Subscribe
Follow Us
The Boston Celtics had a chance to trade for All-Star forward Paul George and blew it. That's plain and simple. The franchise is in a good place right now with up-and-coming players like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the wing and veteran point guard Kemba Walker locked into a four-year contract, plus a myriad of young players still to be groomed like Robert Williams, Semi Ojeleye, and Carsen Edwards, among others.
Nevertheless, Celtics president Danny Ainge failed to cash in on chips multiple times in the post-Paul Pierce era and instead settled on two seasons of Kyrie Irving—who was out the door after a second consecutive second-round playoff exit—and the current configuration, which heavily relies on multiple rookies and second-year players outperforming in order for Boston to be relevant for a long time.
Not to dig the Celtics' grave too early, but the Atlantic Division team is tied with the Los Angeles Clippers, George's current team, with the best record in the NBA.
Boston has the fourth-best offensive efficiency, sixth-best defensive rating, and overall the third-best net rating in the league—the last point behind the Eastern Conference Finals runner-up last season Milwaukee Bucks and LeBron James' team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
But the belief is the Celtics would be farther along in their competitiveness with George on their team, and Ainge never gave the Indiana Pacers a real offer prior to the Larry Bird–run franchise's trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder. (The Thunder sent PG to the Clippers this past offseason to join Kawhi Leonard.)
Article Continues Below
According to Alec Nathan in Bleacher Report in July 2017, Boston never gave a “real offer,” Adrian Wojnarowski reported on ESPN. The former Most Improved Player was evidently dealt for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Here's what the potential framework of a PG-to-Celtics trade would look like:
According to ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman, the Celtics' draft-night offer included three first-round picks and two starting players, one of whom was Jae Crowder. However, the Celtics reportedly refused to include their 2018 first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets or the Sacramento Kings/Los Angeles Lakers pick that will land in Boston through the Markelle Fultz trade.
This is another example of a possible overpay to acquire a star, but again illustrates how star-driven the NBA is. Additionally, one of the reasons OKC general manager Sam Presti executed the George trade was Leonard deciding on the Clippers and asking for All-Star assistance. The failed George traded underlines the Pandora's box of opportunities with multiple stars picking Boston in the era of duo team-ups.
There is still much to be written in Boston's current era, so more time needs to pass before final judgments, but it looks like the Celtics could have traded for one of George, Leonard, or another star in the past, or even acquire multiple All-Stars.
