Looking back... Paul Pierce almost left the Celtics on MANY occassions

[TradeProposalDude]

this guy has been "on the fringe" his entire career. it's kind of eerie to look back at his career, and fast forward to now having accomplished a feat that NOBODY (and I mean... NOBODY!) thought would happen a few years ago.

let me break it down:

(1) he was almost killed in an attempted murder in sep 2000 at the buzz club in the theater district in boston. he was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck, and back areas, and was allegedly struck with a champagne bottle on the head!

now to the near trades...

(2) tyson chandler and the #3 pick in '04 (ainge probably would have taken livingston) to boston for paul pierce. i don't remember who offered this package and who rejected it, but this was a hot rumor around draft day of that year.

(3) on trading deadline day 2005, i remember chad ford reporting that the celtics were offered ray allen (lol!) for paul pierce and googs. ainge rejected. who knew we'd end up with both!

(4) paul pierce to portland for chris paul's draft rights. in hindsight, it wouldn't have been a bad trade, but we got to see pierce win at least one title here so no complaints. anyhow, dating back, rumor goes that pierce was in china when his agent informed him about the proposed trade (this was on csn in an interview before the finals). reportedly one of two things may have happened. pierce himself shot down the trade, which is most likely. another rumor i've heard is that ainge was insistent on making this trade, but he also wanted travis outlaw, but portland rejected, putting the trade waters to rest.

(5) paul pierce for andre miller and nene. again, this is based on speculation. this trade was literally minutes away from being completed. but the night the trade was nixed coincided with news about red auerbach's sudden illness and being rushed to the emergency room. coincidence? i think not. thankfully red was able to live on for another year afterwards (this was right before the '05-'06 season), but if not for the organization needing to direct its attention to red's health all of a sudden, who knows, maybe ainge would have pulled the trigger, and we would have ended up doing this crap trade.

(6) paul pierce and the #5 for j-rich, ellis, and harrington. i don't have a link but i've heard this one so many times. reportedly j-rich was told the morning of draft night 2007 that he would be traded either to boston or charlotte. ainge was split on whether to trade pierce and start from scratch (and subsequently keep al jefferson) or go for the gold. he thankfully made the right decision in keeping pierce. j-rich was then traded to charlotte which was option B for GS.

[zerophase]

i still wouldn't have minded the chris paul trade... but who knows how chris would've developed here. (i'm worried he might be like a billups or a joe johnson; players that really develop after they leave)

[Petro]

All very intresting im sure theres more close calls that we haven't heard about.

[Nerf DPOY]

If we'd made the Miller/Nene trade, I would have barfed.

 I actually would have welcomed the Chandler/Livingston deal at the time.

Credit to Ainge for not " picking a basket to put his eggs in" in regards to the direction of the team , until the perfect opportunitty('s) arose. Well, crdit Ainge & luck, but we've been down this road before.

[bostonfan23]

Ainge would have selected DWill over Paul.

[billysan]

Coulda? Woulda? Shoulda? Nope, Dannny did the right thing.

[TheReaLPuba]

I'd much rather win with PP than any of those other guys and in this scenario we could be looking at back-to-back-to-back-to-back titles for the first time in like forever!

[cdif911]

it is pretty amazing with all the deals that could have happened and didn't - conversely, we could have had jermaine o'neal by all accounts for I believe 3 #1 picks (the joe johnson year if memory serves me), who knows what would have come of that

[TradeProposalDude]

it is pretty amazing with all the deals that could have happened and didn't - conversely, we could have had jermaine o'neal by all accounts for I believe 3 #1 picks (the joe johnson year if memory serves me), who knows what would have come of that

I believe that Pitino offered 3 first rounders to the Blazers for Jermaine, and was rejected. By 2001, O'Neal had already been traded to the Pacers. Also, they may or may not be the exact crop of first rounders.

[Bankshot]

Were all those really trades that Danny considered or just rumored trades?  The Paul Portland for CP3 was the only trade that I know as being a real possibility and one that I believe Ainge acknowledged.

[Celtic_E]

Of all those trade possibilities, the CP3-PP trade was the only one I would have considered and was the closest trade to become a reality. But looking on the hindsight, I'm glad Pierce wasn't traded because banner 17 wouldn't have become a reality had we proceeded with the trade. That trade would have made our future brighter but personally, I'd rather win now with Pierce than roll the dice for a future run.

The most horrible trade idea out there was the Andre Miller-Nene for Pierce. If that happened, say hello to another 20 plus years of futility. Sure we would have had a lot of cap space in the future but I don't think the FA's would have fell in line to come here.