Celtics lose Assistant GM Ryan McDonough to the Suns

Arizona Central
The Suns selected Boston assistant general manager Ryan McDonough to be their new GM.

McDonough, 33, has worked for the Celtics since 2003 when he joined their video department a year after graduating from North Carolina. He has ascended to various front office posts, including his three-year tenure as assistant GM.

McDonough is known as a trusted advisor to Boston president Danny Ainge, who has been an advocate for him to become a GM. The Suns were seeking a first-rate talent evaluator with a knack for the business’ emerging analytics and those are areas that McDonough has proven to be adept.

McDonough has been credited in Boston for the drafting of Avery Bradley, a No. 19 pick in 2010 who has become a starter. He also was part of the contingent that convinced Celtics ownership to invest in a 2006 draft-day trade for Phoenix’s No. 22 pick to get Rajon Rondo. The Celtics also found late first-round draft value with Glen Davis and Jared Sullinger.

This is a significant loss for the Celtics. The top GM's nowadays tend not to be former players. They are guys like Sam Presti and Daryl Morey who are all about advanced analytic stats. McDonough apparently is of the ilk. Obviously, this is a step up for McDonough and congrats go out to him.

The Celtics now need to find another young mind to add to the staff. But have no fear we still have Danny Ainge who was able to see the talent of Gabe Pruitt and take him over Marc Gasol. Then a year later when DeAndre Jordan fell to the Celtics, Danny fooled everyone and drafted the amazing J.R. Giddens. And lastly when reports were that the Celtics would draft Chandler Parsons due to his close relationship with the Rivers' family, Danny drafted JaJuan Johnson. So you see, Danny can pick 'em as well. Obviously I'm partly kidding here (partly). For all we know McDonough could have been behind one of those picks, though I doubt it.

Point is the Celtics don't play in a warm weather climate. We don't play in a no income tax state. The Celtics are not a prime free agent destination for superstars. Chris Paul didn't want to come here and neither did Dwight Howard. In order for us to compete we need the brightest minds running the show. Danny's not going anywhere anytime soon, so it's imperative that we add another strong assistant GM.