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Essay / How Danny Ainge and Several Trades Changed the Franchise -nine percent of their games all season. After hearing that, I bet you'd think it would be crazy if I said that in a year they would bring the Larry Brien Trophy back to TD Garden, but that's exactly what they would do the following season. From that point on, the team went over twenty-one years without even a single NBA Finals appearance. To put that into perspective, their last appearance was in the mid-1980s, when they were led by future Hall of Famers: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, whose jerseys were all retired by the 'team. After a horrible season the year before, Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge was determined to change the fortunes of that franchise over the summer with two trades that no one saw coming and that would change them forever. Ainge would instantly turn his gaze to one of the best offensive players basketball has ever seen, Seattle Supersonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) All-Star guard Ray Allen, who averaged over twenty -six points per game in the previous one. season. Now, for those of you who have no idea who Ray Allen is, here's a quick refresher. According to Basketball Reference, Ray Allen was originally drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 5th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. Throughout his career, at that point, he belonged to several teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat, and no matter where he went, he averaged an absurd twenty-plus points a night with a three-point field goal percentage of around forty percent. For many defenders, it was a difficult task night after night trying to stop this man from racking up the scoreboard. On draft night in 2007, the Celtics and Supersonics agreed to a trade that would send All-Star guard Ray Allen to Boston in exchange for the Celtics' number five pick of that draft,3 which would later be known as name Jeff Green, with other business considerations such as cash. This acquisition would essentially add more offensive power to a Celtics team that has struggled to score points all season, with the exception of future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, who single-handedly ran the offensive. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayNow, after hearing about the acquisition of Ray Allen, most people would see that offensively, we would take a hit inches, but we were still lacking defensively, especially in statistics. rebounding and defense category. That's when Danny Ainge chose one of the best defensive players our league has ever seen, Kevin Garnett. According to ESPN, Kevin Garnett was drafted right out of high school with the fifth overall pick in the 1995 draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. From the start of his career until the 2007 season, Kevin always averaged around twenty points per game, ten rebounds and two blocks per game. Those impressive stat lines he left on the field would earn him multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards as well as numerous All-Star game nods. During the 2007 season, All-star Kevin Garnett had blocked any type of trade with the Boston Celtics. He would threaten the organization with terminating his contract the following season if they even attempted toacquire it. Once Ray Allen was added to the roster, Garnett finally stopped preventing the trade and decided to finally give the city of Boston a chance. This would lead to one of the largest one-way trades for an individual player in NBA history. The deal that ultimately brought Kevin Garnett to Boston included the Celtics sending away several players, but the most surprising of the bunch was current Boston Celtics starting center Al Jefferson, who averaged sixteen points and eleven rebounds the previous season. With four players, the Celtics sent two first-round picks and cash to the Timberwolves for just Kevin Garnett. It was a blockbuster trade for a newly minted 31-year-old power forward who many analysts believed his best years were beginning to come to an end. This would not be the case however as he would go on to produce some of the best numbers of his long Hall of Fame worthy career. Established veterans Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen had now joined with the Celtics' only All-Star forward, Paul Pierce, to form Boston's new "Big Three", a term not heard in the big stat line of the Massachusetts from Larry Bird, Kevin. McHale and Robert Parish led the Celtics to multiple titles during the 1980s, including seven consecutive titles. Together, these new "Big Three" would lead the franchise to one of the greatest single-season turnarounds the National Basketball Association has ever seen. From a measly twenty-four wins to an astonishing sixty-six win season, the Celtics' 42-game turnaround was nothing short of breathtaking and almost too good to be true. That year, the Celtics sold out almost all of their home games, and the basketball atmosphere throughout the city was the same as it had been in the years when Boston had won seven straight titles. Boston would finish that season with the best record in the NBA, 66-16 overall, the Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen were all named All-Stars, and Kevin Garnett would go on to win another Defensive Player of the Year . and finally Danny Ainge would be named Executive of the Year. No matter how good their season was, the Big Three would still have plenty of tests to face once they reached the Playoffs. According to the Sports Quotient, in the first round of the playoffs, the Boston Celtics would face the Atlanta Hawks who were at the time led by Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Mike Bibby and future Boston Celtics Al Horford. The Atlanta Hawks that year were a disappointing 36-46, and no one would have thought they would give Boston a run for their money. The teams would go back and forth in the series, however, before Boston finally won a resounding Game 7 by a score of 99-65 with Paul Pierce leading the way with twenty-two points. The next series wouldn't be much better as the Celtics had to face the man many consider to be the greatest basketball player of all time, Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. For those of you who don't know Lebron James from that era, it seemed almost impossible to beat, especially when he was averaging thirty points, eight rebounds, and seven assists a night. Once again, this series would also go the distance until the Celtics finally put them away in a nail-biting Game 7 with a score of 97-92, which was once again led by the captain of the Paul Pierce team turned in a dominant performance with forty-one points.Keep in mind: this is just a sample.Get a personalized article now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayAfter getting beaten during two hard-fought series, the Boston 3-2..
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