Celtics Trade Away Key Players, Rebalance Roster

Boston Aims to Reduce Costs and Rebuild After Championship Run

The Boston Celtics are reshaping their team, making significant trades to cut costs and adjust their roster. These moves follow their recent championship win and signal a strategic shift towards long-term financial stability and a new competitive approach.

Trade Details

The Celtics are trading their 2026 second-round picks, while also acquiring a second-round pick in 2031. This comes after the team faced a massive combined salary and luxury tax bill of about $500 million for the upcoming season. Following these transactions, that figure should decrease by roughly $220 million, according to financial data.

Importantly, shedding Kristaps Porzingis’s $30.8 million salary will help Boston stay under the second salary apron. This eases significant restrictions on roster construction, such as freezing future first-round draft picks, preventing salary aggregation in trades, and eliminating access to the mid-level exception.

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“You have to have the clarity of a full season and a full playoffs and a couple good nights of sleep. Then everybody gets in a room and you put your heads together and figure out what’s next.”

—Brad Stevens, President of Basketball Operations

According to recent reports, the average NBA team value has risen to $3.85 billion, a 13% increase from the previous year (Forbes 2024).

The Trades

Jayson Tatum is likely to miss next season due to an Achilles’ injury. As a result, the Celtics will start the next season without at least three starters from their 2024 championship team. These roster-building rules were made to encourage parity.

The team has also traded Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers. They received Anfernee Simons, a 26-year-old shooting guard, and future second-round picks in return. Simons will make $27.7 million next season, the final year of his contract.

The team has traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks, completing their second trade in two days. Boston will likely generate a substantial traded player exception with the Porzingis deal. This would allow them to acquire a player later via trade without matching salaries.

The Celtics are approximately $17 million above the $188 million luxury tax line. They could potentially dip below this threshold. That would protect the team from severe repeater tax penalties.