Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck explained this week how he and Danny Ainge orchestrated the famous trade with Brooklyn in 2014, where the Celtics acquired three first-round picks and contracts for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry.
Grousbeck explained how the situation unfolded on the Bill Simmons Podcast, via The Ringer:
I’m going to answer the question I want you to ask, which is about the Brooklyn trade and the way that went. Because it wasn’t a disagreement, but it was an evolution. As I recall?—?and Danny may remember slightly differently?—?but as I recall, he came to me with that deal on draft day [in 2013] and said, “We’re going to get two first-round picks from Brooklyn for [Garnett, Pierce, Terry, and White], and take on some contracts.” And I said, “OK, are [the picks] unprotected?” And he said, “Yes, in fact, they are.” I said, “Great. Let’s go get a third pick.” And he goes, “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” but, “All right, I’ll ask.” And he’s not afraid to ask, he wasn’t pushing back. But he went and asked, and he said, “Unbelievable. We got a third pick. This is great.” And I said, “Great. Go get a fourth pick. I think these guys have deal fever?—?we’re going to keep going until they say no. I think they’ve been told by ownership to get the deal done, so let’s go back.” And Danny sort of gave me a look, like I don’t want to lose the deal by pushing too hard. Normally we try to play down the middle of the road with people, [but] I said, “Go push aggressively for a fourth pick.”
And so he went back, he came back to me and he said, “OK, you’ve got your wish. They’ve said no now … they’re not going to give us a fourth pick.” I said fine, make that fourth pick into a swap. Because swapping a pick doesn’t feel like you’re losing a pick. You still have a pick, and it’s pretty unlikely that we would be able to swap?—?that would mean we were better than they are. And we think they’re going to be pretty good with this trade. So just get the swap and call it a day. So we got that swap, and that swap turned into Jayson Tatum and another first-round pick?—?it turned into the number-one pick in [last] year’s draft [which was later traded to Philadelphia]. That’s how the Brooklyn trade evolved as I recall it, which was working together with Danny to get the best possible deal out of Brooklyn.
The Nets’ side of the deal would collapse, with the team being eliminated by the Miami Heat in the second round and the organization not bouncing back with the roster.
The Celtics benefited the most from the agreement, drafting Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The team also has a high first-round selection in June’s NBA Draft.
