Boston Celtics: These 2 Marcus Smart-Tristan Thompson trades return starting PG

Why the Boston Celtics do it

Rajon Rondo is still a fringe-starter at this point in his career, although admittedly Luke Kennard is the true gem of this return. As a former teammate of Jayson Tatum at Duke, acquiring Kennard would be a clear sign from Brad Stevens that the 2x All-Star is the foundation of the team moving forward.

Ivica Zubac is essentially a salary throw-in, but there are far worse options to deploy in case of emergency than the Bosnian big man.

Why the Los Angeles Clippers do it

With the emergence of Reggie Jackson, Rajon Rondo is somewhat superfluous in Tinseltown. With the meteoric rise of Terance Mann, Luke Kennard may become less of a priority than he would like to at this point in his career.

Tristan Thompson is more active on the boards than any of the Clippers’ current centers and is a better fit for Hollywood than Beantown. While he underperformed in Boston, he may bring more to a Los Angeles lineup that has gone small during the 2021 postseason to overcome their shallow big man corp currently missing Serge Ibaka.