrific — 131.9 points per 100 possessions. In the second it drops to 100 points per 100 possessions. In the third it's back up to 120.5 but in the fourth it craters to an NBA-worst 73.2. So what's happening? One, Minnesota really can defend. 'You can start with them having really good individual defenders. Jaden McDaniels is a problem on that end of the floor. Ant's a problem on that end of the floor,' Reaves said, referring to Anthony Edwards. 'Nickeil [Alexander-Walker]. You can go through the whole line. Rudy [Gobert] does a good job of protecting the paint.' Luka Doncic has been able to put points on the board in the first quarter. He was more of a solo act in Game 1 while Game 2 was more about the Lakers in total playing in a better offensive rhythm. Another issue in this series is pretty bad shooting from the Lakers. Reaves has struggled from three despite a flurry in the third quarter of Game 1. He's made only three of 14 from three. LeBron James is just two of 10. Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith are a combined five for 15. When Doncic debuted in February, the Lakers were nearly a 38% three-point-shooting team. They're 21 for 70 against Minnesota, with everyone outside of Doncic making only 27% of their looks. 'I thought we had some great looks tonight. I know a lot of my shots in the fourth quarter were great looks that just didn't go,' James said. 'If we can continue to get great looks like that, I think we believe in our percentages. But we gotta continue to work the habits. We gotta continue to work the habits and continue to shoot the ball with confidence.' Maybe this is true. Or maybe their offensive struggles are a cost they have to pay to give as much as they've given on the defensive side of the ball. As the Lakers get ready for a massive Game 3 on Friday in Minneapolis, they know they've got to get their offense on track. But as they've seen time and time against these Timberwolves, that isn't going to be easy. Got seven minutes to spare? Doncic would like your attention. In a time when everything in our being tells us to skip through commercials, Doncic and Nike have produced a mini-movie in which he's in court — and not on it. 'Bad Luka' is Jordan Brand's ambitious campaign for the fourth version of Doncic's signature shoes, a spot shot over two days and directed by 'Eastbound and Down' co-creator Jody Hill. Bad Luka; good ad. 'Skyway' by The Replacements An ode to the floating skywalk that shields people from the frigid Minneapolis winters is this week's choice. So the Skyway is a connected walkway throughout downtown Minneapolis that links office buildings and shops and hotels. Funny story — my first trip there was when I was covering the Clippers for the OC Register and my current co-worker Brad Turner was on the Clips for The Times. I was fighting off a brutal virus, fever, chills, aches and more. Well, BT told me I didn't need to bring my jacket with me to the game (I was sweating like crazy) because we never had to walk outside. We covered the game, I survived, and as we walked back to the Skyway to head to the hotel, we learned it was locked. And it was like minus-10 degrees outside. The lesson? Don't trust BT. Or the Skyway. Lakers win a physically demanding Game 2 to even series with Timberwolves Lakers found true grit just when they needed it and silenced their critics Mavericks GM Nico Harrison 'didn't quite know' how important Luka Doncic was to Dallas fans Lakers confident 'winning on small details' will power series comeback against Minnesota 'We'll get better.' Lakers vow to improve after blowout Game 1 loss to Timberwolves After a Game 1 meltdown, the Lakers should still win their series but must adapt fast Luka Doncic had an epic playoff moment last year. Here's why it could happen again Lakers give Rob Pelinka a contract extension and new title
