The Chicago Bulls, one of the most active players on the trade deadline, agreed to a three-team deal with the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics to acquire center Daniel Theis, guard Javonte Green and Troy Brown Jr. received center Daniel Gafford and forward Chandler Hutchison, while the Celtics took down bigs Luke Kornet and Moritz Wagner.
How much help can Theis provide for a new Bulls squad, and how did both the Wizards and Celtics fare in the deal?
Kevin Pelton hands out trade figures for all three teams.
The agreement
Getting bulls: Daniel Theis, Javonte Green, Troy Brown Jr., Cash Considerations
Getting Celtics: Luke Kornet and Moritz Wagner
Get Wizards: Daniel Gafford and Chandler Hutchison
Get more trading qualities from Pelton here
Chicago Bulls: A.
After adding Nikola Vucevic on Thursday, the Bulls thought they had a capable three-man front-tour turn with him and incumbent starters Lauri Markkanen and Thaddeus Young. They managed to add depth and assurance by picking up Theis as part of an expanded version of what was originally reported as a two-team trade with Washington.
When Chicago is at full blast, there may not be many minutes for Theis. As long as he accepts that role, he will be great as the fourth great man. The Theis-Vucevic lineups may get a little clunky, but they have plenty of room to survive – certainly more than the Theis-Thompson frontcourts we saw in Boston – and Theis should fit right next to any other great man.
In the undercard, the Bulls did well to raid Brown from the Wizards, whose coaching staff never seemed to fully recognize its worth. Only 21 years old, Brown has shown potential as a perimeter defender and playmaker. The swing ability, of course, is shooting. Brown is only a 33% 3-point shooter in his career, which limits his value. Ideally, Chicago would put him there with heavy-hitting bigs like Markkanen and Vucevic, allowing Brown to play more in space instead of scoffing.
In Brown and Theis, I would say the Bulls brought in the top two players in this trade. But somehow they also get the money involved – $ 1.3 million from the Celtics and $ 250,000 from the Wizards, per Ryan McDonough of Radio.com
Boston Celtics: C-
The Celtics gave up Theis, a starter in nearly all the past two seasons, to avoid paying the luxury tax after adding Evan Fournier earlier in the day Thursday. Boston could still go into the tax if Fournier and Jaylen Brown hit enough of the incentives in their contracts for deep playoff runs (they both have incentives to make it to and make it to the NBA Finals), although the Celtics at the time certainly would be happy to pay it.
Wagner is an interesting addition to Boston. He has occasionally shown promise throughout his three NBA seasons, taking down the occasional 3 pointer (he’s at 30% for his career) and regular attacks (his 11 drawn in just 375 minutes of draw for the sixth in the league, according to Advanced Statistics Tracking). Despite those skills, Wagner hasn’t shown enough to hold a consistent spot in the rotation for a Wizards team playing without starting Thomas Bryant due to injury, so expectations should be modest.
Most likely the Celtics will hand over their middle position to the duo of Tristan Thompson and Robert Williams. That’s a concern considering their best lineups have Theis in the middle. According to my analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats, Boston has outperformed opponents by 1.0 point per 100 holdings with Theis in the middle, compared to a minus-0.1 net rating with Thompson and minus-3.4 per 100 holdings with Williams – admittedly hampered by playing with the Celtics’ weaker reserve units.
I’m excited to see what Williams can do with more minutes, and Theis wasn’t a great match against bigger opponents in the playoffs. But I think the Boston front office probably places too much value on how the Celtics were beaten in last year’s conference final against the Miami Heat and not enough in the way they won two playoff rounds with Theis to get there – includes sweeping Joel Embiid and the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers.
Washington Wizards: C +
I don’t like the wing part of this wizard double challenge. By trading Brown for Hutchison, they age three years (Hutchison turns 25 next month) and lower their position in game-making. Hutchison isn’t even an upgrade in terms of Brown’s weakness as he’s a 30% career 3 point shooter.
The wizards make up for that to some extent by getting a more valuable center. Gafford offers the kind of rim protection Washington needs, with an impressive 8% of the opponent’s 2-point tries so far during his NBA career. He is also an above the brim finisher who has done 80% of his own 2 point attempts.
The downside is that Gafford often gets out of position to grab defensive rebounds by chasing blocked shots as well as making mistakes on a regular basis. Maybe pairing him with Russell Westbrook will help fix that glass shortage. NBA experience should also improve 22-year-old Gafford’s decision-making as a defender. I see him as a capable long-term backup center, with a favorable contract with two non-guaranteed seasons totaling $ 3.8 million after that.