I'm sure it's more complicated than this, but I always thought the Celtics could have landed Stoudamire in '98 when they traded Billups away.
Because Toronto traded Stoudamire for Kenny Anderson, then Kenny Anderson refused to report to Toronto, so Toronto traded Anderson to the Celtics for Billups. So in my mind I'm thinking why couldn't they have just cut out the middle man and traded Stoudamire for Billups? He would have fit nicely with the Walker/Mercer core (and even better when they draft Pierce the next year).
Of course, Stoudamire never really developed into the star I thought he would, but probably would have been better here than Kenny was.
Actually looking back at it,
the Raptors were looking to trade Stoudamire because he said he wasn't going to re-sign, not happy that Isiah Thomas was pushed out, also team was hurting for cash. And Portland supposedly agreed to pay all of Kenny Anderson's salary (I wonder how that worked once Boston got him?):
He will be a free agent after this season, and with the earlier departure of his mentor and general manager, Isiah Thomas, Stoudamire made it clear he would leave the Raptors. The team also is in financial trouble because of a new arena deal.
Thus the Trail Blazers, whose owner is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, reportedly have agreed to pay the remaining five years on Anderson's seven-year, $49 million contract, as well as picking up Williams' and Rogers' long-term deals.
Also supposedly a lot of bidding for Stoudamire, wonder what some of the other offers were, but the Knicks offer doesn't seem that appealing to me. Wonder if the Pitino and the C's were even in the running?
The Trail Blazers beat out the New York Knicks in the final bidding for Stoudamire, who was the subject of numerous proposed deals - including at least two that fell through in the final stages.
"I looked at it as a win-win situation - either the Knicks or Portland," Stoudamire said at Newark Airport before boarding a flight back to Toronto before joining his new team.
The Knicks were believed to be offering Chris Mills, Chris Childs, a No. 1 draft pick and a substantial amount of money. General manager Ernie Grunfeld apparently never improved his offer even after he was warned that Stoudamire could get away.
"I don't know how close we were. That's for them to say," Grunfeld said.
Overall there were several good players involved in the trade (Walt Williams, Gary Trent, Alvin Williams), but Portland sent out 2 firsts (#16 and #18) + willing to pay all the $38m left on Kenny's contract (was that legal back then?). Don't think the C's could compete with that.
Of course knowing Pitino and his shrewd dealing like trading a #1 for Potapenko (a pick that ended up #8 and become Andre Miller who I always loved, and thought would fit great with the C's, but could have been also been Shawn Marion #9 or Jason Terry #10, or maybe Maggette #12 or Artest #15), he probably would have traded Billups and their upcoming pick (that became Pierce) for Stoudamire. Not so fun thinking about that alternate history.
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