Ray Allen: Rivers shut down Rondo-for-Paul trade talks in 2011

Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Chris Paul playing together in Boston just wasn't meant to be.

Ahead of the lockout-shortened 2011-12 regular season, rumors circulated that the Celtics were looking at a trade that would send Rajon Rondo to the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans in exchange for Chris Paul. That deal never materialized, apparently because Paul was reluctant to commit to a franchise with an aging core on a long-term contract the following summer.

However, Allen says the trade didn't come to fruition because of then-Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

"In the end, Doc decided he couldn't do that to their coach, Monty Williams. Doc was a mentor to Monty, having coached him in Orlando," Allen wrote in his new book "From The Outside: My Journey through Life and the Game I Love," according to Sporting News' Sean Deveney.

New Orleans was set to move Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers in December of that year. The NBA and commissioner David Stern, who owned the Hornets at the time, ultimately nixed the move. Instead, Paul was shipped off to the Clippers days later for a package of players and an unprotected first-round pick.

Boston went on to notch a 39-27 record before falling to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. Pierce and Garnett were moved to the Brooklyn Nets a year later, and Rondo was sent to the Dallas Mavericks more than a year after that.

As fate would have it, Rondo now finds himself on the Pelicans' roster as the team's starting point guard, averaging 7.8 points, 7.6 assists, and 3.9 rebounds on 46 percent shooting.