Celtics trade Marcus Smart to Memphis, acquire Kristaps Porzingis from Wizards
BOSTON -- Just before midnight on Wednesday, the Boston Celtics made a franchise-altering trade.
As first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics traded guard Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies to complete a three-team trade that brings Kristaps Porzingis to Boston.
Wojnarowski added that Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala will head to Washington in the deal, too.
Earlier on Wednesday night, Wojnarowski reported that a three-team trade involving the Clippers broke down over Los Angeles' concerns over medical concerns regarding Malcolm Brogdon.
Wojnarowski reported that the Wizards are sending first-round picks for 2023 and 2024 to Boston in the deal, allowing the Celtics to draft 10 spots earlier in Thursday night's draft. Wojnarowski added that the Celtics are trading the 35th overall pick in Thursday's draft to Washington in the deal.
Smart, 29, was the sixth overall pick by the Celtics in the 2014 draft. He played in 581 regular-season games and 108 postseason games for Boston. He averaged 10.6 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game in that span, earning Defensive Player of the Year Honors in the 2021-22 season. He was the first guard to earn the honor since Gary Payton in 1996. He's been the longest-tenured member of the Celtics for several years, and he was a key piece of the team's identity. Considering he joined the Celtics in Brad Stevens' second year as head coach, it was certainly a difficult call for Stevens -- now the president of basketball operations -- to send Smart out of Boston.
Porzingis, 27, was an All-Star in 2018 for the Knicks and averaged 23.2 points and 8.4 rebounds for the Wizards last season. Porzingis has missed quite a bit of time in recent years due to injury, though, averaging 54 games per season over the last four years. That came after Porzingis missed the 2018-19 season due to a torn ACL.
The departure of Smart allows Derrick White to slide into a starting role, and the retainment of Malcolm Brogdon -- who was supposed to be heading to the Clippers in a three-team trade that fell apart -- means the Celtics keep the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year to come off the bench.
