2023 NBA Free Agency- Grant Williams traded to the Mavs in a three-team deal

The Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs have reportedly agreed to a three-team sign-and-trade deal that will land restricted free agent Grant Williams in Dallas.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Spurs will be receiving veteran wing Reggie Bullock and an unprotected Mavericks first-round pick swap in 2030. Meanwhile, the Celtics will be receiving three future second-round picks (2024, 2025 and 2028) in exchange for Williams.

Per Charania, Williams’ new contract with Dallas is a four-year, $54 million deal. This means that Williams will make an average annual salary of $13.5 million, a steep increase from his $4.3 million salary this past season.

Following the deal, Boston now has a trade exception worth around $6 million, According to Spotrac’s Keith Smith:

How does Grant Williams fit in Dallas?

Former Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams

Per The Athletic’s Jared Weiss, The Celtics were planning to match a rival team’s offer sheet for Grant Williams this offseason. However, Williams was a top target of the Mavericks who were in search of a two-way wing with size. So Dallas upped their offer to Williams while offering the Celtics draft compensation to convince them not to match the deal:

“Dallas had prioritized landing a larger 3-and-D wing this summer, and Williams was the player who the team focused on after Bruce Brown signed with the Indiana Pacers,” Weiss wrote.

“Because Boston threatened to match if Dallas simply signed an offer sheet with Williams, a restricted free agent, the teams spent this afternoon working on a three-team deal where Boston could send out Williams, receive compensation and not have to take back salary that would put them far into the luxury tax.”

Williams had recently expressed interest in returning to the Celtics per Boston.com. However, he said that he was ready for whatever would happen. This came as he was searching for a lucrative contract after failing to agree to a contract extension with Boston last offseason:

“Whatever happens,” Williams said.

“I have not much control on this because I allowed my agents and everybody else to focus on that because my whole focus and goal has always been winning. Team success always been most important thing. Brad (Stevens) and those guys, if they decide to keep me and bring me back, of course, I’m going to come back and be excited, happy, ready to play for the Celtics.”

With his ability to space the floor and defend against larger wings, Williams is expected to complement Mavericks' star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving well. He also brings valuable playoff experience, having participated in 61 postseason games despite his young age.

Grant Williams averaged 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.5 steal,s and 1.5 3-pointers per game on 45.4% shooting over 79 games this past season.