After the 3-way deal failed to go through the first time, the revamped deal goes through at midnight, with the major headline of the deal being that Kristaps Porzingis is now a Boston Celtic.
The deal involved three teams: the Celtics, Grizzlies, and Wizards. Originally, the teams were supposed to be the Celtics, Wizards, and Clippers, but that trade fell through because of injury concerns about the players involved in the deal.
The full trade consisted of Porzingis and a couple first-rounders going to Boston, Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies, and Tyus Jones, Danillo Gallinari, and Mike Muscala going to Washington. Certainly a lot of names were involved and all teams landed guys that are going to make a big difference on their new teams.
The Celtics obviously needed a change after making the finals last year and losing, then this year losing in the Eastern Conference Finals. They just have kept coming up short. They revamp their team by basically trading away their heart and soul, Marcus Smart, for an all-star in Porzingis totally upgrading this team.
The starting lineup for the C's is going to be scary with their new addition, and unlike the Suns who could not afford depth, the Celtics are going to have great depth too. When you think about guys who were originally in the starting lineup like Derrick White and Al Horford now going to the bench as key depth pieces, the Celtics are in really good shape and setup to once again make it out of the East.
The bad side of the deal was losing Marcus Smart. Smart has been with Boston his whole career and is one of the best defensive and most emotional players in the game today. Sending him to Memphis is risky in the fact that their defensive game is taking a huge toll, and he is pairing up with fellow defensive player of the year in Jaren Jackson Jr. The Grizzlies could end up being one of the best defensive teams in the NBA with this acquisition.
As for the Wizards, we knew after they traded away Bradley Beal that they were entering a full rebuild mode. In under a week, they have traded away their two top players for lots of assets for the future of their franchise. Also other top player, Kyle Kuzma, declined his option making him a free agent and no longer a Wizard. We will be seeing a whole new look Wizards team this next year as they look to right the ship in their upcoming rebuild.
My rankings of who won the trade are in this order: number 1 is the Celtics, at 2 is the Wizards, and in last is the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies giving up Tyus Jones and draft picks to Boston for essentially Marcus Smart was a bit of an overpay for a player that is good, but not going to turn your franchise around in a way that Porzingis has the ability to.
The Wizards are diving headfirst into their rebuild and are fully committed to doing whatever it takes to renovate and revamp the course of this roster. Ever since really John Wall left this team and the injury plague struck them, the Wizards have not been very competitive and knew it was time for a change and that time is now.
As for the Celtics, they should be and are now the title favorites in the NBA. Porzingis is not a superstar, but he is exactly what the Celtics need to go all the way for banner number 18. I'm looking forward to the draft tonight and potentially some more blockbusters on the way!
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