By the time Greg Oden finally made it to Boston on Dec. 5, no one cared anymore about the world gone cruel, the great injustice in what obviously was jealous payback for 1957 to 1986, or who was in charge of summoning Red from the afterlife to fix David Stern good for this lottery nonsense.

Oden had but five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes before fouling out, the Celtics handily beat his Trail Blazers, and that was that.

No one on the side of the green went home with regret. Losing out to Portland for the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, and the Seattle SuperSonics for No. 2 pick and consolation prize Kevin Durant, had become one of the best things to happen in Celtics history. That is saying something, considering the Celtics have known best things like no other.

The Celtics got the 2008 NBA title instead. How's that for a consolation prize?

At the time it was crushing – from a 39 percent chance to land in the top two to drawing fifth, reviving 10-year-old memories of the 36 percent shot at Tim Duncan that crumbled in their hands. But missing on Oden, and to a lesser extent Durant, set in motion an unimaginable chain of events that led to a 17th title followed by a 27-4 record this season as the locomotive arrives at Arco Arena to play the Kings tonight.

If the Celtics get the No. 1 or No. 2 pick after finishing with the second-worst record at 24-58 two seasons ago, it's a mortal lock they get heavy into rebuilding and take Oden or Durant, and maybe trade Paul Pierce as part of the youth movement.

Instead, the Celtics land at No. 5 and trade the pick to the SuperSonics in a package for Ray Allen.

With Allen in Boston, Kevin Garnett, after originally signaling he would have little interest in staying once his contract was up in a season, effectively ending any chance the Celtics would spend heavily to get him, changes his mind and says he would be open to going there because the roster was built to win in the moment. About a month after the Allen deal, Garnett is acquired and signed to an extension.

So: Picking first or second means no Allen.

No Allen means no Garnett.

No Garnett means no championship.

In the history of hoped-for moves that didn't happen, at least in recent NBA history, it doesn't get any better in a bad outcome going good in the end. That's No. 1.

There are other such moments, though, in which teams came to be thankful for virtually done deals that fell apart.

2. The 76ers trade Allen Iverson to the Pistons.

The pieces were in place in 2000 for a four-team blockbuster that would have sent Matt Geiger and Iverson to Detroit and Jerry Stackhouse to Philadelphia, among other pieces. The pieces were in place all the way to Pistons personnel boss Joe Dumars arranging to have the pilot of the team charter plane meet him at the airport to fly and pick up Iverson.

But Geiger would not waive a clause that called for the veteran big man to receive approximately $2 million if he were dealt. When Geiger declined, the new salary would not fit under the Pistons' salary cap. No deal.

The 76ers instead kept Iverson and were rewarded that next season, 2000-01, with their first Eastern Conference crown since 1983. A.I. averaged 31.4 points a game and was voted MVP.

The Pistons instead traded Stackhouse to the Wizards in 2002 for Richard Hamilton – and Hamilton became an important piece of the '04 championship team.

Big payoffs for both clubs. And Iverson ended up in Detroit anyway, traded to Denver in 2006 and then from the Nuggets to the Pistons this season. 3. The Jazz signs Jason Terry and Corey Maggette.

Utah was aggressive in rebuilding its post-Karl Malone/John Stockton world, signing the restricted free agents in summer 2003. Except that the Hawks matched on Terry and the Clippers matched on Maggette. Double setback.

Forced to find new ways to invest the cap space, the Jazz instead signed Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur in '04. Double victory. The Cavaliers did not have the room to match on Boozer, and the Pistons decided against spending big to keep Okur, and Utah had the big men who would help it again become a Western Conference factor.

Call The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper, (916) 321-1210.