I forget the exact specifics of the 2006 draft, but I remember that the Timberwolves had the 6th pick and really wanted Randy Foye... but for whatever reason they worked out a trade in advance where they'd take Brandon Roy 6th, Celtics would take Foye 7th... Celtics would trade Foye (and Raef's bad contract) to the Blazers for Sebastian Telfair (and Ratliff's key expiring contract that helped us land KG)...and then the Blazers would flip Foye to the Timberwolves for Brandon Roy....
I think the incentive for the Timberwolves to cooperate was that they got the guy they coveted (Randy Foye), but get to pay him a little less by having him selected 7th instead of 6th. Basically their involvement was irrelevant. They could have just taken Foye 6th.
The trade really boiled down to Boston trading Brandon Roy and a bad contract for Telfair, a 2nd rounder, and an expiring contract.
Couple thoughts:
#1 For a year or so before we understood how good Foye and Roy were, a few people on this forum would complain that we gave up Randy Foye for Sebastian Telfair. Some people thought Foye was going to be a star. Going into the draft he was considered to be a better prospect than Roy. People who paid attention to the actual draft had to keep correcting these incorrect fans by saying, "For the love of god... we didn't give up Foye! We gave up Brandon Roy. We only selected Foye 7th, because a trade was worked out in advance. We NEVER had a chance at getting Foye. Get it right!!!"...
#2 Once Roy became a star, we'd have fans come on here saying, "I can't believe we gave up Brandon Roy for Sebastian Telfair"... which would then cause a bunch of (incorrect) fans to say, "uh... we didn't give up Roy. He was drafted 6th. We traded Randy Foye for Telfair!... get it right!... which was, in fact, wrong.
#3 Over time... people finally accepted the reality... we certainly could have drafted Brandon Roy. Had we not had a trade worked out in advance, the Timberwolves certainly would have taken Foye and Roy would have been ours at #7. We absolutely traded Brandon Roy (and raef's bad contract) for Telfair (and the crucial Ratliff expiring contract). This was now seen as a bad move considering we lucked into Rondo later in the draft and Telfair never amounted to crap. Once this fact finally sunk in with the fan base, it was rationalized in two ways: First, dumping Raef for Ratliff was key in landing KG. Second, it had been said that Danny Ainge liked Roy, but didn't believe his knee would hold up. Apparently, Ainge was deftly afraid of taking Roy, because he expected at any point his career would be over. Fans scoffed at this.
#4 Not that I wish any harm on Roy or celebrate his downfall... but it's interesting to note that Danny Ainge was entirely right. He didn't want Roy. He didn't think he'd hold up. He hasn't.
#5 Funny to realize that Danny Ainge also supposedly was the only GM who would have taken Kevin Durant over Greg Oden... for many of the same reasons.
#6 Even more interesting to note... Ainge just traded Kendrick Perkins (who he doesn't think will hold up) for Jeff Green. Seems stupid now, but will we eventually come to realize this was another intelligent move?
As of now... Roy will probably never be the same, but not bad enough to retire. The Blazers are on the hook paying him 15-18 million per year through 2013/14. Probably a risk they shouldn't have taken considering his knee issue. Avoiding those kind of longterm contracts on injury-prone players is what causes a GM to dump a guy like Perk at the trade deadline for talent. We probably could have given Perk a fat extension this summer... I dont' think Ainge wanted any part of that.
I bring all of this up, because it's just a perfect example of how perceptions change with time. Unless Roy grows a new knee and wins multiple titles... looks like Ainge got this one right.