Celtics shocker: What the Porzingis-Smart blockbuster means for the C’s

BOSTON — A roller coaster of a Wednesday night ended with a sudden shock for Celtics fans. Kristaps Porzingis is still coming to Boston, but Marcus Smart is now gone.

Talk about a ride taking an unexpected turn.

Smart was the longest-tenured member of the Celtics, spending the first nine years of his career in Boston. The Celtics made the playoffs in all nine of those seasons.

Smart has long been touted as the heart and soul of the team. He played with a ferocious tenacity on the court that most Boston fans loved while it drove opposing fanbases crazy. A lot of folks thought that Smart would wear green for his entire NBA career.

But Brad Stevens hasn’t been afraid to make bold moves in his two years in the Boston front office, and trading Smart Wednesday night certainly classifies as a bold move. It will drastically change the culture inside the Boston locker room next season.

It also leaves the team without its best passer and a starting point guard at the moment, though Malcolm Brogdon (if healthy) could assume that role after the three-team trade that would have sent him to the L.A. Clippers fell through. (Nothing will sooth over a potentially frayed relationship like letting Brogdon start again, right?) Perhaps Stevens has another move up his sleeve to address that new area of need on the Boston roster.

As for what the Celtics acquired in Porzingis, he’ll give the Boston frontcourt a lot more offensive firepower. He averaged 23.2 points and 8.4 rebounds over 65 games for the Wizards last season, the best year of the 27-year-old’s career since his lone All-Star season with the New York Knicks in 2017-18.

Porzingis shot a career-best 49.8 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from downtown, and 85 percent from the free-throw line last season, and has been a solid shooter throughout his career. In his nine seasons since being the No. 4 overall selection by the Knicks in 2015, Porzingis has averaged 19.6 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the floor and 36 percent shooting from 3-point range.

He’ll fit nicely in the role the Celtics had Al Horford playing the last few years as a stretch-big, but Porzingis also brings a nice post and pick-and-roll game to Boston. Porzingis has also proven to be a pretty good shot-blocker on the defensive end, averaging 1.9 rejections per game last season and 1.7 per contest for his career. 

The biggest concern with Porzingis is his availability. He’s missed 95 games over the last four seasons, and has never played a full season in his career. He missed all of the 2018-19 season as he recovered from a torn ACL he suffered the season prior.

Boston will be relying on him to take up a lot of minutes to help preserve Al Horford and Rob Williams, and will be counting on Porzingis to hit plenty of shots to alleviate Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown from some of the scoring duties.

The Celtics got bigger and added a lot more offensive firepower on Wednesday. They also lost some defense (a lot of defense) and have a question mark at starting point guard. This will not be a quiet summer for Boston after all. 

Stevens hasn’t been afraid to make big moves since becoming Celtics president of basketball ops. just over two years ago. Wednesday night’s trade that acquired Porzingis and sent Smart out of town is his biggest thus far.