Memphis is supposedly looking for a wing upgrade on the bench. We could use a better PG from the bench.
Memphis gets:
Richardson
Schröder
Celtics get:
Tyus Jones
Kyle Anderson
Why for Memphis: Anderson has had a really down year, and Richardson would be a sizable upgrade on a surprising contender. Jones is a good player for them, but doesn’t share the court that much with Morant, who they play as much as they can. They won’t notice the dropoff to Schröder as much because has a smaller role for them. Richardson is signed next year, which eats into Memphis’ cap space to a degree, but they look to have $17ish million in space, and there aren’t that many players likely to hit the market who can be had for that salary and are better than Richardson has shown this year, so the loss of cap space might not be a dealbreaker.
Why for Boston:
Jones would be a significant upgrade over Schröder, and they could play him next to Smart, effectively giving him some of the minutes Richardson had been getting also. Anderson could still be in the rotation. The Celtics add a little salary in this deal this year, but are still under the Fernando line, so are at no more risk for the tax than they are today. They lose a little salary from their books next year, which might open up more avenues to make S&T’s that expose them to the apron, but also get a half season look as well as Bird rights to two players who might be on their free agent shopping list.
Essentially Memphis has Anderson and Jones playing about 22 and 18 minutes a night (when neither starts). They could give those 22 to Richardson and 18 to Schröder, which improves then on net. They probably could even go 25 to Richardson and 15 to Schröder.
Likewise with Boston, it’s lately been 25 for Richardson and 15 for Schröder. Because of Smart’s positional versatility, they could play Jones 25 and Anderson 15.