Listen live to WEEI
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens stunned the NBA world late Wednesday, ripping the so-called “heart” out of his franchise like the villain in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," a sacrifice for an oft-injured center once considered a basketball unicorn.
Marcus Smart in a three-way trade for Kristaps Porzingis and two picks. Let’s mix movie references:
“It’s not personal, Sonny, it’s strictly business.”
It rarely gets more personal than this. Stevens and Smart’s careers have braided together since the guard’s entry into the league in 2014 – only one year after the baby-faced coach was hired away from his quaint mid-major college. Stevens helped develop Smart as a scrappy, defensive-minded guard over the next seven years.
During one of his final seasons on the sideline in 2019, when pressed on Smart’s play, Stevens told media, “I love him and I trust him.”
“Love and trust” became a mantra repeated by many Celtics fans, to the point of mockery by basketball opiners who rolled their eyes whenever Smart set his feet for a shot.
Nay-sayers’ eyes almost fell out of their heads when Stevens moved to the front office in 2021 and inked Smart to a four-year, $77 million extension. It was easy to mistake Stevens’ midwestern manners for naivete. But that contract made it possible to return Porzingis’ $36 million.
This new deal makes one thing clear: don’t mistake Stevens’ politeness for loyalty to anything outside Big Shamrock.
That’s not a dig. His predecessor Danny Ainge proved your blood has to run cold when your championship window is open. The guy brought Kendrick Perkins to tears when he sent Al Jefferson out for Kevin Garnett in 2007.
There’s plenty of room for skepticism in this deal: was it an act of desperation when Stevens’ back was up against Porzingis’ midnight deadline for a contract extension? According to NBA Insider Shams Charania, Smart wasn’t the original option for the Wizards’ big man – it was Malcolm Brogdon, who suffered an elbow injury in the 2023 postseason. There’s a column’s worth of words on Porzingis’ injury and availability history. There’s the question of whether Derrick White, a healthy Malcolm Brogdon, and Payton Pritchard can elevate playmaking desperately needed by the team.
But here’s what it boils down to: the move bolsters the Celtics’ front court, which is currently split between a 37-year-old Al Horford and half-man, half-crystal vase Robert Williams III. Something had to be done there.
It also forces a dramatic shift in the on-court dynamic. The bills are coming due for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, and they’re mega-sized. Removing Smart from the alchemy should be the final test of whether this duo is built for Duck Boat parades or Eastern Conference Finals hats.
If they’re only built for hoisting the Bob Cousy Trophy, there’s no telling who’s next.
Related
