Does the Smart-for-Porzingis trade get the Celtics closer to a title?
Wednesday was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for Celtics fans. Right before 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon it was reported that the Celtics, Wizards and Clippers were “closing in” on a deal that would send Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, Malcolm Brogdon to Los Angeles, and Marcus Morris and draft compensation to Washington.
A little over seven hours later, it was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the three-team deal between Boston, L.A. and Washington had “fallen apart” and that the sides were “moving on.”
The Celtics, of course, wound up reportedly agreeing to a different three-team trade, one that instead sent Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies in order to still land Porzingis from Washington.
Related
That came as a surprise to everyone, and on Thursday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst gave some clarification on what went wrong.
“Brogdon has a health issue,” Windhorst said. “A health issue that as I understand, 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.”
Injuries have been a concern throughout the 30-year old guard’s career. Brogdon was able to stay relatively healthy a season ago, appearing in 67 games for the Celtics, the most since his rookie year in 2016.
However, injuries once again got the better of Brogdon, as the Sixth Man of the Year suffered a partially torn tendon in his elbow in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals that completely derailed his and the Celtics’ play.
After scoring 19 points on 50% shooting in Game 1, Brogdon was a shell of himself for the remainder of the series due to the injury. In five games after the injury, Brogdon finished with just 15 points on a putrid 12.8% shooting and a minu-23 plus/minus.
Following Boston’s Game 7 loss to the Heat, Brogdon revealed that was considering having surgery in the offseason on his elbow, but that surgery has not happened yet.
Heading into the offseason with a logjam at guard, it was widely expected that Brogdon would be the odd man out. According to Marc Stein, Boston's "clear intent" was originally to trade Brogdon and keep the guard trio of Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, before Brogdon’s health forced the team to go another direction.
It’s hard to imagine Stevens and the Celtics are done making moves, but the significance of Brogdon’s health does complicate things considering he was arguably Boston’s best trade asset. While a package including Brogdon isn’t totally out of the question for the Celtics, you have to consider how opposing teams view his value, especially given the fact he is due $45 million over the next two seasons.
Related
