The Boston Celtics made a bold move to acquire Kristaps Porzingis during the offseason, and Jayson Tatum is convinced it could go down in history along with another deal that cemented a title-winning team.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN wrote a story detailing how Porzingis has adjusted to Boston and made the Celtics better. It includes an interesting anecdote about how enthusiastic Tatum was after the two began playing together. Tatum was so enthusiastic, in fact, that he suggested Porzingis could be for the Celtics what Pau Gasol was for the Los Angeles Lakers after being acquired in a blockbuster 2008 trade.
“Kobe really needed Pau for those last two championships that they won together,” Tatum said. “Whatever path that I’m on and we’re on, KP really feels like the missing piece.”
The Lakers’ decision to pair Kobe Bryant and Gasol together led to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010, so Tatum would love to emulate that. The Celtics already had a dynamic pairing in Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but with his size and ability, Porzingis offers the Celtics a skillset that Brown does not.
The Porzingis trade was somewhat controversial, largely because of what Boston gave up to get him. So far, though, it has paid off for the Celtics, with Porzingis averaging 19.4 points per game on a 37-11 team.
