In the midst of the 2013 NBA Draft, the Celtics said goodbye to longtime Celtic Paul Pierce and NBA legend Kevin Garnett in a trade that sent them to the Brooklyn Nets. In addition, the Celtics gave up Jason Terry and D.J. White for Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks, Kris Joseph, and Keith Bogans. The players the Celtics got back were more or less used to match salaries though as the sweet spot in the deal for came by acquiring Brooklyn’s 2014, 2016, and 2018 first-round picks, plus the right to swap first-round picks in 2017.
As we reach eight years since the trade that changed both franchises, let’s take a look back at the reaction to the trade, how things played out, and where the players and teams are now.
When the trade was first reported on draft night, it would’ve been tough to find anyone that liked the deal for the Celtics.
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Then-ESPN analyst and writer Bill Simmons, a noted Celtics fan, set the tone for the reaction when the details first emerged during ESPN’s NBA Draft coverage.
“Gerald Wallace’s contract is terrible. It’s $30 million for three years. It’s a big contract to take on for three first-round picks that aren’t lottery picks, ” Simmons said during ESPN’s draft coverage that year.
“My first reaction though, Paul Pierce drafted by the team in 1998, played the last 15 seasons, and was somebody I hoped would retire with the Celtics, ” Simmons added. “That’s only happened a handful of times where somebody gets drafted, plays 15, 16 years with the same team and retires. So, just to see him another team will be weird. KG’s another guy who’s going to get his number retired.
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“I thought this was 35 cents on the dollar. There’s no guaranteed any of those picks will get in the lottery. Look at what just happened with Oklahoma City. They thought they were getting this juicy lottery pick and it ended up being No. 12. [The Celtics] are gutting the team, and it’s not like they have salary cap flexibility because [Rajon] Rondo makes big money. Jeff Green and Wallace combined make $20 million next year. So, it’s not like they’re gutting the team getting to start over.”
That rumored Celtics-Nets trade is so bad for that Doc Rivers just quit on the Celtics again.— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 27, 2013
Then-ESPN Celtics writer Chris Forsberg gave any Nets fans that may have been worried about getting Pierce and Garnett at such an old age assurance that they could still be integral parts to a title team.
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“The Nets should be pretty good for the foreseeable future, ” Forsberg wrote. “Three guys with rings are a nice return for what could be three late first-round picks — and, hey, if nothing else, tookGerald Wallace’s contract off Brooklyn’s hands. There’s a lot to like in this deal for the Nets, and you’ll especially appreciate what they got when the playoffs roll around.”
After acquiring two surefire Hall of Famers, the Nets expected to at least challenge the two-time defending champion Miami Heat, who were still led by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Led by first-year head coach Jason Kidd and a starting lineup that also consisted of All-Stars Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez, the Nets had the fourth-best odds to win the title that year.
Meanwhile in , the Celtics hired Brad Stevens to replace longtime head coach Doc Rivers just days after the trade was first reported. Stevens’s Celtics squad was expected to be one of the worst in basketball that year, having the fifth-lowest over/under total.
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The Nets, on the other hand, had a disappointing year. Pierce, and especially Garnett, showed their ages. Pierce scored 13.5 points per game that year, his lowest ever at the time, and Garnett had career lows of 6.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
At 44-38, Brooklyn still made the playoffs, defeating the Raptors in seven games in their first-round series. However, their season came to an end at the hands of the Heat, who knocked them off in five games in the second round.
What once looked like a great trade for the Nets would soon begin their epic downfall. Due to their relatively poor record, the Nets’ 2014 first-round pick became the No. 17 pick in that year’s draft, which the Celtics used to select James Young. Weeks after the draft, Pierce departed Brooklyn as a free agent, signing a deal with the Washington Wizards.
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The Nets’ struggles continued into the 2014-15 season. After putting up similar numbers in year two with Brooklyn, Garnett was traded back to his first NBA home in Minnesota with the Timberwolves at the trade deadline. The Nets barely made the playoffs, getting the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed with a 38-44 record.
As the Nets began their descension, the Celtics started their ascension. A trade deadline deal that saw acquire Isaiah Thomas from Phoenix sparked a playoff push for a Celtics team that was still thought to be rebuilding. The Celtics made the playoffs as a seventh seed. Even though both teams were dealt first-round exits, it was clear which side was in a better place, and who had to hope for a change in fortune.
When Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge made the trade in 2013, he didn’t think the trade would pay dividends so quickly, let alone becoming so valuable.
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“I thought Brooklyn was going to be good, ” Ainge told the Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach in 2016. “I thought that maybe the 2018 pick might have a chance to be a decent pick, but I really didn’t believe that 2016 pick would be where it is. I thought they had a chance to be a good team — like, a really good team.”
[Ainge] came to me with that deal on draft day [in 2013] and said, ‘We’re going to get two first-round picks from Brooklyn for [Garnett, Pierce, Terry, and White], and take on some contracts, '” Grousbeck said. “And I said, ‘OK, are [the picks] unprotected?’ And he said, ‘Yes, in fact, they are.’ I said, ‘Great. Let’s go get a third pick.’ And he goes, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, ’ but, ‘All right, I’ll ask.’ And he’s not afraid to ask, he wasn’t pushing back. But he went and asked, and he said, ‘Unbelievable. We got a third pick. This is great.’
“And I said, ‘Great. Go get a fourth pick. I think these guys have deal fever — we’re going to keep going until they say no. I think they’ve been told by ownership to get the deal done, so let’s go back.’ And Danny sort of gave me a look, like
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. Normally we try to play down the middle of the road with people, [but] I said, ‘Go push aggressively for a fourth pick.’
“And so he went back, he came back to me and he said, ‘OK, you’ve got your wish. They’ve said no now … they’re not going to give us a fourth pick.’ I said fine, make that fourth pick into a swap. Because swapping a pick doesn’t feel like you’re losing a pick. You still have a pick, and it’s pretty unlikely that we would be able to swap — that would mean we were better than they are. And we think they’re going to be pretty good with this trade. So just get the swap and call it a day.”
Billy King, who was the Nets’ general manager when the trade was made in 2013, was removed from his role in 2016. In 2018, he still expressed deep regret for the trade, admitting that it still bothered him.
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“I should have said, ’Give me a day to think about it, let’s talk in the morning, ” King toldSports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix. “I should have regrouped everyone, and gone through it again. I should have told Danny, ‘Give me a day.’ I probably would have revamped it. I should have said, ‘Look, Danny, everything looks good. Let’s finish the draft and let’s talk in the morning.’ That’s one thing I would have done differently, for sure.”
While the Celtics already received their first pick from the Nets in 2014, they didn’t really start to reap the benefits of the deal until 2016. The Celtics’ progression continued in 2015-16, with Thomas becoming an All-Star and leading the team to a 48-34 record that year.
The other highlight of the Celtics’ season was the continued downfall of the Nets. Brooklyn began to strip down their team, waiving Williams and Johnson that year as the team finished with the third-worst record in the league. With the Celtics owning their first-round pick that year, ended up picking third-overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, selecting Cal forward Jaylen Brown.
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And Brooklyn’s trends further progressed in the 2016-17 season. After signing star Al Horford in the offseason, the Celtics finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference that year before falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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