T​he night before the NBA Draft can be a time where teams are trying to position themselves in the draft. Kind of like every sports draft, teams will look to trade before, during, or after the draft. Tonight is the 2023 NBA Draft, 8 PM ET on ESPN, ESPN+, or ABC. The Washington Wizards traded another one of their star players Kristaps Porzingis to the Boston Celtics in a three-team trade involving the Memphis Grizzlies.

Y​ahoo Sports reports that the Celtics are sending Marcus Smart to Memphis. They are trading the 35th pick in today’s draft, Mike Muscala, and Danilo Gallinari to the Wizards. The Wizards acquired PG Tyus Jones from the Grizzlies as well. The Celtics are getting Porzingis, the 25th pick in today’s draft, and an additional first round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft ( Via Golden State, both of the draft picks are from Memphis.

C​eltics Perspective

T​he Boston Celtics went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last year before losing to the Miami Heat. The Celtics knew they needed to add someone who is tall, but can shoot. Porzingis fits the bill exactly. He averaged a career-high 23.2 points per game with the Washington Wizards last year. He is also 7'3 and 240 pounds. The Celtics now have a big three in place. Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. Though they had to give up their best defensive player in Marcus Smart, they also didn’t have to get rid of Malcolm Brogdon who was reported by NBA Insider Marc Stein that he was going to be a Los Angeles Clipper, but the Clippers were worried about his injury history so they passed on him. Brogdon was a great player last year for the Celtics, and I do think the Porzingis trade has helped the Celtics get closer to the NBA Finals and the Celtics are going to be even better. The only question that Boston will have to answer is how is to get the defense intensity Marcus Smart brought to the team. I do like that they added some draft picks along the way and if the Celtics draft the right players this will be an even more stacked team.

G​rizzlies Perspective

T​he Memphis Grizzlies got a great player that is going to help them out defensively. For the first 25 games of the season, the Grizzlies star Point Guard Ja Morant is suspended because of multiple gun incidents on his Instagram Live where he waved a gun in the air. The Grizzlies definitely needed a defensive gem in Marcus Smart to help them out defensively. The Grizzlies were the 2nd best team in the Western Conference last year and lost to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Adding Smart should keep the Grizzlies in the playoffs, I am thinking the Grizzlies will not get to the 2nd seed in the Western Conference again because of Ja Morant’s suspension. Overall, I liked the move from the Grizzlies bringing in veteran leadership to help Ja mature more off the court.

W​izards Perspective

T​hey got a lot of pieces in this deal Tyus Jones from the Grizzlies, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala, and the 35th pick of today’s NBA Draft. The Wizards are clearly in a rebuild mode. They traded away Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns. The Wizards need a culture change because they had Kyle Kuzma, Porzingis, and Beal and didn’t even make the post-season. That is probably why they thought rebuilding was a good idea. So far they haven’t traded Kuzma and I would think the Wizards would try to build around him and get some good players around him who can win. I really like the Tyus Jones acquisition from the Grizzlies, that is the best piece the Wizards got for the trade. Jones averaged a career-high in points with 10.3 per game and a career-high in assists with 5.2 points per game. I was watching CBS Sports cover this trade, and thought the Wizards could get more trade value for him too if they wanted, but I think they keep him because he is a point guard who doesn’t have flashy numbers for say but can be a great veteran asset to a rebuilding Wizards team that is going to be young and inexperienced and with his veteran presence in the locker room that should ease the tensions of the young NBA players who are trying to learn how to have success in the NBA.

M​y Opinion

I​ would say the Celtics won the trade because they got a lengthy scorer, plus more draft picks along with him as well. It will be interesting to see how Boston is going to use him. He had a really good year with the Wizards and won’t be called to do as much with Tatum and Brown being the superstars of the Celtics. I think he is going to do really well with the Celtics and when the defenses try to stop Brown and Tatum, there is going to be opportunities for Porzingis to make defenses pay with his shooting abilities. I would say the Grizzlies came in second because they got a really good defensive player and veteran leader who is going to help Memphis with their rocky situation with their superstar Ja Morant. The Wizards are clearly trying to rebuild and if that’s the goal, then they officially succeeded. We’ll see if they are going to trade or keep Tyus Jones in the Nation’s Capital. I think the Wizards are going to be one of the worst teams in the NBA and it will take them some time before they become competitive again. It will be tough for Wizard fans this year and it stinks to have to rebuild a franchise, but who knows, they could go spend some money in free agency in future years or draft a really good player that will change the direction of this franchise.