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Boston Celtics name Brad Stevens as next head coach

In a fairly shocking move, the Boston Celtics announced today that they have come to an agreement with Brad Stevens to be the 17th head coach of the team.

Stevens, age 36, has served for the past six years as the head coach of Butler University men’s basketball team, never winning fewer than 22 games and leading the Bulldogs to two national championship games against Duke and Connecticut. His career win percentage is .772, including a 33-5 season in 2009-10. He was also the youngest coach to reach the Final Four since Bob Knight in 1973.

A native of Zionsville, Indiana, Stevens was a three-time academic All-America nominee while earning four varsity letters at DePauw University, before graduating with a degree in economics. He later joined the Butler University program as the coordinator of basketball operations under then-coach Thad Matta, before being named head coach in 2007.

“Brad and I share a lot of the same values,” said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. “Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic. His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court. Brad is a coach who has already enjoyed lots of success, and I look forward to working with him towards Banner 18.”

Stevens and his wife Tracy, along with their children Brady and Kinsley, will be introduced to the media at 11:00am on Friday at the Celtics Training Center at Healthpoint.

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Boston Celtics waive Terrence Williams

The Boston Celtics are rebuilding, and are saying goodbye to some older players with big contracts as well as some young guys that don’t cost very much but aren’t considered part of the future.

The team announced today that they have waived guard/forward Terrence Williams.

Williams, a 6’6” guard/forward, appeared in 24 games for the Celtics during the 2012-13 season and averaged 4.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 13.3 minutes per game. He also appeared in five games for the Celtics during the playoffs and averaged 1.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 9.6 minutes per game.

End of era as Boston Celtics begin rebuild

Letting Doc Rivers go to the Los Angeles Clippers was the first sign. Getting rid of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett clinched it.

The Boston Celtics are rebuilding.

The Celtics have agreed to the terms of a deal that would send the two remaining members of the Big Three that won the 2008 NBA title to the Brooklyn Nets for a package of draft picks and players. Garnett is a future Hall of Famer, but it’s Pierce’s departure that signals the end of an era for the league’s most-decorated franchise.

”It’s sad to see everybody leave Boston. You just want them to go someplace where they have a chance to win, and they have,” Rivers said at Clippers draft headquarters late Thursday night. ”It’s a great trade for Boston, too; not now, later. Danny wanted to rebuild, and that’s what he’s doing.”

The longest-tenured member of the Celtics, Pierce is the team’s captain, a 10-time All-Star and a likely Hall of Famer. He is the second-leading scorer in the history of the NBA’s most-decorated franchise, and also is in the team’s top seven in rebounds, assists, steals, games and minutes played.

Garnett is also a future Hall of Famer, though only the last six years of his career were in Boston. It’s Pierce, who slipped to 10th in the 1998 draft and has been a Celtic ever since, who had a chance to spend his entire career with the franchise and add his name to a list that includes Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Bill Russell and John Havlicek.

Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

Celtics reach agreement to trade Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett to Nets

The Brooklyn Nets will acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from the Boston Celtics in a deal that was still developing as the NBA draft ended, according to a person with knowledge of the details.

The trade can’t be completed until July 10, after next season’s salary cap is set, so pieces were still being discussed early Friday. But the person says the Nets will get the two perennial All-Stars, signaling the breakup of the Celtics’ veteran core…

Yahoo Sports, which first reported the talks, said the Nets would also get veteran Jason Terry from Boston and send Gerald Wallace, Kris Joseph, the expiring deal of Kris Humphries and three future first-round picks to Boston.

On the day they hosted the NBA draft, the Nets were making much bigger noise with the transaction that will send Pierce and Garnett to a new Atlantic Division home.

The Celtics already let Doc Rivers leave after acquiring a draft pick from the Los Angeles Clippers. Ray Allen departed last summer for Miami, and now the other two members of the Big Three that led the Celtics to an NBA title and within a victory of a second will soon be gone as well.

Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Nets call Celtics about Kevin Garnett

The Nets have done what likely every team in the NBA has done this week: Put in a call to the Celtics about the availability of Kevin Garnett.

A league source confirmed the Nets have inquired about whether Garnett would be available in a trade in the wake of the Celtics losing coach Doc Rivers to the Clippers and seemingly heading for a full-on roster rebuild and potentially the end of the Big Three Era in Beantown.

Garnett undoubtedly would fill a hole for the Nets at power forward, as well as providing an intimidating defensive presence alongside All-Star center Brook Lopez and giving Jason Kidd one of the NBA’s most respected locker-room presences to aid him in his first season as a head coach. But it’s unclear whether Garnett would be willing to waive his complete no-trade clause for a trade to the Nets — or whether the Celtics would be willing to deal him to a division rival.

The same likely goes for Paul Pierce, who also is expected to be on the trading block.

Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Celtics search to replace Doc Rivers begins now

Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge thought Doc Rivers was going to be the next Gregg Popovich, Jerry Sloan or even Red Auerbach – coaches who stayed with one team for decades.

Rivers got the nine-year itch.

”He felt like it was time for a change. He felt like we all needed a change,” Ainge said on Tuesday night after the deal to allow Rivers out of his contract to coach the Los Angeles Clippers was final. ”That was his rationalization, or justification, for going to the Clippers: that this was better for everybody.”

After weeks of negotiations that at one time had Boston stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce joining Rivers in Los Angeles, the Celtics announced on Tuesday that the NBA approved the deal to allow their coach to go to the Clippers in exchange for a first-round pick in 2015. Ainge said in a news conference that he had not begun looking for a new coach because he couldn’t believe until late in the on-again, off-again process that Rivers was actually leaving.

Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

Cavs and Bucks interested in Paul Pierce

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks are among the teams that have expressed trade interest in Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce, according to sources with knowledge of the talks.

But sources told ESPN.com that Pierce is most likely headed to neither one of those teams if he leaves the Celtics this week.

The Celtics do remain hopeful of acquiring a first-round pick for Pierce this week in conjunction with Thursday’s draft. But sources said the Celtics have shown an inclination to try to work with Pierce to get him to a favorable destination — which essentially translates to a contending team — if they indeed decide to trade him by week’s end. The team faces a June 30 deadline to either pick up Pierce’s $15.3 million option for next season or buy him out for $5 million.

Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

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Antoine Walker wants to be head coach of Boston Celtics

Former Celtic Antoine Walker said Monday night he was “serious” after tweeting Monday morning that he was interested in the Celtics head coaching job.

Walker, 36, more recently known for his well-chronicled financial issues and a premature end to his career, said he wants to work in the NBA and has head-coaching aspirations.

“I want to be back in the game, I love the game and am a student of the game,” he said. “I want to stress seriously that I do want to become a coach . . . there’s a lot of guys starting to get opportunities and so the league is getting younger coaches. Obviously I’m lacking in experience but we’ve all got to start from somewhere.”

Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

InsideHoops.com editor says: Walker would start from the bottom of the assistant coaching ladder, and work his way up. Jumping right to head coach is extremely unlikely.

Doc Rivers to become head coach of L.A. Clippers

Doc Rivers is abandoning his sinking ship and switching coasts. It’s the end of an era in Boston.

In a deal forced by his unwillingness to endure rebuilding, Rivers bailed on Boston and agreed Sunday to coach the Clippers, according to multiple sources. As compensation, L.A. gave up a 2015 first-round pick — and, in the process, presumably solidified Chris Paul’s return as a free agent — clearing the way for Rivers to resume title-hunting while the Celtics go about rebuilding around Rajon Rondo, who will return next season following ACL surgery.

The Clippers are picking up the three years and $21 million remaining on Rivers’ contract, following interviews with candidates Byron Scott, Brian Shaw and Lionel Hollins.

The next big question is what happens to future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, both of whom don’t fit into Boston’s long-term plan. The Clippers were also negotiating a deal to land Garnett for DeAndre Jordan, but that was blocked by the NBA because it was deemed part of a coach trade. Any subsequent deals sending Garnett to the Clippers would also be blocked, according to commissioner David Stern.

Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News

Clippers will keep trying to land coach Doc Rivers

The Clippers will make another effort Monday to try to complete a deal with the Boston Celtics for Coach Doc Rivers, said NBA executives who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The Clippers and Celtics talked again Friday but couldn’t make a deal.

“I think there is still some life left in it,” one executive said. “The door is not closed yet on getting a deal done.”

The Clippers won’t budge on their current offer of a second-round draft pick for the rights to Rivers, the executives said.

However, Boston wants a 2014 first-round pick for Rivers, the executives said, because that is considered a very good draft class.

Reported by Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times