Today in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise traded Hall of Fame big man Bob McAdoo to the Detroit Pistons in 1979. His tenure with the Celtics was brief and uncomfortable after being dealt to Boston to satisfy a lark of the team owner at the time. McAdoo expressed his reluctance to play for Boston after being traded to the team, and Hall of Fame Boston general manager Red Auerbach nearly resigned after owner John Y. Brown burned multiple draft picks to acquire McAdoo's services.
The Celtics already had a future Hall of Fame center (Dave Cowens) who was also the head coach, so Brown's meddling very nearly became a serious disaster. Red decided to stay and McAdoo was traded as compensation for Boston signing future coach and general
manager M.L. Carr as a player.
Ironically, Boston ended up getting back the draft assets that would be used to get both Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.
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It is also the date that the Celtics sent forward Cedric Maxwell to the Los Angeles Clippers for big man Bill Walton. Maxwell was drafted by Boston out of Charlotte with the 12th pick of the 1977 NBA Draft and had played eight seasons with the Celtics before the trade.
The North Carolina native won two titles, a finals MVP, and several other honors before being supplanted in the starting lineup by Kevin McHale. Maxwell logged 13.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.3 rebounds per game with Boston.
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Today in Boston Celtics history: McAdoo trade to Pistons, Maxwell to Clippers
