The Boston Celtics front office may not be done making big trades this summer, even after moving off the contracts of former championship starters Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
Looking to save money with six-time All-Star forward Jayson Tatum recovering from an Achilles surgery for most or all of next season, Boston shipped Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers in a straight-up deal for combo guard Anfernee Simons.
Moving off Holiday’s $32.4 million contract for Simons’ $27.7 million expiring deal will help Boston’s cap sheet.
The Celtics also offloaded Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team exchange with the Brooklyn Nets. Boston brought back floor-spacing forward Georges Niang and a second rounder in the deal.
“I have talked to other teams who have said the Celtics are actively trying to trade Anfernee Simons,” Brian Windhorst of ESPN noted on said his podcast The Hoop Collective. “Whether they can or not [is the question].”
In addition to Simons, reserve forward Sam Hauser seems like the kind of player rival clubs could want that Boston could afford to lose. The Celtics have a few young wings, including second-year swingman Baylor Scheierman and rookie Hugo Gonzalez, who could presumably move into Hauser’s role.
Windhorst and podcast co-hosts Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps posit that Boston could try to avoid not just the NBA’s second luxury tax, but also its first luxury tax. That would enable the Celtics to avoid the league’s prohibitive repeater tax a bit longer. NBA clubs who find themselves in the luxury tax for three of four seasons become susceptible to the repeater tax.
Given that Tatum is hurt and Boston is now without a starting-caliber center (unless the team re-signs free agent big man Al Horford), it seems that Boston won’t be in contention for a title in 2025-26. Thus, it makes sense for the club to adjust its finances and gear up for a pricier future when it has a real shot at its 19th championship.
