How coaching at Butler helped prepare Brad Stevens to run the Boston Celtics

In a lot of ways, trying to run a mid-major college basketball team can b a lot like being an NBA executive. You have to put the players on the roster via a strong and coherent plan for the program, signing prospects and developing them into elite players for the level they will be at, and then see them leave as they age out of the program or find better opportunities elsewhere.

And Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens broke down how his time caching Butler helped prepare him to take over the reigns from Celtics legend Danny Ainge in his current role during a recent interview on Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine's "The Starting Lineup" show on SiriusXM NBA Radio. "Trying to build teams at Butler was by far the best thing to help me in this role," said Stevens (h/t the Boston Globe's Chad Finn ).

"Because, you talk about the last few years, we have to find guys that, for whatever reason, are now minimums and we have to hopefully put them in a position to soar with their strengths and really take that next leap in their career," he added. "We're not going to get the first pick at Butler, you know?"

"And when we were recruiting there, there were challenges because you weren't going to beat Indiana and Purdue and all those teams for players," said the Celtics president. "You just had to find the right fits for you."

"And I think that that's kind of the same way when you're up against the aprons and all that stuff, so it was a great education."