progresifjaya.id, JAKARTA – The basketball club that dominates the NBA competition, Boston Celtics will swap their star player, Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal with the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets. In exchange, they will receive Georges Niang and a second-round pick. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will get Terance Mann and pick No. 22 from Atlanta.
As is known, the Boston Celtics continued their roster overhaul after trading guard Jrue Holiday earlier this week. According to Shams Charania from ESPN, the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and Brooklyn Nets have agreed to a three-team deal on Tuesday, (6/24).
The Boston Celtics sent center Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks. Then Terance Mann and pick No. 22 from the Atlanta Hawks fell into the hands of the Brooklyn Nets. Meanwhile, Georges Niang and a second-round pick fell into the arms of the Boston Celtics.
The Boston Celtics have reportedly traded two-time All-Star guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers. The player will get off the second salary cap apron with the trade of the often-injured Porzingis and save a projected 180 million USD tax penalty.
The Boston Celtics are also reportedly actively engaged in trade talks involving several players on their roster, following superstar Jayson Tatum’s torn Achilles tendon in the second round of the playoffs.
Porzingis was an All-Star in 2017-18 with the New York Knicks, who drafted him with the No. 4 overall pick in 2015. He missed the entire 2018-19 season with a torn ACL. Porzingis has played fewer than 60 games in six of his last seven seasons.
He also missed the start of last season after undergoing offseason ankle surgery. The medial retinaculum tear, which is considered “rare,” occurred during the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, which the Boston Celtics won in five games.
Porzingis averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.5 blocks and 28.8 minutes in just 42 regular-season games (all starts) last season. He also played in 11 playoff games (seven starts) and averaged 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 21 minutes.
Over his career, Porzingis has averaged 19.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 blocks and 30.8 minutes in 501 games (500 starts) for the New York Knicks (2015-18), Dallas Mavericks (2019-2022), Washington Wizards (2022-2023) and Boston Celtics.
The Boston Celtics are now under the second luxury tax threshold. The basketball club could have the chance to get out of the luxury tax entirely this offseason.
The two deals, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, save the Boston Celtics 180 million USD in luxury tax revenue from what was originally projected to be a combined salary and tax bill of more than 500 million USD next season. (Bembo)