A three-team trade, agreed to the day after the NBA draft, sends Kris Dunn and Bruno Fernando to the Boston Celtics, Delon Wright to the Atlanta Hawks and Tristan Thompson to the Sacramento Kings.
How does the swap help balance all three teams' rosters? Why will it create a new trade exception for Boston? And how does it affect the Celtics' chances of re-signing unrestricted free agent Evan Fournier?
The deal
Celtics get: Kris Dunn, Bruno Fernando and a 2023 second-round pick
Hawks get: Delon Wright
Kings get: Tristan Thompson
Boston Celtics: A-
For the Celtics, this is part two of the trade sequence that began with reacquiring Al Horford from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Kemba Walker last month. That deal left Boston heavy at center with Horford, Thompson and Robert Williams, along with Moses Brown on a non-guaranteed contract.
Thompson, who started 43 of the 54 games he played during his one regular season with the Celtics and all five in the playoffs, was the odd man out compared to the younger Williams and the more capable Horford. Dealing him allows Boston to save a little more than $4 million while filling an extra roster spot.
That savings could be important as the Celtics look to re-sign Evan Fournier, acquired at the trade deadline. Boston will now start the offseason about $11 million away from the luxury-tax line, including the non-guaranteed salaries of Brown and Jabari Parker. That's likely not enough first-year salary for Fournier, but the team could comfortably go into the season a few million into the tax with the ability to shave the bill down by the trade deadline if necessary.
I'm curious what kind of role Dunn can carve out for the Celtics, who famously chose Jaylen Brown over him with the No. 3 pick of the 2016 draft. Dunn never got started in Atlanta, missing the season's first 63 games following surgery to remove loose cartilage in his right ankle. By the time he returned, it was far too late to establish a rotation role.
Go back a year and Dunn was one of the league's better guard defenders, earning a spot on my All-Defensive First Team ballot ahead of new teammate Marcus Smart. New Boston coach Ime Udoka can keep one of those two on the court at most times, though that would mean sacrificing shooting as compared to playing younger guards Romeo Langford and Aaron Nesmith as backup on the wing.
As my ESPN colleague Bobby Marks noted, the Celtics can use trade exceptions to take back both players' salaries, allowing them to create a new $9.5 million exception for the value of Thompson's 2020-21 salary if this deal is completed by the end of the league year on Sunday, or his $9.7 million 2021-22 salary if it's official after that. For Boston to also get a second-round pick on top of all that makes this a strong trade for the Celtics.
Atlanta Hawks: B-
The Hawks signed Dunn to offer a defensive presence on the wing as part of their second units. The development of their own young wings over the past year has largely eliminated that need, though Atlanta still had one at point guard behind Trae Young. Enter Wright, who's been one of the league's better backups at the point.
With Wright and starting shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic as a reserve backcourt, the Hawks should be able to succeed with Young on the bench, an area in which they improved dramatically thanks to staggering Bogdanovic and Young during their second-half surge last season. While Atlanta still won't likely score nearly as well without Young running the show, Wright's size, 6-foot-5, offers some of the defensive value the Hawks expected Dunn to provide, and he's a better ball-handler and outside shooter.
Atlanta does add about $1.7 million in 2021-22 salary with this deal. Still, the Hawks should have enough room under the luxury tax to re-sign restricted free agent John Collins and use at least a majority of their non-taxpayer midlevel exception to address a need at backup center with 2020 lottery pick Onyeka Okongwu set to miss the start of the 2021-22 regular season following shoulder surgery. This move does seem to signal that Atlanta will move on from Lou Williams, an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Sacramento Kings: C-
As with the other two teams involved, the Kings rebalance their roster well with this trade. Sacramento's backcourt was overflowing after they drafted Davion Mitchell with the No. 9 pick Thursday to go along with incumbent starters De'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield, Wright and promising 2020 lottery pick Tyrese Haliburton.
The Kings also have an opening at center, where starter Richaun Holmes is an unrestricted free agent and backup Hassan Whiteside seems unlikely to return. Still, swapping Wright for Thompson seems like a poor value given the ability to sign centers for the veteran's minimum as productive as Thompson. I would only have made this trade if it yielded a draft pick in return.
In the long run, this deal won't affect Sacramento's fortunes. Both Wright and Thompson are on expiring contracts and don't factor into the Kings' long-term plans. But even after making this deal, Sacramento still desperately needs to re-sign Holmes to be competitive for a spot in the play-in tournament next season.