Kristaps Porzingis, Malcolm Brogdon Traded in Three-Team Deal

Keith Smith
Keith Smith, Resident NBA ExpertJune 21, 2023
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#nba #trade #marcus morris sr. #danilo gallinari #amir coffey #malcolm brogdon #kristaps porzingis
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The NBA offseason is off and running! The Washington Wizards got things started by agreeing to trade Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns, and now they’re continuing their teardown. Washington has agreed to the parameters of a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics and the LA Clippers. Here are the basics:

Celtics acquire: Kristaps Porzingis

Clippers acquire: Malcolm Brogdon

Wizards acquire: Amir Coffey, Danilo Gallinari, Marcus Morris Sr., #30 pick in 2023 NBA Draft

(Note: If deal terms change significantly, we’ll update the article accordingly.)

The Mechanics

Much like the trade of Bradley Beal to Phoenix, this is a deal that needs to happen in the current league year. Because both Boston and LA are likely to close to (Celtics) or above (Clippers) the super tax line, it was far easier to make this trade happen now.

For the Wizards, their part is again fairly easy. They’re trading out the $36 million owed to Kristaps Porzingis (he’ll have to opt in for next season to make this deal possible) and taking back about $27.6 million. Washington will create a Traded Player Exception (TPE) of about $9.4 million in this deal.

For Boston, they need to get this deal done in this league year. Doing so allows them to use the salary-matching rules that allow them to bring in 125% of the outgoing salary. That’s Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari in this case.

The Clippers are fine if this deal happens now or later, as far as salary-matching goes. But obviously they prefer to get Brogdon now and to move to whatever is next on their to-do list this summer.

The Celtics

Boston was always going to do something this offseason. After falling short in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were searching for that move to put them over the top. All signs pointed to Malcolm Brogdon being traded eventually, and Brad Stevens chose to pull the trigger now.

Kristaps Porzingis is an excellent fit for the Celtics on both ends of the floor. He’s coming off the best season of his eight-year career. Porzingis also turns 28 years old this summer, and is entering what should be the prime years of his career.

On offense, Porzingis gives Boston another stretch big. In many ways, think of him as the Celtics replacement for Grant Williams, who played a key role off the Boston bench for the last few years. Porzingis won’t come off the bench, but he’ll have a somewhat similar, if greatly expanded, role in Boston’s offense.

Porzingis is a 36% shooter from three for his career. This past season, he knocked down 38.5% of his three-pointers on 356 attempts. Not only is Porzingis a good shooter, and a volume one, but he has some of the deepest range in the NBA.

Because Porzingis was rarely stationed as a pure spot-up guy, the vast majority of his three-point attempts came from above the break. On those looks, he knocked down 38.1%. On shots from 25 to 29 feet (deeper threes), Porzingis retained his effectiveness by hitting 38.3% of his triples. That sort of deep range will open up the floor for the Celtics in ways that haven’t seen yet. That will create driving lanes for Boston’s host of off-the-dribble playmakers and scorers.

That shooting, combined with Porzingis’ ability to take players down into the post, and to finish as roll man, should make him the sort of lethal third scorer the Celtics haven’t had over the last few years. He’s not the passer that Boston’s other bigs are, but there are some signs that he can do more as a facilitator than he’s shown to this point.

On defense, Porzingis will likely function in the role where Robert Williams has had a lot of success for the Celtics: roaming as a weakside helper. Al Horford will likely continue to guard the bigger bigs (think Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, etc.), while Porzingis will be able to float and help. Porzingis is coming off a pretty good individual defensive season. His defensive impact should get even better while surrounded by the best defenders he’s ever played with.

On the downside, Porzingis was relatively healthy last season, as he appeared in 65 games. That’s the most games he’s played over the last six seasons, which includes an entirely missed season after a torn ACL. Repeating that level of availability will be a big part of determining the success level of this trade for the Celtics. If he misses half the season, that will lessen his overall impact.

Porzingis will also see his usage rate, which generally hovers in the high-20% range, drop by a good amount. Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown key the Celtics offense, and that isn’t going to change. But what Porzingis trades out in volume could be made up for in efficiency, as he’ll be playing with the most talented group he’s been with yet. That should mean a healthy diet of good looks on offense.

Malcolm Brogdon is a major loss for Boston. He won the Sixth Man of the Year award by being an efficient scoring weapon off the bench. On nights when the Celtics needed someone to get it going, it was often Brogdon who provided that scoring punch. He also stayed mostly healthy, right up until the Eastern Conference Finals.

And therein lies the rub. This past season was Brogdon’s first healthy season since his rookie year. Could the Celtics count on him playing 60-plus games again? Probably not, given his track record. And that, combined with his salary, made him the most likely to be traded player on the roster.

There’s also the matter of a pretty crowded Boston backcourt and Brogdon thriving in, but not loving his sixth man role. He was a great teammate and sacrificed for the team, but also made it clear that he’d rather start. His presence on the roster also pushed former first-round pick Payton Pritchard to clamor for a trade, as he saw minimal playing time in his third season.

There are already reports that this trade will ultimately cost Boston Grant Williams. As a pending restricted free agent, the Celtics could choose to work a sign-and-trade with Williams, to return something of value. Or they may just choose to make things easy and let Williams go free and clear. His shooting-defense combination will be missed, as will Williams’ ability to keep the locker room loose.

As for Pritchard, there’s a chance the Celtics keep him around now. The path to playing time is a little clearer with Brogdon out of the picture. Pritchard should be able to get regular minutes off the bench., even if big minutes still won’t be there. His shooting has always been a valuable skill, and Pritchard’s playmaking is improving all the time. This remains a situation to keep an eye on.

In a real sense, Boston may be trading Malcolm Brogdon and Grant Williams for Kristaps Porzingis and Payton Pritchard. That’s probably a win for the Celtics, pending what ultimately happens with Porzingis and Pritchard contractually.

There are already rumors that Boston will look to extend Porzingis. He likely won’t get near the $36 million he’s set to make this season, but Porzingis could command a first-year salary in an extension of $30 million. And Pritchard is extension-eligible. It remains unlikely Boston will extend him, but it’s more in play now than it would have been with Brogdon on the roster. With super max extensions looming for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics cap sheet will remain pretty fat with guaranteed salary.

Finally, to wrap things up for Boston, they could be in position to use the $5 million Taxpayer MLE now. If Grant Williams is out of the picture, Boston should have enough room under the second apron to sign a player via the Taxpayer MLE. That player will likely replace whatever the Celtics had hoped to get from Danilo Gallinari, after he lost last season due to a torn ACL.

The Clippers

In the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era in LA, the Clippers have had point guard issues almost every year. Reggie Jackson and Patrick Beverley were always more solid than truly good. Eric Bledsoe didn’t have much left in his return to LA. And last season was messy with Jackson and John Wall being just OK, until Russell Westbrook shored things up post-trade deadline.

Now, the Clippers have an established starting point guard in Malcolm Brogdon. And they’ve got him under contract for the next two seasons. If nothing else, Brogdon’s ability to play on- and off-ball is a perfect fit for a team where Leonard and George run most of the offense. On the nights when the two stars are unavailable, Brogdon can function as the primary offensive weapon. On nights when he can’t play, LA will hand the playmaking duties back to Leonard and George.

On defense, Brogdon is fine. He’ll hold up well alongside the Clippers other main defenders. He won’t contend for an All-Defense spot, but you’ll rarely see teams openly target Brogdon either.

Marcus Morris Sr. had looked like he was on his way out of LA for a while now. Injuries and ineffectiveness saw Morris lose playing time in the second half of the year, and then lose his role altogether. In the playoffs, Morris got time only after Leonard went down with a torn meniscus.

Amir Coffey is a versatile wing player who everyone sort of likes, but he’s never really snatched a regular rotation role. The Clippers remain pretty deep in wing options, so this isn’t a major loss.

With Brogdon in the fold at point guard, the Clippers may now be out on pursuing bringing Chris Paul back to LA. They were rumored to be looking at jumping into the Bradley Beal trade as a third team, but that seems off the table now.

As for Westbrook, he was always limited to re-signing for the veteran minimum anyway, and nothing that happened in this trade should change that. He and Brogdon can share the point guard role, and the Clippers should get 48 minutes of good point guard play.

Contractually, Brogdon’s contract aligns with that of George and Leonard. That could mean LA could reset the brooks in major way after two more seasons.

LA is taking on money in this deal, but not enough that it really matters. They’re so far above the super tax line, they can’t even see it. Mostly, the Clippers added a starting point guard for a couple of non-rotation players and a draft pick that likely wouldn’t crack the rotation either. That’s good work, assuming you can afford it. And they can certainly afford it.

The Wizards

Much like the Bradley Beal trade, this more or less amounts to a salary-dump for Washington. They are taking back less money than they send out. Marcus Morris Sr. probably won’t stay in DC, and if he does, he’s on an expiring contract. Danilo Gallinari is likely in the same boat. Maybe he stays and eats up some rotation minutes, but there’s just as good of a chance that he’s waived and allowed to join a contender.

Amir Coffey is a nice flyer, but the best part for the Wizards is that his contract is only for $7.6 million total over the next two seasons. He’ll probably stick, because his deal is so inexpensive.

Mostly, this was about getting the #30 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, which isn’t bad for a player who could have just opted out and walked for nothing in Kristaps Porzingis.

Now, Washington can continue with their teardown. Outside of the $3.9 million Coffey is owed for the 2024-25 season, the Wizards haven’t taken on any guaranteed money beyond this current season. There’s a chance that Washington could have as little as $37.1 million on the books for the 24-25 season. That would translate into somewhere around $100 million in potential cap space.

Cap space alone has never won anything. But having that sort of flexibility is what the new Wizards front office wanted. With these two trades of Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, they achieved it.

 


#nba #trade #marcus morris sr. #danilo gallinari #amir coffey #malcolm brogdon #kristaps porzingis
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