Celtics trades that brought them championships

In the interest of fairness, I have followed up my earlier post about all of the Lakers highway robbery trades with one of all of the trades the Celtics ever made that landed them a player who contributed significantly to one of their 17 championships.

I'll let you judge them all but I only count one which was highway robbery at the time it was made (the Dennis Johnson acquisition), compared to the Lakers who had several such trades (most egregiously the Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar and Gasol deals). Boston did make numerous deals that worked out incredibly fortuitously, however (Archibald, Parish/McHale, Sharman and of course Russell) and they did take advantage of management friendships to strike a deal as well (Garnett, although they gave up quality assets to get him). If you ask me, the Celtics mostly made legitimate deals that worked out for them while the Lakers made deals that seemed ridiculous at the time they were made.

Anyway, you can see and judge for yourself after the jump.


April 26, 1951
Celtics: G Bill Sharman
Pistons: C Chuck Share

Resulting Celtics championships: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961

The Celtics picked Share first overall in 1950. Needless to say, he didn't live up to the selection. Sharman was traded after his second season in the league and went on to become Boston's leading scorer in 1957, 1958 and 1959 and remained a key piece of their 1960 and 1961 teams before retiring to a life of coaching and Hall of Fame induction. Didn't seem like a bad deal for the Pistons at the time it was made but turned out disastrous.

October 26, 1955
Celtics: C/F Arnie Risen
Royals: Nothing

Resulting Celtics championships: 1957

The Celtics got the future Hall of Famer in a sale from Cincinnati. By the time Boston acquired him, he was at the end of his career but was a valuable role player in their 1957 championship run.

April 30, 1956
Celtics: C Bill Russell
Hawks: G Ed Macauley, F/G Cliff Hagan

Resulting Celtics championships: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969

St. Louis drafted Russell second overall and that same day made this trade. Macauley, who was from St. Louis, had requested a trade to the Hawks so he could be closer to his sick son. Hagan was drafted by the Celtics in 1953 but never played for them due to military obligations. The deal goes down as lopsided because Russell became the greatest winner in the history of sports but the Hawks actually did quite well.

Hagan ended up being a starter for the Hawks for 10 years and was elected to the Hall of Fame. Macauley was elected to the Hall of Fame as well but that was for what he did in Boston as he only gave the Hawks three years. That being said, the Hawks lost the '57 Finals to Russell and the Celtics but beat them for the '58 title. And the Hawks also lost to the Celtics in the '60 and '61 Finals with Hagan on board but Macauley had retired by this point.

This deal didn't turn the Hawks into a laughingstock and they even won a title in part because of the players they got. On the otherhand, had they acquired Russell and teamed him with Bob Pettit, it may have been the Hawks that won 11 titles and the franchise may not have moved to Atlanta.

September 4, 1963
Celtics: F/C Willie Naulls
Warriors: Nothing

Resulting Celtics championships: 1964, 1965, 1966

Naulls was purchased by the Celtics from Philadelphia. Once a pretty darn good player (averaged a 25-12 for the '61-62 Knicks), Naulls was clearly on the downside when bought by Boston. He contributed to three championships as Russell's backup.

Septmber 1, 1966
Celtics: F Bailey Howell
Bullets: C/F Mel Counts

Resulting Celtics championships: 1968, 1969

Howell built most of his Hall of Fame resume before arriving in Boston, although maybe those four years with the Celtics is what actually got him in as he averaged nearly 20 points per game in both 1968 and 1969. Counts was a young center who couldn't get on the floor since he played behind Russell when traded after his second season. He had a big body but not much of a game. An absolute steal for the Celtics.

March 14, 1972
Celtics: F Paul Silas
Suns: G/F Charlie Scott

Resulting Celtics championships: 1974, 1976

The Celtics drafted Scott in the 7th round in 1970 as he went to the ABA to play with Julius Erving and the Virginia Squiers. Upon acquiring his rights, the Suns were able to sign Scott and he immediately became one of their best players. Silas was a solid veteran role player in Phoenix and did the same for the Celtics in helping them win two titles. The two would unite with Boston for the 1976 championship.

May 23, 1975
Celtics: G/F Charlie Scott
Suns: G Paul Westphal, 1975 2nd round pick (Jimmy Dan Conner), 1976 2nd round pick (G Butch Feher)

Resulting Celtics championships: 1976

A rare deal that actually worked out well for both teams. After acquiring his rights from the Celtics, Scott was one of the Suns top scorers for three seasons before sending him off for Westphal, a young player who played limited minutes in Boston but contributed off their bench for the 1974 title. Westphal thrived in Phoenix and Scott became one of the leading scorers on a talented Celtics squad. The two teams faced each other in the 1976 Finals, one year after the trade, with Boston winning the title.

Westphal went on to have his number retired by the Suns and was considered their greatest all-time player until Charles Barkley's arrival in 1992, although he never won a title (he did lead the Suns to the Finals as their coach in 1993 but lost to Michael Jordan's Bulls). Scott gave Boston two good seasons before being shipped to the Lakers.

August 4, 1978
Celtics: G Nate "Tiny" Archibald, F Marvin "Bad News" Barnes, G/F Billy Knight, 1981 2nd round pick (G Danny Ainge), 1983 2nd round pick (G Rod Foster, selected by Phoenix)
Clippers: C Kevin Kunnert, G Freeman Williams, F Sidney Wicks, F Kermit Washington

Resulting Celtics championships: 1981, 1984, 1986

An incredible bit of Irish luck for the Celtics. Archibald was turning 30 and had missed most of the previous two seasons injured. Boston acquired him anyway, along with one of the all-time bad apples in league history, "Bad News" Barnes. They gave up Williams, who they had just drafted with the eighth overall selection, the declining Wicks and Washington, an NBA pariah for punching out Rudy Tomjanovich a year earlier.

The deal looked terrible for Boston in 1978-79. Archibald was out of shape and slow after two seasons of inactivity. There was talk of the Celtics trading him after that one season but no one wanted him. Barnes was useless. Knight was okay before being shipped out in a midseason trade. Boston won 29 games and the only real saving grace was that the Clippers got zero out of the deal as well.

But then the 1979-80 season happened. Larry Bird arrived and Archibald became a fascilitator. Suddenly, he was a valuable point guard even if he wasn't scoring the way he had in his Hall of Fame prime. He gave them two solid seasons as the starting point guard and a third as solid bench player, contributing to the 1981 championship team.

Oh, and the Celtics managed to draft Ainge with one of the picks they acquired in the deal. He came off the bench for the '84 title team, started for the '86 title team that is considered by many the greatest Celtics team of all-time, and started for the '85 and '87 teams that lost to the Lakers in the Finals. So a deal that looked horribly bad for both teams a year in turned out to be incredibly lopsided in Boston's favor after the careers of everyone involved played out.

October 19, 1978
Celtics: G Chris Ford, 1981 2nd round pick (G Tracy Jackson)
Pistons: G/F Earl Tatum

Resulting Celtics championships: 1981

Ford started for three seasons in Boston before retiring, including the 1981 championship team. He was a solid lower-tier shooting guard with the Pistons. Tatum was the fourth overall pick in the 1976 draft but failed to develop and bounced around the league, retiring by 1980. A clear win for the Celtics, although a deal that didn't register with anyone at the time it was made.

January 16, 1979
Celtics: C/F Rick Robey
Pacers: G/F Billy Knight

Resulting Celtics championships: 1981

After half a season of okay play, the Celtics traded Knight to the Pacers for Robey who was a solid backup center in Indiana. He was the same in Boston for the 1981 championship team. Knight turned out to have a few solid years for Indiana and went on to become one of the worst general managers in the NBA, so he has that going for him.

TWO-PART TRADE:

September 6, 1979
Celtics: 2 1st round picks in 1980, F M.L. Carr
Pistons: C Bob McAdoo

June 9, 1980
Celtics: C Robert Parish, 1980 1st round pick (F Kevin McHale, 3rd overall)
Warriors: 1980 1st round pick (C Joe Barry Carroll, 1st overall), 1980 1st round pick (C/F Rickey Brown, 13th overall)

Resulting Celtics championships: 1981, 1984, 1986

An incredible turn of events. The Celtics acquired McAdoo, a former MVP, during the 1978-79 season and then signed M.L. Carr as a free agent following the season. As compensation for the Carr signing, the Celtics agreed to send McAdoo to Detroit for two first-round picks in 1980. The Pistons thought they were getting an MVP but the deal was a disaster as they ended up with the worst record in the league in 1979-80, earning them the No. 1 overall pick. Which, of course, they had traded to Boston. McAdoo was traded away by Detroit midway into his second season with the team.

The Celtics, meanwhile, traded their good fortune to Golden State, getting the third overall pick and Parish back. Parish had given the Warriors four solid seasons as a 17-10 center but hadn't been an All-Star or All-NBA selection. The Warriors figured Carroll would be the next superstar big man. The deal ended up becoming one of the most lopsided in NBA history as the Celtics, in the two trades, got a solid towel-waver on two championship teams in Carr and two Hall of Fame members of their front line in Parish and McHale, each of whom were named among the 50 greatest players of all-time in 1996.

Carroll did make an All-Star team in 1987 but, while having some solid 20-point per game seasons, never became a franchise center and would earn the moniker "Joe Barely Cares" from Peter Vecsey for his indifferent attitude. Brown had zero impact in five NBA seasons. McAdoo was shipped by Detroit to the Lakers where he contributed to two championships, including beating the Celtics in the 1985 Finals. That turned out to be the only downside to this deal for Boston.

January 14, 1983
Celtics: G Scott Wedman
Cavaliers: C Darren Tillis, 1983 1st round pick (eventually traded to Phoenix and back to Boston, who picked Greg Kite)

Resulting Celtics championships: 1984, 1986

Tillis last two seasons in the league. Wedman was a top bench player on two championship teams with the Celtics.

June 27, 1983
Celtics: G Dennis Johnson, 1983 1st round pick (C Greg Kite, 21st overall), 1983 3rd round pick (Winfred King
Suns: C/F Rick Robey, 1983 2nd round pick (G Rod Foster), 1983 2nd round pick (Paul Williams)

Resulting Celtics championships: 1984, 1986

A steal by any calculation. D.J. was an All-Star in 1982 and an All-Defensive Team member in 1983. But he clashed with his coach in Phoenix and so Jerry Colangelo decided to get rid of him, getting 40 cents on the dollar in return. In what world was Rick Robey, a career backup, worth the best perimeter defender in the league and a first-round pick? Kite was inconsequential. D.J. was the defensive ace on two Celtics championship teams and the only person who effectively guarded Magic Johnson until Scottie Pippen in the 1991 Finals. An all-time great defender who also previously won a ring in Seattle, Johnson is now a Hall of Famer.

September 6, 1985
Celtics: C Bill Walton
Clippers: F Cedric Maxwell, 1986 1st round pick (eventually made by Portland)

Resulting Celtics championships: 1986

After six injury plagued seasons with the Clippers, including two missed entirely, one couldn't fault Los Angeles for taking this deal. Maxwell was still a quality player, although his minutes were declining in Boston. And, sure, it was a late-first round pick but given the injuries of Walton, who played 67 games in 1984-85 (his most as a Clipper), it was worth the gamble. Maxwell didn't do much for them though and Walton improbably had a healthy season in 1985-86, playing a career-high 80 games, being named the league's Sixth Man of the Year and playing a key role on a championship team. It was the only healthy season the Celtics got out of Walton, who played just 10 games total the following two seasons. But that one season was certainly worth it for Boston.

(The first-round pick the Clippers acquired was later traded to Portland, who selected Arvydas Sabonis. Walton and Sabonis are often recognized as the two greatest passing big men in basketball history and, in a weird way, were traded for each other.)

October 3, 1985
Celtics: G Jerry Sichting
Pacers: 1989 2nd round pick (Reggie Cross), 1990 2nd round pick (F Kenny Williams)

Resulting Celtics championships: 1986

Sichting was a top bnench player for the 1986 championship team after a couple of seasons as below-average starter in Indiana. Cross made no impact in the NBA and Williams had a nice view of Reggie Miller's 25-point explosion in the '94 playoffs from the bench before being out of the league.

June 26, 2003

Celtics: C Kendrick Perkins, G Marcus Banks
Grizzlies: G Dahntay Jones, G Troy Bell

Resulting Celtics championships: 2008

All four players were selected in the first round of the 2003 draft and subsequently traded for each other. The only one of the four who has made any impact is Perkins, the starting center for the Celtics and one of the toughest, most physical low-post defenders in the league.


Given the way he was pushing around Pau Gasol in Games 4 and 5 of the just completed Finals, it is not at all unfair to say the Celtics would have won the 2010 Finals had he not been injured early in Game 6; Gasol dominated as much as a guy with Kobe Bryant as a teammate can in Games 6 and 7 and that domination is considerably less if Perkins was playing.

June 28, 2006
Celtics: G Rajon Rondo, F Brian Grant
Suns: 2007 1st round pick (G Rudy Fernandez, 24th overall)


Resulting Celtics championships: 2008


The Suns selected Rondo 21st overall in the draft and subsequently traded him to Boston in a prearranged deal. Ironically, that pick had originally been traded to the Celtics in a 2004 deal with the Lakers that also saw Boston acquire Gary Payton and Rick Fox. The pick was moved around and ultimately ended up coming back to Boston as Rondo after it had been moved in deals involving Antoine Walker and Joe Johnson.


Rondo was considered the weak link as the starting point guard in 2008 but he was solid enough to win a title and took over the team offensively in 2009 and in the 2010 playoffs. Still a so-so shooter and free throw shooter, he’s incredibly dynamic when going to the basket and is a great rebounder for a point guard.


The Suns gave Fernandez to Portland for cash in one of Robert Sarver’s many attempts to destroy the Phoenix franchise.

July 28, 2007
Celtics: G Ray Allen, F Glen “Big Baby” Davis
Sonics: F Jeff Green, G Delonte West, G Wally Szczerbiak, 2008 2nd round pick (Trent Plaisted)

Resulting Celtics championships: 2008

A winner for both teams. The Celtics selected Green with the fifth overall pick in the just completed draft and the Sonics selected “Big Baby” in the second round of the same draft, both with a trade in place with Allen as the centerpiece.

Allen was a starting guard for the 2008 title team and the 2010 team that lost the Finals, and set a Finals record with 22 three-pointers in the 2008 series in addition to capping a 24-point comeback in Game 4 by blowing by Sasha Vujacic. Davis hardly played in 2008 but has become a high-energy player off the bench who contributed mightily to Boston’s Finals run this season.

The Sonics became the Thunder and Green has become an excellent player for one of the league’s fast-rising teams. West and Szczerbiak were inconsequential to the franchise and traded for cap relief. The deal has been a home run for Boston and a winner for the Thunder. If they win a championship around Kevin Durant, this deal will be a home run for them as well since they were never winning a championship with Allen and a bunch of young kids.

July 31, 2007
Celtics: F Kevin Garnett
Timberwolves: F Al Jefferson, F/C Theo Ratliff, F Ryan Gomes, F Gerald Green, G Sebastian Telfair, 2009 1st round pick (G Jonny Flynn, 6th overall), 2009 1st round pick (F Wayne Ellington, 28th overall)


Resulting Celtics championships: 2008

The acquisition of Garnett, a perennial All-Star, transformed the Celtics from a laughingstock to a tough-minded, defensive juggernaut overnight as they won the title in his first season with the team and reached the Finals two years later. Too early to say how this is going to work out for Minnesota but Jefferson was considered a rising young star who averaged a 21-11 his first two seasons with the team before slipping some this year. Flynn had an okay enough rookie year. Time will tell but this deal isn’t a disaster yet for the Wolves.


Of course, the Celtics got lucky in that Garnett finally decided he had had enough of Minnesota’s inept management and wanted out and that Celtics great Kevin McHale was the general manager, and he happened to be buddies with former teammate and Celtics general manager Danny Ainge. That all helped facilitate the deal but unlike the Lakers deals for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Pau Gasol, Boston did trade a couple of actual assets.