The real brilliance of signing Danny Ainge, Brad Stevens to contract extensions

WEEI

MIKE PETRAGLIA

WALTHAM -- If talent wins in the NBA, image is that pipeline that brings in critical free agent talent.

That's why Wednesday's announcement by Celtics owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca that Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens are being extended together with the franchise really matters. Grousbeck and Pagliuca are marketing the Celtics as the destination spot for free agent stars with championship dreams.

The image, in this case, is also a message to prospective free agents that this winning combination is not going anywhere. The same architect of the teams that competed every year for an NBA title in the late 2000s and early part of this decade will be in Boston for the foreseeable future.

"It's obviously very exciting. Danny's done a fantastic job assembling chips," Pagliuca said. "Eight draft picks this year. A high draft pick. I think it's the highest we've had since we've been here. And a robust free-agency market. I think there's no one better. We were discussing before we came here, this is probably the most complicated draft and set of situations we've ever been in since the very start because it's a giant matrix of where these players are drafted, how good are they, how do they fit with the system, and what would their trade value be. So we have the right guys on the job, and he's put in the computer, and Austin [Ainge] is cranking that thing up and he'll get the right answer."

"Great answer," Grousbeck followed up immediately. "It's going to be a lot of fun. Those last few days before the draft and before free agency, the phone will be ringing nonstop," Grousbeck said. "Luckily, it's Danny's phone, not mine. But it's going to be fun to be here, fun to be a part of it."

The owners on the same page. The president of basketball operations and coach hand in glove. It's team synergy. That's what the Celtics are selling.

And free agents like Kevin Durant, Hassan Whiteside and DeMar DeRozan and their agents are paying close attention. Yes, Durant reportedly has already let prospective teams know which players he would like teams to bring in with him. But players like Durant want to know they're going to a first-class operation with the staff ready to show the way to the NBA finals. Technically, LeBron James is set to be a free agent (who is expected to sign a megadeal back in Cleveland). James has always said how much he envies and respects what the Celtics have built over generations in Boston. There's Al Horford and Dwight Howard. There's Harrison Barnes and Bradley Beal, both of whom, like DeMar DeRozan could hit the market as restricted free agents.

The Celtics also made it loud and clear that those rumblings about Stevens heading back to college, where he supposedly loved coaching kids, is a bunch of hot air. Stevens is in Boston and committed to winning an NBA title before an NCAA championship.

"I think it's important. I think it's important for our fans and our players and everybody to know that he's not looking for another opportunity," Ainge said. "He's here with the Celtics. I think that's very important. I think that's why we're here today, it's a commitment with all of us, and with all of the ownership that are here. We've gone out of our way to build from our own staffs as well, some stability and continuity with each of our staffs. I think that's important as well. We have some great people that work for us, that work with us and I think it's very important for everybody to know that we're all together and we're in this for the long haul."

Wednesday was the first step in convincing free agents that Boston is the place to be and the Celtics are a franchise where stability matters. Of course, leave it to Ainge to add the appropriate perspective to continuity.

"Continuity helps if you have the right people, sure. It can ruin you if you have the wrong people together," Ainge said with a laugh that certainly could be heard in places like New York, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. "I'm glad we have the right people. No, I mean that's why I love working here. From the time I've been here, our ownership has been fantastic to work with and we've grown. I think we get better at working together through each year and I think it's going to continue to grow.

"Those are hard things to start from scratch. And so I think stability makes a lot of sense to free agents-to-be and players that we draft. It makes players more comfortable, understanding what's happening. I think it's a troubling environment in some organizations where coaches are on the hot seat and become distractions. I think there are no distractions [here] and I think that's very important."

The unmistakable message Wednesday was unity and togetherness. The message between the lines from everyone who spoke Wednesday was urgency.

"I see him at work everyday," Ainge said of Stevens. "I know his urgency. I know my urgency to become a contending team. I don't think that's going to change today, whether this announcement is made, whether our contracts are extended. I mean, that's what we live for, that's what we do everyday, that's what Wyc and Steve have built from the time they've got here and emphasized. Contract situations are nice and it shows a unity and stability, but that's what we work for everyday is to get back to being championship contenders. We have to do it the right way and that's we're trying to do."

"There couldn't possibly be any more sense of urgency than the three men on my left have on a daily basis," Pagliuca added, referring to Stevens, Ainge and Grousbeck up on the dais with him. "That's also with patience trying to build a team for the long-term. They have a fantastic ability to focus on the urgent but also focus on building a championship team like I said in the beginning. Like I said, we're thrilled about that."

The Celtics are in the perfect position to go hard after free agents this summer and the next. They have all the chips and cash they need, with the cap ready to explode to $89 million next season and $108 million the next. But all the cash in the world can't help New York, Brooklyn or Philly right now. Those franchises can't hold a candle to the image the Celtics have built around the league.

"I think sometimes that when there is not stability, and I've seen this in the NBA and in other pro sports, where there is a gun pointed at you, a lot of pressure and stress in an organization to do something," Ainge said. "I have to save my job and you do something wrong. You make bad decisions. I've never felt that pressure from ownership. I feel that pressure internally to win. That's what drives me, is the fear of failing. I think that we have stability and the stability is very, very important from a perception of our fanbase, of all the people around us in our entire league, of the players, I think all those things are very important, that they see the stability."

From a business perspective, this has been an offseason of showing prospective free agents and their representatives that the Celtics will also have first-rate, top-of-the-food chain facilities. Within a week of being eliminated in the playoffs, the Celtics wasted no time announcing their plans to build a new, state-of-the-art practice facility in Brighton at Boston Landing.

They also learned from the Patriots that every move you make in the offseason has a purpose. Wednesday's maneuvering was brilliant in this regard: They extended two successful pieces of their organization at no real cost. They've seen enough to know that Ainge and Stevens know what they're doing and work well together. By announcing their extension together before the draft and before free agency, they send the message that all the right pieces are in place to win now.

"I would add that from observing the two of them, they have great communication, always on the same page," Pagliuca said. "I think a quality you need in the NBA is patience and ability to see through the bad times into the good times. And I think we've seen that in the three years, and it's been great to watch and it bodes well for the future."

Now's the time to cash in on those chips.

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Steve Bulpett: Hearing Brad Stevens’ extension is for three years, bringing him back up to six total. 3 days ago – via Twitter SteveBHoop


bob


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6 is a fair amount of years.............Hummmm...Durant signs a 1 year with us, waits for the NBA cap increase and then signs a 5 year deal with the Celtics......1 + 5 = 6

Gee that is the same as Brads extension!

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