I’ve lived through several big Celtics trades in my life, with a wide variety of results.
I lived through Rick Pitino trading Chauncey and Dee Brown for Kenny Anderson.
That…didn’t exactly work out.
That….didn’t exactly work out either.
I lived through trading Toine, which was the first true gut punch of my teenage years.
As you’re able to imagine, Raef LaFrentz and Jiri Welsch didn’t bring a title.
Of course, the Big 3 trade did.
After that, we had the Rondo trade.
That was another tough one for yours truly and is sort of similar to what we’re experiencing now.
People either loved or hated Rondo in a lot of the same ways people either love or hate Smart.
You bet your ass that was tough.
Then came the Isaiah trade.
And now here we are with Marcus Smart.
There won’t be a dry eye in that building.
But what’s done is done.
There’s no changing it, this is the reality.
I know enough about Brad to know he doesn’t make rash decisions.
He has a plan.
What is that plan?
Who the hell knows.
But I have no choice but to trust it.
The Draft is tonight and free agency hasn’t even started yet, but that’s the truth.
Especially when we’re also getting news like this
Is this his elbow?
Is it Tommy John or something?
I understand the return aspect of the Smart trade.
But we don’t live in a vacuum and basketball is not played in a vacuum.
That’s where the uncertainty lives.
We saw how Brogdon was targeted defensively to the point where Joe basically couldn’t play him.
All I know is that it has to be.
You cannot enter a season let alone the playoffs with that jot down of guard rotation.
Of course, there are some positives to this whole thing, like an increased Derrick role.
No more hesitant play.
He has to take another leap as both an aggressive scorerandfacilitator for any of this to work.
He certainly can, we just have to see it.
With Porzingis, it does give the Celtics an interesting look.
The only real concern I have with Porzingis is the health aspect.
In terms of his game and how he plays on both ends, those help you.
My expectations are basically what I had with Brogdon last year.
That’s essentially exactly what happened with Brogdon last season.
My additional concern with Porzingis' health is how the rest of the frontcourt looks.
My question is, which need does Brad now fill and how does he do it?
Is that drafting someone today and hoping to God they are NBA ready right now?
For a team that many said had a toughness and heart problem, how is that improved right now?
Are the Celtics tougher today?
Even then, we won’t truly know until this time next year.
It simply cannot be.
This trade is a monumental moment for this team and this franchise.
It’s their fork in the road moment for this era.
Tatum has to be an MVP guy all the time now, not just some of the time.
Jaylen cannot go into witness protection throughout a playoff series either.
Now they have to do it or this team is royally porked.
