The Boston Celtics have made their second important commerce in as many days. Lower than a day after sending Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers, they have dealt Kristaps Porziņģis and a second-round decide to the Atlanta Hawks. The deal sends Terence Mann and the No. 22 decide to the Brooklyn Nets, whereas Georges Niang and a second-round decide goes again to Boston.
So what is going on on right here? Why are the Celtics promoting off so many good gamers, and the way does this commerce make sense for all events concerned? Let’s grade the deal team-by-team to determine that out.
Boston Celtics: B+
The Boston Celtics entered this offseason with the costliest roster in NBA historical past. They have been set to have a payroll of almost $500 million with luxurious taxes factored in. That was high-quality when Jayson Tatum was wholesome and so they have been a defending champion. Nonetheless, with Tatum prone to miss all or most of subsequent season with a torn Achilles, Boston principally needed to shed payroll.
They have been $22 million above the second apron, and it was essential to duck beneath it as a result of groups can solely spend two years in a five-year interval above that line earlier than future first-round picks begin mechanically dropping to No. 30 general. The Celtics simply used one second-apron season this 12 months. They weren’t losing one other in a non-Tatum 12 months, so shedding at the very least that $22 million grew to become important.
They acquired the ball rolling Monday night time with the Vacation-for-Anfernee Simons swap. That saved them virtually $5 million. This deal saves them one other $22.5 million or so, which means they’ve efficiently ducked the second apron. Now, not solely have they performed so, however they’ve gained picks within the course of as they acquired two second-rounders from Portland on Monday. Sure, they lose expertise, however Porziņģis had develop into such a medical danger that they seemingly could not have justified re-signing him long-term anyway, and Vacation is 35 with three costly years left on his contract.
They (so far) have not wanted to maneuver their two finest non-Tatum gamers: Jaylen Brown or Derrick White. That does not essentially imply that they will not, however now, they’ll focus totally on asset worth in negotiations for both of them. They do not have to fret about shedding extra wage. That enables them to commerce from a place of energy shifting ahead. If somebody bowls them over for White or Brown? They will take into account it. In any other case, they are not determined anymore.
The Celtics might even get a bit extra aggressive with regards to shedding wage if they need. If they’ll transfer Sam Hauser‘s $10 million wage into somebody’s mid-level exception, they may even have the ability to put themselves able to duck the posh tax totally. That may not sound vital from a basketball standpoint, however belief me, it’s. The league’s luxury-tax formulation modifications for the 2025-26 season to develop into way more punitive, particularly to repeat payers. The Celtics have a number of luxury-tax years forward of them when Tatum will get again. Saving cash now may make possession extra keen to spend later.
The NBA Draft is not even right here but and the Celtics have already achieved every thing they should accomplish this offseason. There’s extra they can do in the event that they wish to, and re-signing backup heart Luke Kornet is probably going a precedence now that it appears financially possible. However the hardest stuff is completed. Now, they’ll focus solely on rebuilding their roster for when Tatum returns with out pondering an excessive amount of concerning the cash concerned.
Atlanta Hawks: B
For years, the Hawks have wanted to place a deep group of athletic wings round Trae Young to guard him defensively. They’ve now performed so with Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher and Jalen Johnson. The catch is that whereas all of these guys can defend and wreak havoc in transition, none of them are sturdy shooters. That limits the house Younger has to work with within the half-court offensively. And so, the Hawks wanted to seek out taking pictures someplace, and the one open slot of their lineup was at heart.
Porziņģis is clearly a stellar shooter at heart. His 3-point prowess is well-known, however the different profit is that he successfully makes an offense switch-proof. In the event you put a guard or wing on him within the arc he’ll simply shoot simple mid-range jumpers over them. With Onyeka Okongwu‘s progress final season, the Hawks now have two large males that may really house the ground a bit, but defensively, they supply very various things. Porziņģis is clearly a robust, stationary rim-protector, whereas Okongwu is extra cellular and may swap onto the perimeter. They might break up the middle minutes evenly, however they might additionally even play a couple of minutes collectively. So within the brief time period, it is a good commerce that makes the Hawks higher with a distinct segment participant sort they completely wanted but tends to be exhausting to seek out.
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The query marks listed here are in the long run. Johnson begins his rookie extension this 12 months. Daniels will subsequent 12 months, and we don’t know whether or not or not the Hawks will have the ability to signal Younger to an affordable extension. In different phrases, this workforce is getting costly. That raises affordability questions on Porziņģis for the longer term.
That a part of that is going to be a danger. The Hawks in all probability might afford to re-sign him at a diminished wage given the entire medical dangers he poses. They’ve one other starting-caliber heart, to allow them to afford to have a luxurious like Porziņģis even when he misses video games, but it surely’s all going to rely upon the quantity. You may pay, say, $18-20 million per 12 months for a luxurious. You definitely cannot pay the $30.7 million Porziņģis at the moment makes. So extension negotiations are going to be fascinating.
If Porziņģis can keep wholesome and re-signs at an affordable fee, this commerce might appear like an “A” in the long term. But when this 12 months does not go properly? No hurt performed. You simply let Porziņģis stroll and really feel content material within the data that you simply basically used the No. 22 decide to dump the wage of Terence Mann, which was in all probability destructive anyway. Good work by Atlanta, however the inherent dangers current with Porziņģis restrict their grade to a “B.”
Brooklyn Nets: B-
The Nets are this offseason’s cap house dumping floor, and this deal units the value. The are successfully paying $47 million over three years for the precise to choose No. 22 on Wednesday. That is how a lot Mann is owed, however Mann is not completely lifeless wage. He is been a playoff rotation participant prior to now, and he is nonetheless at the very least usable in regular-season bench models. He is making mid-level cash now. You’d slightly now pay an $8 million participant $16 million, however hey, it by no means hurts to have an $8 million participant.
The questions right here for Brooklyn lie of their now preposterously giant stash of 2025 draft picks. They’re at the moment slated to choose six instances on Wednesday and Thursday, and none of them are throwaway picks on the finish of the second spherical. They at the moment maintain the No. 8, 19, 22, 26, 27 and 36 picks within the draft. No workforce is ever going to roster six rookies in a league with 15 full-time spots. They’re going to must consolidate ultimately.
The plain purpose right here is to pile sufficient pick-value to leap from No. 8 as much as No. 3 or No. 4, the place the Nets would presumably choose Ace Bailey. The catch right here is that the NBA will not be the NFL. Amount does not imply a lot in trades of that stature. It is all about high quality. Realistically, Brooklyn’s cleanest path to shifting up was in all probability all the time to make use of its cap house as a weapon. In spite of everything, Boston successfully simply selected cap flexibility over the No. 22 general decide. Many different groups would too now. So a transfer up is feasible. It simply does not appear seemingly that No. 22 was the difference-maker in that respect.
Ideally, the Nets would have gotten a decide sooner or later on this deal. That manner, they would not have deepened their roster crunch with one other 2025-26 rookie. The worth of the contract they’re taking up for the decide they landed is cheap, however with solely a day left earlier than the draft, this commerce raises extra questions than it solutions.