Celtics Owner Details Decision Behind Trading for ‘a Real Force’ in Kristaps Porzingis

The Celtics showed they were all in on winning an NBA title when they traded Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porziņģis in June, and team owner Wyc Grousbeck explained the decision to add the veteran big man. 

“The general tone was, how do we take this energy we’re feeling right now that was built up over having two good seasons but then didn’t get all the way? The whole point is, how do we get to Banner 18? If we’d all agreed we should keep things the same, that would have been fine,” he told The Boston Globe. “But the idea of bringing in another talented big popped up early in the conversation, and we ended up executing on that idea.”

Grousbeck called the last two seasons “missed opportunities” and said that he and team leadership agreed a change needed to be made. Boston lost in the Finals in 2022 and fell in the Eastern Conference finals last season.  

“So when I met with [president of basketball operations Brad Stevens] and [ coach Joe Mazzulla] after the season to plan going forward, we agreed not to bring back the exact same team again, but to be open to changing the mix and bringing in additional talent,” he added. “And the result of that so far this offseason has been Kristaps Porziņģis coming in and really adding hopefully a lot to our lineup.”

Porziņģis adds a presence in the paint and a viable third option that is desperately needed since the squad depends on Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The center averaged 23.2 points and 8.4 rebounds last year with the Wizards and is expected to fit right in with a Boston team looking to win its first NBA title since 2008.