This has to go down as one of the biggest and strangest trades of the offseason. The Celtics, Wizards, Grizzlies have just made a huge, weird 3-team trade that saw Kristaps Porzingis join the C’s and Marcus Smart head to the Grizzlies.
I really don’t know how I feel about this deal.
The Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, and Washington Wizards just had the biggest and strangest trade of the offseason yet as the three teams came together at the 11th hour to formulate a deal that saw the Celtics receive Kristaps Porzingis and Marcus Smart sent to Memphis. And, to be perfectly honest, I don’t know if I like this deal.
The intrigue behind this move might actually be more entertaining than the trade itself.
Originally, this trade was supposed to be between the Celtics, Wizards, and Clippers and would have still seen Porzingis heading to Boston and the Wizards rebuilding their franchise, yet the Celtic player leaving was Malcolm Brogdon instead of Smart.
And, seeing as how most of the pieces would probably have remained the same (ex: draft picks heading to new teams, similar caliber of players heading and going to new organization, etc.), I would have really liked this move for all parties as its fills each team’s, respective, need.
Trading away Porzingis gave the Wizards the cap flexibility to rebuild, taking on Porzingis gave the Celtics a lethal inside scoring who can also hit 3-pointers, and acquiring Malcolm Brogdon gives the Clippers their much-needed floor general point guard (and a PG in general if Westbrook leaves).
A good deal for all teams involved.
However, in this iteration of the deal, I’m not so happy about it as a Celtics fan.
So, the deal as I understand it to be is the Celtics acquiring the Grizzlies 25th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, the Grizzlies (which originally belonged to the Warriors) 2024 1st round pick, and the Wizards Kristaps Porzingis, the Grizzlies getting Marcus Smart, and the Wizards picking up Grizzlies Tyus Jones, C’s’ Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala, and their 2023 2nd round pick.
Pretty complicated move, right?
Obviously, I like the Celtics picking up two first round picks and bringing in Porzingis to bolster their frontcourt scoring needs, while getting rid of the Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari was a great move.
But I don’t like the C’s moving on from Marcus Smart without a bonified starting point guard to lead this offense. Say what you will about Smart and his inability to win a championship as the starting PG of the Celtics, but at least he got them to the Finals and EC Finals on multiple occasions.
I know that’s not the bar of accomplishment when you’re a Celtics PG (that bar is winning the title), but neither Brogdon or Derrick White have led teams to ECF or Finals as a starting PG.
White was on a mediocre/bad Spurs team coming out of the great Duncan-Ginobili-Parker dynasty years before he came to Boston and Brogdon was the backup PG on the Bucks CF runs in the late 2010s, while he got swept in his only playoff appearance as the Pacers staring PG.
Like it or not, Marcus Smart was a far more successful starting point guard in terms of playoff success than these two…and that’s why Brogdon was originally supposed to be the odd man out. Still, with White taking a massive step in his development and Brogdon winning the 6th Man of the Year award with the C’s, these two might be able to take up the mantel as the starting PG of the Boston Celtics.
As for the Grizzlies, bringing in Smart really helps with the culture of this team.
Unlike the rest of the Grizzlies roster, Smart actually has a winning, driven mentality only focused on reaching NBA Finals and winning the championship…though said attitude can blend the line of on-court arrogance as well.
And the Wizards needed cap space, draft capital, and short-term contracts…for more cap space, so this move makes sense for their rebuild.
We’ll have to wait and see how this move plays out, but I really think the Celtics need to make a move for a PG on the free agent market like Fred VanVleet.
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