| With Rajon Rondo returning to the Celtics soon, Crawford became expendable. MarShon Brooks, who wasn't getting much playing time in Boston, was the same. |
On a day when many NBA players became eligible to be traded, four were involved between two top contenders–one in the East and one in the West–and a rebuilding team on a long losing streak.
The Boston Celtics, on a seemingly-endless nine-game losing streak, traded Jordan Crawford and rarely-used MarShon Brooks to the Warriors today in a three-team exchange that also involved the Heat. Golden State sent point guard Toney Douglas to Miami and the Heat traded Joel Anthony and a pair of draft picks to Boston.
Traded from the Wizards to the Celtics last season for Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins, Crawford was playing more than 30 minutes a game and averaging 13.7 points and 5.7 assists on 41 percent shooting for Boston this year. With Rajon Rondo coming back from injury soon, though, and the Indiana and Xavier product became someone Brad Stevens and the Celtics were able to trade for a sizable return.
Boston did not get any stars or unprotected first round draft picks in this trade, but receiving a solid backup big man in Anthony and a couple of draft selections is a nice haul for a rebuilding Celtics team that needed some salary cap reliefand could use another frontcourt player. The Heat also got some cap space in the deal by giving up a guy that was a big part of Miami's gameplan in the past, but has only played 37 minutes in 12 games this season.
Meanwhile, already-explosive Golden State gets two young swingmen in Brooks, who was actually drafted by the Celtics before a draft day trade sent him to the Nets, and Crawford, both of whom can put up big points in a short amount of time. Scoring isn't a problem for the Warriors, but they don't have a ton of backcourt depth, a problem which the acquisition of the former Celtics fixes.
