Boston Celtics assistant general manager Ryan McDonough discusses the team’s selections in the NBA draft during an availability in Boston, Thursday, June 28, 2012. The team selected Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger with the No. 21 pick and Syracuse center Fab Melo with the No. 22 pick in the first round. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The Phoenix Suns have hired Ryan McDonough as their new GM the organization announced today. He will be introduced during a press conference on May 9 at US Airways Center.

McDonough is only 33 years old and has 10 years of NBA experience. He played a large part in drafting the talent that the Celtics have in late rounds of the draft over the past three years. He joined the Celtics organization in 2003 as an assistant to basketball operations. He moved up the ladder as his time with the Celtics went on.

He’s done a great deal of scouting work for the Celtics in the United States and internationally. He played an important role in evaluating players like Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger, Kendrick Perkins and others. He’s done a fantastic job of finding late round gems in his time with the Celtics.

Here’s what President of Basketball Operations, Lon Babby, had to say about McDonough:

“Ryan distinguished himself among an impressive group of candidates for our GM position,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “His natural leadership and communication skills will serve the Suns well. And, his prodigious work ethic and ability to identify talent will enable us to take full advantage of the 10 draft choices, including six in the first round, that we have over the next three years. We welcome his championship pedigree to our organization.”

via nba.com

McDonough should be a fine fit in Phoenix. The team has 10 draft picks over the next three years leaving McDonough plenty to work with. His talent evaluation skill will be of utmost importance in Phoenix.

He was definitely appreciated in Boston. We wish him the best during his time with Phoenix.

Feb. 22, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Boston Celtics guard Courtney Lee (11), forward Paul Pierce (34) and guard Avery Bradley (0) celebrate on the bench after guard Jason Terry (not pictured) scores a three point basket against the Phoenix Suns in the second half at US Airways Center. The Celtics defeated the Suns 113-88. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight, almost nothing could go wrong. The Celtics got their new healthy bodies finally tonight and it looked like they had been rejuvenated. A team that wasn’t able to win on the road against the Western Conference this season came in and destroyed the Suns convincingly. This was an important victory after losing on the road to the Lakers just two days earlier. The Celtics needed a win to get back on track and they got just that. Without Kevin Garnett nonetheless.

Garnett missed his first game of the season this year because Doc Rivers wanted him to get some rest. If not, he’d have been on the floor tonight. Jeff Green stepped up beautifully as the starting power forward dropping a game high 31 points. This was easily his best game as a Celtic.

You would’ve thought that it would’ve taken some time for the two new additions in Jordan Crawford and Terrence Williams to get acclimated with the offense but apparently not. It certainly helps that the Suns gave the ball up 13 times. The Celtics got 20 points off of those 13 turnovers alone. They got 18 fastbreak points tonight and the offense was moving at a high pace the whole time. There was plenty of ball movement to go around for everyone. Getting into the grades:

Starters

Avery Bradley: B+

Avery had a really good game tonight with 13 points on 6-12 shooting, four rebounds, two assist, and four steals. Those steals were a result of him keeping the pressure on at all times whether that was on the ball handler or on the passing lane. He created a handful of turnovers for the Celtics tonight with his defense alone. He was hustling all night and brought a lot of energy that the Celtics have really lacked for most of the season.

Courtney Lee: B-

Lee did the same thing as Bradley tonight with his defending. His ball pressure was excellent and he did a great job of staying in front of his man. He only scored eight points on the same amount of shots, but he also grabbed five rebounds and did a lot of things that won’t show up on the box score.

Paul Pierce: C-

Pierce wasn’t really as impactful as you’d like him to be, but it didn’t really show because the rest of the team played well. He took a backseat to Jeff Green tonight and rightfully so, but he was slow on defense as well which you can’t have. A lot of his rotations were slow and his contests were pretty lazy. He scored eight points tonight in 26 minutes. He wasn’t really needed tonight.

Jeff Green: A+++++

Jeff Green had 31 points tonight in his best game as a Celtic. He missed three shots out of 14 tonight. He made 3-5 three point shots tonight, coupled that with four assists, seven rebounds, and five blocks. Five blocks. Let that simmer for a little bit. He was amazing tonight and we’re starting to see what the Celtics envisioned when they brought Green in on a huge contract this offseason.

Brandon Bass: C-

Bass was Bass tonight. He was average and only scored six points on eight shots. He contributed to the rebounding effort with six but outside of that he did relatively nothing.

Sixth Man & Bench

Jason Terry: A

Jason Terry was amazing tonight. He continues to perform well in this new, high paced Celtics’ offense. Terry scored 13 points on 3-5  shooting tonight while hitting 2-3 from deep. Terry got to the line five times as well.

Jordan Crawford: B-

Steez was as Steez does in his first game as a Celtic. He scored 10 points on nine shots tonight and fit perfectly into the role that the Celtics wanted him to take. He was good in his role of creating his own shot and getting some instant offense for Boston.

Terrence Williams: B+

Terrence Williams was everything that the Celtics thought he would be tonight. I was pretty surprised that they threw him into the role of playing point forward as soon as he got into the game but he took that in stride. He had four assists tonight with four rebounds and nine points. He played a pretty effective game off of the bench.

Chris Wilcox : B

Chris Wilcox was perfect tonight as the second big. He scored 14 points on 7-9 shots and also had eight rebounds to boot. He was the perfect change of pace with his crafty ability to role to the basket. Teams are used to playing the Celtics when they’re picking and popping. With Wilcox getting more minutes tonight in Garnett’s absence, the Suns weren’t ready for it.

Feb 13, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Sacramento Kings power forward Thomas Robinson (0) warms up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Kings 123-100. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Rockets have come out making waves on the NBA’s press wire. The Rockets will send Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns for just a future second round pick according to Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski. It was widely expected that the Rockets would deal at least one forward on the deadline. It turns out that they dealt two and brought back one more.

Wojnarowski, just moments later, reported that the Kings dealt forward Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia, and Tyler Honeycutt to the Houston Rockets for Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, and Toney Douglas. What a catch for Daryl Morey and crew. They had Robinson targeted on draft night but they didn’t have the firepower to continue to move up the board. It wasn’t widely known if he was available or not, but it turns out that he was.

Here are the tweets from Woj himself:

The Houston Rockets have traded Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns for a future second-round draft pick, league sources tell Y! Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 21, 2013

The Rockets will send Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas to the Kings for Thomas Robinson, sources tell Y!

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 21, 2013

Along with a second-round pick, the Kings will send Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt to the Rockets, sources tell Y!

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 21, 2013