The End of an Era: Marcus Smart Has Been Traded

By / June 22, 2023

I, like most people who write about the Boston Celtics, had an article ready to go for this morning that involved the initial Kristaps Porzingis trade. 

That of course is useless, now that it was followed by nothing but absolute chaos.

To explain the chaos that transpired, and the wave of emotions that Celtic fans all over the world felt last night is near impossible, but let’s try to paint that picture before we discuss the actual trade in basketball terms. 

Let’s start from the top.

Trade Timeline

Shams Charania sent out a tweet that reported that the Celtics, Wizards, and Clippers were discussing a three team trade that would land Malcolm Brogdon on the Clippers and Kristaps Porzingis on the Celtics.

When that news first broke, most of the Celtics fanbase was excited, it was a deal that made sense. It brought in talent, and not only talent but talent that solidified a Celtics need. And to get that talent the Celtics did so by not sending too much out. 

Of course, because the Celtics were involved, this somehow had to implode and cause chaos.

After initially being announced at 2:50pm there was another announcement, this time by Adrian Wojnarowski at 10:22pm stating that the three team deal was off. Disappointment. 

Ten minutes later he reported that while the Clippers were out, the Celtics and Wizards were still working to get this deal done. Hope and excitement.

And then after sitting around anxious with anticipation for one hour and 20 minutes Woj made another report that the deal was done. This once again brought excitement over the Celtics fanbase, somehow, someway Brad Stevens was able to pull this off. All is good.

Until it wasn’t.

Celtics Traded Who?

Just minutes after the report that it was a done deal, Shams dropped breaking news, news that I truly never thought I’d see come across my screen. Marcus Smart has been traded. To try and explain how quickly the vibe of getting Porzingis was killed with just one tweet would be too hard to put into one single article. 

The heart and soul. The captain. The vet. 

I, as I imagine many of you never thought that Marcus would be traded, but just before midnight of the 2023 NBA draft day, he was.

It was truly a shocking moment, it was one that Celtic fans will remember for a long, long time, and depending on the next couple of seasons can potentially shape the future of this team.

On Court Impact

Now, for the trade itself, it was still a three team deal, with Memphis included in the Clippers spot. Marcus Smart was sent to Memphis, Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala and the 35th pick were sent to Washington, and Kristaps Porzingis plus the 25th pick and next year’s Warriors pick were sent to the Celtics.

On paper, it’s a good trade. An upgrade at a position of need and two first round picks for a guard position that 

was flooded with talent anyways. But being good on paper doesn’t mean anything.

The Celtics still have roster questions to answer starting with the draft and Grant Williams restricted free agency, and on top of that there are reports that Boston is nowhere near done in the trade department this off-season yet either.

So until the rest of the roster sorts itself out, it’s hard to give a full opinion on this trade, but at first glance it’s good value for Smart, and an upgrade at the front court with the addition of Kristaps. I’m just not too sure it was the correct move to make. 

And it certainly hurts. A lot.

Up Next

For now we shift our focus to draft night where the Celtics now find themselves picking in the first round, and before, during and after, I’m sure there will be plenty of noise surrounding the Boston Celtics and their trade assets. 

To Marcus Smart, Thank You.

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