When the Utah Jazz decided to bring in Danny Ainge as a team executive in the middle of last season, you just knew that he was going to make a major impact on the team sooner rather than later. It came just seven months upon his arrival, with Ainge and the Jazz front office deciding to pull the trigger on a full rebuild that would send shockwaves throughout the entire league.

Ainge has now spoken out about the team's real motivation behind their decision to break up the squad. The 63-year-old did not pull any punches as he revealed how he just didn't see a bright future ahead for their Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert-led core (h/t ClutchPoints on Twitter):

“When I came in mid-season, I had obviously followed the Jazz from the outside before I got here in December, but I wasn't sure how good the Jazz were going to be,” Ainge admitted. “I was curious and optimistic, but what I saw during the season was a group of players that really didn't believe in each other. Like the whole group, I think they liked each other even more than what was reported. But I'm not sure there was a belief.”

Ainge then went on to say that he suspected that the team was probably just “waiting for the playoffs” and that they would be much better once the postseason came in. That obviously did not happen and the high-ranking Jazz exec just had to reiterate this point:

“And so, I gave them that benefit of the doubt, but it was clear the team did not perform well in the playoffs again,” he said.

Enough was enough and Ainge knew that the organization had no other choice but to break the roster up and embrace a full rebuild. He also made it abundantly clear that this decision was thoroughly discussed internally and that it was a mutual one among the members of the front office.

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