Jazz won't rush to hire Quin Snyder's replacement

SALT LAKE CITY — The end of an era pivoted to the beginnings of a new one.

After Quin Snyder spent nearly 15 minutes reflecting on his eight-year tenure with the Utah Jazz on Monday, the questions quickly turned to CEO Danny Ainge about what's next for the Jazz.

Ainge said he's been formulating a preliminary list of names since the end of the season in case Snyder chose to not return for next season.

Early reports state Utah is looking at former Portland head coach Terry Stotts, Utah assistant Alex Jensen, former Jazz assistant and current New York Knicks assistant Johnnie Bryant, Phoenix assistant Kevin Young, Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee and Boston Celtics assistant Will Hardy.

Ainge, however, claimed the organization is still in the early stages of a process that both he and owner Ryan Smith said would be a thorough one.

"I have my ideas, but we really haven't discussed it internally with the rest of the staff or with Ryan," Ainge said. "So I don't know the answer to that. I have a few (in mind), but I'm not sure I even know them well enough to give you their names. But it's the very beginning of the process."

Ainge led two coaching searches during his time in Boston (landing on Doc Rivers and Brad Stephens), but he admitted that this one will be different.

"There's a lot of names I know and familiar with in the coaching world, but this will be much different than the two previous ones and probably more thorough," Ainge said.

Smith then jumped in and said: "We're going to take our time. We've got to get it right."

The beginning of June is an odd time to begin a search for a new coach. The NBA draft is coming in about two weeks and the start of free agency will come soon after. Ainge said those dates won't serve as any type of timeline for the team.

Sure, it'd be preferred to have a coach in place before the offseason fully kicks in — Utah is one of only two teams that doesn't have a current head coach and the Charlotte Hornets are expected to hire one in the coming days — but to Ainge, it's not a necessity.

"That's not a concern right now," Ainge said. "We've got to get this right. We've got big shoes to fill."

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