Former All-Star power forward Kristaps Porzingis wanted to land with the Boston Celtics, who acquired him from the Washington Wizards, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
The Utah Jazz were going to heavily pursue Porzingis had the Latvian entered unrestricted free agency. The Celtics could sign KP to a contract extension this summer. The former New York Knicks star is in the final year of his contract.
“I’ve since heard that Utah’s interest in pursuing Porziņģis in free agency was even stronger than initially believed, with the Jazz A) said to be preparing an offer in free agency for the 7-foot-3 Latvian expected to exceed the total compensation the Celtics can provide him and B) also expressing interest in serving as the third team in the trade that ultimately sent Marcus Smart to Memphis but returned two future first-round picks as well as Porziņģis for Boston,” Stein wrote.
The Celtics were Porzingis’ preferred landing spot, which helped with the decision to exercise the player option to get the trade done. There is already a strong expectation in circulation that Boston will indeed extend Porzingis a two-year extension in July, as Stein reported.
“Yet league sources reiterated over the weekend that Boston was Porziņģis’ preferred destination, prompting him to pick up next season’s $36 million player option before Wednesday’s midnight ET deadline to ensure that the trade would go through.”
Porzingis averaged 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists for the Wizards this past season. The 27-year-old, who has played for the Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Wizards, shot 49.8% from the field, 38.5% from beyond the arc and 85.1% from the free-throw line.
The Celtics, who lost to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals in seven games, now have a Big 3 of Porzingis, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. It’s going to be fascinating to see how the three stars mesh on the court in Boston under second-year head coach Joe Mazzulla.
Porzingis has career averages of 19.6 points and 7.9 rebounds. There should be more driving lanes for Brown and Tatum to attack next season since opposing big men will have to leave the paint to guard Porzingis out on the perimeter.
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