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The decisions from the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers not to pursue a trade for Kawhi Leonard during the 2018 offseason appear to be at least somewhat misguided with the advantage of hindsight as he led the Toronto Raptors to a ring. The Celtics and 76ers each presumably had enough available assets to give the San Antonio Spurs a better package than the Raptors while leaving enough talent to surround Leonard to compete for a title.

Sources with both the Celtics and 76ers tell ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz that the informed believe that Leonard had every intention of signing in Los Angeles in 2019 was the determining factor in not trading for him.

The Celtics were believed to also be saving their assets for an Anthony Davis trade that ultimately never materialized for them following the expected departure of Kyrie Irving.

The Spurs, meanwhile, wouldn't discuss a trade with the 76ers that didn't include either Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons.

Via Kevin Arnovitz/ESPN

This is why Masai Ujiri is the Executive of the year. He had the cohones to make the deal and live whatever was the result was.

Now the Sixers FO is going to use the same PR spin tactics Ainge uses? Not a fan of that.

Kimiko wrote:This is why Masai Ujiri is the Executive of the year. He had the cohones to make the deal and live whatever was the result was.

It was an easy choice for Masai. Granted, it paid off in spades; but there was little risk involved.

Can not think of another NBA trade in NBA history that came with such a high risk / high reward - especially considering it is essentially for a 1 year deal -- trading team's star player ( DeRozan ) & firing a coach of the year ( Casey ) as well.

Celtics hoarded assets for years to make a big move & are still waiting -- missed out on AD, missed out on Kawhi.

76rs did go all in with their trade of Tobias / Butler ( tbd to see what long term impacts these are if one or either do not resign ).

Overall - its all in hindsight now, Celtics / 76'rs can second guess all they want, but they missed out.

Ainge nickname should be Capt. Hindsight.....seems like every non trade or non bos draft pick (giannis), there was a possibility that Ainge "couldve" done this or that with said player....pg, butler, kawahi, ad, giannis....man if ainge did any of these things Bos would be in great spot right now

Boston won't win if Ainge thinks Tatum is untouchable.

And the rest folks is history, Leonard won a title for the Raptors, regardless of whether he resign or not, that's the end goal isn't it? Lol!

the_process wrote:

Kimiko wrote:This is why Masai Ujiri is the Executive of the year. He had the cohones to make the deal and live whatever was the result was.

It was an easy choice for Masai. Granted, it paid off in spades; but there was little risk involved.

Yeah it’s not fair to compare them. Raptors only had 2 years of DeRozan, a flawed all star who was commanding near max and who’s teams could never make it come the hump. Giving up Tatum, Simmons or Embiid are much bigger risks

I call BS on The Spurs requiring Ben or Joel. There's no way that 75% of the combined haul that Minnesota and the Clippers got for Butler and Harris (both expiring) wouldn't have been enough:

Covington
Saric
2nd
+
Shamet
Chandler
Muscala
Philly 2020 first
Miami 2021 first
Detroit 2021+2023 seconds

The trade would have kicked off a rebuild for San Antonio, but with that much draft capital available (not to mention still having Fultz) I highly doubt RC and Pop wouldn't consider a non-star package from Philly.

nikster wrote:

the_process wrote:

Kimiko wrote:This is why Masai Ujiri is the Executive of the year. He had the cohones to make the deal and live whatever was the result was.

It was an easy choice for Masai. Granted, it paid off in spades; but there was little risk involved.

Yeah it’s not fair to compare them. Raptors only had 2 years of DeRozan, a flawed all star who was commanding near max and who’s teams could never make it come the hump. Giving up Tatum, Simmons or Embiid are much bigger risks

Every player is flawed. Simmons' flaws are as glaring as DeRozan's, if not more so. Let's just call it as it is: Raptors just had bigger balls and went for it.

Cassius wrote:I call BS on The Spurs requiring Ben or Joel. There's no way that 75% of the combined haul that Minnesota and the Clippers got for Butler and Harris (both expiring) wouldn't have been enough:

Covington
Saric
2nd
+
Shamet
Chandler
Muscala
Philly 2020 first
Miami 2021 first
Detroit 2021+2023 seconds

The trade would have kicked off a rebuild for San Antonio, but with that much draft capital available (not to mention still having Fultz) I highly doubt RC and Pop wouldn't consider a non-star package from Philly.

Spurs wanted an established star in return which none of the teams had to offer. Now Boston has nobody left. Congrats Losers!

Raptor have balls and the other 2 did not. Single is like smeagol with his assets. That Brooklyn trade has crippled his decision making..

Raptor deserved their ring and I tip my hat to their front office. Congrats Canada.

Was giving up Derozan really a big risk? Child pleeeze.

LAKESHOW wrote:Was giving up Derozan really a big risk? Child pleeeze.

It should have been easy to beat. That makes the other teams look fearful.

LAKESHOW wrote:Was giving up Derozan really a big risk? Child pleeeze.

The risk you guys are missing is that Masai put all his chips on the table and went for it. If this didnt work out, he's out that door. Maybe you LA folks should think outside of the box sometimes.

All three teams did the right thing. The Raps had topped out and were right to go boom or bust. Celtics and Sixers were teams of the future, no sense in sinking assets into what seemed like a rental.

mickie wrote:

LAKESHOW wrote:Was giving up Derozan really a big risk? Child pleeeze.

The risk you guys are missing is that Masai put all his chips on the table and went for it. If this didnt work out, he's out that door. Maybe you LA folks should think outside of the box sometimes.

Hes from USC, he is a known commodity. Trust me, Not much of a risk.

nikster wrote:

the_process wrote:

Kimiko wrote:This is why Masai Ujiri is the Executive of the year. He had the cohones to make the deal and live whatever was the result was.

It was an easy choice for Masai. Granted, it paid off in spades; but there was little risk involved.

Yeah it’s not fair to compare them. Raptors only had 2 years of DeRozan, a flawed all star who was commanding near max and who’s teams could never make it come the hump. Giving up Tatum, Simmons or Embiid are much bigger risks

They say fortune favors the brave....damn how big is Ujiris balls?! Too big to measure, lol!

mickie wrote:

LAKESHOW wrote:Was giving up Derozan really a big risk? Child pleeeze.

The risk you guys are missing is that Masai put all his chips on the table and went for it. If this didnt work out, he's out that door. Maybe you LA folks should think outside of the box sometimes.

He wasn’t getting fired. He would’ve gone to ownership and said “we were topped out, we went for it, it didn’t work out, let’s retool.”