Latvian basketball star Kristaps Porzingis will be traded to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team deal that also includes the Washington Wizards and the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Wizards would receive point guard Tyus Jones from the Grizzlies along with Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala from the Celtics.
The Grizzlies, meanwhile, would receive 2022 defensive player of the year Marcus Smart from the Celtics while sending their 25th pick in this year’s Draft and a 2024 first-round pick via the Golden State Warriors to Boston.
The three-team deal was agreed on on all sides minutes before Porzingis’ deadline to opt in to his $36 million player option for the 2023–24 season with the Wizards.
The Boston Celtics are finalizing a deal to acquire the Washington Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis, sources tell ESPN. Porzingis is opting into his $36M contract for 2023-2024 and getting his trade to the Celtics. pic.twitter.com/tRVEfI8nnI
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2023
The three-way trade agreement brings an end to a long day of negotiation involving Boston and the Wizards over Porzingis’s deal, with both teams initially agreeing to the deal with the Los Angeles Clippers that would have seen reigning sixth man of the year Malcolm Brogdon headed to LA, while the 30th pick in this year’s draft went to the Wizards and Porzingis to the Celtics.
Porzingis, who was an All-Star in 2018, enjoyed arguably the best season of his NBA career this past year with the Wizards, where he averaged a career-high 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 65 games.
Smart, on the other hand, will be departing the Celtics, who drafted him in 2014 with the sixth overall pick. He averages just over 10 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.6 steals throughout his nine-year NBA career.
The Celtics become Porzingis’ fourth NBA team, and he will join a talented Boston core that includes Malcolm Brogdon, All-NBA stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, center Robert Williams, and veteran big man Al Horford.
