From complete head-scratchers to outright highway robberies, trades constitute a significant part of the NBA landscape. However, one bizarre and unprecedented transaction occurred in 2013 between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Clippers. For some reason, the Celtics agreed to trade their coach, Doc Rivers, for a Clippers first-round pick that would convey two years later.
Ainge thought trading Doc was a good deal
Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ general manager at the time, explained the reason behind the move. Appearing on Pardon My Take, the 2008 Executive of the Year outlined why they had to pull the trigger on such an odd trade.
“What happened there was, you know, Doc has been with us for nine years and he had gone through a rebuild with us before we made the big trade. So he was just not in the mood to do it again and I completely understood where he was, and so, the Clippers opportunity came to him. He is under contract, I just can’t let my coach go,” Ainge said .
“I don’t think Doc was happy at first, but I think he understood where we stood. We got a first-round pick for our coach, but Doc had to go do what he wanted to do, which was go coach Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. They obviously had a lot of promise there with the Clippers.
If there was someone who had the guts to pull off such a deal, it’s Danny Ainge. Still, the trade wasn’t a home run for the Celtics. The franchise used that pick to select RJ Hunter 28th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. The Georgia State product played in the NBA for four seasons before spending most of his time overseas and in the G-League.
Trader Danny
Ainge was nicknamed “Trader Danny” because he loved maximizing assets without care for loyalty. Back in 1988, the former Celtics guard told Red Auerbach to trade Larry Bird and Kevin McHale because they were damaged goods. He also ditched Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in 2013 for a massive haul before the duo lost all their value.
However, the two-time NBA champion’s take-no-prisoners approach in the front office works both ways. Ainge was never afraid to send out draft and player capital if he felt it would make the team better.
For instance, he went all in on acquiring Garnett and Ray Allen in the summer of 2007, resulting in a championship in 2008. It’s also noteworthy that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were products of the aforementioned Nets trade in 2013 involving KG and Pierce.
Ainge is not around to enjoy the fruits of his labor, but it’s undeniable that he has his fingerprints all over the current C’s championship squad. Whether he can replicate that success in Salt Lake City remains to be seen.
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