Celtics
By dealing Porzingis’ contract, the Celtics are now under the second apron of the NBA’s luxury-tax structure.
Less than 24 hours after the Celtics traded away a key piece from their 2024 championship team in Jrue Holiday, Brad Stevens and Boston reportedly made another major move on Tuesday.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Celtics are trading center Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that also includes the Brooklyn Nets.
Here are the parameters of the deal, according to Charania:
Boston receives: Georges Niang, 2nd-round pick
Atlanta receive: Kristaps Porzingis, 2nd-round pick
Nets receive: Terance Mann, Atlanta’s No. 22 pick in 2025 NBA Draft
While Boston was able to get a potential scorer threat in Anfernee Simons as part of the return for Holiday, Tuesday’s reported deal stands as more of a pure salary dump for a Celtics team that had to cut payroll in order to lessen its looming luxury-tax bill.
According to Spotrac’s Keith Smith, the Celtics are now out of the second apron of the league’s luxury-tax threshold by $4.5 million.
Boston is still $7.4 million over the first apron and over $15 million above the luxury tax, according to Smith. But, getting under the second apron allows the Celtics to use the mid-level exception, utilize cash in trades and include first-round picks from seven years out in trades.
Above all else, getting Porzingis and Holiday’s contracts off the books will limit the repeater tax penalties for the Celtics that was once projected to cost Boston more than $280 million in luxury taxes next season — on top of the team’s projected $233 million in full roster payroll.
Former Nets GM Bobby Marks noted on X that Boston is expected to save nearly $180 million in luxury-tax savings by moving Porzingis and Holiday off their books.
Porzingis played a key role in putting Boston over the top en route to a championship in 2024, with the 7-foot-2 big man’s blend of post work, rim protection, and 3-point shooting making him a cheat code on an already stacked Celtics roster.
But even with Porzingis’ strong play at times with Boston, his two-year run with the Celtics was marred by injury and illness.
Porzingis played in just seven of Boston’s 19 playoff games during that run due to a calf injury and an ankle ailment that eventually required offseason surgery.
During the 2024-25 season, Porzingis was limited to 42 games while recovering from that ankle surgery, and was later slowed down by a lingering illness.
He averaged 19.5 points per game while knocking down 41.2 percent of his three-pointers to go along with 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest.
But during a disheartening playoff run for Boston, Porzingis was again bogged down by recurring symptoms from that illness. In 11 playoff games this past season, Porzingis averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds and shot 15.4 percent from 3-point range while logging an average of 21 minutes per contest.
“I don’t think anyone was more frustrated than him. I felt for him because the way it was described to me was post-viral syndrome, which is just lingering effects of a long virus,” Brad Stevens said after Boston’s season ended in the second round. “I thought he really turned a corner at the end of the regular season, when we went to Madison Square Garden and he was so good [against the Knicks]. Even in the first round [against the Magic].”
Taking to social media just a few hours before Tuesday’s trade, Porzingis offered an update about his health going into the 2025-26 season.
“Thanks for all the support and questions about my health,” Porzingis wrote. “I’ve been feeling excellent all offseason and look forward to a healthy and strong European championship tournament with my [national team].”
Along with getting Porzingis’ expiring contract off the books, the Celtics added a power forward in Niang.
Niang, 32, averaged 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game last season — split between the Cavaliers and Hawks. Niang is a local product, as he grew up in Lawrence and attended high school at The Tilton School in New Hampshire.
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