The Boston Celtics announced the surprise coaching hire of Brad Stevens on Wednesday night. According to Yahoo! Sports, the C’s lured Stevens away from Butler University with a six-year, $22 million deal: “Stevens, 36, left the comfort and security of a 10-year deal at Butler to replace former coach Doc Rivers and oversee the Celtics rebuilding process. Boston general manager Danny Ainge had long been fond of Stevens and made a swift, decisive courtship to convince him to become his coach, sources said. Before securing Stevens’ interest and commitment to Boston’s head-coaching job, Ainge talked informally about the position with popular former Celtic Brian Scalabrine, sources said. […] Ainge also considered Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga, too, and the two sat down on a couple of occasions recently to discuss the head-coaching job, sources said. Before leaving for the Los Angeles Clippers, Rivers had given Larranaga a strong endorsement for Boston’s head coaching job, sources said.”