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The Boston Celtics are an all-time great NBA franchise with 16 championships under their belt. This is the highest number for any franchise, tied for first position with the LA Lakers.
While the Celtics have made several winning trades like acquiring Bill Russell from the Atlanta Hawks, who helped the Celtics win 11 championships, the team has also made their fair share of disastrous moves over the years.
In this article, we will look at the five worst trades in Boston Celtics history:
#5 Kenny Anderson trade
The Celtics acquired Kenny Anderson, Popeye Jones, and Zan Tabak in exchange for Chauncey Billups and Dee Brown. At the time Billups, Round 1 Pick 3, was a young player and the Celtics were pressured to win right away which is why they traded away their young asset.
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Unfortunately for the team, Billups went on to have a great career and even won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons, where he was named the Finals MVP.
What makes matters worse is despite Kenny Anderson having some great years in Boston, he was eventually traded away. The Celtics sent him, Joseph Forte, and Vitaly Potapenko to Seattle in exchange for Vin Baker and Shammond Williams.
#4 Antoine Walker trade
The Boston Celtics traded away all-star Antoine Walker to the Dallas Mavericks for Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, and Chris Mills in 2003. Unfortunately for the team, the players they got in exchange turned out to be nothing more than role players.
If this wasn't bad enough, Raef LaFrentz was a terrible contract for the Boston Celtics. He was in year two of a seven-year $70 million contract. It is argued that this was the worst free agent signing in Dallas Mavericks history which they offloaded to the Celtics.
#3 Joe Johnson trade
In 2002, the Boston Celtics traded away Joe Johnson, Randy Brown, and Milt Palacio to the Phoenix Suns for Tony Delk and Rodney Rodgers. In hindsight, this was a terrible move as Joe Johnson would go on to become a franchise player who got the nickname 'Iso Joe' for his superior scoring ability.
Johnson made five straight All-star teams at one point and also averaged over 20 points per game five times in his career. Meanwhile, Tony Delk and Rodney Rodgers were nothing more than role players during their stint with the Celtics.
2) Kendrick Perkins trade
The Celtics traded away Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson in exchange for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic. At the time, this was one of the most talked about trades around the league.
While Green offered the Celtics young legs with offensive prowess, the team lost Perkins as their defensive anchor. Come playoff time, they were exposed as their interior defense suffered drastically. When Perkins was on the Boston Celtics, they had won a championship in 2008.
However, his departure left the Celtics without an identity and the rest of the players were eventually broken up as well, putting an end to their short-lived dynasty. There is no telling what the Celtics' history would've been like if they had kept Perkins.
#1 Boston Celtics traded up to draft Kelly Olynyk ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Boston Celtics made their worst trade mistake in the 2013 NBA Draft. They entered the draft with the 15th overall pick and made a trade to acquire the 13th overall pick. The issue was who they selected with the 13th overall pick, and even more so who they missed out on.
The Boston Celtics picked Kelly Olynyk out of Gonzaga as the 13th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Olynyk spent four years with the Celtics and averaged a mediocre 9.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists during this time and was more or less a role player in his short-lived Celtics stint.
The team had an opportunity to draft Giannis Antetokounmpo who ended up as the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, just two spots below Kelly Olynyk. This could've been a potentially franchise turning point and the Celtics would likely have a championship to show for it by now.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has two won league MVP awards, an NBA Finals title, a NBA Finals MVP, and six All-Star appearances. It is one of the worst blunders for the Celtics trades and drafts.
