Each NBA team’s best trade in franchise history

Boston Celtics

Kevin Garnett for players and picks to MIN; Ray Allen for players and a second-round pick to SEA (2007)

Though they are recognized as one of the most decorated sports franchises, the 1990s-2000s-era Boston Celtics proved that even they weren’t immune to the valleys that often follow even the highest peaks.

After Larry Bird retired in 1992, the Celtics endured a 15-season stretch where they made the playoffs only six times, qualified for the Eastern Conference Finals once, lost in the first round four times, and never surpassed 49 wins.

Relative to other franchises, this period wasn’t that bad and there was some bad luck mixed in with the incompetence — it’s easy to point to the 1997 draft lottery, but Reggie Lewis and Len Bias’ untimely deaths were harsher blows — but this run was a far cry from what Celtics fans were used to.

That changed in the summer of 2007, as the team began shipping off their also-rans and draft picks to surround star wing Paul Pierce with some real talent. This started in June of that year when the team sent Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Jeff Green to the Seattle SuperSonics for 3-point shooting god Ray Allen.

A month later, Kevin McHale — the Minnesota Timberwolves’ general manager at the time — did his former teammate and Celtics GM Danny Ainge a solid and traded superstar forward/center Kevin Garnett for a package that included Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, a washed Theo Ratliff and Sabastian Telfair. Oh, and the T’Wolves received two 2009 first-round picks that they used to draft Wayne Ellington and Johnny Flynn.

Both of those teams floundered for a while, but with Garnett anchoring a historically great Boston defense and Pierce and Allen maintaining their excellence in smaller doses, the Celtics improved to 66-16 in 2007-08 and beat the rival Los Angeles Lakers to win their 17th NBA championship.