3 numbers to know from key seasonal trades

Free agency doesn’t start until Friday at 6 p.m. ET, but a handful of veteran players have already moved on, including some big names. The trades that sent Bradley Beal to Phoenix and Kristaps Porzingis to Boston are official, while the deal that sent Chris Paul to Golden State will have to wait until July 6, when Jordan Poole gets a bigger salary and the free agency deadline ends. .

Here are some numbers to know about the teams that have traded so far and the players involved.

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1. Boston Celtics

including: Kristaps Porzingis

Outside: Danilo Gallinari, Mike Mascala, Marcus Smart

Take it fast: Smart is the heart and soul of a team that has won 12 playoff series in the past seven years and is two wins away from a championship 12 months ago. But, unable to break through, the Celtics decided to break their core. Smart was the guard who sent Porzingis packing after his initial trade fell through. Porzingis is a perfect fit for a team that ranks second in 3-point percentage and will need to reduce Al Horford’s minutes.

• Porzingis is the only player in 44 seasons from the 3-point line to average at least two 3-pointers and at least 1.5 blocks in multiple seasons, having done so in 2019-20 and last season. Only four qualified players have done it once.

• Porzingis shot 38.5% from 3-point range this season, up from 31.0% in 2021-22. That’s the fourth-biggest jump among 124 players with at least 200 3-point attempts in each season. Horford had the biggest improvement (from 33.6% to 44.6%), while Malcolm Brockton was among 219 players (from 31.2% to 44.4%) with at least 100 attempts each season.

• According to Second Spectrum Tracking, Porzingis went 86-for-141 (61%) on post-ups, the second-best mark among 17 players with at least 100 field goal attempts.

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2. Golden State Warriors

including: Chris Paul

Outside: Jordan Poole

Take it fast: Aha. Not surprisingly, the Warriors traded Poole, who had a four-year, $128 million contract extension on July 1. In return, Paul is surprised to return. He is one of the best point guards in NBA history, third all-time in both assists and steals. But he didn’t quite match up with the Warriors (who led the league in ball movement) in terms of style of play.

• Only 4% (26/667) of Paul’s field goal attempts came in the restricted area. That’s the lowest rate among the 292 players with at least 250 total field goal attempts in 2022-23.

• Ball shot 46-of-88 (52.3%) on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, the second-best mark among 282 players with at least 75 catch-and-shoot attempts. He was just 51-of-169 (30.2%) on pull-up 3s, the biggest differential among 130 players with at least 75 catch-and-shoot attempts and 75 pull-up attempts.

• According to Second Spectrum Tracking, the Suns set 2,420 ball-screens per bowl, fifth most of any player in the league, 46.1 per 36 minutes, and 883 more than the Warriors’ Stephen Curry (1,537, 28.5 per 36).

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3. Memphis Grizzlies

including: smart

Outside: Deuce Jones

Take it fast: Smart is an upgrade over Dillon Brooks, can play point guard when Za Morant (suspended or not) is on the floor, and will provide some much-needed veteran leadership. But the team still lacks some size on the wings, with three of its best perimeter players in Morant, Smart and Desmond Payne at 6-foot-2, 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-5, respectively. The Grizzlies (who were below the league average in both 3-point percentage and 3-point rate) lacked the consistent shooting smarts they could use alongside Morant.

• Smart is one of only two players (Jimmy Butler is the other) to have at least 1.5 steals in 40 or more games in each of the past five seasons.

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4. Phoenix Suns

including: Bradley Beal, Jordan Goodwin, Isaiah Todd

Outside: Chris Paul, Landry Shamet

Take it fast: At the time of the trade deal, there were seven players in the league set to make more than $50 million in both 2024-25 and ’25-26. The Suns now have three of those seven players, adding Beal ($208 million over the next four years), Devin Booker ($260 million over the next five) and Kevin Durant ($154 million over the next three). Those three guys can create their own shot, but the Suns lost a lot of playmaking by trading Paul for Beal, who should defend better than he has in recent years.

• Beal (27.0 and 5.5), Booker (26.6 and 5.6) and Durant (27.8 and 5.8) are three of 11 players to average at least 25 points and five assists over the last five seasons. The Mavs (Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving) are the only team with more than one.

• This season, Beal had a 55.1% field goal percentage, the second-best mark of his career and 49.2% in 2021-22. That’s the 13th largest jump among 136 players with at least 500 field goal attempts in each of the past two seasons.

• Beal has shot 26% from 3-point range over the last three seasons, down from 36% over his first eight. Deandre Ayton (7.33), Durant (1.42), Booker (0.98) and Beal (0.98) are among the 212 players with at least 200 field goal attempts from outside the paint this season. First, ninth, 13th and 14th, respectively, on the ratio of 3-point attempts to mid-range. The Suns finished last in the playoffs with just 9.4 3-pointers per game.

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5. Washington Wizards

including: Jones, Poole

Outside: Beale, Goodwin, Porzingis, Todd

Take it fast: Beal is one of five players on the same team in the last 11 seasons, but the Wizards have been no better than four games under .500 in each of the last five seasons. New team leader Michael Winger wasted no time in setting the franchise in a new direction. The Wizards could sell more pieces, but the assets they received in exchange for Beal and Porzingis aren’t huge. And, it will be about their own first-round picks in the next few years.

• Jones has led the league in assist/turnover ratio in each of the past five seasons. He has a career assist/turnover ratio of 5.27, the highest mark among the 2,012 players with at least 100 career assists in the 46 years the turnover has been tracked. Freshman teammate Monte Morris has the second-highest mark, while Jones’ younger brother, Dre, has the fifth-highest.

Maximum career assist/turnover ratio since turnover calculated

1977-78 to 2022-23
A minimum of 100 total career assists

• Jones had 51 more steals (83) than personal fouls (32), the largest difference of any player in the last 20 seasons. He is one of only 10 players in 50 years who have played at least 500 minutes in five seasons with steals tracked. Jimmy Butler (nine seasons) is the only other player in the top 10.

• Poole committed 12.2 turnovers per 100 possessions, the third-highest rate among 54 players with a usage rate of 25% or higher.

• Poole had just a 40% field goal percentage in the playoffs, compared to 51.4% in the regular season, the worst mark among the 48 players with at least 100 postseason field goal attempts.

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John Schuhman is a senior statistical analyst for NBA.com. You can email him here, find his archive here and Follow him on Twitter.

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