The Boston Celtics agreed in principle to trade veterans Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry to the Brooklyn Nets during the 2013 NBA Draft on Thursday night, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.
The trade can’t be made official by the NBA until July 10.
Kevin Garnett will agree to trade to Brooklyn and Celtics are sending KG and Paul Pierce to the Nets, league sources tell Y! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 28, 2013
The Celtics will reportedly receive three first-round picks, Gerald Wallace’s three-year/$30 million contract, Kris Joseph, Reggie Evans, Keith Bogans, and Kris Humphries’ expiring contract in return. The Nets first rounders will be for 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Celtics also will have the right to trade first-round picks with the Nets in 2017 if the Nets have the higher pick.
According to Wojnarowski, the Nets have agreed to fully guarantee the $12 million owed Garnett in the 2014-’15 season. KG could have been bought out in ’14-’15 for $6 million.
It’s a blockbuster deal that marks a changing of the guards in Boston. Pierce has played his entire career in Boston since being drafted by the Celtics 10th overall back in 1998 and is second on the Celtics all-time leading scoring list with 24,021 points.
Garnett was traded to the Celtics in a blockbuster deal back in 2007 and, alongside Pierce and Ray Allen, helped lead the C’s to their first NBA Championship since 1986 in his first season with the team. He became a strong leader and mentor during his tenure in Boston.
Both players will undoubtedly have their numbers in the rafters in Boston sooner rather than later, so it’s a pretty sad to see these guys go – especially considering what the Celtics received in return.
