Woj/Shams Bomb: Porzingis traded to Celtics Part Deux! Grizzlies involved, Marcus Smart to Grizz - Tyus Jones to Wiz

[eyeatoma]

Was he a cancer on a very bad Washington team? Kind of throws your theory out the window. But you don’t care. You just want to **** on the Celtics every chance you get no matter how little it makes sense.

The Mavs are the only place he had an issue and that’s because he was sick of Luka heliocentric ball.

Let me ask you this. If he was such an incredible player, big character guy, why was he being traded for peanuts?

From Dallas and from Washington. Injury concerns are not the only reason and you know that.

LOL at you telling me that I like to **** on the Celtics every chance I get when you are one of the biggest Embiid haters. The entire board hates on Embiid. Pot meet kettle.

Seems like the issues in Dallas had as much to do with Luca as it did with everything else. Taking a lot of L’s it seems recently with these “anti-Boston” takes.

Watch on YouTube

He starts the interview by saying he could have been more mature... How is that an L?

Luka raises players floors. He obvioulsy has superstar tendenceis, because he's you know a superstar. Far better than Porzingis.

That video shows how dysfunctional the Mavs were. Carlisle didn't do a good job utilising Porzingis, that obviously causes frustrations.

The benefit of being with the Celtics is top down they are an elite organization. I'm not sure about coaching but I've got great respect for Brad Stevens. When you move to an organisation that knows their **** it makes a difference.

Watch the video again and you'll see the first have he mentioned he had a lot of maturing to do. Luka is going to be Luka, but again that's what you get with stars. Fact of the matter is he matured, and he benefits form having a clearly defined role with the Celtics. They also explained the benefits of taking out certain parts of his game and emphasizing other parts. That's what good teams do.

[hugepatsfan]

It’s tough to use this trade as evidence that Boston wouldn’t miss Smart when they followed it up by trading for the souped up version of Smart. There are definitely parts of Smarts game that they would be missing if they didn’t end up trading for the all star caliber version of him in Holiday who brings all of the same great things with improvement on the major weaknesses too.

Ultimately, they traded 3 very good players but very obviously sub all stars in Smart/Rob/Brogdon along with a role player in Grant Williams for two all star-ish caliber players. Holiday brought exactly what they were getting from Smart with major improvement like I noted above. Porzingis added a totally new skill set to the roster that specifically combats defensive strategies that have caused the team struggles in recent years with his ability to punish aggressive switching. At the same time, Porzingis’ ability to space the floor enhances what their guys were already doing too.

Honestly it was just a perfect offseason for Boston. It’s always great to add high end talent to the roster. It’s also great to add guys that specifically fit how you play with the guys you already have. It’s rare to be able to do both at the same time, which Boston was able to do.

[Dacost]

Smart was playing great for Memphis and was also having a big impact on the locker room.

That was a win win trade in my opinion however injurys just destroy Memphis.

[MemphisX]

It’s tough to use this trade as evidence that Boston wouldn’t miss Smart when they followed it up by trading for the souped up version of Smart. There are definitely parts of Smarts game that they would be missing if they didn’t end up trading for the all star caliber version of him in Holiday who brings all of the same great things with improvement on the major weaknesses too.

Ultimately, they traded 3 very good players but very obviously sub all stars in Smart/Rob/Brogdon along with a role player in Grant Williams for two all star-ish caliber players. Holiday brought exactly what they were getting from Smart with major improvement like I noted above. Porzingis added a totally new skill set to the roster that specifically combats defensive strategies that have caused the team struggles in recent years with his ability to punish aggressive switching. At the same time, Porzingis’ ability to space the floor enhances what their guys were already doing too.

Honestly it was just a perfect offseason for Boston. It’s always great to add high end talent to the roster. It’s also great to add guys that specifically fit how you play with the guys you already have. It’s rare to be able to do both at the same time, which Boston was able to do.

Boston's offseason can only be judged in June.

[Darth Celtic]

Smart during is dpoy was that impactful. But that was a different coach and different system. They almost won the championship. The next year, new coach, much different defensive sets. It wasn't tailored to his best skill sets. He wasn't even the 2nd best defender on our team that year and his costly turnovers and poor career shooting lowered his value. But, regardless. Even if he played 50 games all season, zinger was the way better player and a position of great need. And the fact that Boston got two firsts in the trade makes it a slam dunk.

And for those who thought this was because zingers value was low, no. He had an opt out and was going to leave for nothing and sign with a team, but wanted traded to Boston as they didn't have money to sign him otherwise. So, it was a sign and trade that wasn't a sign and trade. In that teams rarely get anything, they got tyus and some expiring. So it was really two different trades.

No way if zinger didn't have that player option would Celtics get him for smart without giving picks, let alone getting two.

And yes, what they lost in smart, they gained a better in every single way holiday just after, so it makes sense they are cruising.

[zero rings]

It’s tough to use this trade as evidence that Boston wouldn’t miss Smart when they followed it up by trading for the souped up version of Smart. There are definitely parts of Smarts game that they would be missing if they didn’t end up trading for the all star caliber version of him in Holiday who brings all of the same great things with improvement on the major weaknesses too.

Ultimately, they traded 3 very good players but very obviously sub all stars in Smart/Rob/Brogdon along with a role player in Grant Williams for two all star-ish caliber players. Holiday brought exactly what they were getting from Smart with major improvement like I noted above. Porzingis added a totally new skill set to the roster that specifically combats defensive strategies that have caused the team struggles in recent years with his ability to punish aggressive switching. At the same time, Porzingis’ ability to space the floor enhances what their guys were already doing too.

Honestly it was just a perfect offseason for Boston. It’s always great to add high end talent to the roster. It’s also great to add guys that specifically fit how you play with the guys you already have. It’s rare to be able to do both at the same time, which Boston was able to do.

Boston's offseason can only be judged in June.

Why? They clearly improved their team.

Is every move that doesn’t result in an immediate championship a failure?

[jordb2k7]

This is one of the most ignorant posts I’ve seen on here…..and that’s saying something.
Not only is Smart worlds better than Tyus, but you really think the team that has finished second in the west two years in a row, with an ascending core is going to fall apart because the loss of Tyus Jones?

Because Ja is going to miss 25 games and even when he comes back Ja and Smart are a bad pairing. Alot of teams are getting better....Smart actually makes them worse imo... hes super overrated. Come back and tell me what you think of him after the first 25 games without Ja.

To think that some people think they think basketball more than i think basketball...

I want to be clear that this is FULL speculation on my part but I think Boston intended to get Tyus Jones originally. If we follow the timeline the deal was originally Brogdon/filler for KP. It fell apart because Clippers couldn't verify information before the deadline. Boston basically had I think an hour or two to complete it and magically Smart was traded. They clearly had worked this out already and were ready to go. I think the goal was to get both, but then of course Holiday came available later and that was that.

[MemphisX]

It’s tough to use this trade as evidence that Boston wouldn’t miss Smart when they followed it up by trading for the souped up version of Smart. There are definitely parts of Smarts game that they would be missing if they didn’t end up trading for the all star caliber version of him in Holiday who brings all of the same great things with improvement on the major weaknesses too.

Ultimately, they traded 3 very good players but very obviously sub all stars in Smart/Rob/Brogdon along with a role player in Grant Williams for two all star-ish caliber players. Holiday brought exactly what they were getting from Smart with major improvement like I noted above. Porzingis added a totally new skill set to the roster that specifically combats defensive strategies that have caused the team struggles in recent years with his ability to punish aggressive switching. At the same time, Porzingis’ ability to space the floor enhances what their guys were already doing too.

Honestly it was just a perfect offseason for Boston. It’s always great to add high end talent to the roster. It’s also great to add guys that specifically fit how you play with the guys you already have. It’s rare to be able to do both at the same time, which Boston was able to do.

Boston's offseason can only be judged in June.

Why? They clearly improved their team.

Is every move that doesn’t result in an immediate championship a failure?

Yes because if they don't win a championship, we will judge this team differently. The same as people judging last year's team differently after the playoffs. Same as the year before that.

[BAMAFREAK]

This is one of the most ignorant posts I’ve seen on here…..and that’s saying something.
Not only is Smart worlds better than Tyus, but you really think the team that has finished second in the west two years in a row, with an ascending core is going to fall apart because the loss of Tyus Jones?

Because Ja is going to miss 25 games and even when he comes back Ja and Smart are a bad pairing. Alot of teams are getting better....Smart actually makes them worse imo... hes super overrated. Come back and tell me what you think of him after the first 25 games without Ja.

To think that some people think they think basketball more than i think basketball...

The Grizz being a lottery team has nothing to do with what you said, it’s because of season ending or lengthy injuries to
Ja
Smart
Bane
Adams
4 of the 5 starters. Even with Adams out, this team would’ve been looking at the 7-9 spot at this point with relative normal health, even after Ja’s suspension. I don’t even think Ja Bane and Smart have played together this year. At least not more than a game or two.
I promise you Tyus Jones isn’t changing that

[chrisab123]

Since we’re apparently allowed to bump old threads with the amount of Brunson threads from 2023 getting bumped I figured it was time to assess this deal and look back at some of the takes

[Grahf]

Winning a championship without a top 3 player is almost impossible in the NBA, but Porzingis was a huge reason why that happened last year. Dallas came into the Finals supremely confident, but KP's complete destruction of them in Game 1 set the tone for the whole series. Thanks for the ring and the parade, KP.

[Doranku]

Calling it now, the Celtics are going to be insane if they stay healthy. Porzingis was lowkey balling last season, especially towards the end of the year. Brogdon moves to the starting PG slot, a more natural PG which the Celtics desperately need who doesn't take five ill-advised 3s a game. Moving on from Smart was the right move.

Brogdon
Brown
Tatum
Kristaps
Horford

Ridiculous combination of size, spacing, and mobility.

Yup, nailed that one, and that was under the assumption Malcolm Brogdon was going to be their starting PG. Somehow they flipped him into Jrue Holiday on top of this lopsided Porzingis trade.

C's got a ring, Marcus Smart is on DuoLingo preparing for his exodus to China. Insane anyone thought the Celtics lost this trade.

[bisme37]

This trade resulted in an NBA championship for one team and regret for the other team.

NBA exec on Grizzlies: The Marcus Smart trade killed them

The Grizzlies have tried to take big swings in the trade market at various times in the last three years, including engaging the Phoenix Suns on Kevin Durant this year. However, the biggest one that actually got completed was dealing Tyus Jones and two first-rounders for Marcus Smart when he was just past his sell-by date in the summer of 2023. It’s somewhat ironic given that the Grizzlies have nailed so many small moves in the same period. “The Marcus Smart trade killed them,” as one rival exec put it, costing them draft assets and a $20-million salary slot for a whole lot of not much. On a roster that couldn’t afford a miss once Jackson, Bane and Morant graduated to expensive veteran deals, Smart was nearly dead money. He was neither healthy nor happy in Memphis, and his level of play dropped off even when he was active; the Grizzlies ended up giving Washington another first just to move off the last year of his deal.
Source: New York Times

https://hoopshype.com/2025/05/02/nba-exec-on-grizzlies-the-marcus-smart-trade-killed-them/

[brackdan70]

Since we’re apparently allowed to bump old threads with the amount of Brunson threads from 2023 getting bumped I figured it was time to assess this deal and look back at some of the takes

You are doing it wrong. You need to quote all the takes that are off in hindsight.

[lambchop]

It's crazy how Smart looks like a fringe NBA player on the Celtics. Also, with his style of play he'd suck in Europe, but be an absolute stud in China. Australia would work cause of their style of play.

However, there's no financial incentive for him to do that. Personally, I'd love to see him join Friga and play some streetball while touring the US.

Watch on YouTube

[chrisab123]

It's crazy how Smart looks like a fringe NBA player on the Celtics. Also, with his style of play he'd suck in Europe, but be an absolute stud in China. Australia would work cause of their style of play.

However, there's no financial incentive for him to do that. Personally, I'd love to see him join Friga and play some streetball while touring the US.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/WMjdU3mkPJw?si=4AGJrihRDImHxvD1[/youtube]

He never evolved his game. He tried to become Steph instead of following the D-Wade playbook of being a slasher to the rim.

[lonzo_pelota]

Celtics fans should still thank Houstone coach Ime Udoka for that chip, if he doesnt get caught up in that scandal and get ousted none of the dominos fall to get them to that chip, long live Ime

[Celts17Pride]

Celtics fans should still thank Houstone coach Ime Udoka for that chip, if he doesnt get caught up in that scandal and get ousted none of the dominos fall to get them to that chip, long live Ime

Totally disagree. Udoka has no clue how to coach an offense. Celtics offense took off after he left. Just look at Houston right now, offensively challenged