The Boston Celtics had no choice but to release Marcus Smart in order to land Kristaps Porzingis.
Malcolm Brogdon’s health issues caused the Los Angeles Clippers to walk away from the previous deal they had agreed upon, so they had to reach out to the Memphis Grizzlies and release Smart instead.
Trading Smart had been a realistic possibility for several years now, yet Brad Stevens chose to stay on because of his distinctive defense and leadership skills.
That’s why Skip Bayless believes the Celtics actually made a big mistake by letting him go, claiming on Twitter that Porzingis has the “intangibles of a loser.”
The Celtics made a colossal mistake, trading for a freakish talent with the intangibles of a loser and giving up a leader with the intangibles of a winner. Marcus Smart, DPOY, was a big reason Boston made it to the G6 of last year’s finals and the G7 of this year’s East finals. Trading Smart: Dumb.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) June 22, 2023
Smart, on the other hand, is a leader and an excellent defender of winning intangibles, something Bayless says was one of the main reasons they’ve been able to go so far in recent times.
Truth be told, he is absolutely on point here.
Smart played a huge role in developing and instilling a winning culture in Boston.
Porzingis, on the other hand, has been on the wrong end of many reports about his character, and his body language and attitude tend to get worse when things don’t go his way.
It will also be interesting to see how he now accepts a lesser role behind Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, considering the fact that he didn’t like playing second fiddle to Luka Doncic just two years ago.
On the other hand, Smart would do wonders for the Grizzlies’ derailed youth culture.
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Brian Windhorst says Malcolm Brogdon has a health issue that has stalled trading