Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca hints Boston was only…

Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca hints Boston was only used by Brooklyn Nets as pressure tactic in Kevin Durant saga

The Kevin Durant trade request saga with the Brooklyn Nets roped in Boston Celtics fans this offseason when it was reported that the Celtics had engaged the Nets for Durant around a package centered on star forward Jaylen Brown. There was considerable pushback in the wake of that report from not only fans but also trusted reporters known for their closeness to Boston and even strong hints if not an outright denial from both team president Brad Stevens and head coach Ime Udoka that those talks were never serious.

Now, speaking on a recent episode of WEEI’s “Merloni, Fauria and Mego” show, Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca weighed in on the offseason trade rumor kerfuffle.

Asked if he calls Stevens right away when such rumors pop up, Pagliuca replied “I used to call (him) reasonably quickly.”

You can take the man out of the Celtics, but you can’t take the Celtics out of the man. https://t.co/EjtpwbpY0z

— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 29, 2022

“But, after this year, I don’t call them very quickly,” added the Celtics co-Governor, “because we know what’s going on,”

“Wyc (Grousbeck, fellow Celtics owner) and I pay close attention to what’s going on, and if we haven’t heard about it, it’s probably not going to happen. But, I am shocked by some of the things I read and then I talk to the guys and it turns out we never even had a discussion about that player. So, pro sports is funny. A lot of times clubs are trying to create a market to make a trade, and if they say we’re interested, that’s really maybe to get another club to make a trade with them because they think we’re going to take the player.”

“So, we read some of these things, and you just have to laugh,” he added.

Report: Injured Boston Celtics forward Danilo Gallinari expected to miss training camp, return in November https://t.co/lGernpdDSX

— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 29, 2022

While only the parties involved in any calls regarding a potential Celtics – Nets swap of Brown and Durant truly know what transpired, it seems increasingly likely that whether or not there was ever any serious interest on the part of Boston to deal for KD that Brooklyn put whatever tools they could to bear in trying to address the trade request from Durant.

That might have ruffled feathers around the league (especially with the Celtics), but Occam’s razor suggests that with so many parts of Boston’s front office suggesting the Celtics’ inclusion was misrepresented that there’s a very good reason to believe such a framing of things.