“Seattle had other intentions” – Ray Allen thought he, KD, and Rashard Lewis would do great things with the Sonics – Basketball Network
Kevin Durant
© Joe Nicholson – USA TODAY Sports
When Ray Allen left the Seattle Supersonics for the Boston Celtics to type the Big 3 with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in 2007, historical past was made as the C’s efficiently introduced the championship to Boston. However, Ray-Ray suggests {that a} completely different story would have been made if the Sonics had chosen to stay with him, Kevin Durant and Rashard Lewis.
It would have been a lethal trio
According to Allen, he was assured of reaching “big things” in Seattle when the group drafted Durant, with Lewis nonetheless in his prime. However, he realized that the trajectory of the Sonics’ plans didn’t line up with his personal. So when he noticed the Celtics rebuilding and pulling off a commerce that 12 months, Ray thought he’d somewhat take his expertise to Boston.
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“As we got the number two pick that year for Kevin Durant, I knew we were going to be good because we have Durant, myself and Rashard Lewis and I’m thinking ‘Wow, we can do some great things here‘,Allen said on James Posey’s “The Posecast.”But Seattle had other goals. So when draft day came and I saw all the Celtics players being traded, I was like, ‘I’m outta here!‘“
Allen helped one other group accomplish one thing
It did not take lengthy for the Celtics to succeed in out to Allen, who was coming off his profession-excessive 26.4 factors per sport that summer season. After Ray was signed, then-Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge set his sights on Garnett, who was contemplating becoming a member of the Los Angeles Lakers at the time.
Ainge knew higher, so he determined to faucet Allen to lure KG to affix the C’s. He performed effectively, and the relaxation is historical past.
“Kevin Garnett had a no-trade clause and he was planning to go to the Lakers and join Kobe.,” Allen revealed. “But Danny Ainge got here to me later in the summer season saying we would have one thing brewing with KG. So I bought on the telephone with Kevin and mentioned, “We’d love you here, this is a great situation and I’m excited.” This helped him as a result of we knew every other rising up and he knew it would be a brand new state of affairs for all of us.“
Looking again, Allen was proper between the Celtics and the Sonics, who ultimately grew to become the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was the C’s who bought the most out of their signings. OKC did make it to the NBA Finals in again-to-again years below Durant, but it surely wasn’t as historic as what Allen and Boston bought away with.
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