Had the Celtics Been Able to Grab Durant in 2007, Boston Would Likely Be Playing in These Finals
Legacy User
With the NBA Finals ongoing and the NBA Draft just a couple weeks away, it feels like a legit time for a little what if/revisionist history exercise involving both events. C'mon, it'll be fun.
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Boston.com
With the NBA Finals ongoing and the NBA Draft just a couple weeks away, it feels like a legit time for a little what if/revisionist history exercise involving both events. C’mon, it’ll be fun.

The Celtics, should they choose not to make a trade, will be picking in the lottery portion of the draft for the first time since 2007. Remember when?

Last month, just as was the case in 1997 when the Celtics wound up with the third and sixth picks despite having the best shot at getting Tim Duncan No. 1 overall, the Celts got played by the system and bad ping pong ball luck again. In 2007, Boston had a 19.9 percent chance of getting the first overall pick and an 18.8 percent shot at No. 2 but dropped all the way to No. 5 and watched the two prizes of that year’s class, Greg Oden (ahem) and Kevin Durant, wind up elsewhere.

The Celts, as we all remember, picked Jeff Green at No. 5 then shipped him off to Seattle as part of the Ray Allen deal. That deal was of course the precursor to the trade with Minnesota which netted the C’s Kevin Garnett, a championship and five years of hallowed, contender status.

So here’s a great place to start this little game: What if the Celts had cashed in on one of those first two picks? And what if, regardless of which one it was, they the drafted Durant? Let your mind wander for a spell, won’t you…?