Kristaps Porzingis to Boston. Marcus Smart gone. Let’s talk about it.

Unless if you’ve been living under a rock, the Celtics have made a big trade acquiring former NBA All-Star Kristaps Porzingis from the Washington Wizards. This may sound like a huge win for Boston, but it didn’t come without saying goodbye to Marcus Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year recipient and the heart and soul of the team for the last decade. In this article, I want to talk about how the loss of Smart and the acquisition of Porzingis affect the Celtics chances of competing for a championship.

Marcus to Memphis and what this means for the Celtics and Grizzlies

This was something I feared would happen, and it was something I definitely didn’t see coming. Especially in the way it happened. If the Clippers didn’t back out of the original trade, Marcus Smart would still be a Celtic. That is just upsetting. Losing Smart is as big of a blow on the court as it is off the court. What he meant to that city and what he did for the Boston community is something that probably can’t be replicated. There should be no doubt that Marcus gave it his all on the court and his skillset is pretty unique. It goes without saying that he is one of the best defensive guards we’ve ever seen, and the defense he brings to this Grizzlies team is super fun. I don’t think there’s a better destination for Smart than Memphis. Ja Morant is going to be suspended for 25 games, and luckily for Memphis, Smart has the capability to initiate offense at a competent level and only elevates that monstrous Memphis defense. When Ja comes back, Smart shouldn’t have any problem adjusting to the role of a secondary creator/connector. He helps their half-court offense a lot and is a better shooter (and player) than Dillon Brooks was. However, Smart isn’t some elite shooter either, so take that as you will. That secondary initiator is something Memphis hasn’t had in their lineups in previous years, so this does wonders for them. A bulk of the Memphis offense in prior years has been in transition and offensive rebounds. In the half-court, they love the “split” action, which is/was a staple of the Warriors offense. It basically involves the ball entering the high-post, then whoever passed the ball would set a screen for a shooter who can either shoot or if teams overplay, then the player coming off the screen would cut to the basket. If defenses switch or send two to the shooter, then the initiator of the action is the one that slips to the rim. Smart isn’t some movement-heavy guy, but it’s better than having Dillon Brooks be that alternative for Desmond Bane. This action is a staple of 5-out offenses and it has much more nuance than what I just went over. However, I think Smart does help with what Memphis wants to do offensively and his defensive prowess unlocks so many lineups for the Grizzlies, giving them the ability to go small due to Smart’s versatility on defense. That does wonders for them on both ends.

As for what this means for the Celtics, as far as on-court production goes, this loss is huge. Probably means they’re very confident in Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon. Smart has been Boston’s best pure passer for years now while also arguably being their best defender. His development into a pass-first guard was a huge reason why the Celtics’ offense saw so much success this year and even reached historic heights in the early season. Smart’s two-man game with Jaylen Brown was also a staple in Boston’s offense, whether that’d be Smart finding Brown on a back door cut or in handoff actions. The Celtics tinkered with more guard-to-guard actions last year as opposed to flowing into spread ballscreen actions like they did in previous years. He can roll in the short-roll and create, meaning that it’s easier for him to find open shooters by reading and reacting. Smart is stronger than your typical point guard, so this means he is a hellacious screen-setter at his position. The Celtics would have Smart set off-ball screens for Tatum, allowing him to get downhill. In ATO situations, they’d run elbow actions for Smart and have him find the open man. These are all things that Smart was able to do for the Celtics, and some of that can be attributed to Boston’s great spacing. He doesn’t have that luxury in Memphis now, but Boston now doesn’t really have a true connector in their offense. White and Horford are solid passers, but the Celtics don’t rely on them as initiators or connectors as they are more so play-finishers. If they want to mitigate this issue, then they need a playmaking leap from Tatum and Brown, more so Tatum for two reasons. 1, Brown is going into year 8 and it’s not realistic to expect him to clean up an issue that he hasn’t addressed before at this point of his career. 2, Tatum has somewhat plateaued as a playmaker and now that Boston doesn’t have Smart as their connective initiator, they’ll need Tatum more than ever. Defensively, their perimeter defense has lost a huge presence. Smart’s switchability also is gone, forcing the Celtics to pivot towards drop coverage, which angers me more. Overall, a huge blow to the Celtics and the city of Boston, while Memphis gets a true gem.

Kristaps to Boston.

After years of coveting the unicorn, Kristaps is officially in the 617. Boston fans have overlooked this because they are heartbroken over losing someone as integral as Marcus Smart was (I’m also heartbroken), but I implore you to look towards the future and to have an open mind. Porzingis is a great player and one who has flown under the radar ever since his rather disappointing stint in Dallas. Trading for Kristaps Porzingis is a risk that could ultimately pay off for the Celtics. He’s no stranger to injuries and he could very well be in for a huge payday, as he joined the Celtics via opt-in-and-trade, opting into the final year of his contract. For the 2023–24 season, he will make $36,016,200 which is a lot of money. I don’t know if the Celtics will sign him to an extension which pays him more than that nor do I know if he’ll take it. However, Brad Stevens is hopeful that Porzingis is a part of Boston’s long-term plans and he’s eligible for an extension in July. Another risk he comes with is his defense. Kristaps isn’t a bad defender by any means, he’s actually quite good on that end. However, I don’t know if they can throw out a lot of coverages. Porzingis is a drop coverage guy, and I already said how I feel about drop coverage. Boston is at their best defensively when they play physical and switch everything. Sadly, we don’t have the personnel to do that anymore due to Horford’s painful regression and Rob’s dwindling athleticism. Doesn’t help that a defender like Smart gets traded for a drop coverage guy. That doesn’t mean this move was a bad one because I didn’t even mention what KP brings to the table offensively. Like I alluded to, Boston’s offense is predicated on spacing and they run tons of 5-out stuff. With Porzingis in this lineup, said spacing becomes even deadlier. We either run a White/Brown/Tatum/Horford/Porzingis lineup or a White/Brown/Tatum/KP/Rob lineup. Personally, I like the former due to the ceiling on offense and I don’t like Porzingis at the four defensively, at this point. However, the spacing is optimal in both lineups, just better in the first. Horford’s shooting has regressed without a doubt, but Kristaps shot 38% from 3 on 5.5 attempts per game last year. He’s a better shooter than both Smart and Horford. This is huge because it draws bigs away from the paint, opening up layup opportunities. He’s also shown the ability to attack closeouts and put the ball down as a slasher. This is another huge gain for the Celtics’ offense, one that is really good at maintaining and extending advantages. I like Kristaps in lineups that feature Tatum, Brown, and Brogdon the most because of those three’s abilities to get downhill and attack the basket, which opens up even more now that KP is at the 5. In transition, the Celtics love Wide actions, which involve quick screens in the middle of the floor to open up shooters. When denied, players can reject to the lane. Only becomes better with Porzingis. In delay actions, Porzingis thrives and Boston’s players demand more attention than Washington’s do and they’re just overall better off-ball movers/athletes. Boston loves delay actions and they have tons of stuff they can flow into in those scenarios. It’s also important that Boston addressed their front-court depth with Horford’s age, Rob’s health, and Grant Williams’ future uncertain. Brad Stevens has spoken about how Porzingis provides the Celtics with size and the ability to truly play big. I wonder how Joe Mazzulla and his staff will go about those guard-to-guard actions now that Smart isn’t there anymore. Do they revert back to more spread ball-screen stuff? I’d hope not. Another thing KP provides is really good post-scoring. This isn’t something the Celtics have had in previous years alongside Tatum, who didn’t get many post touches last year despite how great he is in that regard. Now, they have two elite post scorers, which unlocks another dimension to the Celtics offense. As a passer, Kristaps is not that bad. He’s fine when he gets the ball with the intent to pass, and has shown decent ability at hitting cutters and passing out of the post. However, when he puts the ball on the floor, he misses lots of open guys and that’s not good considering he’s replacing Marcus Smart, our best passer over the last few years. One huge amenity for the Celtics is that having Porzingis as a third scoring option is pretty lethal. Tatum and Brown are a dynamic 1–2 punch, but ever since Gordon Hayward left, they haven’t really had that number 3 guy who can be the number 2 at times. That’s exactly what Kristaps is, it’s just a matter of if he can stay healthy in a slightly reduced offensive role. He only missed 11 games due to injury last year before being shut down by the Wizards for the end of the season.

As a diehard Celtics fan, I’m really excited to see Kristaps Porzingis suit up for us. I’m also sad to see Marcus Smart not be on the team anymore, and a potential championship without him wouldn’t feel as nearly as rewarding. It hurts, man. He embodied Boston and we were “supposed to” win a chip with him. At the very least, making the Finals with the core we drafted was something I never took for granted and I never will. Hopefully, Brad Stevens has a move or two up his sleeve with free agency looming because I don’t think this roster is complete as is.