Trading Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis is Brad Stevens’ biggest move so far
“Those are all really, really, really hard decisions.”
COMMENTARY
In 2017, just three days after Danny Ainge rocked the Celtics’ world with a trade that sent Isaiah Thomas to the Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving, Brad Stevens stood in front of a sizable crowd at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield and fielded a tough question from a young fan named Shea.
Stevens was making an appearance as part of a summer program at the Hall of Fame, which ended with a fan Q&A. Shea approached the microphone, and Stevens bantered briefly with him about colleges before Shea got down to business.
“Why did you trade Isaiah Thomas?” Shea asked.
The crowd laughed but waited expectantly, and Stevens answered at length — talking to Shea, but also seemingly to Celtics fans at large.
“Here’s what I’ll tell you,” Stevens said. “What [Thomas] did in Boston the last two-and-a-half years has been incredible. I said earlier what he’s meant to me, what I think of him, how great he’s been in the locker room, what kind of a teammate he’s been.
“Those are all really, really, really hard decisions. That’s the hard part about being a professional basketball coach. I’ve stared at the wall many times and thought, ‘Man, having guys in college for four years and then knowing exactly when they are coming and going is a pretty good way of doing things.’
“So that’s a tough one.”
The crowd applauded, and the young fan dashed back to his seat.
Stevens had been the coach of the team for four years at that point. He arrived in 2013-14, an abysmal time for the Celtics that began with dour looks from new acquisitions Marshon Brooks, Kris Humphries and Keith Bogans and ended with the sixth pick in the draft. Presumably, Danny Ainge wanted to be higher in the lottery, but No. 6 brought Marcus Smart to the Celtics. Stevens’ first year with the team ultimately led to Smart’s acquisition.
On Wednesday evening, just before midnight, Stevens — who, of course, is now the Celtics’ president of basketball operations — and the Celtics traded Smart to the Grizzlies as part of a three-team deal that netted two first-round picks and Kristaps Porzingis. The two firsts include the No. 25 pick in this year’s draft, as well as the Warriors’ top-four protected selection next year.
After nine seasons with the Celtics – nine seasons that included nine playoff appearances, a run to the Finals and four trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, as well as the first Defensive Player of the Year award given to a guard since Gary Payton in 1996 – a player who is often described as the “heart and soul” of the Celtics is headed elsewhere.
There’s so much to unpack here.
- This wasn’t supposed to be the deal. The Celtics started Wednesday in “strong” talks on a trade that would have sent Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers instead of Smart to the Grizzlies before a lengthy delay cast doubt on the trade. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski declared it dead at 10:22 p.m. But the Wizards and Celtics kept talking. Porzingis had until midnight to decide whether or not he would opt in to his $36 million contract for next season, and he was willing to do so to join the Celtics. Ultimately, they settled on a package that brought the Celtics a good player, even if the return hurt.
- What in the world is going with Brogdon? The Clippers reportedly backed out of the deal initially due to concerns about Brogdon’s health. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that, per his understanding, Brogdon’s injury “is so significant, that not only can the Celtics not do this trade, there’s probably no Malcolm Brogdon trade that they can do in the short term.” All of that is worrying, for reasons that go beyond basketball but certainly include basketball on the Celtics’ end given that their guard depth just took a massive hit.
- The return is pretty undeniable for the Celtics. They won’t miss Mike Muscala or Danilo Gallinari (Godspeed to both) or the No. 35 pick, so in essence, they traded Smart for two firsts and a 7-foot-3 sharpshooter who averaged 23.2 points per game last season on a tidy 49.8 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from behind the arc. Porzingis can spot up, pick-and-roll, and pick-and-pop, and he took 311 of his 3-pointers from a relatively deep 25-29 feet away from the basket while shooting 38.3 percent (Al Horford, by comparison, took 169 triples from 25-29 feet). In addition to his 3-point shooting, Porzingis scored 1.18 points per possession in the post, which put him in the 89th percentile league-wide. He is a highly dynamic offensive threat who adds a lot of things the roster didn’t have. That’s particularly important when the team’s two best players overlap offensively in a lot of ways.
- Defensively, Porzingis can play drop pick-and-roll coverage with his height and length, and the Wizards were 2.1 points per 100 possessions better defensively when he was on the floor last year per Cleaning the Glass.
- How good will the Warriors be next season? There’s no guarantee Draymond Green will be back. Steph Curry turns 36 in March. The star power on the roster should ensure that a top-four protected pick conveys, but there’s a real chance that selection is higher than one would expect. Under Stevens, the Celtics have a history of using their draft picks as trade fodder to bolster their depth, but having an extra pick next year also allows them to take a swing at a cheap rotation player in the first round.
- Wrapping your head around the Celtics’ roster is difficult at this stage. They have a ton of star power, and Stevens certainly isn’t done building yet. But there are still glaring holes. Smart wasn’t a Defensive Player of the Year candidate this season, but he helps lead the Celtics’ defense and can guard a number of different positions. He was at his best with the ball in his hands, and a roster that struggled enormously to avoid turnovers against the Heat lost its most reliable ball-handler and distributor. The Celtics are now missing half of their best lob duo with Robert Williams and half of their best back-door cut duo with Jaylen Brown.
- Things won’t slow down over the next 24 hours. The Celtics now have the No. 25 pick, which could mean acquiring another player this year (they reportedly wanted to get into the first round) or yet another deal.
Stevens’ moves so far should have earned him some leeway from the Celtics’ fan base. He made a necessary-but-tough Kemba Walker trade that sent out a fan favorite but brought back a familiar face in Al Horford. He acquired Derrick White, which helped build last year’s team that woke up and made a Finals run. He nabbed Brogdon without giving up any of the team’s core, a trade that was widely praised at the time for filling some necessary offensive holes after they fell in the Finals.
This trade, however, is Stevens’ biggest to date. The Brogdon iteration would have been relatively well-received by the Celtics’ fanbase. Trading Smart is a very big deal, and Stevens got a no-questions-asked return, but Smart isn’t just any player heading out the door. He was an integral part of the team’s fabric – a crucial stitch that helped hold together disparate parts of the roster. Stevens is now responsible for weaving together a new fabric in Smart’s absence.
Stevens is uniquely qualified for these decisions, but he needs to get this one right. If the Celtics win a championship, the deal will largely be validated even if fans wish Smart was on the team to win a ring too. If the team falls apart in the playoffs yet again, Stevens will have to answer for trading away the team’s toughest player.
Presumably, Wednesday’s trade was another “really, really, really hard decision.” This time, Stevens – not Ainge – made the call. Here’s hoping Shea gets a chance to ask Stevens about it some day.
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