Why Did The Celtics Trade Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis? What's Next?

The Boston Celtics have been among the busiest teams in the NBA this offseason, making multiple trades in the days since the NBA Finals ended, but not for the reason a fan base of a contending team would want. 

Over the past week, Boston has traded away six-time All-Defensive guard Jrue Holiday and skilled big man Kristaps Porzingis for returns that, without context, left much to be desired.

Boston's Trades

• Traded Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two future second-round picks
• Traded Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal with the Brooklyn Nets for Georges Niang and a future second-rounder

Why did Boston make these moves? Are the Celtics, who just won 61 games last season and the 2024 NBA Finals the year before, blowing it up in the wake of Jayson Tatum rupturing his Achilles tendon during the team's second-round series loss to the New York Knicks?

Here's an explainer of the Celtics' transactions and what could be next.

The Celtics were a second apron team

Boston was one of three teams to exceed the second luxury tax apron, which bars teams from executing a variety of transactions, last season. Penalties for exceeding that threshold include not being able to make sign-and-trades, sending out cash in trades, using trade exceptions and using a mid-level exception, among other negatives. In addition, the Celtics were repeat luxury tax offenders, meaning the financial penalties would be even higher.

Boston's two stars, Tatum and Jaylen Brown, have seismic contracts that push the franchise's payroll to extremes to begin with: Tatum begins a five-year, $313.9 million deal ($62.8 million average annual value) next season, and Brown is one season into a five-year, $303 million deal ($60.6 million AAV).

The Celtics also extended guard Derrick White to a four-year, $118 million deal ($29.5 AAV) last summer, a contract which begins next season. 

Why Holiday and Porzingis were traded

Holiday averaged 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and one steal per game, while shooting 46.4/39.2/87.2 per season over his two years in Boston. Porzingis averaged 19.8 points, seven rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, while shooting 50.2/39.2/83.8 over his two years in Boston.

These trades had nothing to do with basketball, and everything to do with future savings.

Holiday, who turned 35 earlier this month, has three seasons remaining on a four-year, $134.4 million deal. Meanwhile, Simons, a respectable scorer in his own right who averaged 20.7 points per game over the past three seasons, is entering the final season of a four-year, $100 million deal. Holiday is due to make roughly $32.4 million next season and a combined $72 million in the two seasons that follow, whereas Simons is due to make roughly $27.7 million next season and then hit the free-agent market: Boston got out of Holiday's contract.

Porzingis is entering the final season of a two-year, $60 million deal, while Niang is entering the final season of a three-year, $25.5 million deal. In other words, Boston goes from paying Porzingis roughly $30.7 million next season to paying Niang roughly $8.2 million. The Celtics are now out of the second apron.

What could be next for the Celtics?

As for impending matters, Boston has the No. 28 and No. 32 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, which begins on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, big men Al Horford and Luke Kornet are each scheduled to become free agents, with teams allowed to negotiate with players outside their roster starting on June 30.

In all likelihood, Tatum, Brown and White will return, but given the combined $123.4 million average annual salary dedicated to Tatum and Brown — along with Tatum presumably missing next season — Boston would likely listen to a fair or overwhelming trade offer for White.

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