Celtics trade for Dragic…. no, the other one

Miami Heat have traded Zoran Dragic & a 2nd round pick to Boston for a heavily-protected 2nd round pick. Move could save Heat $6 million

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 27, 2015

Say what?

Let’s start with the player. Zoran Dragic, 26, is a 6-5 shooting guard who split time between Phoenix, Miami and the D-League last season. He’s guaranteed $1.7 million this season. I found this blurb about his game, courtesy AZ Central:

Zoran is similar to Goran, particularly in transition, but is a bigger, stronger version with better defense. Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough has been tracking him since 2007 in the Under-18 European Championship, but Zoran began to stand out at last year’s European Championship.

“Jeff (Hornacek) and I looked at each other and said, ‘There’s a winning basketball player,’ ” McDonough said.

“He has that same recklessness (as Goran). That same ability to put his head down and fly to the basket, get contact, get to the free-throw line. The thing that will stand out and has impressed me the most is defensive tenacity. Just how physical he is and how aggressive he is, on and off the ball. He gets a lot of deflections. I think he’s one of the league leaders in Euroleague in deflections.”

As for the deal, we’re all a bit perplexed.  This will push the roster to 17 guaranteed contracts (the David Lee and Jae Crowder deals are expected to be finalized today) with 8 players – Thomas, Smart, Bradley, Turner, Rozier, Young, Hunter and Dragic – vying for time in the back court.

The 2nd round pick coming to Boston is in 2020.

UPDATE:

A league source says the Heat agreed to pay Zoran Dragic's salary next season and that the Celtics intend to waive him.

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) July 27, 2015

So much for that…