What’s more, sources say, the Sixers weren’t the only other legitimate suitor playing that kind of part near the end. While Brooklyn and Philadelphia were widely seen as the two finalists,
sources say Boston was still involved in the later stages of the negotiations as well. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge discussed his team’s involvement publicly after the deal went down, indicating that the two teams had not had recent talks. Still, sources say the Rockets saw the Celtics as part of their process until the end and that there were multiple configurations of a deal still possible on that front. As The Athletic reported on Dec. 24, Boston and Portland had been late additions to Harden’s list.