Boston Celtics: 3 Grant Williams-Payton Pritchard trades for a win-now veteran

The Boston Celtics dealt away their 2023 first-round pick, made possible because the clock reset on the Stepien Rule following the 2022 NBA draft last week, in the deal that brought back Malcolm Brogdon, so their 2024 first-rounder isn’t one they can dangle in a deal. Their 2025 pick is the next one that’s tradeable, and in this final mock trade scenario, they land a talent that could have a higher ceiling and fills a more immediate need using the Williams-Pritchard pairing: Charlotte Hornets big man P.J. Washington.

The Hornets have very negative headlines consuming the franchise at the moment. Miles Bridges, who is currently a restricted free agent, was arrested for a felony charge of intimate partner violence with injury this past Wednesday after an incident two days earlier in West Los Angeles — he was booked on a felony domestic violence warrant according to ESPN.

With Bridges’ future in question, Charlotte could elect to hold onto the guys confirmed to be in uniform next season. That said, they’re not contenders, nor are they bottom-feeders, so taking on a future first-round draft pick, an immediate Washington replacement at power forward (Grant Williams) and a point guard to spell LaMelo Ball could be a good way to hedge for whatever happens next.

The primary justification for the Hornets to make such a move is to pay a much lower extension for Williams than what Washington would ask for next summer during his own restricted free agency.