Back in 2007, the Celtics had just wrapped up one of the worst seasons in franchise history, with the only light at the end of the tunnel being a chance to draft Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. But Boston suffered some terrible lottery luck and faced with massive disappointment and a side-eye from Paul Pierce, Danny Ainge worked his magic.
The first move was flipping the 5th pick in the draft (Jeff Green), along with Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak, for Ray Allen and the 35th pick. But then came the bigger move, the one that rewrote Celtics history.Â
Ainge got on the phone with his old buddy Kevin McHale, who was running the Timberwolves, and pulled off a blockbuster for the ages, sending Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, and two first-round picks for Kevin Garnett.
KG had given his all to Minnesota and the Wolves franchise, leaving it all on the court for 12 seasons, winning an MVP, making seven All-NBA teams, and taking the franchise as far as he possibly could. At age 31, he came to Boston, and the rest is history.
Giannis could be KG 2.0 for Celtics
And now, nearly 20 years later, Ainge’s successor, Brad Stevens, has a chance to recapture that magic and make some history of his own. The Celtics are coming off an incredibly disappointing ending to the season, with the superstars in flux, and the team needing a boost to get back to contention.
And as fate would have it, there’s a 31-year-old former MVP who has given his all to a franchise in the Midwest, but needs to move on to maximize the rest of his career. That superstar is, of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the chances he ends up in Boston appear better by the day.
Giannis has been loyal to a fault to the Bucks, but that team has no more cards to play. Much like KG back in the day, it’s time for Giannis to join up with another star or two on his timeline and try to compete for titles. And much like with KG, that could happen in Boston.
There are many parallels between Giannis and Garnett, two of the greatest power forwards of all time, with the chief difference being that the Greek Freak has a championship under his belt in Milwaukee.Â
Brad is going to have to pay a heftier price than Danny did back in the day, but if he can pull this off and pair Giannis with Jayson Tatum for the next few years, there’s a real chance of history repeating itself and the Celtics adding more banners to the rafters thanks in part to the acquisition of a generational power forward for the tail end of his prime.
Add us as a preferred source on Google