The Boston Celtics are looking to shed salary and have done so over the course of the last 24 hours as Kristaps Porzingis has been traded to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal. The reason behind the deal is simply that the Celtics were looking to get below the second apron to save a significant amount of money in salary cap penalties. Let’s take a deeper dive into the full trade and discuss what it means going forward.
Kristaps Porzingis Traded to Atlanta Hawks
Kristaps Porzingis is the major name being dealt in the three-team trade between the Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, and Brooklyn Nets. The deal sees Porzingis and a second-round pick heading to Atlanta, Terance Mann and the 22nd pick in the 2025 NBA Draft going to Brooklyn, and Georges Niang and a second-round pick to Boston. This deal, along with the Jrue Holiday trade late last night, gets the Celtics below the second apron and sheds them of another massive contract.
Kristaps Porzingis is an unrestricted free agent after next season and is making $30.7 million. Georges Niang is also an unrestricted free agent for the Celtics and is making $8.5 million. Terance Mann is under contract for the next three years at $15.5 million per season. The Nets are also now holding five of the 30 first-round picks (8th, 19th, 22nd, 26th, and 27th) after the trade and this could be a massive deal in the making or simply resetting the franchise.
The Hawks are going to look to compete in a wide-open Eastern Conference next season with Trae Young, last year’s number-one pick Zaccharie Risacher, and Kristaps Porzingis. It will be interesting to see how this fit looks next season.
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