Porzingis has struggled with health this season and the Celtics are in a dire cap situation with Tatum injured. This means Porzingis is likely to be traded, but not too many teams can take on his salary without close matching. Enter the Wizards!

Celtics dump Porzingis' salary to his old team where he's welcomed back with open arms. Porzingis gives the Wiz a bit of star-power and experience--while being somewhat injury-prone--a great combo for a tanking team. The older Unicorn also serves a perfect mentor to the younger French unicorn, Alex Sarr.

With this trade, the Celtics free up some cap and orchestrate a reunion of their own: with Marcus Smart. Since the Celtics will probably have to move Holiday or White this offseason to get under the 2nd apron, Smart can help replace that backcourt defense. He also gives the Celtics' an emotional lightning rod to reinvigorate a team in an "in-between" year missing Tatum. Moreover, both Marcus Smart and vet throw-in Gil expire after the season: giving the Celtics playing time this season and and roster flexibility for when Tatum comes back. Maybe the Celtics can even bring back Smart on a discount in 26-27: freeing up money elsewhere for re-tooling the roster around Tatum.

The Celtics also get a future 2nd for re-tooling the roster down the road while the Wizards use this trade as an opportunity to move up their 2nd rounder and swap the veteran Gil for a development project in Walsh.