What are the implications of the Boston Celtics-Memphis Grizzlies trade reported Friday by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski?
At the outset of the holiday weekend, the Celtics agreed to send guards Kris Dunn and Carsen Edwards and a 2026 second-round pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies for forward Juancho Hernangomez.
Because Dunn was recently acquired by the Celtics in trade and can't have his salary aggregated with another player yet, this deal can't be officially completed until Sept. 15, which is still well before the start of training camp two weeks later. Hernangomez was also acquired in a recent trade, by the Grizzlies, but the same restriction doesn't apply because he is not being traded with another player.
Boston balances the roster with a stretch option in the frontcourt, while Memphis continues an unusual trend of trading one player with a guaranteed contract for two despite already having too many guarantees on its roster. Will Dunn or Edwards find a spot?
Let's break down what this trade means for both teams and explore which other players could be affected.
Celtics get: Juancho Hernangomez
Grizzlies get: Kris Dunn, Carsen Edwards, 2026 second-round pick swap
Boston Celtics: B
Since the Celtics added Dunn in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, agreed to in July and officially completed last month, their roster has changed meaningfully. Boston later dealt for another wing, Josh Richardson, and signed point guard Dennis Schroder in free agency, leaving little room for Dunn -- or Edwards, a holdover on the roster -- to earn regular minutes. As a result, sending both of them out for a forward who can hypothetically provide floor spacing made sense for the Celtics.
It's important to note that Hernangomez's stretch ability hasn't really shown up much in practice since he made 41% of his 3-point attempts as a rookie. Over the past four seasons, he has shot a below-average 34%, but he parlayed a hot stretch (42% over 14 games as a starter) after being acquired by the Minnesota Timberwolves at the 2020 trade deadline into a contract that guarantees him $6.2 million this season with $450,000 incentives tied to body fat (per ESPN's Bobby Marks) and an additional $450K in performance-based incentives considered likely.
Importantly for Boston, Hernangomez's 2022-23 salary is entirely non-guaranteed through the day before free agency. So the Celtics aren't taking on additional long-term salary with this deal and could pay Hernangomez less than Dunn and Edwards if he fails to reach the performance incentives.
The most interesting domino effect to this trade is on forward Jabari Parker, whose $2.2 million salary is just $100,000 guaranteed through opening night. A 2-for-1 trade opens up a roster spot for Parker, who otherwise would have had to beat out a player with a guaranteed contract to make the team. However, Parker fills a similar role to that of Hernangomez, and Boston might now prefer to add a guard or keep the 15th roster spot open for midseason deals.
Memphis Grizzlies: C
The logic is a little more challenging to see here for the Grizzlies, who have an open spot on their 20-man roster after agreeing to a buyout with Rajon Rondo but get back to 18 guaranteed contracts -- three more than the maximum 15 roster spots for players with full NBA deals -- with this trade.
It's possible Memphis was willing to pay an extra $200,000 or so simply to get the pick swap in the 2026 second round. We'll see whether the Grizzlies have any plans to keep Dunn or Edwards despite a similar crowd in their own backcourt, where Desmond Bane, Tyus Jones and De'Anthony Melton back up starters Dillon Brooks and Ja Morant.
Despite his being traded twice this offseason, I think there's a place for Dunn to contribute in the league as one of the NBA's premier on-ball defenders. I voted Dunn to my all-defensive first team in 2019-20, when he played for the Chicago Bulls. After signing in Atlanta, he lost last year to injury, playing just four games during the regular season. If Dunn is waived, he would make a lot of sense as a minimum-salary pickup for a contender in need of a defensive specialist like the Utah Jazz.
Edwards, meanwhile, hasn't translated his college stardom at Purdue into a consistent NBA role. The Celtics took Edwards early in the second round, surely envisioning him developing into a Patty Mills-style undersized scorer off the bench. That hasn't worked out largely because Edwards has struggled as a shooter, hitting just 30% of his 3s thus far after making 37% from the shorter college line. I wouldn't be surprised if Edwards ends up starring overseas sooner rather than later.