Boston Celtics land Doncic, Dallas Mavericks remain competitive
As we insinuated, almost any trade involving Luka Doncic heading to the Boston Celtics will have to include the likes of Jaylen Brown, and, once again, we see him being sent down to join the Mavericks.
In this deal, however, we see the Swiss Army man himself, Marcus Smart, packaged in as somewhat of a sweetener to the mix and, in turn, keeping them very much in the conversation as a real challenger out West.
For Smart, while he’s etched himself into the hearts of Boston Celtics fans nationwide and, in turn, calls Massachusetts “home”, his roots are actually right on the outskirts of Dallas, thus making such a transaction somewhat of a full-circle move for the seventh-year pro.
In 2020-21, Smart had yet another solid campaign, putting up per-game averages of 13.1 points, 5.7 assists, 3.5 boards, and 1.5 steals. On top of this, he once again put forth stellar efforts on the less glamorous side of the court, thus keeping him in the conversation to make his third consecutive All-Defensive selection come year’s end.
Now, of course, sending both Brown AND Smart is a rather costly loss for the Cs but not only do they get a superstar in Doncic to pair with their own superstar in Tatum, but they also bring on the likes of Josh Richardson who, though he may have had a relatively underwhelming season when it comes to the expectations that came with him upon his arrival, is still very much a solid player.
A career 12.3 point per game scorer with shooting averages of 43 percent from the floor and 36 percent from deep, the 27-year-old wing could be a nice addition to the Celtics off the bench to serve as a solid addition to their 28th ranked scoring unit.