Porizingis is a Celtic!

     

    Right at the June 21st midnight deadline, Kristaps Porzingis opted in to his $36 million one year opt in for an opt in and trade between the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics. The reality of this trade is that the Celtics upgraded. It is a cold blooded move by President of Basketball operation Brad Stevens. Trading the heart and soul of the Celtics the heart beat the leader. What the Celtics bring in is a unicorn of a talent. Kristaps Porzingis is a walking 22 point scorer, potentially one of the best offensive bigs in the game. He brings a post game to put right on the block he can shoot the midrange, he can shoot the 3 ball he's athletic, he can drive and dunk, Porzingis is an elite talent that the Celtics acquired in a place where they needed help. I had been calling out the front court depth and Stevens added a super star to the front court. Boston's new Big 3 will be fearsome to deal with. All 3 players bring length strength and talent. 

    The trade brings so much to the Celtics, Porzingis is truly a dynamite talent and the city will love him, he averaged 23 points a game 8 1/2 rebounds and lead all centers in the league in assists. The pairing of Porzingis and Rob Williams III will be truly fierce all of a sudden you have a true big that can space better than Grant Williams could. Along with KP shooting it better than Smart shooting 49% from the field and 36% from deep. Porzingis is for the first time in his career not being asked to be the best player for a franchise or even the second he is the 3rd option the 3rd best player which will come with less pressure he should thrive under Tatum and Brown. 

    Looking at the defensive end Porzingis originally wasn't known for his defensive talent, this has steadily improved throughout the years. KP has 1.5 blocks per game. Running KP in the drop coverage next to Time Lord as the help guy is to straight trees as rim protectors. Vice Versa running KP as the help for Rob Williams they're interchangeable putting them with Jayson Tatum no one is scoring in the paint. Having Derrick White and Jaylen Brown guarding perimeter players there's reason to be excited about next season. Derrick White was all defense 2nd team last year leading all guards in blocks and blocks per game. Jaylen when he is locked in is an elite perimeter defender as well he can lock up guards he just suffers when he is in a height mismatch. Of course Jayson Tatum is just overall the best defensive player on the team now being able to guard 1 through 5. 

    I will not argue this today but there is an argument that the loss of Smart is addition by subtraction, which is hard/sad to say. You lose your most ferocious and intense player that truly embodied what Red Auerbach meant to be a true Celtic. Smart was the Darling of the city he wasn't the most talented player on the team but he had heart. Your giving up those intangibles, intensity and leadership, but this truly is the last domino that had to fall to officially give the, team, the franchise, the city to the two Jays. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown no longer anyone above them calling the shots or setting the culture. This team, this franchise, this city, goes as far as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown take it.