OT: Greatest trade in Boston sports history?

[RobertWeathers]

Bias was the 2nd pick.

Red was a freaking genius. He knew SEA was gonna suck once they let All-Star guard Gus Williams go to the Bullets. Once that happened he pounces on their moment of desperation and unloads Gerald for at a minimum a lottery pick.

It turning into the #2 pick in the draft was sheer luck.

Turning into Lenny Bias was beyond luck.

I will go to my grave believing that if he didn't pass away, two things would have happened.
1) Celts win another title in the Bird era.
2) If healthy, he finishes his Celtics career with 20k points and 10k rebounds.

 

[upstater1]

Bias was the 2nd pick.

Yes, I know that well. Obviously, when they traded Henderson, they didn't trade for the #1. Nor did they trade for the #2. The trade would never have been made if that's what it was. I meant they traded for the 1st rd. pick that was Len Bias.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Bias was the 2nd pick.

That Henderson deal that led to Bias was the greatest heist in Red's career, and in league history IMHO. It certainly was the most diabolical, as in Red's own words:

"I schemed for three years, to get Len Bias."

It was heavily questioned at the time, as Gerald was the Game 2 Finals hero, and his loss immediately put the team's backcourt depth in question. That the Celtics could get Lenny right after winning a title was among the great instances of a top team adding a superstar, and they did it without using money or chicanery.

While it took Walter Brown offering the Ice Capades to the Royals to sweeten, and cement the deal to get the Hawks' pick that became Russell and launch our dynasty, the Bias deal forged what would have been an unmatched modern run after which Bird would finish with more rings than Magic, and possibly as many as Jabbar. It's a more solid projection than anything that might have happened if MJ had not opted for baseball.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

getting Parrish and the third pick (McHale) from the Warriors for the first pick 1980.

In a pre-draft trade on June 9th, 1980, the Boston Celtics traded the draft rights to the 1st pick (Joe Barry Carroll) and the 13th pick (Rickey Brown) in the 1980 NBA Draft for center Robert Parish and the rights to the 3rd pick in the NBA draft (Kevin McHale).

This trade is constantly listed as at least one of the top 5-3 worst/most lopsided trades in NBA history. McHale and Parish both went on to Hall of Fame careerswhile playing major roles in 3 championship roster on the Boston Celtics. The Celtics won their first of three champions the season right after the trade. Instantly, they had arguably the best frontline in NBA history. The Celtics success in the 1980’s is incredible. They won 3 titles, and won at least 50 games in 11 out of 12 seasons from the trade in 1980 to 1992.

Joe Barry Carroll usually is listed as one of the most disappointing #1 picks in NBA history. Carroll did have some success from a statistical perspective, but Golden State was nothing more than a fringe playoff team at best during his tenure there. Rickey Brown at best was a marginal bench player averaging 4.4 PPG in just 5 years in the Association.

Golden State Warriors general manager Scotty Stirling:

“It was easier to trade him than the rest of the frontcourt.”

Robert Parish on time with Golden State and trade (Boston Herald):

“I was contemplating retiring because I was losing my passion for the game. I didn’t enjoy playing and the guys I played with were very selfish and individualistic. We weren’t playing as a team, we weren’t going anywhere, so I thought about giving it up."

Red knew what he was doing.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Trading away Danny Ainge didn't work out particularly well. But that was right around the end of his tenure.

That nonsense was on Jan Volk.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Russell trade for sure.

I think Russ, Pedro, Jimmy Plunkett and Parish/McHale deserve honorable mention

But the greatest heist was getting Espo, Hodge and Stanfield.

Interestingly, each of those guys wound up later traded for far more than they were later worth:

Stanfield: for Gilles Gilbert. This was after Sam Pollock blocked us from getting John Davidson.

Esposito: along with Vadnais and the immortal Joe Zanussi, we got Ratelle and Park.

Hodge: we get Ricky Middleton. Total steal.


Sinden must be second, to Auerbach in terms of smart, savvy and uneven trades.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Totally forgot BB was traded here. If Randy Moss was traded here.... that's a big one.

Will never forget the day NBC announced that Pats had acquired Randy from Oakland. The only thing we didn't get out of it was a SB title.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Will never forget the day NBC announced that Pats had acquired Randy from Oakland.

and for all his flaws, we've never truly been able to replace him since.....

 

[tom444]

Espo was traded for Ratelle and Brad Park.

Which I liked immediately though many didn't.

 

[tom444]

and for all his flaws, we've never truly been able to replace him since.....

You can't replace a Randy Moss. He's a one off.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I presume your top 3 Red trades are:

• Russell
• McHale/Parish
• McAdoo for the pick that was traded for McHale/Parish

Ironic that Red made such great use of McAdoo, after John Y. Brown (Ironic he has the same last name as Walter!) picked him up behind Red's back because wife Phyllis (NFL Today) said he was cute, driving Red to go all the way to NY to meet with Sonny Werblin about defecting to the Knicks (if not for anything else, to retain at least some self-esteem) The famous cab ride to Logan helped out, for sure. That cabby belongs in the Celtics' HOF.

And don't forget, Bob was compensation for signing none other than veteran free agent M.L. Carr.

Pistons coach **** Vitale responded by saying, "We just had the heart and soul ripped from our team."

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Which I liked immediately though many didn't.

Nobody loved or enjoyed playing in Boston more than Phil, and as already among the most open, accomodating pro athletes, he admitted it. He was a year and a half removed from a deserving MVP season, and he wasn't chopped liver. Sinden simply saw the writing on the wall, and the Rangers, as usual, were perfectly willing.

Similarly to the Lawyer Milloy situation, it was the right thing to do, but it was inescapably sad for all of us to deal with, and accept.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Ironic that Red made such great use of McAdoo, after John Y. Brown (Ironic he has the same last name as Walter!) picked him up behind Red's back because wife Phyllis (NFL Today) said he was cute, driving Red to go all the way to NY to meet with Sonny Werblin about defecting to the Knicks (if not for anything else, to retain at least some self-esteem) The famous cab ride to Logan helped out, for sure. That cabby belongs in the Celtics' HOF.

And don't forget, Bob was compensation for signing none other than veteran free agent M.L. Carr.

Pistons coach **** Vitale responded by saying, "We just h1ad the heart and soul ripped from our team."

Forgot Brown and Phyllis George were married. Wow. Talk about a flashback.

I remember she and Jimmy the Greek got a fight on air...

 

[tom444]

Nobody loved or enjoyed playing in Boston more than Phil, and as already among the most open, accomodating pro athletes, he admitted it. He was a year and a half removed from a deserving MVP season, and he wasn't chopped liver. Sinden simply saw the writing on the wall, and the Rangers, as usual, were perfectly willing.

Similarly to the Lawyer Milloy situation, it was the right thing to do, but it was inescapably sad for all of us to deal with, and accept.

A diehard Bruin fan, I didn't feel that way. I always liked Brad Park and couldn't wait to see him on the ice in a Bruins uniform. While you couldn't have been a Bruins fan and not appreciated Esposito, his time was up. That's just the nature of the business, and to get Park for him was more then a good deal.

BTW, if only Orr had been up to his old self can you imagine Park and Orr doing their thing together? Even just the few times it happened, it was magic.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

A diehard Bruin fan, I didn't feel that way. I always liked Brad Park and couldn't wait to see him on the ice in a Bruins uniform. While you couldn't have been a Bruins fan and not appreciated Esposito, his time was up. That's just the nature of the business, and to get Park for him was more then a good deal.

BTW, if only Orr had been up to his old self can you imagine Park and Orr doing their thing together? Even just the few times it happened, it was magic.

Unbelievable.

After only a few games together, Bobby got out of his car one night, felt something in his knee, and he knew.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

A diehard Bruin fan, I didn't feel that way. I always liked Brad Park and couldn't wait to see him on the ice in a Bruins uniform. While you couldn't have been a Bruins fan and not appreciated Esposito, his time was up. That's just the nature of the business, and to get Park for him was more then a good deal.

BTW, if only Orr had been up to his old self can you imagine Park and Orr doing their thing together? Even just the few times it happened, it was magic.

Someday, there'll be a tribute to Tom like this

...but not yet. Not for a long time.

 

[tom444]

Unbelievable.

After only a few games together, Bobby got out of his car one night, felt something in his knee, and he knew.

Look at that picture. Wow.

 

[RobertWeathers]

A diehard Bruin fan, I didn't feel that way. I always liked Brad Park and couldn't wait to see him on the ice in a Bruins uniform. While you couldn't have been a Bruins fan and not appreciated Esposito, his time was up. That's just the nature of the business, and to get Park for him was more then a good deal.

BTW, if only Orr had been up to his old self can you imagine Park and Orr doing their thing together? Even just the few times it happened, it was magic.

...and if he were never traded and had reasonably decent knees he would have been only 32 years old and around to help groom a 19 year old defensemen from Montreal named Raymond Jean Bourque.

Park, Doak and Redmond deserve a lot of credit being cool and looking out for Ray when he came up.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Bill Russell and 11 titles were obtained for a week of the Ice Capades

Trading the Ice Capades for Bill Russell | The Wages of Wins Journal

The Celtics entered the 1956 draft with the 7th pick. This pick was sent to the St. Louis Hawks – along with Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan, for the 2nd pick. It was believed that the Rochester Royals – who had the first pick – might want to take Russell. Auerbach, though, had a secret weapon. The owner of the Celtics, Walter Brown, was also the president of the Ice Capades. Brown called up the owner of the Royals– Lee Harrison — with the following offer: Brown would send the Ice Capades to Rochester for one week if the Royals would pass on Russell.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The trade that balanced the trade of the Bambino...and with a New York team. Every other trade is a contest for second place.

Pats got BB and a 2001 fifth rounder and a 2002 seventh rounder (who never played) in exchange for their 2000 1st rounder along with fourth and seventh rounders in 2001 (Shaun Ellis, Jamie Henderson and James Reed). Here's a great article on it, which simply refers to it as "The Trade" (like "The Catch" or "The Drive"):

The Trade: Was Belichick to New England the Best Deal in League History?

An old headline from a NY paper at the time (probably the News or the Post), if you're wondering why he left...also, a piece of trivia: Jeffrey Kessler was Belichick's lawyer throughout the negotiations...