Ranking the 25 Biggest Sports Trades of the Last Quarter Century

Celtics Received: G Ray Allen, F Glen Davis

Sonics Received: G Wally Szczerbiak, F Jeff Green, G Delonte West, 2008 2nd round pick

Celtics Received: F Kevin Garnett

Timberwolves Received: F Al Jefferson, G Sebastian Telfair, F Ryan Gomes, G Gerald Green, F Theo Ratliff, 2009 1st-round pick, 2009 1st-round pick

Heading into the 2007-08 NBA season, the Boston Celtics were coming off an ugly 24-58 finish and staring down a title drought that stretched all the way back to 1985-86 when the Big Three of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish anchored the roster.

The Celtics had a homegrown star in Paul Pierce, but the cast of characters alongside him did not click, and a front office led by Danny Ainge set to work building a title contender, swinging a pair of deals that are inextricably linked.

Szczerbiak and West were packaged with No. 5 overall pick Jeff Green on draft night and sent to a rebuilding Seattle team in exchange for sharp-shooter Ray Allen, who averaged 26.4 points and shot 37.2 percent from three-point range the previous year.

A month later, the new Big Three was completed when Kevin Garnett was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for five players and two picks, making it the most players ever traded in return for only one player in NBA history.

Garnett signed a three-year, $60 million extension shortly after the trade was completed, erasing the uncertainty of his contract-year status, and the Celtics had their trio.

The pieces fit together perfectly and in their first season together, the Celtics went 66-16 and won the NBA title, with Pierce, Garnett and Allen all co-existing in pursuit of a title, while a young Rajon Rondo also proved instrumental in emerging as the starting point guard.

Arguably no trade in professional sports has ever had a more immediate impact on the success of a franchise, and the fact that Ainge was later able to recoup draft capital by sending Garnett and Pierce to the Nets is icing on the cake.