STAYING TOGETHER: The Nets and Celtics last night worked out a blockbuster deal that will bring future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce (top left) and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn in exchange for Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, Reggie Evans, three first-round draft picks and spare parts. Jason Terry will also come to the Nets. (Neil Miller)
When the Nets named Jason Kidd as their new head coach, general manager Billy King said Kidd embodied the “tough, smart and team-first mentality that we are trying to establish in Brooklyn.”
King doubled down on those qualities last night, when he pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from the division rival Celtics, a move that easily overshadowed the NBA Draft that was held inside Barclays Center.
Though the trade, first reported by YahooSports!, cannot be completed until July 10 because of various technicalities related to the collective bargaining agreement, league sources confirmed Pierce and Garnett, along with Jason Terry, are headed to the Nets, officially ending the Big Three Era in Boston. The deal also gives the Nets a starting lineup featuring an All-Star at every position that, they hope, can allow them to match up with anyone in the Eastern Conference.
Garnett waived his no-trade clause after the Nets agreed to fully guarantee the $12 million owed him for the 2014-15 season, the third year of his contract, according to Yahoo! Sports.
In exchange, the Nets sent Boston a package including Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans — who will be signed and traded as part of the deal — and Kris Joseph, along with the Nets’ first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Originally, Reggie Evans was thought to be in the trade, but Brooks replaced him at some point overnight.
The Nets had to send picks in alternating years, because the league’s collective bargaining agreement doesn’t allow teams to trade consecutive first-round picks. The Nets’ 2014 pick will be whichever pick is lower between the Nets and Hawks, as the two teams agreed to swap first-round picks in 2014 and 2015 as part of the trade that brought Joe Johnson to Brooklyn last summer.
TRADE SPICES UP KNICKS-NETS RIVALRY
Because the trade can’t be completed until July 10, King wasn’t able to discuss it when he met with the media after the Nets had finished their other business of the night, using the 22nd pick to draft Duke center Mason Plumlee.
“I’m here to talk about Mason,” King said. “That’s all I can really talk about at this point in time.”
For the Nets, the trade has an obvious allure, because it gives them an instant dose of toughness, a defensive presence, and two of the most respected leaders in the league in Garnett and Pierce, who followed former coach Doc Rivers out of Boston this week.
Rivers, who agreed to become the head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations for the Clippers, told ESPN “it’s obviously a great trade for Brooklyn.”
In addition to giving the Nets that defensive presence inside, Garnett is a perfect complement to center Brook Lopez. Garnett also fills the biggest weakness the Nets had last season — starting power forward. Pierce, meanwhile — despite turning 36 in October — is coming off a season in which he averaged 18.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists.
Terry gives the Nets another scorer and ball-handler off the bench, as well as proven playoff experience, though his inclusion in the trade — with the Nets taking on the two years and more than $10 million remaining on his contract — also makes it more palatable for the Celtics to take on the remaining three years and $30 million on Wallace’s contract. Wallace’s is the lone long-term deal containing guaranteed money the Celtics received in the deal.
From Boston’s perspective, the trade allows the Celtics to start their rebuilding process in earnest, after grabbing an unprotected 2015 first-rounder as compensation for allowing Rivers to escape from the remainder of his contract with the Celtics to join the Clippers.