Would You Trade Smart for Wiggins, Right Now?

[bdm860]

You have to understand the Celtics salary cap situation.

Wiggins is making 25 million dollars a year.

A trade for Wiggins would require salary matching.  So you'd have to throw half the roster including Smart to match salaries.  That means you'd be giving up either a major piece - Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, etc.  Or ALL the role players - Baynes 5m, Morris 5m, etc. plus maybe 1 of Brown or Tatum for Wiggins.

Not to mention that the luxury tax implications means the Celtics are going significantly into the tax for a player that they don't need right now.  We currently have Tatum, Brown, and Hayward, and Morris to play on the wings.

You may have missed it, but this is addressed in the actual question from the OP:
"for the sake of the hypothetical, let's say they're making the same amount of money."

This kind of ruins the hypothetical though.  Is Smart making $25m or is Wiggins making $13m?  Because this makes a difference.

If Smart is making $25m, you trade him for Wiggins.

If Wiggins is making $13m, you trade him for Smart (then probably flip him for somebody else whose a better fit).

But I'm just being difficult about the wording.  The better way to word it probably would have been "salaries don't need to match with no luxury tax penalties" instead of "salaries are the same."

[Surferdad]

The Wolves come to the Celtics and say I'll give you Wiggins for Smart, straight up. The rosters are exactly as they are now and, for the sake of the hypothetical, let's say they're making the same amount of money.

Yes or no?

I say no.  Wiggins isn't committed to defense and hasn't learned to make his teammates better.  He was also upset about being the "3rd option" in Minnesota last season.  It's very alarming that his efficiency didn't improve with less shot attempts and better talent around him.  How would he handle playing less minutes on a roster stacked with better wings?   

At the end of the day it appears Wiggins lacks the drive necessary to be a great player.  Brad is a great coach but he's been consistently surrounded by players who are extremely competitive.  I think Wiggins would alienate himself rather quickly with our team.

This.  Even if they made the same money (Wiggins is 2x Smart, roughly) I wouldn't do that trade.

[Moranis]

Smart is probably a better fit, but Wiggins is the better player with more value around the league, so if they made the same amount, I would absolutely trade Smart for Wiggins.  At half the cost, I'd keep Smart.

[Fafnir]

I don't see Wiggins as a valuable trade piece on his current contract, a neutral one at best right? His upside is still tremendous but so far he's looking like a Rudy Gay type player instead of a productive one.

He wouldn't be happy at all being in a situation where he's not a clear top 2 player on his team, so even his upside would be muted in Boston. So I wouldn't make the swap.

[GreenFaith1819]

Andrew Wiggins doesn't Impact Winning.

[KungPoweChicken]

In a heartbeat.

[CelticsJG]

Wiggins trash

[slamtheking]

my initial reaction was definitely yes but after thinking about it, it would depend on whether Danny/Brad thinks Wiggins would commit to improving his all-around game.  if that's a firm belief, then I'd make the deal. 

personally, I think Wiggins is who he is and unlikely to change.  if he had started out with a better franchise for developing players, I think he'd be a much better player with a better commitment to improving and winning

[jambr380]

I would rather have Smart at $13M/yr than Wiggins at ~$29M/yr. I am assuming the OP meant that trade rules would be bypassed for such a trade rather than both of them making the same amount.

If they were making the same amount of money, I would go with Wiggins, though. I understand that what Smart does is important for our team, but Wiggins has a lot more potential moving forward and I would love to see what Stevens could do with him. Like Towns, people seem to be really down on him lately (not to the same extent). I certainly don't think he is a lost cause.

[Big333223]

You have to understand the Celtics salary cap situation.

Wiggins is making 25 million dollars a year.

A trade for Wiggins would require salary matching.  So you'd have to throw half the roster including Smart to match salaries.  That means you'd be giving up either a major piece - Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, etc.  Or ALL the role players - Baynes 5m, Morris 5m, etc. plus maybe 1 of Brown or Tatum for Wiggins.

Not to mention that the luxury tax implications means the Celtics are going significantly into the tax for a player that they don't need right now.  We currently have Tatum, Brown, and Hayward, and Morris to play on the wings.

You may have missed it, but this is addressed in the actual question from the OP:
"for the sake of the hypothetical, let's say they're making the same amount of money."

This kind of ruins the hypothetical though.  Is Smart making $25m or is Wiggins making $13m?  Because this makes a difference.

If Smart is making $25m, you trade him for Wiggins.

If Wiggins is making $13m, you trade him for Smart (then probably flip him for somebody else whose a better fit).

But I'm just being difficult about the wording.  The better way to word it probably would have been "salaries don't need to match with no luxury tax penalties" instead of "salaries are the same."

Yeah, I actually wasn't sure the best way to word it, I just didn't want salary to be an issue in the question.

I really wanted to see how many people would actually do it because, to me, given how versatile Marcus is and how many scoring options the C's have as good or better than Wiggins (Wiggins still isn't a reliable outside shooter) I can't imagine doing that deal. It would be horrible for the team.

The defense takes a hit and the offense also gets worse because you lose someone who can run the offense to gain a chucker who isn't as good at chucking as other guys you'd want to prioritize in the offense.

[nostar]

Ignoring the money I'd still take Smart.... right now. Wiggins hasn't shown up yet in my opinion. Not every guy is Jayson Tatum, skyrocketing out of the gate. Jimmy butter didn't take off until his 4th season (when he was 25). Steph until his 4th too (age 24). Wiggins is 22 and still has a lot of growing to do. The fact he got maxed shouldn't be held against him. Secure the bag young man!

I'm interested in 3rd contract Wiggins. Summer 2021 will be interesting for him.

[Onslaught]

Remember back in the day how bad so many people here wanted Wiggins?

[Fafnir]

Remember back in the day how bad so many people here wanted Wiggins?

I sure did, I figured Bill Self's coaching was a big part of his up and down college season, he is so [dang] talented.

Turned out, nope just seems to be how he's wired. An even more talented Jeff Green type.

Edit: typo'd saying I didn't want him, I very much did and was very bummed out about the lottery.

[saltlover]

Remember back in the day how bad so many people here wanted Wiggins?

I sure did, I figured Bill Self's coaching was a big part of his up and down college season, he is so [dang] talented.

Turned out, nope just seems to be how he's wired. An even more talented Jeff Green type.

Edit: typo'd saying I didn't want him, I very much did and was very bummed out about the lottery.

I don’t think there’s any player drafted in the last decade I’ve been more disappointed in.  He could take over games on defense as well as offense, and his defense has been terrible at this level, with his offense inconsistent (which was a legit concern at draft time).  I think I said one time a realistic floor would be 6’8” Avery Bradley.  I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I’ll wear this shame as long as Wiggins is in the league.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I'm hearing more and more of the narrative from sports media that Smart is probably the best 1-2 defender in the league.

On top of that, he is ridiculously versatile as a defender. He is the primary helpside defender often when he is on the court, drawing charges and getting helpside blocks. And, he does the "get out" thing when there is a mismatch that the other team is trying to exploit in the post, and he switches over from the weakside to take them instead.

On top of that, the Celtics are a really good offensive team when he is on the court. He is probably our best distributor out of the pick-and-roll (although Kyrie is figuring that out pretty quickly too, he is primarily a scorer out of the pick-and-roll).

My theory is that if you have a guy on your team that is the best in the league at something, you don't trade him for potential, or for an average player. A player with an elite skill is better than a player with different average skills.

And Smart's elite skills happen to be some of the most coveted (defensive versatility) and most rare (ability to defend on ball really well without fouling) in the NBA.