Celtics veteran Brain Scalabrine discusses Kristaps Porzingis’ game, and how he could impact winning for the Celtics. He also discusses how his current deal with the Wizards would fit into the Celtics’ salary cap.
The Boston Celtics could use frontcourt depth this offseason. How about a 7-foot-3 big man who can shoot threes?
Boston is pursuing Washington Wizards star Kristaps Porzingis and has "been in discussions on a potential framework" for an opt-in-and-trade deal involving the veteran forward, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Wednesday.
UPDATE (3:30 p.m. ET): The Celtics, Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers are in "strong talks" on a three-team trade that would send Porzingis to Boston, Malcolm Brogdon to Los Angeles and Marcus Morris to Washington, Charania reports. The deal is considered a "high possibility," per Charania, with Boston potentially including Danilo Gallinari and his $6.8 million expiring contract in the trade.
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In a sign-and-trade scenario, Porzingis would opt in to his $36 million player option with Washington for the 2023-24 season, then be dealt to the Celtics, where he'd be on an expiring contract.
It's unclear what Boston would have to part with to land the 27-year-old, but one package that would work from a financial perspective could involve guard Malcolm Brogdon ($22.5 million cap hit for 2023-24) and big man Danilo Gallinari, who just exercised his $6.8 million player option. Our Chris Forsberg also wondered if a third team could be involved in a Porzingis-to-Boston deal.
Porzingis is coming off a very strong 2022-23 campaign in which he averaged 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game for the Wizards while shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point range. He'd give the Celtics a much-needed offensive boost in the frontcourt and a legitimate third scorer to pair with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
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The biggest drawback with Porzingis, of course, is his injury history: The No. 4 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft has missed at least 15 games in every season since his rookie year and missed the entire 2018-19 campaign due to a torn ACL.
Still, the Celtics should all-in on winning Banner 18 in 2023-24, so it's worth at least pursuing a player of Porzingis' caliber.
