By Shams Sarania, Jared Weiss, Josh Robbins, La Murray and Jay King
The Wizards, Celtics and Clippers are close to completing a three-team trade that would have sent Kristaps Porchesis to Boston, Marcus Morris and the 2023 NBA draft pick to Washington and Malcolm Brogdon to Los Angeles. said Athletic.
The Pages are still working through the details and Porzingis’ $36 million player option for next season.
The deal is considered a “high possibility,” according to a league source briefed on the negotiations. Boston must send Danilo Gallinari additional salary to meet the $6.8 million expiring salary cap.
The Wizards have shown interest in bringing back Porchesis, but several teams have been reported interested in the 7-foot-3 big man. Washington acquired Porsche in February 2022. Last season he averaged 23.2 points with 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 32.6 minutes per game.
Morris, 33, averaged 11.2 points and four rebounds a contest for Los Angeles. Brockton, 30, did not start last season for the first time in his career. He averaged 14.9 points with 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists a night.
Athletics Instant Analysis:
Why do wizards move Porsches?
Ever since the Wizards agreed to trade Bradley Beal, it’s been clear that the franchise’s new decision-makers want to rebuild. Follow-up question: How far do Michael Winger and Will Dawkins want to go? Do they want to go all the way to the studs?
A trade involving Porziņģis certainly indicates that tearing the roster down to studs is the direction the Guides’ brass wants to take.
While the Wizards agreed to trade Beal, the return to the Wizards was limited in terms of draft capital that could begin a rebuild. A three-team trade involving Porziņģis could provide some more draft capital.
In order for the Wizards to trade Porcisas now, Porcisas must first exercise his player option for the 2023-24 season. The option is worth $36 million.
Today is the deadline for the Porsches to exercise that player option, which in part explains the urgency to get this trade done.
Another reason for urgency: The 2023 NBA draft is Thursday night, and acquiring more draft capital in a Porches trade — depending on what that draft capital ends up being — would give the Wizards the ability to use it on draft night or the draft. It is trying to move up in the draft.
Since the Wizards traded for him in February 2022, Porscheis has been well-liked by teammates, coaches and team officials. He was a positive influence on his young teammates, especially forward Deni Avtija.
Porsches made it clear last season that he loved playing in Washington and was happy to be with the franchise on the right long-term deal. But since the end of the season, there have been several changes, including the firing of president and general manager Tommy Shepherd, the trade of Winger, Dawkins and Travis Schlenk and Beal. Porziņģis has not commented on those substantial changes, but it is questionable whether he would be interested in participating in the rebuild.
A trade to Boston would allow him to compete for a championship. That would convey his Bird rights to Boston, which would then be free to re-sign him or go over the cap to extend his contract.
It’s also important to note that any deal that would send Malcolm Brockton to the Clippers would eliminate the Clippers as a potential destination for the Wizards to land Chris Paul, one of the outgoing Suns players in the Beal trade. — Robbins
What Porsche adds to Boston
The Celtics would take a risk on Bourges, who has dealt with injuries throughout his career. He has just one year left on his contract, and assuming he chooses to facilitate this trade, he could be out as a free agent next offseason. Assuming the cost isn’t huge, he’ll make a lot more sense in Boston. He will give the Celtics more line options in the front court. He will allow the big lineups to play more consistently. He will provide them with a constant source of low-post scores. He’ll do all that without forcing the Celtics to sacrifice much of the outside shooting that made them so hard to stop last season. – King
Brockton’s fit in LA
There are several layers to a potential Clippers acquisition for Brockton. As far as fit goes, the Clippers have been keeping an eye on Brockton since his pre-draft process in 2016, interviewing him at the combine and bringing him to a workout; The Clippers wound up using first-round pick Bryce Johnson, one of the more regrettable picks of a front office led by Doc Rivers. Brockton developed into Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year.
Brockton’s upside as he enters his eighth NBA season remains the same as it always has been: He’s a big guard (6-foot-4, 229 pounds) capable of playing all three perimeter positions because of his size, skill and his combination. Willingness to protect. Brockton has long arms, big hands and plays with control. He’s shooting at a high level: 48.4/44.4/87.0, a 3.7-to-1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Brockton’s downside makes him a perfect fit in the current Clippers syndrome: He’ll be 31 in December, his durability has been in question year after year, he’s had several postseasons cut short by injury, his athleticism is near rock bottom. , and he’s getting $22.5 million in each of the next two seasons. Brockton also doesn’t force turnovers, so he won’t help the Clippers’ defense in their weak areas.
Acquiring Brockton makes the Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook questions interesting. Will the Clippers still try to acquire Paul via trade? Paul is 38 and will be 39 in the playoffs next May; John Stockton, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Derek Fisher and Jason Terry are the only point guards in NBA postseason history to play more than 15 minutes per game. And Fisher, Terry and Kidd were the only ones at that age and position to win playoff series in lesser and completely ineffective roles. It makes more practical sense for Brockton to get a playmaking guard to play alongside Leonard and George. But it also means that only one of Paul or Westbrook can be signed to a minimum contract, and it appears the Clippers want to wait on Paul before making a decision with Westbrook.
The Clippers trading Morris ends a four-year tenure where Morris was paid and expected to develop as the team’s third-best player behind Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. There were moments when Morris certainly helped the Clippers, such as his postseason run in 2021 where he guarded the bigs, where he hit a high percentage of his 3s, and Morris was the primary scoring option in the 2022-23 season, with Leonard and George missing. Active. Morris has been a physical presence lining up at power forward.
But Morris’ already adequate athleticism has further evaporated over the past three years. Last season, Morris was one of the least active starters in the NBA in terms of steals, blocks and offensive rebound rates. Morris’ firing, while not responsible, wasn’t enough to justify his complete absence from the rest of the floor. Although Robert Covington was basically bumped several times last season, it took the Clippers until late March to finally fix Morris’ role under health and safety protocols and back spasms. Trading Morris, who has a year left on his contract, eliminates the possibility of him playing more again next season.
But it also opens up the biggest positional issue the team already has, as neither Covington nor Nicholas Badum will be a great starter at this point in their careers. Even after this trade, the Clippers still have more work to do with their starting lineup. – Murray
Backstory
In March, Athletic Porcisis and the Wizards are reportedly in talks about a contract extension that would see Porcisis opt out of his player option for the 2023-24 season and sign a new long-term deal. The Wizards could offer Porsche a maximum of four years and $180 million.
The Celtics fell into an 0-3 hole against the Heat in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals. Miami defeated Boston 103-84 to advance to the Finals before forcing a Game 7 comeback. Boston last reached the Finals in 2022, losing to the Warriors in six games.
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(Photo: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)