Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett practically disowned Ray Allen for leaving the Celtics. And while the problem was more about the terms of his departure than anything else, just leaving Boston was enough to break the hearts of his teammates.
But did you know that Pierce was also considering leaving Boston at one point?
In an appearance on All The Smoke podcast, he shed some light on the time he lost left the team before The Big Three was formed.
“People don’t know, I was almost out of Boston. I was having meetings with the ownership, like, this ain’t working — this is the year before we got KG, the year Kevin Durant was in college. We lost 18 in a row so I’m like, “we weak.” You know, I’m in my prime.
Straight up — we weak. I’m in my prime, we losing, we not getting to the playoffs, I was like “y’all should trade me, draft Kevin Durant, tank the year, and build on out.”
So where was his preferred destination? Interestingly enough, he says it was Dallas.
“I was really trying to get to Dallas, people don’t even know, I was trying to get to Dallas. Really. Cause they got upset and I was like I would have been the t to help them get over the top. That was a good reason for me to be like — I can help that team.”
It’s easy to forget that the Celtics were bottom-feeders in the years leading up to their 2008 Championship run. The acquisition of Kevin Garnett helped flip the script for the franchise.
And, fortunately, they were able to hang on to Pierce for long enough to surround him with the talent he so desperately wanted.
Crazy to think how differently things could have played out had they rushed Pierce’s trade request.
