10 Trades That Changed The NBA Forever

In 2007, Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce had completed his 9th year for the franchise. He'd had more losing seasons (6) than All-Star game appearances (5). Changes were needed for the once great Boston team, as they hadn't been to the finals in 20 years.

GM Danny Ainge had gotten a start on the rebuild by trading away Antoine Walker, Ricky Davis, and Raef LaFrentz while getting PG Rajon Rondo from the '06 draft. He then set his sights on sharpshooter, Ray Allen, from the Seattle Sonics.

Boston was able to land Allen and rookie Glen Davis after giving up Jeff Green, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and a 2nd rounder.

One month later, Ainge brought in the trash-talking big man, Kevin Garnett from Minnesota. To do so, he traded away Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and two 1st round picks.

The All-Pro trio, along with Rondo and Kendrick Perkins immediately captured the title in '08. They would accomplish six straight playoff appearances and one more finals trip (a loss to the Lakers in '10).

The Celtics would knock Lebron James and the Cleveland Caveliers out of the playoffs twice in that stretch, which is thought to be a major reason behind Lebron joining forces with other stars in Miami (more on that later).

So even though the "Big 3 era" of Boston only amounted to one championship, the larger impact was the start of the "superteams" that formed throughout the NBA in the following years.