1997, 1998 Boston Celtics

[xmuscularghandix]

the first season i really watched (becuase of my age) was 1998. But looking back on statistics and former players i wonder. Why did the celtics trade chauncey billups and dee brown for kenny anderson, who had refused to play in canada.

what was the public reaction of this trade? the 10 year old version of myself was oblivious to the existance of dee brown/chauncey billups.

[Donoghus]

Pitino was extremely impatient with his rookie PG. Basically shipped him off because Billups wasn't becoming "NBA-ready" quick enough.  It was pretty ridiculous.  What do you expect from a rookie PG?

Trying to recall at the time, I think reaction was mixed.  Some felt the addition of a vet PG would be good for the team while others wanted to see the youth movement pan out. 

[cons]

 if i remember right, this was still early in the going for pitino and people were willing to give him a chance.

 chauncey was lost in those first few games, although i think he hit 2 winning free throws against jordan's bulls in the very first game that year - a sign of things tc come for "mr.big shot"

 dee brown had become unwelcome since he was the only one to publicly say the team had tanked the year before and he didn't want to go along with it.

 chris wallace at the time i think said "you win in this league with stars - and we just got one" referring to kenny anderson. He realy hadn't been "a star" since georgia tech, but chris wallace as usual didn't care about a player's NBA career - as long as he was great in high school, college, or junior college.

 i think a lot of fans went along with it at the time b/c we were so starved for success and thought we had already hit bottom. we also didn't realize yet how bad pitino and wallace were. Rick was supposed to be the new king.

 of course, in retrospect, it was already the beginning of the end for them in boston. 

[KJ33]

Pitino was extremely impatient with his rookie PG. Basically shipped him off because Billups wasn't becoming "NBA-ready" quick enough.  It was pretty ridiculous.  What do you expect from a rookie PG?

Trying to recall at the time, I think reaction was mixed.  Some felt the addition of a vet PG would be good for the team while others wanted to see the youth movement pan out. 

In fact, it was good for the team, Kenny Anderson was the point guard on the team that came within 2 wins from the NBA Finals.  Chauncey floundered about with several team before finding his way in Detroit, so by no means was this seen as an awful trade at the time, nor was it.  Anyone who says they knew Billups would become what he is, should give the GMs of the other teams that parted ways with him AFTER he left the Celts a call.  Pitino for sure showed tons of impatience, but this was not one of those obvious moves that was awful.

[xmuscularghandix]

Pitino was extremely impatient with his rookie PG. Basically shipped him off because Billups wasn't becoming "NBA-ready" quick enough.  It was pretty ridiculous.  What do you expect from a rookie PG?

Trying to recall at the time, I think reaction was mixed.  Some felt the addition of a vet PG would be good for the team while others wanted to see the youth movement pan out. 

In fact, it was good for the team, Kenny Anderson was the point guard on the team that came within 2 wins from the NBA Finals.  Chauncey floundered about with several team before finding his way in Detroit, so by no means was this seen as an awful trade at the time, nor was it.  Anyone who says they knew Billups would become what he is, should give the GMs of the other teams that parted ways with him AFTER he left the Celts a call.  Pitino for sure showed tons of impatience, but this was not one of those obvious moves that was awful.

if you look at chauncey's stats though it appears that he was good as a rookie. granted theres no way for me to actually watch games. i wish they made those recap DVDs (VHS at the time) for every team. i'd love to rewatch those late 90's seasons just becuase they were the first teams i knew all the players on. nostalgia value.

[Chris]

Pitino was extremely impatient with his rookie PG. Basically shipped him off because Billups wasn't becoming "NBA-ready" quick enough.  It was pretty ridiculous.  What do you expect from a rookie PG?

Trying to recall at the time, I think reaction was mixed.  Some felt the addition of a vet PG would be good for the team while others wanted to see the youth movement pan out. 

In fact, it was good for the team, Kenny Anderson was the point guard on the team that came within 2 wins from the NBA Finals.  Chauncey floundered about with several team before finding his way in Detroit, so by no means was this seen as an awful trade at the time, nor was it.  Anyone who says they knew Billups would become what he is, should give the GMs of the other teams that parted ways with him AFTER he left the Celts a call.  Pitino for sure showed tons of impatience, but this was not one of those obvious moves that was awful.

if you look at chauncey's stats though it appears that he was good as a rookie. granted theres no way for me to actually watch games. i wish they made those recap DVDs (VHS at the time) for every team. i'd love to rewatch those late 90's seasons just becuase they were the first teams i knew all the players on. nostalgia value.

He wasn't great as a rookie.  He made a lot of bad decisions, and did not seem to have great "true PG" instincts.  It took him a while to grow into a good player, but Pitino definitely gave up on him very early.

[johnnyrondo]

The trade didn't get too much opinion one way or the other. You have to remember Billups went on to under perform in Toronto, Denver and Orlando. Anyone could of signed him. Then he had moderate success in Minny, but not until Detroit did he become a leading guard. Who knows what billups would of become if he stayed in Boston. Pitino, for all his flaws, did bring in some good young players: Billups, Mercer, Pierce, Battie, and Bowen. His team was just too young to win and intense NBA coaches only have a yr or two before they lose their players ears.

The trade that actually got praise from the Boston media (this was after pitino was gone)was when the C's traded joe Johnson and a #1 for Rodgers and Delk. Boston sports writers compared that trade to a Summer baseball trade when you trade a prospect for someone to get you to win the pennant. I was worried at that time that we gave up too much, but it wasn't until a while later that consensus opinion changed on that trade.

[Andy Jick]

the 1997 draft yielded billups and mercer with those two high picks...i don't think i was ever more disappointed after watching a draft.

billups was just awful...he looks NOTHING today like the guy who played then, as he was continually shooting on the way down.  it was a smart move at the time because kenny was still a decent point guard.

i feel sorry for the OP that his first insight to celtics basketball was the 1990's...