On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise sent wing Ricky Davis, center Mark Blount, guard Marcus Banks, forward Justin Reed, and two second-round picks from the Celtics to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2006.
In exchange for the package of player contracts and draft assets coming from the Celtics, Boston received forward Wally Szczerbiak, big man Michael Olowokandi, power forward Dwayne Jones, and a first-round draft pick. Relatively uneventful as far as impact on the organization in the short term, the trade would have been a footnote in team history except for the fact that it set the stage for the deal which would bring Ray Allen.
And through that move, Kevin Garnett, to Boston the following year.
Happy birthday Sly Williams. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/PDrFKNvq7Q
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) January 26, 2021
It is also the birthday of former Celtic forward Sly Williams, born this day in 1958 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Playing collegiately for the University of Rhode Island, Williams would be taken 21st overall by the New York Knicks, for whom he would play four seasons before a move to the Atlanta Hawks for two more.
He would sign with the Celtics in 1985 as a free agent, and play just 6 games for the team before being released for personal reasons that December.
He averaged 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game with Boston.
That’s “former Celtics legend MarShon Brooks” folks. pic.twitter.com/Ne8JoYuPQt
— CelticsBlog (@celticsblog) December 15, 2018
Williams shares his birthday with ex-Boston guard MarShon Brooks, born today in 1989 in Long Branch, New Jersey.
Drafted by the Celtics out of Providence College with the 25th pick of the 2011 NBA draft, but was immediately dealt to the (then) New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets for JaJuan Johnson and draft assets.
Brooks played two seasons with the Nets before being dealt back to Boston as part of the mega-deal that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn in 2013.
He would play two seasons with the Celtics before being traded yet again to the Golden State Warriors for draft assets.
Finally, it’s also former Boston forward Gerald Green’s birthday, who came into this world today in 1986 in Houston, Texas.
Green was drafted by the Celts directly out of high school (one of the last players to do so), falling further in the draft than expected, likely due to his decision to only grant workouts to the top 6 teams in the draft.
He spent much of the season in the NBA D-League (as the G League was known then), only playing in 32 games and averaging 5.2 points his first season.
Green would be traded with Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and draft picks to the Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Garnett in 2007 to end his first stint with the team.
He would play for the Wolves, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Nets, Indiana Pacers, Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat, and Russian and Chinese before reuniting with the Celtics in 2016.
Green averaged 8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game over his three seasons with the franchise.
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