It went down to the wire, but the Boston Celtics were able to pull off a three-team trade on Wednesday night to acquire Kristaps Porziņģis.

However, the price for the Latvian center was much more costly than it was hours before. Instead of parting ways with 2023 Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, the C's dealt Marcus Smart, who was previously their longest-tenured player. The Los Angeles Clippers reportedly blew up the previous trade due to Brogdon's health, so Boston and Washington used the Memphis Grizzlies as their final trade partner.

NBA vet Danilo Gallinari and center Mike Muscala were also packaged in the deal alongside Boston's No. 35 pick in the 2023 Draft. In return, the C's got the No. 25 pick and a protected 2024 first-round pick from Memphis. With their new selections, Boston will enter the first round of the draft on Thursday night.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was able to get Boston its third star, but was the price worth it? Let's delve into the shocking trade and grade the front office's performance.

Celtics trade for Kristaps Porziņģis: B+

On paper, dealing a point guard, an injured veteran, a bench center, and a second-round pick for an All-Star and two first-round selections is an awesome deal. Yet, in comparison to Boston's initial trade, this new one isn't as much of a home run.

Earlier on Wednesday, it looked like the C's were all set to swap Brogdon and Gallinari (and no picks) for Porzingis thanks to the Clippers. The deal was tanked and to salvage it the front office had to sacrifice the team's most vocal leader in Smart.

No matter what you think of the 29-year-old point guard, there's no doubt that he left it all on the court for Boston. Smart embraced the city, became Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, and made the playoffs every season.

Finding Smart's hustle and grit in today's NBA is not easy, and replacing his leadership is even harder. By shipping him off, it truly seems that Stevens and company are giving the keys to the franchise to stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Who steps up as the next team leader remains to be seen.

Smart aside, giving up Gallinari and Muscala isn't an issue. Gallo is 34 and has torn his ACL multiple times, making him a bit of a liability. Muscala can provide some shooting off the bench, but he was never going to get a lot of minutes in Boston. The Celtics dealing away their second-round pick isn't a huge loss either because outside of the rare find, the first round of the draft has way more high-caliber players.

So, the Celtics didn't give up a ton, however, the loss of Smart will be felt next season. To lessen the blow they now have Porziņģis, a 27-year-old center with injury issues of his own but also plenty of upside.

The former Washington Wizard has had somewhat of a turbulent career, yet he's coming off a great season. Porziņģis played 65 games and scored a career-high 23.2 points per game on 49.8% shooting from the field. The 7-foot-3 big offers incredible height and a unique skill set that the C's haven't really had in recent years.

Porziņģis can score in the post, connect from deep, and defend the pick-and-roll better than a lot of centers in the league. The Green Team's issues stopping the pick-and-roll are well-known, so it'll help to have a talented two-way player in Porziņģis to address the weakness.

Al Horford and Robert Williams III are solid centers, yet they have nowhere near as much offensive game as Porziņģis. Hopefully, he can add another dimension to Boston's offense and supplement the perimeter attack head coach Joe Mazzulla prioritized last season.

For all of Porziņģis' benefits, it still hurts to lose a fan-favorite like Smart. The new deal isn't bad and it probably couldn't be turned down, but the C's were just hours away from getting a third star without giving up any draft picks or franchise cornerstones.

Sometimes it takes a significant change to make it over the hump though, and Boston was never able to win it all with Smart. For better or worse, this trade will likely usher in a new era for the Celtics.