Celtics Trading Kristaps Porzingis Would Be Massive Mistake

The Boston Celtics are deeply entrenched in trade rumors after a rough ending to the season. Jayson Tatum went down with an Achilles injury, and has a chance to be out for all of next season.

At the center of many of the trade rumors is center Kristaps Porzingis, whose combination of rim protection and outside shooting is a highly coveted skillset in the modern NBA.

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With Porzingis entering the last year of his contract, the Celtics may try to capitalize on his value before he hits free agency. However, that could turn out to be a hasty mistake.

Trading Porzingis, at least at the moment, would be a mistake, because his value isn't the highest right now. With his contract running out, teams may be hesitant to trade for him given his potential not to resign.

He also struggled in the playoffs this year, and is infamous for being injury prone. Given he was dealing with some mysterious injury/illness that affected his play, that is only more prominent now.

The only teams that could give a fair price for Porzingis are teams desperate for a center, but that number of teams isn't very high.

There are also other cheaper, less risky options to acquire, making Porzingis not as enticing as he could be.

The Celtics could probably find a deal they are satisfied with, but that is only if the team is desperate to trade Porzingis, which they shouldn't be.

Porzingis has hovered around 20 points per game throughout his career, so when healthy, he is still an elite player entering his age-30 season.

With Tatum and even Jaylen Brown potentially out for a significant time, the team needs scoring threats if they want to remain remotely competitive. Porzingis is capable of filling that role, even if temporarily, along with Derrick White.

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If the Celtics want to strategically tank to get a better draft pick and build more towards the following season, then trading Porzingis makes more sense, but if the team wants to compete and wants to clear salary, trading a good player on the last year of his deal isn't a great idea.

It is still early in the offseason, but until Brad Stevens and the Celtics make their offseason strategy clear, it is hard to make a case for the team trading away Porzingis.

There are scenarios where trading Porzingis makes sense, but as of now, there are more scenarios where trading him doesn't make sense.

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