Ryan Smith: Austin Ainge Will ‘Run The Show’ With Jazz

Ryan Smith: Austin Ainge Will ‘Run The Show’ With Jazz

The Utah Jazz have a new head honcho, and his name is Austin Ainge. Danny Ainge’s son wasn’t just hired as some pity party hire. Jazz owner Ryan Smith revealed that Austin will run the show, and this is very much his team as the lead decision maker.

“This is Austin’s show,” Smith said, per Sarah Todd of the Deseret News.

It appers that Austin Ainge and Justin Zanik (both taken from the Celtics) will be the lead tandem running things with the Jazz:

“I’m sure there’s probably a lot of questions around organizational structure and design, and I’ve learned in business and also in the NBA, that every organization is set up a little different,” Smith said. “For us, Austin will be running the program. He’s got final recommendation to myself on any decisions that need to be made. I think it’s the job of both Justin (Zanik), Danny and myself to kind of plug into him. So hopefully that alleviates quite a few questions as to who has the final decision on roster and management and personnel.”

The Celtics Owe Danny Ainge A Championship Ring

Here’s the kicker… apparently Danny didn’t even know this was happening. I’m sure he’s not upset about the fact that his son is joining the front office. This decision appears to have come from all the way at the top. Fascinating that Danny wasn’t the one pushing for this.

“The biggest challenge for me was I had to call Danny, who was not in town, and say, ‘I hired your son,’” Smith said. “Danny and I built a lot of trust over the last 15 years, and I didn’t know at that point whether I completely lost all trust or he was going to say that it was the right move. Well, here we are, and so I couldn’t be more excited.”

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