Report: Marcus Smart nearly dealt to Houston Rockets in 2019 for Clint Capela

The potential ripple effects of this failed deal would have transformed the league at present — and was blown up by a player being taken one pick early.

The Boston Celtics are set to take the floor to battle the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals, but if a trade that reportedly fell apart because of the order players were taken had actually gone down, the ripple effect would have removed at least one of the players on the Celtics’ roster right now.

That player would be veteran point guard Marcus Smart, who may have missed being a Houston Rocket when Brandon Clarke was drafted one player higher than the pick the Celtics used to draft Tennessee product Grant Williams at 22 instead. It’s possible that Williams might still have been around for Boston to pick up with the No. 33 pick had they found some other way to entice the Philadelphia 76ers or some other team in that range to part with a draft pick.

But it’s also very possible that neither Smart nor Grant — and with them, the Celtics — would have been in this NBA Finals had the deal gone through.