Before trading for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the summer of 2007, the Boston Celtics were a storied franchise stuck in a prolonged slump. Despite having a cornerstone in Paul Pierce, the team had struggled for several seasons, missing the playoffs in six of the previous eight years and finishing the 2006–07 season with a dismal 24–58 record, second-worst in the NBA.
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The roster was young and inconsistent, featuring players like Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Delonte West and Ryan Gomes, many of whom were promising but unproven. Injuries, particularly to Pierce, and a lack of veteran leadership led to a chaotic and disappointing campaign.
Danny Ainge, the team’s President of Basketball Operations, was under pressure to make a bold move to return the Celtics to contention. That offseason, he acquired Ray Allen from the Seattle SuperSonics on draft night. He followed that up with another blockbuster move, landing Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Together with Paul Pierce, these acquisitions formed the Celtics’ “Big Three” and sparked a stunning turnaround, culminating in the 2008 66–16 season and the franchise’s first NBA championship in 22 years.
Like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paul Pierce was a superstar facing the possibility of leaving the team that drafted him after a string of frustrating seasons. But even The Truth recognizes he didn’t hold nearly the same leverage the two-time MVP now commands. While Pierce is a Hall of Famer, Giannis has the potential to finish his career as a top-10 player in NBA history.
“I was in a position where I was like, ‘Let’s make some moves, or you can trade me.’ But I didn’t have a championship, nor was I close,” Pierce said on SPEAK. “I was in my ninth year at the time, and I’m playing with guys in their first and second year, third year. And we were not making the playoffs.”
Pierce had been a top-tier scorer for the Celtics for years, but aside from a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001–02, he struggled to lead the team to meaningful success. That lack of progress wasn’t entirely on Pierce, though; Boston repeatedly failed to surround him with real talent until he made it clear he was ready to move on.
