ORLANDO, Fla. — Billy King has long been known as one of the NBA’s most aggressive general managers, and has made a series of big trades in his career.
But even King, who is always thinking big, admitted yesterday he wasn’t sure he could land Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from the Celtics when he began discussing a potential deal with Danny Ainge, his counterpart in Boston.
“Honestly, did I think we could pull something like this off? No,” King said on a conference call. “From the beginning, no.
“But Danny and I just kept working at it and got to the point where we both were comfortable.”
The blockbuster deal, which came together on draft night, became official yesterday, when Kris Joseph was eligible to be moved due to three months elapsing since his signing. The deal brings Pierce and Garnett, along with Jason Terry and D.J. White, to Brooklyn, while the Nets sent Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks and Joseph to Boston along with a trio of first-round picks (2014, ’16 and ’18) and the right to swap picks in 2017. It instantly turns the Nets into a contender in the East.
King said even with having a chance to acquire players of the caliber and pedigree of Pierce and Garnett, the steep price in draft picks was enough for the Nets to hesitate before pulling the trigger.
“Yes, it did,” King said. “We had a lot of pause. We had a lot of hesitation.
“[But] we started looking at the picks and when we would be giving them up and where they would be, and just made the decision on where we thought we would be at that time and where the picks would be that we’d be giving up.”
The decision was to go for it, leaving the Nets with only one remaining hurdle after King and Ainge came to an agreement: convincing the famously loyal Garnett to waive his no-trade clause and come to Brooklyn.
King credited coach Jason Kidd, who has played with Garnett on Olympic teams in the past, with having a big influence on getting Garnett to decide Brooklyn would be his new home.
“He’s a man of few words, but when he does say something, everyone listens,” Kidd said of Garnett with a smile. “My thing, my pitch was to have an opportunity to win a championship again and being able to not just win a championship, but teach these guys what it takes to win.”
That proved to be an effective pitch, as Garnett eventually agreed to let the trade go through and, along with the retention of Andray Blatche and yesterday’s official signing of Andrei Kirilenko, transform the Nets into legitimate title contenders.
The moves have also created immense expectations for this newly formed group, as well as for Kidd, its first-year coach. But King said he hasn’t had a second thought about the decision to hire a coach without any on-the-job experience, and thinks Kidd could prove a perfect fit.
“I think [Kidd] was ideal for this job,” King said. “I think he was crucial in helping us get [Garnett] to waive the no-trade, so I think he was the ideal candidate. I wouldn’t look back and regret any decision made in hiring him.
“I just know in helping recruit the guys on board, it really helped. … He made a lot of phone calls to some of the free agents and key guys that helped solidify it. Not to say that our veteran guys could not have done it, but I think with all the conversations I had with Jason about his basketball knowledge and what he wants to do with our team and the staff that we’re putting together, I’m comfortable with where we are.”