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3 times where the Boston Celtics were right to do nothing in trade talks

By Sam LaFrance

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - OCTOBER 22: Former Celtics player Danny Ainge waves before the Celtics home opener against the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden on October 22, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - OCTOBER 22: Former Celtics player Danny Ainge waves before the Celtics home opener against the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden on October 22, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Summer is starting to settle down and a new Boston Celtics season is looming. That means that an offseason full of trade rumors is just about over. Celtics fans spent most of July and August wondering if they’d be seeing Kevin Durant in green and Jaylen Brown lacing up for the Nets in the new season. In the end, Durant pulled his trade request and Boston didn’t budge by paying Brooklyn’s steep price for him.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Celtics be rumored to be interested in players only not to pull the trigger. A lot of people complain that Danny Ainge didn’t close enough big deals in his later years as Boston’s President of Basketball Operations. Despite it being one of the more consistent criticisms of Ainge, he was often right to walk away from the deal.

Hindsight, is indeed 20-20 after all.

Boston Celtics (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
Boston Celtics (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

The Boston Celtics were right not to trade the pick that ended up being Jayson Tatum for Kristaps Porzingis

A prime example of this was back in 2017 right around the NBA Draft. The Celtics had just won the draft lottery and then traded down to the third pick. They were coming off of a season where they earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference but then came up short against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Boston was looking for someone to help get the team over the hump. You may be asking, “who might that player have been?” The answer at the time was Kristaps Porzingis.

YIKES.

An even bigger yikes was the asking price from the New York Knicks. Frank Isola, who was working for the New York Daily News at the time, reported that the Knicks asked the C’s for the third pick in the 2017 draft (Jayson Tatum), Jaylen Brown, Jae Crowder, and the 2018 Brooklyn Nets first round pick (Collin Sexton).

It’s hard to imagine that it would be much fun being a Celtics fan in 2022 had this deal gotten done. Porzingis has been injury-prone for most of his career and didn’t turn out to be quite the force that he had the potential to be. Instead, Boston has a dynamic pairing of Tatum and Brown, who just led the team to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2010.