The Celtics showed they were all in on winning an NBA title when they traded Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porziņģis in June, and team owner Wyc Grousbeck explained the decision to add the veteran big man.
“The general tone was, how do we take this energy we’re feeling right now that was built up over having two good seasons but then didn’t get all the way? The whole point is, how do we get to Banner 18? If we’d all agreed we should keep things the same, that would have been fine,” he told The Boston Globe. “But the idea of bringing in another talented big popped up early in the conversation, and we ended up executing on that idea.”
Grousbeck called the last two seasons “missed opportunities” and said that he and team leadership agreed a change needed to be made. Boston lost in the Finals in 2022 and fell in the Eastern Conference finals last season.
