Grade the trade: Boston Celtics swap out disgruntled guards for 3-and-D forwards

The Boston Celtics have two point guards with awkward trade situations: fourth-year floor general Payton Pritchard and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon.

In the former’s case, Pritchard had a midseason trade demand that was never fulfilled due to the desire to have a greater role in the rotation. As for Brogdon, well, the Cs just tried to trade him for Kristaps Porzingis but, due to a failed physical from the guard, had to swap him out of the proposal and send out Marcus Smart instead.

In order to address both situations, NBA Analysis Network came up with a mock trade proposal that would send out both players to the Los Angeles Clippers; returning two 3-and-D forwards Marcus Morris and Robert Covington.

Trade grade for the Boston Celtics: C-

In a nutshell, landing Morris and Covington is a step forward for any team’s defense, since both are versatile enough to guard all five positions. Covington still shoots in the 37-39% range, while Morris is two seasons removed from a 47% conversion rate from beyond the arc.

We don’t live in a giant nutshell, though. Boston already has a loaded frontcourt featuring Porzingis, Al Horford, and Robert Williams as a big man rotation and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, two max contract superstars needing close to 40 minutes per game, on the wing. The Cs don’t need true power forwards at this point. They need point guards.

This deal leaves the team with Derrick White and Dalano Banton as a floor general rotation. That’s front office malpractice less than two months before the start of training camp.

Ultimately, this deal isn’t one that Boston would benefit from at this point in the offseason.

Trade grade for the Los Angeles Clippers: B+

The acquisition of Kenyon Martin Jr. in the offseason opens up the Clippers to offloading some of their frontcourt talents, so getting rid of Morris and Covington in one fell swoop to land a starter-level point guard in Brogdon is smart in case Russell Westbrook suffers a further decline. Pritchard is due for a raise, but he has a higher ceiling than Jason Preston or Brandon Boston Jr.

This isn’t a home run for Los Angeles, but they’d be the clear winners in such a scenario.