After the Boston Celtics win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Marcus Smart was spotted flexing and rubbing his right hand. When asked if his hand was sore, Smart made a startling revelation.

"Yeah, it gets like this ever since the picture frame incident. There's still some glass in there. The doctors said it would cause more issues to take it out, so I still have glass in there. Sometimes I can't really feel my hand."

The "picture frame incident" is from January of 2018. While on a road trip, Smart punched a picture frame in the team hotel. He missed three weeks while recovering from the cut to his right hand.

Smart spoke later that year about how his medical team thought it would be best to leave some of the glass in his hand, as opposed to risking further injury. At the time of the injury, Smart's doctors told him he was lucky to not have severed several key tendons and ligaments that could have ended his career.

Before trading Cam Reddish to the New York Knicks this month, the Atlanta Hawks held talks with the Boston Celtics on a deal involving Reddish and Kevin Huerter for Marcus Smart, sources told Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

Smart has often been mentioned in trade rumors over the past few years. Smart would help improve Atlanta's defense alongside Trae Young.

Fischer reports that it is unclear how far the dialogue between the Hawks and Celtics progressed before the trade with the Knicks was executed. 

Huerter signed a four-year, $65 million extension with the Hawks before the current season.

The Denver Nuggets were in the market to upgrade their shooting and got one of the better shooters available in a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.

Denver will acquire Bryn Forbes from San Antonio and will send the Spurs a 2028 second-round pick. To create the roster space for Forbes, and to stay under the luxury tax, the Nuggets are trading Bol Bol and P.J. Dozier to the Celtics. Boston will send Juancho Hernangomez to San Antonio.

Forbes is shooting 41.7% from behind the arc this season. That's a boon to a Nuggets team that has slipped to the bottom half of the league in three-point shooting.

For the Celtics, this puts them in range of avoiding the luxury tax. Boston is one more salary-clearing move away now from being out of the tax entirely.

The Celtics have no plans to immediately waive Bol or Dozier, who are both expected to be out for the season. A deal sending Bol to the Detroit Pistons was recently voided. In recent days it was announced Bol would have foot surgery, which will sideline him for 8-12 weeks.

For their part, the Spurs pick up a second-round pick for a player who wasn't part of their future. San Antonio can now focus on playing their younger guards. Hernangomez is fully non-guaranteed for 22-23, so the Spurs added no long-term salary in this deal, as well.

The Detroit Pistons have received interest in Jerami Grant from the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings.

The Pistons are seeking either two first round picks or one first round pick plus a high upside young player in exchange for Grant.

Grant expects to sign a lucrative extension in the ballpark of four years, $112 million this offseason.

Washington is viewed by some league personnel as a favorite to trade for Grant. Grant grew up in the D.C. area and is familiar with Wes Unseld Jr. from their time together with the Denver Nuggets. 

The Memphis Grizzlies have been mentioned in some circles speculatively, but they're not expected to pursue Grant.

The Boston Celtics have no interest in trading either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown right now, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The Celtics have had a disappointing start to the season, which has led to some speculation that they would have to break up their wing tandem.

The Celtics do appear to be open to trading other players on the roster.

After his first career triple-double, Jaylen Brown said he believes that he and Jayson Tatum can have success playing together.

"We have played together well for the majority of our careers," Brown said. "The last year or so hasn't gone as expected, but the adversity will help us grow and get better."

Brown owned that Boston hasn't played up to their expectations but said that he and Tatum are committed to getting things back on track. Brown said that the two young stars speak regularly after games about what needs to happen for the Celtics to start winning.

"I know there are a lot of frustrations, but as long as I'm on the same page with him, and he's on the same with me, we're all good," Brown said.

NBA contracts become fully guaranteed on January 10. However, players must clear waivers prior to January 10, making January 7 the real date to watch. This season 19 players saw their deals become fully guaranteed, while six were waived in the days leading up to the January 7 deadline.

Players whose deals became fully guaranteed:

• Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot - Atlanta Hawks
• DeAndre Bembry - Brooklyn Nets
• Alfonzo McKinnie - Chicago Bulls
• Matt Thomas - Chicago Bulls
• Ed Davis - Cleveland Cavaliers
• Lamar Stevens - Cleveland Cavaliers
• Dean Wade - Cleveland Cavaliers
• Moses Brown - Dallas Mavericks
• Damion Lee - Golden State Warriors
• Gary Payton II - Golden State Warriors
• Oshae Brissett - Indiana Pacers
• Keifer Sykes - Indiana Pacers
• Isaiah Hartenstein - LA Clippers
• Avery Bradley - Los Angeles Lakers
• Austin Reaves - Los Angeles Lakers
• Wesley Matthews - Milwaukee Bucks
• Jaylen Nowell - Minnesota Timberwolves
• Paul Reed - Philadelphia 76ers
• Dennis Smith Jr. - Portland Trail Blazers

Players waived in recent days before their deals became fully guaranteed:

• Jabari Parker - Boston Celtics
• Denzel Valentine - New York Knicks
• Kelan Martin - Indiana Pacers
• DeMarcus Cousins - Milwaukee Bucks
• Gary Clark - New Orleans Pelicans
• Miye Oni - Oklahoma City Thunder

The Boston Celtics will waive Jabari Parker ahead of the contract guarantee date.

The Celtics are prioritizing roster flexibility heading into buyout season.

Parker has averaged 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.3 minutes over 12 games with the Celtics this season.