Warriors Acquire Crawford In Swap With C’s, Heat

THURSDAY, 10:12am: The Heat is the team sending cash to the Celtics, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who notes that the amount is $1MM.

WEDNESDAY, 3:17pm: The Warriors and Celtics have hooked up on a three-team trade with the Heat that sends Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks to the W’s, as the teams confirmed via press release. The Warriors send Toney Douglas to Miami, which deals Joel Anthony, a first-round pick, and its 2016 second-round pick to the Celtics. Boston also receives cash in the deal, though it’s not immediately clear from whom.NBA: Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Clippers

The Warriors have been looking for an upgrade behind point guard Stephen Curry, and it appears they envision putting Crawford in that role. The 25-year-old has performed well in stretches as he’s manned the point for Boston in the absence of Rajon Rondo, but with Rondo set to return, it appears the Celtics found him expendable. Veteran NBA reporter Peter Vecsey tweeted overnight that Boston was close to dealing Crawford, and listed the Warriors as one of the teams with interest.

The Heat likely save $7.7MM in salary and tax penalties for this season in unloading Joel Anthony‘s deal, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (on Twitter), with Anthony slated to make $3.8MM this season. His contract also includes a player option for the same amount next season. The first-round pick they’re sending the the Celtics is the Sixers’ lottery protected first-rounder this year, but if Philadelphia doesn’t make the playoffs this season or next, the Celtics get the Sixers 2015 and 2016 second-round picks instead, as Wojnarowski points out (Twitter link). Miami had been looking to bolster its backcourt last month when Windhorst reported that they were shopping Anthony.

The Warriors add money in the deal, but they avoid the luxury tax and don’t have to relinquish a first-round pick or one of their core pieces, as Zach Lowe of Grantland speculated yesterday that they might have to do. Crawford doesn’t carry the cachet of other guards the Warriors have pursued, like Kyle Lowry, Andre Miller and Kirk Hinrich, but he comes relatively cheaply. He’ll be a restricted free agent at season’s end. The Warriors will likely use part of the $4MM trade exception they got for Brandon Rush this summer to make the deal work.

The Celtics also slightly up their payroll, though they also continue to stockpile draft picks. The deal sets Boston up with a half dozen extra draft picks between now and 2018. Perhaps most profound from Boston’s side of the transaction is the decline in value of Brooks, the 25th overall pick in 2011. He played well as a rookie with the Nets, but was a throw-in as part of the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce blockbuster this summer and appears to be an afterthought in this deal, as well.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the deal (All Twitter links). Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group and Grantland’s Zach Lowe also tweeted details.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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