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Boston Celtics: KG trade still paying dividends more than 15 years later

By Aivaras Karla

The Boston Celtics are still receiving dividends from Kevin Garnett trade all of those years later -- here's how they are still contending (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
The Boston Celtics are still receiving dividends from Kevin Garnett trade all of those years later -- here's how they are still contending (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /
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Kevin Garnett was the best thing that has happened to the Boston Celtics in the last 30 years. Maybe even more. He changed the Cs in a bunch of different ways, and effect of that is still here.

Let me explain how so.

Before KG’s arrival, Boston for a bunch of years ranged from mediocre to bad. After Larry Bird’s retirement in 1992, the Boston Celtics in the 15 seasons before KG’s arrival made the playoffs only six times, and just two of those times they made it out of first round.

There was a lot of turmoil during those years. Players came and went, the organization was unstable, questionable decisions were made. They traded Chauncey Billups after 51 games, traded for Vin Baker and his albatross contract and Raef LaFrentz with his similarly overindulgent contract. Also Ricky Davis appeared in that span, so you can go pretty deep that route.

Remember, Boston wasn’t the first option for The Big Ticket. It was Phoenix, but the Suns didn’t want to part ways with Amar’e Stoudemire. Kevin McHale, then Wolves GM, wanted to ship KG out of the conference. McHale and Danny Ainge were teammates on those legendary Boston Celtics teams of the 1980s, so that friendship was still there.

KG’s has changed the culture immediately. Practice became more intense, he became the best defensive player in the league, team moved from 18th to second in points allowed per game with KG leading the way. With Garnett came accountability, unselfishness, and a winning mentality. All of that culminated in the 2008 NBA title. During his span in Boston they made the finals in 2010 and conference finals in 2012, before him leaving in 2013.

The culture he created, is still here. One part of his legacy was winning mentality and coincidence or not, but after his departure, team had only one losing season.

The trade to the Brooklyn Nets basically created today’s Boston Celtics team. Brooklyn wanted to be an immediate contender, so they offered a boat load of assets. The Nets traded Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, Tornike Shengelia, Reggie Evans, Keith Bogans and unprotected first-rounders in 2014, 2016, and 2018 for Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry. Keep in in mind that Garnett was 36 and Pierce 35. Since Brooklyn went sideways really fast, the Celtics got elite draft position. That’s how they’ve drafted Jaylen Brown in 2016 and Jayson Tatum in 2017 — two core pieces of the team.

The Boston Celtics even got trade value for their head coach

Let’s not forget another thing. In the summer of 2013, Doc Rivers was still under contract with the Boston Celtics. But I think he saw writing on the wall, that this team was past its time. So, he went to the Los Angeles Clippers —  which meant that vacancy, eventually filled by Brad Stevens, was now open. We know how things went after Brad became head coach of the team.

If KG and Paul Pierce would’ve still been with the Cs, I’m not sure that Doc would’ve left. So it would’ve meant no draft picks, no Brad Stevens and who knows how things would’ve gone in that case.