The 2016 trade deadline was a dud. All the big potential transactions that were leaked in the weeks leading up to it never happened. The biggest name traded on deadline day was Markieff Morris, which says it all about how exciting the day was.
Jahlil Okafor was the mystery player that the Celtics were ‘very close’ to trading for, per report
The deal would have involved the Nets’ 2016 first-round pick.
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
It you believe Danny Ainge, however, things could have been different. The Boston Celtics general manager revealed in a couple of radio interviews that he almost made a mystery trade for a star no one had linked to the franchise in the past. Later on, it was reported by the Boston Herald that the player in question was Jahlil Okafor.
“One story I probably can share with you is -- I can’t tell you the team or the name -- but it was very close,” Ainge said in a interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub, according to Mass Live’s Jay King. “It’s something that we had been deliberating on for two days straight. The other team was doing that, and we were wrapping ourselves around a big package to do a deal. And at the very last minute they just said they did not want to do it. They just backed out. So it was a deal that was talked about, thought about, and that was probably the closest that we came.”
The trade could have been massive. The 2016 unprotected first-round draft pick the Brooklyn Nets owe the Celtics -- one of the league's best assets because the Nets are one of the worst teams in the league -- was involved in the package that was discussed, according to WBZ Newsradio 1030' Adam Kaufman. Ainge said the other front office, which we now know is Philadelphia, decided to keep the player, even if the offer increased.
Before the player was revealed as Okafor, most of the speculation was that the player might be DeMarcus Cousins. The only clue we had was that Ainge thought the trade would have been “risky” for both franchises, but it hadn’t been clear what he means by that.
While the package wasn’t enough to persuade the other team to pull the trigger on Thursday, Ainge said that talks might resurface in the summer.
"Before we got Kevin Garnett, it was something that we talked about for two years, so you just never know what might happen later," Ainge told 98.5 The Sports Hub. "So we'll keep at it. I feel good that we still have a lot of good young players -- a lot of good, young players on good contracts, a team that's playing really well, a great coach, and we have a lot of assets. So we'll just see how it goes the next time around this summer."
Now we just wait and see if Ainge is able to renegotiate a deal for Okafor this summer.
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