Danny Ainge nearly traded the picks that became Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for Jimmy Butler

While it might seem horrifying to think of with hindsight, former Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge recently revealed he nearly dealt away the picks from the Brooklyn Nets trade of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry used to draft Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to bring on current-day Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler.

Fans booed the selection of Brown at the time given their hopes that the Celtics would quickly parlay those draft picks from Ainge’s scandalous haul into a new set of stars in what would have been an absurdly quick rebuild.

But in the end, Ainge went with Brown and Tatum instead, setting us up for the world of Celtics basketball we all know and love.

To talk over that fateful near-deal, the hosts of the CLNS Media “Celtics Beat” podcast linked up with CLNS Media co-founder Nick Gelso.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear what they had to say about what almost was.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube:

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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire