Report: Boston Allison Feaster, Atlanta’s Landry Fields potential Celtics GM candidates

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/report-boston-allison-feaster-atlanta-181348337.html



Report: Boston Allison Feaster, Atlanta’s Landry Fields potential Celtics GM candidates


Justin Quinn
Thu, July 8, 2021, 11:13 AM




The Boston Celtics pulled the trigger on a major overhaul of the organization beginning at the start of their 2020-21 NBA offseason, starting with the retirement of longtime President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge and the elevation of former head coach Brad Stevens to succeed him as team president.

Soon after, Stevens hired former Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Ime Udoka to fill his former role as head coach, but there have been persistent rumors that Stevens isn’t done tinkering with the front office structure, perhaps planning on expanding Boston’s comparatively small front office. Now, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reports there are two potential candidates to serve under Stevens as the Celtics’ general manager, one internal and one external.

“Amid ongoing questions about the future structure of Boston’s basketball operations, Fields very much remains a top choice of Stevens and Celtics ownership to join Boston as the team’s general manager,” related Fischer.


While "Atlanta could simply block the Celtics' pursuit by elevating Fields to the same post underneath Hawks president Travis Schlenk" according to the B/R writer, the Hawks' recent success has made him an intriguing target.

"At just 33, Fields is widely considered a rising front-office name in the industry, known as a former pro capable of winning favor with today's players while also boasting the credentials and polish that come from a full four years at Stanford. Fields rose quickly through the San Antonio Spurs' vaunted scouting department that has already produced Sam Presti and Sean Marks, among others."

With the Udoka hire -- a former Spurs protegé himself -- along with Udoka's hire of Spurs assistant coach Will Hardy, it's clear Boston values the basketball culture instilled in that Texas ball club considerably, so the interest makes sense. https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1413180013839409153?s=20

Perhaps even more intriguing is the potential elevation of current director of player development Allison Feaster to the position, rumored to be of interest to Stevens as well. Given she was heavily involved in the coaching hiring process, it is very clear Boston values her perspective considerably. She would be the first female general manager in league history, joining a growing corp of women in position to take the reigns of such jobs currently filling that role at the G League level or as assistant GMs.

"It seems like she's getting some serious traction," one assistant GM reportedly shared with Fischer regarding moving up in the organizational structure. And while the fact that she is not only a woman but one of color is certainly important in terms of the broader need of representation in the NBA and wider sports world, there's a far more important reason for the Celtics to consider elevating her to general manager. She is by all accounts very, very good at her job.


Bob
MY NOTE:  I didn't even know we were looking for a GM.  I thought that's what Danny was, he just had a different title for the job.  Wyc is really splitting up management into smaller, bite-sized pieces.  I wonder what effect this has, both professionally and emotionally, on Mike Zarren.

As Jayson Tatum said in a recent interview "change is good sometimes".  We're just not used to it, we're a very stable franchise normally.


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Bob

Cannot help but wonder what is really going on behind the scenes. It does appear that Zarren will not be long for this team.

The Brad Stevens promotion over him and now all the talk about bringing in a GM tells me that at the very least Zarren's involvement has been reduced and maybe a more singular focus will be on managing the CAP situation. I suspect that he will not be with this team much longer.

dboss wrote:Bob

Cannot help but wonder what is really going on behind the scenes.  It does appear that Zarren will not be long for this team.

The Brad Stevens promotion over him and now all the talk about bringing in a GM  tells me that at the very least Zarren's involvement has been reduced and maybe a more singular focus will be on managing the CAP situation.  I suspect that he will not be with this team much longer.

dboss,

Sadly, I agree with you, and am concerned (not because I agree with you.   ).


Bob


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https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2021/07/whats-brad-stevens-plan-for-celtics-front-office-structure-after-his-surprise-elevation.html



What’s Brad Stevens plan for Celtics front office structure after his surprise elevation?



Updated 1:03 PM; Today 1:03 PM


By Brian Robb | brobb@masslive.com



Brad Stevens wasted little time in his new role as Celtics president of basketball operations reshaping the roster, dealing away Kemba Walker just two weeks into his tenure. He was also the first executive to fill a head coaching vacancy this offseason with the official hiring of Ime Udoka last week.

Yet as the franchise prepares for a pivotal offseason with Stevens getting up to speed in his new role as a top executive, uncertainty still remains about who will be calling the shots with Stevens in the team’s front office more than a month after the former’s coach elevation from the bench.


Stevens, according to multiple league sources, is spending some time in Las Vegas this week at Team USA training camp along with new coach Ime Udoka and countless other coaches and executives from around the league ahead of the team’s trip to Tokyo. Udoka will be part of the Team USA group heading to Tokyo as an assistant, passing along his Celtics summer league coaching duties to a member of his new staff that is still in the process of being fully put together according to league sources.

Stevens spoke highly of Boston’s current front office personnel that remained in key roles with the franchise after Danny Ainge’s retirement on June 2nd. In his introductory press conference, Stevens signaled that hiring a coach would be the top priority on his list over any potential shifts to the team’s current front office hierarchy beyond his addition.

“I’ve spent a lot less time thinking about the structure of the front office,” Stevens said on June 2nd. “I will, obviously, dive into that. I think there are good people in place and I also think there are a lot of priorities now that need to be tackled with obviously hiring a head coach being one.”

Stevens finalized a deal to hire Udoka as Boston’s new head coach on June 21st. However, according to league sources, he handled interviews for the head coaching position individually before the final round of interviews. At that point, Boston’s director of player development Alison Feaster was the only member of the team’s front office that was a part of the final round of interviews with Stevens along with co-owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca.


The 45-year-old Feaster has received rave reviews internally for her role since joining Boston’s front office two years ago, accompanying the team to the Orlando bubble last season. She’s been considered as a candidate for the general manager position according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who also lists Hawks assistant general manager Landry Fields as a potential top choice to be pursued by the Celtics.

Two weeks ago, Stevens hinted he was looking to potentially add some fresh perspective to a relatively small circle of executives and scouts in Boston’s front office under Danny Ainge in the wake of the Kemba Walker deal.

“Right now, I think the fair way to do this from this new role is to really assess everything over time and see how operational we are, see what we need, see what we need to add and we have a lot of good people here,” Stevens said of his plans for the front office. “At the same time, I do think that we will probably become a more robust staff. So we’ll see how that goes. That’s kind of our priority list right now. I wish there were more hours in a day to do it all at once. But I think that the smart move is to evaluate and observe and then figure that out.”


With Udoka’s hiring finalized for weeks and the NBA Draft now just under three weeks away, time is running short for Stevens to make any kind of substantial change to the front office structure under him for this offseason. Any kind of shift could lead to a bigger shakeup in regards to the team’s other executive personnel and that’s a slippery slope for the rookie president in his first year on the job before a crucial free agency season for the franchise.

Stevens’ life preparing for the NBA Draft got easier last month when he dealt away that team’s only first round pick as part of the Kemba Walker trade. However, draft week has always been a pivotal time for wheeling and dealing and it’s essential to have a strong structure and plan of attack in place for the weeks leading up to it.


Monster decisions remain leading into free agency as well. Will team extend Marcus Smart or Robert Williams? How much are they willing to commit to Evan Fournier in free agency? How much will the emphasis be on maintain salary cap flexibility over the long-term versus building a team that could contend next year? There are no easy answers to any of these questions.

It’s possible Stevens will simply keep the team’s current front office structure in place to see how this offseason plays out before evaluating whether any further changes are needed. There have been a number of outspoken members of the front office to some of Boston’s moves in recent years under Danny Ainge, something Ainge revealed to MassLive.com exclusively after his retirement.


“They’ve heard my voice, they know how I think and maybe shapes them, maybe that doesn’t but we’ve had a lot of conversations over the last few years, that staff with Brad,” Ainge told MassLive. “Like I said, most every decision we’ve made has been unanimous but there some things that we haven’t done that others or one of them have wanted to do. Anyway, I’m just really excited that they have to take the shot. I think it’s about that time.”

Whether that current group gets that shot to be heard is ultimately up to Stevens. However, the clock is ticking on a decision as the NBA Draft and free agency inches closer on the calendar. If Stevens wants to bring in prominent outside help for the present, he needs to do it now to avoid others being left in limbo and a potential untimely changeover in personnel. Otherwise, letting what’s left of a highly experienced front office do their jobs is probably the best way to help this group reshape itself for the future with Stevens serving as its ringleader.


Bob


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dboss wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

dboss wrote:Bob

Cannot help but wonder what is really going on behind the scenes.  It does appear that Zarren will not be long for this team.

The Brad Stevens promotion over him and now all the talk about bringing in a GM  tells me that at the very least Zarren's involvement has been reduced and maybe a more singular focus will be on managing the CAP situation.  I suspect that he will not be with this team much longer.

dboss,

Sadly, I agree with you, and am concerned (not because I agree with you.   ).

Why are you concerned?  Zarren has been passed over.  It is what it is.  He should be able to latch on somewhere else.  


Bob


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dboss,

Mike Zarren has been the point man on every trade that has been done for the last 18 years or so.  He is, by everybody's estimation, a Cap Space Genius.  I would consider his departure to be a significant loss and, in my opinion, a reflection on the ownership.

Having said this, my fears may be overblown.  I just found this article.  It's a month old, I don't know how I missed it.  I can only hope it is accurate and true.  Titles don't always clarify one's position, responsibilities and place in the pecking order.  There can't be two Presidents, and co-Presidencies are inherently unstable and unproductive, but maybe that's how Zarren's actual role will be.  Brad is the type to encourage that but...


https://celticswire.usatoday.com/lists/nba-boston-celtics-zarren-bigger-role/


Stein: Mike Zarren expected to expand responsibility, lend guidance to Stevens in new role



Justin Quinn
June 8, 2021 7:04 pm ET



Not everyone outside of the Boston Celtics media sphere has felt the Massachusetts franchise made a slam-dunk hire when it elevated longtime head coach Brad Stevens to the role of president of basketball operations last week after the not-entirely unexpected retirement of former team president Danny Ainge.

After the dust settled on the end of the 18-year veteran of Boston’s front office tenure, analysts began to wonder whether Stevens truly would be the best choice for the job given a number of factors related to the position and his experience in recent months as head coach of a frustrated Celtics roster.

Among them was the New York Times’ Marc Stein. “Whispers in the past week that the NBA coaching grind had begun to wear on Stevens, 44, are the most concerning aspect about the Celtics’ abrupt power shift,” Stein wrote in his most recent newsletter.


“The front-office grind can be even more withering,” he added — and case in point, it was that grind and the effect it had on Ainge’s health that the Celtics lifer cited as the reason for his exit.

“It should help Stevens that the well-regarded assistant general manager Mike Zarren is expected to expand his responsibility and lend considerable guidance. Besides hiring his own replacement on the bench, Stevens has to overcome limited flexibility to improve a roster around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown that Ainge said in a February radio interview was ‘not good.'”

“I wondered at the time why Ainge was willing to put public pressure on himself to make in-season upgrades that he was ultimately unable to deliver,” pondered Stein. “Chances are Ainge already knew, deep down, he would be stepping down at season’s end.”

This echoes what Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer wrote earlier in the week, who said “it seems Boston’s maneuvering will finally clear the path for assistant general manager Mike Zarren to operate as the Celtics’ lead basketball mind.”

“There’s a belief that Stevens will only nominally outrank Zarren in Boston’s decision-making tree, sources said, and it’s a role Zarren appears more than prepared for. Whenever teams have conducted negotiations or trade calls with the Celtics, sources said, it has typically been Zarren on the other line. Right around Memorial Day weekend in 2013, it was Zarren, for example, who phoned Brooklyn to resume negotiating the famous blockbuster trade that ultimately netted Tatum and Brown.”

That doesn’t mean Stevens is a figurehead by any means, however. As Fischer notes, ownership loves the new team president as one of the sport’s leading basketball minds.


Bob


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Shortly before the end of the season and the shakeup that occurred, someone questioned Danny on the front office, and if Austin Ainge would talk over his position if he should decide to leave. I remember his reply "Mike Zarren might have something to say about that". Hmmmm..then Brad walked into the job and Zarren was walked over. There is more going on here than any of us know.
Over the years, Zarren has been sought after because of his basketball IQ, and his grasp of the cap. He can quote numbers for trade viability faster than we could turn our head. All I have to think is that he is either making a very handsome salary to stick around, or, as some point, he is going to walk. They would be foolish to let him go. Invent a title, pay him, whatever. But do not lose him.

I remember when Brad joined the team, the coaching staff more than doubled under him. So why should management be any different.

Even Wyc cant be this naive and/or stupid. Pick one.
If Mike Zarren is as sharp as everyone including me thinks he is, then “inventing a title” and lining his pockets is not a move I believe he would accept. Smart folks like him don’t go for that kind of corporate nonsense.
People like that get to pick their own jobs. Now whether its in Boston or elsewhere only time will tell.

I'll wager a bet that Zarren will be gone in a year.