Another Championship Chapter Officially Ends in Boston
Since the Boston Celtics were eliminated from the postseason this past June, speculation has abounded about the breakup of coach Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Rivers after lengthy on and off negotiations with the Los Angeles Clippers, headed west to take charge of one of the Western Conference’s deepest teams.
Then negotiations started with the Brooklyn Nets over a trade for Paul Pierce and Nets general manager Billy King asked Celtics management what about Kevin Garnett. The rest is history.
On July 12, the Boston Celtics officially closed another championship era in their storied history. Over the last two summers, the Celtics have parted ways with Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Head Coach Doc Rivers. The official rebuilding chapter begins now.
The deal involved nine players and three draft picks all of which centered round the two veterans from the Celtics, who last won a title back in 2008.
Boston general manager Danny Ainge finally relented and let Garnett be part of the deal after the veteran forward waived his no-trade clause after being coaxed by Deron Williams the Nets point guard and Jason Kidd the Nets new head coach.
In the deal, the Nets also acquired D.J. White and Jason Terry from the Celtics. In exchange, the Nets sent Keith Bogans, Kris Humphries, Kris Joseph, Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks, and 2014, 2016 and 2018 first round draft selections. Boston can also swap first round picks with the Nets in 2017.
The deal was agreed to June 27, but was not officially completed until the salary cap for next season was set on July 12.
Between 2008 and 2012, the Celtics won five consecutive Atlantic division titles before missing out this past season.
Boston also picked up a first round pick from the Clippers in exchange for letting Rivers go early from his contract.
A new phase has started for the Celtics, a franchise that has an NBA-leading 17 championships. Boston went through a rebuilding period prior to the acquisition of Garnett back in 2007, when they became instant contenders for the title.
The Nets have resigned Andray Blatche, Shaun Livingston and Andrei Kirilenko. They face a huge luxury tax bill of over $80 million but ownership wants a winner and it looks like they have put one together.
A starting five could comprise Garnett, Pierce, Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson and first off the bench, could be the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Terry.
The Nets window to put a championship team together is small due to the age of both Garnett and Pierce, but GM King sees that as being an incentive more so than a detriment.
As far as the Celtics go, the five new players from the Nets will join new Head Coach Brad Stevens and a cast of other players, including the Rajon Rondo who is recovering from ACL surgery.
The Celtics organization thanked Pierce and Garnett for helping the franchise to win a championship during their years with the organization with a full page ad in the Boston Globe on Friday.
