Kristaps Porzingis appears to be heading to Boston after all.
After one blockbuster three-team trade involving Porzingis collapsed, the Celtics are finalizing a new three-team deal to land the Latvian big man in a trade that will include the Wizards and Grizzlies, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported late Wednesday night.
As part of the swap, veteran guard Marcus Smart will head from Boston to Memphis while the Wizards will get Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala from the Celtics, Wojnarowski reported.
The Grizzlies will also send first-round draft picks from 2023 (No. 25) and 2024 to the Celtics, while Washington will acquire the 2023 No. 35-overall pick from the Celtics.
Porzingis, a former Knick, opted into his $36 million player option and avoided free agency to make the deal possible, Wojnarowski reported.
A three-team trade reported earlier Wednesday would have involved the Clippers and the Wizards, with Malcolm Brogdon going from the Celtics to the Clippers.
The original iteration of a three-team deal, first reported by NBA insider Shams Charania, would’ve sent Porgzingis to Boston; Marcus Morris, Gallinari, Amir Coffey and the 30th pick in the draft (via the Clippers) to Washington; and Brogdon to the Clippers.
But according to NBA correspondent Marc Stein, the Clippers were wary about Brogdon’s injury status, which led to the first megadeal crumbling.
Brogdon, who won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award and averaged 14.9 points and 4.2 rebounds this season, played through a partial tear in his right elbow during the Eastern Conference finals, which the Celtics lost to the Heat in seven games.
The Athletic reported that Brogdon was optimistic he could avoid surgery for the injury that limited him to just 16 minutes over the final three games of the playoffs.
After spending three seasons with the Knicks, Porzingis was traded in January 2019 to the Mavericks. He signed a five-year, $158 million contract with Dallas before being traded to Washington in February 2022.
In his first full season with the Wizards, the 7-foot-3 Porzingis averaged 23.2 points per game, on 49.8 percent shooting from the field, and 8.4 rebounds a night.
As for Smart, 29, the point guard averaged 11.5 points and 6.3 assists over 61 games this past season. In 2021, the Celtics signed Smart to a four-year, $77 million contract extension that runs through the end of 2025-26 season. The Oklahoma State product will be owed $18.5 million this season, according to Spotrac.
Tyus Jones, heading to Washington in the trade, averaged a career-high 10.3 points per game last year.
Gallinari, originally drafted by the Knicks sixth overall in the 2008 draft, had signed a two-year contract with Boston in July 2022, but tore his ACL and missed the entire 2022-23 season.
Muscala is entering his 11th NBA season after he spent last year with the Thunder and Celtics.