Celtics get Cauley Stein
Kings get Crowder and Zizic
I know, risky. I think Zizic was the steal of the draft, he's going to have a great career.
At the same time Vlade pass him two times, so I don't think this will ever happen.
I liked Zubac more than Zizic. Zizic was more productive but Zubac has better tools and is a better fit for the NBA. That said, Vlade took Papagiannis over both.
I think he sees WCS and Papa as a good combination as they bring different things to the table. Papa & Zizic are more similar than different.
Anyway, here are my two thoughts.
1 Ainge seems poised to deal Smart and keep Crowder. Positionally this doesn't make a ton of sense but in terms of their contracts it's the right move. Smart will be a RFA next season offseason while Crowder is locked up on a great deal.
2. I don't want to see WCS traded. He's shown some flashes but has been too inconsistent to have much trade value at the moment. And since he's potentially under contract at the rookie scale for two more seasons I think it's worth waiting to see what he does this season.
Worst case scenario (barring injury) is that he's a decent backup center who provides some defensive versatility on the cheap.
Best case scenario is that he takes a major leap and becomes either a building block or a big trade chip.
Somewhere in the middle is him reaching the level of a Javale McGee. Those types of players now cost around $15 million a season on the open market and Willie would cost much less than that.