Wizards send Kristaps Porzingis to Celtics; Marcus Smart reportedly headed to Grizzlies
FILE – Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the Washington Wizards. –Rob Carr/Getty Images/AFP
The Washington Wizards have agreed to trade center Kristaps Porzingis to the Boston Celtics, a person with knowledge of the deal said Wednesday night.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement hadn’t been announced. The trade comes with Porzingis accepting his player option for next season.
ESPN reported the deal also includes the Memphis Grizzlies, who are acquiring guard Marcus Smart from Boston in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2023 and 2024. ESPN also reported the Wizards are receiving guard Tyus Jones from Memphis, and forwards Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari and a second-round pick this year from Boston.
FILE– Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics. –Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP
The Celtics add the 7-foot-3 Porzingis after they lost in seven games to Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
Porzingis is coming off a solid season in Washington in which he averaged a career-high 23.2 points per game along with 8.4 rebounds. Most importantly, he stayed healthy enough to play in 66 games, his most since 2016-17 when he was with the New York Knicks.
Porzingis’ departure completes a swift breakup of Washington’s core after the Wizards agreed to trade Bradley Beal to Phoenix, and Kyle Kuzma declined his option. Washington has missed the playoffs the past two seasons and is now clearly in a rebuilding mode under new team president Michael Winger.
Smart has played in Boston all nine of his NBA seasons. The Celtics reached the NBA Finals in 2022, but were unable to make it back this season despite their talented tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Boston becomes Porzingis’ fourth NBA team. Drafted in 2015 by New York with the fourth overall pick, he played three seasons with the Knicks before being traded to Dallas before the deadline in 2019 — when he was recovering from knee surgery.
The Wizards acquired him from Dallas 16 months ago.
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