The Boston Celtics had to send Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies in order to land Kristaps Porzingis from the Washington Wizards.
Initially, there were talks between the Celtics, Wizards and LA Clippers for a mega trade centered around Porzingis, but Boston eventually refused to send Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers to complete the deal.
Hence, the Grizzlies got involved and landed Marcus Smart, one of the top defenders in the NBA, who spent his entire nine-year career with the Celtics.
For his part, Kristaps Porzingis opted in to his $36M player option and now joins Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to form a Big-3 in Boston.
Celtics receive:
- Kristaps Porzingis
- No. 25 pick in 2023 Draft via Grizzlies
- 2024 first-round pick via Warriors
Grizzlies receive:
- Marcus Smart
Wizards receive:
- Tyus Jones
- Danilo Gallinari
- Mike Muscala
- No. 25 pick in 2023 Draft via Celtics
In 65 games last season, Kristaps Porzingis averaged 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game for the Wizards. With his trade, Washington will go into a full rebuild, after sending Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns a few days ago and seeing Kyle Kuzma decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent.
Porzingis will give the Celtics an entirely different offensive dimension alongside Tatum and Brown, as Boston is attempting to retool its roster to make another run at an 18th NBA championship.
