When Brad Stevens stepped aside from head coaching duties for the Boston Celtics at the end of the year to take over Danny Ainge's gig, it set in motion a domino effect that left Stevens' old job vacant.
Many thought his first splash move would be hiring his replacement. Instead, he made waves by trading Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now, Stevens and the Celtics have tabbed their next head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Boston Celtics are finalizing an agreement to hire Brooklyn Nets assistant Ime Udoka as the franchise's new coach, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 23, 2021
Ime Udoka is set to take over as the head coach for the Celtics, and he will come over after being an assistant on Steve Nash's staff with the Brooklyn Nets.
At the end of the season this past year, there were whispers that Stevens' message had grown stale with some Celtics players. Now, they'll have a new voice in Udoka as Stevens is in the front office.
Woj reported the approval from Boston players about Udoka being the next head coach.
“Udoka separated himself quickly in Brad Stevens' search process, including significant support from Celtics players who were impressed with Udoka after working under him with Team USA in the World's.” – Adrian Wojnarowski.
Udoka was labeled as one of the top tier candidates this go around for potential head coaching jobs in the NBA. And now he has landed with the Celtics who have two all-stars in place already in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Boston's new coach will be tasked with helping this team elevate into the ranks of where the Bucks, Nets and 76ers were this past season, which is, atop the Eastern Conference. The talent is on the top half of the roster that's for sure, now Stevens will sit back and watch Udoka coach the Celtics.
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