NBA Trade Deadline 2017: 5 trades that should have happened
3. Paul George to the Celtics
This isn’t the last that we’ll hear from the Boston Celtics when discussing trades that should’ve happen, but this is the trade that came the closest to actually transpiring on deadline day. Despite odd reports about Paul George’s plans to bolt for Los Angeles at his first chance to do so, the risk would still have been worth it for the Celtics to cash in on their assets and acquire the All-Star small forward. He puts them in win-now mode and gives them the talent necessary to actually win now.
Meanwhile, the Pacers are able to get a plethora of assets that help them going forward and build around Myles Turner for the future. The backcourt gets a great piece in Marcus Smart (even if his shooting is limited), they add a great wing in Jae Crowder, pick up a big expiring contract in Jonas Jerebko, and get the vaunted Brooklyn Nets first-round pick (actually a pick swap) that the Celtics own. If there’s clearly no future for George in Indiana, that’s more than fair of a haul for Boston to send the Pacers in exchange.
What’s intriguing, curious, and downright strange about the fact that this deal didn’t go down is that there is a lot of information that could be connected, but also could not be. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported on The Vertical Trade Deadline Live show that the Celtics indeed had the Brooklyn picks (with the insinuation that the 2017 pick swap and 2018 unprotected first-rounder were both in play) on the table in talks for both George and Jimmy Butler. Moreover, Mike Ortiz Jr. of DYST Now said that the Pacers wanted three players out of Crowder, Smart, Avery Bradley and Jaylen Brown in addition to the 2017 pick.
So why then didn’t the deal get done, even if with only two of those four players. Even stranger is that it’s a similarly convoluted situation in regards to the Celtics potentially trading for Butler. Subsequently, neither deal got done and every team is worse for it moving forward.