Many fans of the Boston Celtics went to bed thinking they would wake up to 2023 Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon as a Los Angeles Clipper, reserve forward Danilo Gallinari a Washington Wizard, and Kristaps Porzingis in Boston. Some who went to bed earlier may have thought they'd wake up with Brogdon and Gallo on the Wiz and Porzingis a Celtic.
But pretty much no one had Marcus Smart a Memphis Grizzly well before dawn on the next day. The move by team president Brad Stevens to shake up the ball club by dealing away its longest-tenured player for the Latvian big man and draft capital hit Boston fans right in the feels, even the ones who believe it was a savvy move under the new collective bargaining agreement.
And not everyone is thrilled to have put so much of the team's salary cap into a player who has averaged less than 60 games played per season over a seven-season career, nor one who has problematic allegations in their past.
Cohost of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast Cameron Tabatabaie linked up with Celtics Blog's Jack Simone to talk over the unexpected news, and what it means for the team, for fans, and for the future.
The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Fan Duel and Better Help.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices