Brad Stevens has definitely developed a reputation for being one of the smartest minds in NBA front offices. In fact, the genius swinging for the fences moves have overshadowed the decisions he made that fell under the radar. However, five years after taking over as President of Basketball Operations, there's one move he explored that everyone should be grateful he didn't pull off: getting Lonzo Ball.
In his first summer in the front office, Stevens was quick to make some changes when he traded Kemba Walker to bring back Al Horford. What many forget is that he tried to orchestrate a sign-and-trade for Ball.
Unfortunately, it was a bit too complicated as it likely would have required trading Marcus Smart, and Ball ultimately ended up in the Windy City. At first, it seemed like Boston missed out, but half-way through his first season as a Bull, Ball's knee problems acted up badly enough that he missed the rest of that season and didn't play on an NBA court again for a couple of years.
That could have been the Celtics' problem if Stevens had pulled off the deal, and there's no telling where things would have headed with Ball's injury problems. It sank Chicago badly for years, as he was a game-changer for them when he played.
Maybe Boston would have persevered, but that's hard investing that much in someone who can't play. This is all tragic circumstance, but it's a bullet Boston and Stevens dodged. Even the best GMs in professional sports had their dud decisions and their "Phew!" moments.
Danny Ainge had his close calls too
Lonzo Ball was definitely Stevens biggest almost-mistake. For now at least, but the one solace is that Ainge definitely had his too. Ainge was also quite good at his job, but when you look at his history of close calls, he too had players he almost got that could have changed everything for the worse.
For example, circa 2004, Ainge's draft binky was Robert Swift, and he wanted him in Boston, but he missed him by just inches, as he wound up with Seattle. Swift was talented but got hurt all the time. Instead, Ainge had to settle for some high school kid named Al Jefferson, who then went on to become the centerpiece of the Kevin Garnett deal.
Ainge had another binky 11 years later that went by the name of Justise Winslow. He wanted him like his depended on it in 2015, and offered the motherload to Charlotte for him. The Hornets didn't bite and took Frank Kaminsky. If the Hornets had said yes, they would have gotten their hands on one of those Nets picks that became Jaylen Brown.
Oh yeah, Ainge got lucky there too.
Getting back to Ball, no one wanted this for him. In fact, everyone should be rooting for him to rehab his value to get one more shot. At the same time, it is a relief to know that his downfall didn't affect Boston when it absolutely could have.
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