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Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith’s dad reflects on his son’s initial reaction from when the Celtics traded him after his second season.

OKLAHOMA CITY — In an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints, Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith’s father, William Nesmith, reflected on the Boston Celtics trading Nesmith for Malcolm Brogdon in 2022. The news of the deal was a tough pill to swallow for Aaron, coming off his second NBA season, where the Celtics reached the NBA Finals.

While Nesmith wasn’t an everyday player throughout that postseason run to the Finals’ best-of-7 series against the Golden State Warriors, his dad, William, said Nesmith was taken aback by the Celtics’ trade.

“He was disappointed. He liked playing for Boston. He was actually out playing golf when he got the call,” Aaron Nesmith’s dad told ClutchPoints. “He didn’t know. So, he was blindsided by it and wasn’t so happy about that.”

For Nesmith’s dad, William, he saw a fresh start with the Pacers. He saw an opportunity for Aaron to thrive under Pacers’ head coach Rick Carlisle, who was intrigued by the third-year forward’s skillset and experience with the Celtics.

“He was a humble kid who had a two-year experience in Boston, where he played some, but not a whole lot,” Carlisle told ClutchPoints. “But he had competed every day with some of the highest-level players in the world.”

Now, Nesmith is Carlisle’s starting forward, connecting on 45.5% of his threes in the Pacers’ best-of-7 series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, as Indiana is two wins away from winning a championship.

Aaron Nesmith’s dad on his feelings toward the Celtics

Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith’s dad, William Nesmith, has no ill will toward the Celtics for trading his son. In the end, the deal was a win/win in his eyes. And, the Celtics, who selected Nesmith with the 14th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, took a chance on his son.

“I’m never ever going to be angry at Boston because Boston picked him up in the lottery with a broken foot,” William told ClutchPoints. “It didn’t seem like it was going to work out in Boston. So, I was happy when he came over here and he got a chance to play because I realized when you get to this level, you still need a little luck, and you need to be in the right place.

“You take a team like Boston, which was a high-quality team, and thought they gave away nothing, is the same person that helped another team [get] there that you declared, ‘Oh, they’re not that kid,’” he concluded.

The Celtics returned to the NBA Finals, beating the Mavericks, 4-1, in 2024.