Boston Celtics: All-time starting lineup of almost acquired stars

Forward – Scottie Pippen

With ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary about the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls claiming a bright spotlight right now with little else in the way of professional sports going on, the old Scottie Pippen to the Boston Celtics trade rumor from two and a half decades ago has resurfaced.

Five years ago, Michael Hilpert dove deep on this very topic for this site:

"On June 25th 1995 – the morning of the NBA Draft – both the New York Times and Chicago Tribune reported the possibility of a Pippen-to-Celtics trade. The Bulls supposedly asked for both the Celtics’ picks (3rd and 6th), or a prospect (Antoine Walker or Eric Williams) and the third pick. The Bulls were hoping to draft either Utah Forward, Keith Van Horn; Kentucky Guard, Ron Mercer (feels better knowing a team actually valued him higher than us); or Tracy McGrady. For whatever reason, the trade never happened – probably for the best for the Bulls."

The C’s endured a rough stretch in the 90’s and early 2000’s where the team was never a true contender and was more often than not out of the playoffs. During the time period where Pippen almost suited up for the Shamrocks, the team missed the playoffs for six straight years.

There’s no doubt things would have been different if Pippen was actually in uniform for the C’s. As history would have it, the Bulls went on to continue their dynasty, including breaking the record for wins in a season in 1995-96 with 72 in the regular season.

On the flipside, the lack of a Pippen deal resulted in the team being in a position to draft Paul Pierce. There’s a ton of what-ifs with this scenario because it was so long ago. But this was one of the most significant misfires in Boston Celtics history.