A blockbuster three-team trade between the Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics, and Los Angeles Clippers was reportedly very close to getting done on Wednesday. However, it has since fallen apart due to injury concerns for one player in the deal.
The deal that was all but finalized would have sent Wizards star Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics, Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers, and Marcus Morris, Amir Coffey, and the No. 30 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft to the Wizards.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Wednesday night that the Clippers are concerned about Brogdon’s injury status, which led to the deal falling apart.
Concerns raised by the Clippers about Malcolm Brogdon's injury status, league sources say, led to the collapse of the three-team trade expected to send Kristaps Porzingis to Boston before midnight tonight.
A direct Wizards/Celtics deal has not been ruled out.
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— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 22, 2023
It sounds like the Clippers are fully out of this deal. However, Stein did add that a direct deal between the Wizards and Celtics that would send Porzingis to the Celtics has not been ruled out.
The importance of this deal potentially happening on Wednesday is that Porzingis has a $36 million player option with the Wizards, which is set to expire at midnight. This means that if no deal is made Porzingis could simply become a free agent without the Wizards getting anything in return for him.
Sides are working under a midnight ET deadline on Porzingis' $36M player option. https://t.co/cCRNZZSTOm
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2023
The NBA world had plenty to say on this development, offering their opinions of the failed three-team trade on social media.
BREAKING: The teams have BACKED OUT of the trade that would’ve sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics, via ESPN.
UNBELIEVABLE. 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/qhlz3y6ErP
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 22, 2023
Kristaps Porzingis is still a Wizard. pic.twitter.com/3b7iR8ycRF
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 22, 2023
Y’all remember when Kristaps Porzingis was a Celtic for 5 hours? pic.twitter.com/9gzkGgkjDD
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) June 22, 2023
Kristaps Porzingis at the airport trying to figure out where he’s going pic.twitter.com/e7p1u55Ps4
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) June 22, 2023
The Wizards working on ways to send Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics pic.twitter.com/f8aNQFOzRl
— oddschecker (@oddscheckerUS) June 22, 2023
It certainly seems crucial for the Wizards to do everything they can to try and get something in return for Porzingis. It seems extremely likely that he would opt out of his player option, especially since the team opted to trade Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns earlier this month.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.