Ron Adams leaves Celtics to join Golden State

Ron Adams was a key hire for Brad Stevens last summer.  He provided a veteran presence for the rookie head coach.  So losing him to the Warriors is a step back for the coaching staff.

Celtics Insider | Boston Herald

Adams, about to turn 67 and excited about an opportunity to move back to his home state of California, today accepted an offer from Golden State to join Steve Kerr's Warriors staff. Adams, who worked closely with Rajon Rondo last season in the point guard's return from ACL surgery, and also played a role in Avery Bradley's improvement as a shooter, is also expected to work closely with Golden State's promising young crop of players. He will not serve as Kerr's lead assistant. That job has already been filled by fellow veteran Alvin Gentry, who left a similar job under Doc Rivers with the Clippers last week.

By now Stevens knows his way around the sidelines, so one would hope that he won't need to lean on someone like Adams for the finer points of coaching in the pros anymore.

Still, Adams did appear to have a rapport with Bradley and Rondo to name a few.  He also has a universal respect around the league.  So he'll be missed.

The Celtics will look into adding an assistant coach to fill the vacancy.  Though that might be filled from within.

Celtics assistant Ron Adams leaves for the Warriors

Stevens must now find a new lead assistant, and a possible candidate is current assistant Jay Larranaga. Larranaga was interviewed for the Celtics’ head coaching position after Doc Rivers vacated that post to join the Los Angeles Clippers last summer.