Since being promoted to General Manager of the Boston Celtics, Brad Stevens has wasted no time making improvements. The Boston Celtics made two trades today, acquiring both Kris Dunn and Josh Richardson in two separate deals. Here are trade grades for Stevens’ performance today:
Boston Celtics Trade Grades:
Trade #1: Celtics Absorb Josh Richardson
The Dallas Mavericks are finalizing trading G/F Josh Richardson to the Boston Celtics, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Richardson is exercising his $11.6 million player option for the 2021-22 season for the deal.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 31, 2021
The Boston Celtics finally put the massive trade exception generated by the Gordon Hayward trade to good use by acquiring Josh Richardson. The Mavericks front office thought his defense would make up the shooting downgrade from Seth Curry. Unfortunately, he wound up shooting a career-low 33% from three, too much of a negative impact on the Mavericks’ offense to keep him around. The Mavericks have now opened up $33 million in cap space and the Celtics acquire a defensive guard that could play off Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown well if he gets his jumper back in working order.
Grade: B+
Trade #2: Celtics, Kings, and Hawks Complete 3-team deal
Updated trade summary:
Celtics get – Kris Dunn, Bruno Fernando, 2023 2nd-round pick
Hawks get – Delon Wright
Kings get – Tristan Thompson— FantasyLabs NBA (@FantasyLabsNBA) July 30, 2021
The Celtics have been in the market for a point guard since trading Kemba Walker to the Thunder earlier this year. Acquiring Kris Dunn, who rarely played for the Hawks due to injury, while simultaneously getting off of the 10-million Tristan Thompson is owed this year is a big win for Boston. Tatum and Brown have both improved so much they no longer need a ball-dominant point guard regulating their possessions. Dunn will come in, be aggressive, play good defense, and keep the ball moving. Bruno Fernando and the second-round pick will be negligible for a team of Boston’s caliber.
Grade: A-
The Atlanta Hawks are able to turn nothing into something with this move. The Eastern Conference Finals team didn’t require the services of Kris Dunn or Bruno Fernando to make their run. Turning those players into Delon Wright, a big guard that shot 40% from distance on 3 attempts per game this past season will do well backing up Trae Young after the likely departure of Lou Williams.
Grade: B+
The Kings realized one night too late that they might need a long-term big. Tristan Thompson can act as another stop-gap center for the year, but his expiring contract means he likely won’t be around for long.
Grade: C
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