Grant Williams: Marcus Smart trade ‘definitely hurts’, but Celtics have to trust Brad Stevens
"You have to be excited about where the team is headed and what direction they're trying to take it in"
The Celtics won’t be the same after their decision to trade Marcus Smart to Memphis just before midnight last Thursday.
They’ve lost one of the league’s best defenders, as well as a team leader who had been in Boston for nine seasons.
They’ve also added the kind of low-post scoring threat that they’ve been lacking for while in 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis, who also happened to shoot 38.5 percent from 3-point range last season.
Celtics forward Grant Williams said seeing Smart go is tough.
“It’s something that definitely hurts a little bit,” Williams told reporters on Tuesday. “Just because you’ve been with someone for so long, and he’s a phenomenal person, phenomenal teammate who plays with (as much) heart and passion as anyone across this entire organization, entire league.”
But Williams also said he understands the trade is “the price of doing business.” The Celtics are chasing their 18th championship, and they felt they needed to rebalance the roster to have a better shot. They tried to trade Malcolm Brogdon first, but ended up moving Smart because they were intent on acquiring Porzingis.
“You have to be excited about where the team is headed and what direction they’re trying to take it in,” Williams said. “You have to trust Brad (Stevens). And you have to really not hold too much against it because we know that Marcus is going to be great wherever he goes. He’s in a great situation with a talented team, and they needed him.”
According to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, the Porzingis trade will likely end Williams’s time in Boston. He’s set to become a restricted free-agent this week. With the Celtics adding another big man, and an expensive one at that, it’s conceivable that Boston could let Williams walk even though they have the right to keep him by matching any offer sheet that he signs.
Williams said that he’d be excited to return to the Celtics under the right circumstances, but added that he doesn’t have much control over the situation.
Williams called Porzingis a “special talent” that he’d adapt to playing with, if the Celtics choose to bring him back.
“Kristaps is amazing. He’s a talented player. He’s huge, he blocks a lot of shots, he’s active and he can play outside and in as well. He spaces the floor, which is what Joe (Mazzulla) loves to do. He provides that size as well, to be able to play bigger lineups, to be able to switch more, and to have protection similar to that of Rob (Williams).”
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