How much more heartbreak can the Brooklyn Nets take? Despite finishing with the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics walked away with the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft because the Nets handed it to them in a God-awful trade from 2013.
Former Celtics legend Paul Pierce was part of that trade, going from Boston to Brooklyn. He jokingly took credit on Tuesday night for his final gift to the Celtics and reminded Nets fans about possibly the worst trade in NBA history.
And look what I leave behind for the Celts on my way out #1 pick😂👌🏾🙏🔥
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) May 17, 2017
That makes this quite a night for NBA players trolling their former teams.
In the 2013 trade, Boston traded a 35-year-old Pierce and a 37-year-old Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn in exchange for the Nets’ 2014, 2016 and 2018 first-round picks, as well as the right to swap 2017 first-round picks. The Nets thought they had a “superteam” with Pierce, Garnett, Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, but they finished sixth in the East that year and were no match for the Miami Heat’s Big Three in the second round of the playoffs. By February 2015, Pierce and Garnett had both left Brooklyn.
Now it’s 2017, and the Celtics were the best team in the East while the Nets were the worst. Brooklyn will keep waiting to rebuild while Boston can add another impact piece to a team that won 53 games and is currently competing in the Eastern Conference Finals.
So Pierce’s legacy in Boston concludes with 15 years of highlights, an NBA championship, and now a No. 1 pick — although it remains to be seen if the Celtics hold on to that pick or trade it.
