It’s been a few days since Marcus Smart was traded for Kristaps Porzingis and the dust is still settling on this deal. There is a lot more to address than the emotional “love and trust gone” side.
The Boston Celtics won’t “bring him back” with the same starting lineup. Brad Stephens decided we needed a different look and was once again decisive in making a bold move and I have a few ideas left to talk about “the paper” before making the move to free agency.
As many analysts have pointed out, the Celtics got the man they think is the best player in the trade and still got knocked out in the first round. This is a “win” in most people’s eyes from a pure assets perspective.
I think it’s worth noting the extra moving pieces, too. The Celtics traded Smart, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala and No. 35 in exchange for Porzingis, a 2024 Warriors protected first-rounder and the 25th pick in this year’s draft. They moved to 25 for as many second rounds and used one of those to pick Jordan Walsh (whom they would have picked with the 35th pick). Finally, this is the plus value plus.
Another shoe to drop is Grant Williams. He appears to be out of the picture now. We don’t know how he’ll leave and what options might leave the Celtics moving forward. NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg sums it up like this:
The Celtics are no longer in a position where they can easily afford the splurge of keeping Williams (at least not without a Brogdon salary transfer first). The truth is, if head coach Joe Mazzola was reluctant to play Williams at times last season — including in the postseason — the team couldn’t afford to pay more than $12 million for a deep cut.
Boston could help a team get to Williams by facilitating a potential signing and trade, but don’t expect too much of a return. A team with a lot of space doesn’t necessarily need the Celtics’ help. Furthermore, Williams’ status as a base-year compensation player complicates his signing and trade deals.
On paper, the Celtics roster is now more balanced. They have a trio of ballplayers in Derek White, Malcolm Brogdon and Peyton Pritchard. Behind Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they now have both Sam Hauser and Jordan Walsh who can provide a situational offense/defense platoon. Of course, the big guys are now Porcingis, Al Horford, and Robert Williams III, each an injury risk in their own way (but there’s still Luke Kornet around for minutes in the regular season).
With that said, Brad Stevens doesn’t seem to be over yet. I’m not saying he’s going to make more deals at the smart deal level. I very much think Jaylen Brown sticks to the supermax. But everyone in the world knew Brogdon was minutes away from trading and I still wasn’t convinced Pritchard was content to stay in Boston. Something has to happen with Grant, even if it means getting another second rounder and a TPE (which he likely won’t be used).
I also fully expected to hear about Porzingis’ two-year extension announced on day one of free agency. He and his agent certainly knew there was interest in the league (the Jazz, apparently) and used that leverage to force the Celtics before deadline to pick up his offer.
Then comes the advanced level account which is hurting my head. If the Celtics lock Jaylen up with the Supermax and extend Porzingis, we’re looking at a very expensive team for the long haul. They’ll have Tatum, Brown, White, Porzingis, and possibly Brogdon on contract for a few years and a little wiggle room under the second apron. Or if they decide to go ahead and give Grant a contract and blow up the battlefield, they’ll put themselves in the crosshairs of the new CBA (designed specifically to punish teams like this). If Wyc wants to write the check for that, who am I to tell him not to? I am concerned that there is a lot of injury risk there and no good results if things don’t go well next season.
Obviously, there is still a lot to do here. Fortunately, I generally trust Brad Stephens and Mike Zarin to plot this scheme beyond anything I can think of. Things change quickly in the NBA these days (look, John Collins is finally traded). The teams that thrive will be the ones that can adapt the fastest. So, we’ll learn a lot more here in the next week or so.