Celtics
“If Danny Ainge was nonetheless operating the crew, I do not suppose they’d’ve traded him.”
The Celtics are reportedly set to make a three-team commerce that can have profound ramifications on the present roster.
Marcus Good, one of many leaders of the Celtics, is ready to be traded to the Grizzlies as a part of a deal that can convey Kristaps Porzingis to Boston. As well as, the Celtics can even purchase two first-round picks (together with the twenty fifth choose within the 2024 draft).
What precisely do among the specialists take into consideration the reported commerce? Right here’s a fast overview:
Chris Forsberg, NBC Sports activities Boston
Forsberg mentioned he was nonetheless processing the truth that Good had been included within the deal after it initially appeared the Celtics would commerce Malcolm Brogdon as an alternative.
“The preliminary response after I picked my jaw up off the ground is that it’s the tip of an period,” mentioned Forsberg. “You consider it: Brad Stevens took over this job 10 years in the past, and after the primary season, Marcus Good was a draft choose and so they have made the playoffs yearly since. Marcus is type of the center and soul of the crew. On a day that was purported to be dominated by the headline of buying Kristaps Porzingis now turns into somewhat little bit of making an attempt to determine how we acquired so far. Marcus Good was not purported to be in that authentic deal.
He additionally theorized that the transfer might need been made with out an overarching plan in thoughts.
“The place do they go from right here? I’m unsure the crew is aware of,” Forsberg mentioned. “I’m unsure the crew was braced simply a few hours in the past to organize for all times with out Marcus Good. Actually these conversations have available, but it surely’s only a little bit of a shock transfer right here. Celtics not content material to run it again. I do suppose this opens the door for Porzingis to be right here past this season. You don’t pay this price, doubtless, in the event you don’t consider you’re going to signal him past that.”
Adam Himmelsbach, The Boston Globe
In his column, Himmelsbach mentioned that the acquisition of Porzingis “reshapes this franchise and offers coach Joe Mazzulla one of many league’s most original offensive weapons.”
On Good, he identified that the 29-year-old was the “connective tissue of this Celtics period.”
“Wild that it’s over so instantly.”
Jay King, The Athletic
Among the ceaselessly mentioned traits that Good dropped at the Celtics had been his off-court contributions, in addition to his management. King emphasised this in noting that what Boston would possibly miss most about Good can’t be quantified in a field rating.
“Dropping Good received’t simply be a giant deal on the court docket, but in addition within the locker room,” King wrote. “He introduced a toughness to the Celtics. He grew to become a stable level guard and one of many crew’s finest passers. [Derrick] White ought to slide over to place to begin guard now. He’s able to that, however Good’s absence shall be felt on each ends of the ground. As impactful as his protection was, his court docket imaginative and prescient might be what the Celtics miss most. Or his perspective, each on and off the court docket. He at all times introduced power. Every single day, for 9 straight years, Good’s voice might be heard. It was usually louder than some other.”
Brian Windhorst, ESPN
Talking throughout a Thursday look on ESPN present “Get Up!”, Windhorst started with an attention-grabbing hypothetical.
“It is a actual beautiful commerce. I’ve to let you know: If Danny Ainge was nonetheless operating the crew, I don’t suppose they’d’ve traded him,” Windhorst theorized. “I’ve heard Danny Ainge speak about Marcus Good.
“I’ve completely immense respect for Marcus Good,” Windhorst added. “I’d need him on my crew. I’ve been within the locker room after big [Celtics] wins and listened to him. I’ve been within the locker room after horrible losses and listened to him. He’s the definition of a frontrunner in the way in which he performs.”
Nonetheless, Windhorst identified that by buying and selling a central piece of the roster, the Celtics might have implicitly acknowledged that the 2022-2023 crew didn’t have the right combination to win a title.
“They’re altering the form of their crew by making this commerce, however they’re additionally admitting that the form of their crew wasn’t a championship crew,” Windhorst mentioned. “Their combine didn’t work. And one of many issues about that crew — I don’t suppose it’s due to Marcus — for some cause [Boston] has focus issues, and so they additionally had a little bit of a roster steadiness drawback. I don’t know in the event you’re taking away a frontrunner like Marcus that that’s going to repair the main focus problem, and so they have extra strikes to make.”
Michael Pina, The Ringer
Assessing the place the Celtics (and the opposite groups within the deal) stand, Pina primarily graded it as “incomplete.”
“On the entire, this commerce nudged all of the contributors within the course they need to go,” he defined. “On the identical time, all three are most likely taking a look at themselves within the mirror, realizing they’ve much more work to do over the subsequent few weeks.”
And, as Adrian Wojnarowski identified in an ESPN interview, Pina defined {that a} motivating issue for the commerce had been the crew’s looming wage cap issues.
“Boston’s return was a lot truthful (Two firsts? On this financial system?), however the impetus of the deal was much less about bettering a championship-caliber basketball crew than about managing a looming monetary pressure introduced on by the NBA’s draconian collective bargaining settlement. However by exchanging the $41 million Good had left on his deal after subsequent season for Porzingis’s expiring contract, Boston has reduce prices and infused itself with some extra flexibility (it owns all its draft picks) whereas forming a balanced, humongous, and über-talented crew.”
Join Celtics updates
Get breaking information and evaluation delivered to your inbox throughout basketball season.