Wow Roy, I am with your choices almost exactly ........
I like the idea of not trading Max for Walton, tough choice there because that '86 team was to my mind, the best of all time and I've been following the NBA since the late 60's. But I, like you, think they would have won in '86 anyway, with a healthy Cedric Maxwell and been healthier and deeper going forward. Also, if Max had been full speed in '85, they may well have won that series. People forget that and Maxwell was big in the 1984 finals. All that wear and tear caught up with us in '87.
I would definitely add in there somewhere that we never hire Rick Pitino, who caused further damage to the franchise still recovering from the loss of Bias and Lewis a decade earlier. His disrespect to Red made him all the more arrogant and vile.
A question - being down here in the south, I don't get the day to day details fans who live closer to Boston are privy to.
I saw recently where when Max was traded, he didn't hear one word from any teammate on his way out of Boston. No hey, good luck or hey, sorry we are losing you, nothing. That's reprehensible to me. Max was a huge part of the 80's Celtics. Not sure we win either in '81 or '84 without him. He has always been my second favorite Celtic behind Cowens - just played the game beautifully with a unique style. So ..... Exactly how bad was the dispute between Max and Red and his teammates regarding his slow knee recovery ?