The headline, for now, is that Kristaps Porzingis traded to Celtics in 3-Team trade. Things always tend to move faster during the NBA trade season than I expect. The Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, and Memphis Grizzlies completed a three-team trade yesterday. We'll be looking at this trade in the 2023-24 Fantasy Basketball Breakdown: Kristaps Porzingis Traded To Celtics In 3-Team Trade.
The trade details are as follows:
- Boston receives big man Kristaps Porzingis, the 25th pick of this year’s draft, and a 2024 1st-round pick via the Golden State Warriors
- Memphis receives point guard Marcus Smart
- Washington receives point guard Tyus Jones, forward Danilo Gallinari, forward/big Mike Muscala, and the 35th pick in this year’s draftÂ
Overall, I feel Boston received both the best player and the best assets. However, we won’t go there. Instead, we’ll dive into how this affects each team from a fantasy basketball perspective in my 2023-24 Fantasy Basketball Breakdown: Kristaps Porzingis Traded To Celtics In 3-Team Trade article.Â
2023-24 Fantasy Basketball Breakdown: Kristaps Porzingis Traded To Celtics In 3-Team Trade
Washington Wizards
Tyus Jones is a huge loss for Memphis. This was a really impactful trade on all sides.
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) June 22, 2023
With the recent trade news sending Chris Paul to Golden State for Jordan Poole, I am extremely confident in Tyus Jones this season now with Washington. He and Poole will likely be the starting backcourt, with Monte Morris and Delon Wright coming off the bench.Â
Any time he got starting minutes for the Grizzlies, Jones was exceptional. As a starter, Jones averaged 16.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 1.8 steals. He also shot 50.0% from the field on almost 13 shots while maintaining the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA. I expect him to get starter-level minutes for this team and there's a lot of reason to be excited about him.
Outside of Tyus Jones, I believe that Deni Avdija and Daniel Gafford are also big winners here. The departure of Kristaps Porziņģis will likely bump their minutes and usage. I expect Avdija to end up being inefficient, but I could see some near-triple-double stat lines in his future for the upcoming season. Gafford will likely remain hyper-efficient but also see an increase in his rebounding numbers and potentially his stock numbers due to the extra minutes.
Memphis Grizzlies
Marcus Smart was "completely shocked" by his trade announcement, per @AdamHimmelsbach
He thought he was going to retire in Boston pic.twitter.com/XibFzLEnOe
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 22, 2023
The departure of Tyus Jones and the suspension of Ja Morant leave Marcus Smart in a great Fantasy situation with Memphis. It was a surprising move, but one that should benefit Smart's fantasy finish for the upcoming season. He’ll still likely be his very inefficient self, but I’d expect his counting stats to see a bit of an increase, especially to start the year while Ja Morant is out.Â
We know that guard/forward Dillon Brooks is not being brought back. So it wouldn’t surprise me to see a smaller lineup of Morant, Smart, and Bane once Ja Morant returns to the team. This is one of the paths I see for Smart to keep his minutes around 30 per game throughout the season.Â
With the Memphis move being a 1-for-1 swap of point guards, I don’t see any other outright winners for Memphis. Smart could demand more minutes than Jones, so this is a possible losing situation for bench guards Luke Kennard and John Konchar, but we will have to stay plugged in to see how that pans out.
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are finalizing a deal to acquire the Washington Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis, sources tell ESPN. Porzingis is opting into his $36M contract for 2023-2024 and getting his trade to the Celtics. pic.twitter.com/tRVEfI8nnI
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2023
The Celtics wanted to get bigger and they did. However, they lost their best perimeter defender in the process, and someone I feel was extremely important to their team culture. That said, I feel like this move is a fun one for fantasy basketball.
The Celtics' offense should improve, while their defense gets worse. That's always good for fantasy basketball (see the Sacramento Kings last season). Jayson Tatum should see an increase in playmaking, but I think both he and his running mate Jaylen Brown will see a dip in their shot attempts.
Either or both of the remaining guards Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon are small winners from this. We'll see if Brogdon is even there by the end of the offseason, as he was the initial guard who was set to be traded before those talks fell through.
Kristaps Porzingis will take on a new role in Boston. I expect his usage rate to drop, but this could be helpful for his defensive numbers and efficiency overall. For 9-category leagues, you should take that into account when building your team. For points leagues, I would predict that his ceiling drops, making him a less valuable pick.
Al Horford and Rob Williams are both losers in this trade. Porzingis moves between power forward and center. Should he stay healthy, he takes both of the aforementioned out of the fantasy picture for most leagues.
I'm sure by the time this is out, we'll have another five trades to look into, but for now, I hope you enjoyed my Kristaps Porzingis Traded To Celtics In 3-Team Trade article!
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