2:16pm: The Wizards will also acquire Jason Collins from the Celtics in the trade, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
12:46pm: The Wizards have agreed to a deal that will send Jordan Crawford to the Celtics, reports TNT's David Aldridge (via Twitter). Boston will send Leandro Barbosa to the Wizards, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The teams are still working on the details of the trade, but Fab Melo will not be headed to Washington, Aldridge hears (Twitter link). Crawford "desperately" wanted the Wizards to trade him, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, and that's in line with previous reports indicating the swingman was unpleased with his reduced role of late.
The Mavs reportedly jumped into discussions for Crawford as well, but the Celtics seemed to have the inside track as the deadline approached. An Eastern Conference executive told Michael Lee of the Washington Post last night there was likely "very little" the Wizards could get for Crawford, and indeed that appears to be the case, as Washington is getting a player who's out for the year with a torn ACL in his left knee. In taking back Barbosa's expiring deal for the minimum salary, the Wizards essentially clear Crawford's salary, worth $1.2MM this year and $2.6MM next season, off their books. The Wizards had an open roster spot going into the trade, but they could waive Barbosa at any point this season to free up more room if they wish, though they'll have to keep paying Barbosa's salary either way.
Adding Crawford for Barbosa adds a little salary to Boston's books, but still allows them to stay below their $74.307MM hard cap for the season. Following his injury, the C's sought to use Barbosa to increase their flexibility, as they considered waiving him to create room on the roster, or, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe suggested, using him as trade ballast as they're doing with the Wizards. Nonetheless, a one-for-one deal involving Barbosa was unexpected, Washburn tweets.
Crawford is averaging 13.4 points and 3.7 assists this year, similar to the third-year player's career numbers. He's seen his minutes drastically reduced, to 12.4 per game this month from 35.8 in December, with the return of John Wall from injury and the emergence of rookie Bradley Beal. He was used on the ball as the Wizards struggled to find a solution in Wall's absence at point guard this year, so perhaps he could help Boston's current shorthanded situation at the position.
Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors contributed to this post.
Hopefully this will start a chain reaction of trades.
I love this move for the Celtics. Obviously we have to see who is involved and hopefully the price wasn’t too high. He gives you that scoring punch that this team lacks.
its for Barbosa
If that’s really who it’s for, then the deal is a win. Trade an injured player who’s done for the year for someone who is not injured? Steal.
reload the page, its been updated.
I did. Fantastic trade for the Celtics.
the Wizards also get Jason Collins, but still a great trade for the Celtics.
if the celtics dont add a big or two will likely see jeff green get more playing time at the 4 than the 3. terry, crawford, williams, green, wilcox
williams and crawford also give the c’s more size in the backcourt than what they had
yeah…wanted the bucks to get him
Celtics will send the Leandro Barbosa expiring contract to the Wizards for Jordan Crawford, league source tells Y! Sports.