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Portland Trail Blazers: Four little-known trades that would have altered franchise history

By Marlow Ferguson Jr.

PORTLAND, OR - JANUARY 27: Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics drives againstof the Portland Trail Blazers on January 27, 2011 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - JANUARY 27: Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics drives againstof the Portland Trail Blazers on January 27, 2011 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /
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Portland Trail Blazers
Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

No. 4: Pierce vetoes potential trade to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2005

The Trail Blazers don’t get the credit they deserve for orchestrating a seamless transition after the Clyde Drexler era. After his departure, they continued to put championship-contending products on the floor year after year, largely through the production of Rasheed Wallace.

After Wallace’s departure, though, they had no such fortune. Following a blockbuster deal that sent Wallace to Atlanta in 2004, the Blazers went just 96-182 over the next three-and-a-half seasons. Resuscitation was soon on the way, in LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. But as it turns out, they nearly had a savior even before that.

In 2005, there was an offer on the table that would have given the Portland Trail Blazers the right to future Hall of Fame forward Paul Pierce. But in fear of being sent to another downtrodden, losing franchise, Pierce actually personally vetoed the offer. Speaking of the word “veto, “ the Celtics were going to use the pick from the trade to draft Wake Forest floor general by the name of Chris Paul.

During Pierce’s farewell season, he took a trip down memory lane, joining “The Vertical Podcast With Chris Mannix”, to discuss how he intended on not even showing up if he got traded to Portland.

"“It was just like, (the Blazers) weren’t going to the playoffs, they had a young team, too, players always getting in trouble, and I was just like, I’m not going to Portland,” Pierce recalled. “I think I made the announcement. I think I did an article in the paper saying I wasn’t going to Portland if I got traded there. I might as well stay in Boston if I go to Portland. I know that was the one trade I knew about that was on the table that they were really close to pulling.”"

Pierce likely wouldn’t have been able to push the Blazers to any success in 2005 or 2006. After all, his Celtics went just 24-58 and 33-49 over those two seasons. But, that likely means he doesn’t sacrifice Portland’s draft capital.

Hypotheticals will never quite tell us if the Blazers would have been able to still draft Aldridge and Roy, a lite, more-mortal version of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. But how much fun would that have been?