Boston Celtics: If not for Kyrie Irving trade, Cs could have had Thunder star
As time goes on, the decision by the former general manager of the Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge, to trade for Kyrie Irving just continues to grow more painful for the Cs faithful.
The latest piece of painful information in the wake of a deal that may have ultimately delayed the rise of Jayson Tatum to an MVP standard and Jaylen Brown to an All-Star level particularly stung given the timing of its revelation.
During the Oklahoma City Thunder-Boston Celtics broadcast, commentator and former Cs forward Brian Scalabrine revealed that the team would have targeted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 draft pick had it not been sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers. That pick ended up being Collin Sexton, and Gilgeous-Alexander ended up being selected three picks later at No. 11.
Scal has indicated on recent Celtics broadcasts that he had intel that they would have selected Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in ‘18 had they not traded the pick in the Kyrie deal. Pretty interesting alternative scenario there.
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) November 15, 2022
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would be the missing piece for the Boston Celtics right now
Hindsight is 20/20 — and by that, the Houdini does not mean to look back at the year 2020 for any reason whatsoever. No, what we mean by that is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t supposed to turn into the third or fourth best rookie behind Luka Doncic and Trae Young and arguably Deandre Ayton.
Gilgeous-Alexander immediately became starter material on a Los Angeles Clippers team that overcame the loss of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to defy the odds and make the postseason — before even taking two games from the Kevin Durant-led Golden State Warriors, who eventually won that year’s Western Conference championship. He was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Paul George trade and eventually became a star within months.
The past three years, he was a borderline All-Star, but this season he is playing like an All-NBA guard. If he was the C’s fifth starter now and a super-sixth man when Robert Williams returns, the Boston Celtics would be far and away the NBA Championship favorite. Of course, those hypotheticals may not exist if SGA was drafted by Boston in 2018.
Either way, thank you once again, Kyrie Irving trade, for being the gift that keeps on giving.