2007–08 Boston Celtics season
The 2007–08 Boston Celtics season was the 62nd season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This marked the season powered by the acquisitions of perennial All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the offseason, the Celtics finished with a record of 66–16 and posted the best single-season turnaround in NBA history. They finished first in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, and achieved the league's best record. The 66 wins were also the third-most in franchise history, behind the 1972–73 Celtics’ 68 wins and the famous  1985–86 Celtics’ 67 wins including 40 at home. Kevin Garnett was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, while Danny Ainge, who executed "the most dramatic NBA turnaround ever", was named NBA Executive of the Year. The Celtics also sold out all 41 regular-season home games. The Celtics had the tenth best team offensive rating and the best team defensive rating in the NBA. Their two-year absence from the playoffs came to an end as they met the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Eventually, they advanced to the NBA Finals for the  first time since 1987, where they met the Los Angeles Lakers, reigniting their storied rivalry. The Celtics won 4–2, capturing their first championship since , and seventeenth in franchise history, the most in NBA history. However, they had a far more difficult path to this championship, playing 26 games, the most any team had ever played in a post-season. Summary. NBA draft 2007: The Ray Allen trade. On May 22, the Celtics were assigned the 5th overall selection in the NBA Draft Lottery, essentially losing their chance of drafting either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, who both were considered to  go 1st and 2nd in the draft. The 5th pick was the worst-case scenario for the Celtics, who had a 19.9% chance of obtaining the 1st overall selection. However, on June 28, the day of the 2007 NBA draft, the Celtics traded the 5th pick along with Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for All-Star 3-point specialist Ray Allen and the 35th overall selection prior to the event, and with the 5th pick selected forward Jeff Green for Seattle. In the second round of the draft, the Celtics selected guard Gabe Pruitt  with the 32nd pick, which was their own, and forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis with the 35th pick, previously obtained from Seattle. Kevin Garnett trade. On July 31, the Celtics traded for 10-time All-Star and 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett in the single largest trade for one player in NBA history. He was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Boston's 2009 first-round draft pick (top three protected), the return of Minnesota's conditional first-round draft pick previously obtained in the 2006 Ricky Davis–Wally  Szczerbiak trade and cash considerations. By adding Garnett to All-Stars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the trade brought a new era of relevance to the long-struggling franchise, but it also left the roster short-handed. Free agency. The Garnett trade left the roster depleted and depth became an immediate concern. Eventually, the Celtics signed guards Eddie House and Jackie Manuel on August 1, just two days after the Garnett trade, and center Scot Pollard on August 9. Later, Ainge called and asked 5-time All-Star Reggie Miller to return from his 2-year retirement and join the  roster in a reserve role. Miller strongly considered the possibility of playing alongside Garnett, but ultimately announced on August 23 that he would not join the Celtics. On August 27, forward James Posey signed with the team and was considered a decisive signing which instantly gave the Celtics a drastic improvement to their bench. On September 26, center Esteban Batista and guard Dahntay Jones signed non-guaranteed contracts with the Celtics, two days before the beginning of training camp and the team's departure to Rome for the 2007 NBA Europe Live Tour. Curiously, Jones was involved in a trade  back in the 2003 NBA draft, in which the Celtics drafted him with the 20th overall selection, but immediately traded him with the 16th pick, Troy Bell, to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for the 13th pick, Marcus Banks, and the 27th pick, Kendrick Perkins. Ultimately, the Celtics waived Batista on October 16, and Manuel and Jones on October 25, bringing the roster down to 14 players, one shy of the league maximum of 15 players, in order to have roster flexibility and be able to sign another player midway through the season. Later in the season, on December 18 , the Celtics released yet another player, Brandon Wallace, in order to have even more roster flexibility that coach Doc Rivers said they needed. This move brought the roster down to only 13 players, which is the league minimum for players allowed on a team's roster. On February 27, the Celtics signed center P.J. Brown for the remainder of the season, in order to bolster their front court. His decision to come to Boston was strongly aided by a conversation with future teammates Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, who convinced him to sign with the Celtics during the 2008 NBA  All-Star Weekend. On March 4, 2008, the Celtics officially announced that they had signed guard Sam Cassell. After the signing, Cassell immediately flew back to his hometown of Baltimore to attend funeral services for a deceased family member. This signing ultimately put the roster up to the league maximum of 15 players. Playoffs. Although the Celtics had the best record in the NBA with 66–16 in the regular season, their path to their first championship since was far from easy. They ended up playing the most games a team had ever played in a postseason, with 26, surpassing the  1994 New York Knicks, whom Celtics coach Doc Rivers played for, and the 2005 Detroit Pistons, each of whom played 25, but lost their respective finals in seven games. This record was set in Game 6 of the Finals, in which they won the championship.