Celtics swing another big trade as major retooling continues

Less than 24 hours after dropping their first big trade bomb of the summer, the Boston Celtics have fired their second shot, as Brad Stevens continues a major retooling of the roster.

As reported by Shams Charania Tuesday, the Celtics are finalizing a three-team trade with the Hawks and Nets that will send big man Kristaps Porziņģis to Atlanta. The C's will receive big man Georges Niang from the Hawks, plus a second-round pick.

To round out the deal, the Nets are getting Terance Mann and the No. 22 pick in the 2025 draft from the Hawks. This helped facilitate Boston and Atlanta's financial needs to make the trade work.

^{Kristaps Porzingis}

Niang is on the books for only $8.2 million in 2025-26, so swapping out Porzingis for him reduces the Celtics' payroll by $22.5M. That, plus the nearly $5M saved by trading Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for guard Anfernee Simons, sheds about $27.2M from the books, which is more than enough to get the Celtics under the second luxury tax apron.

According to Bobby Marks, the Holiday and Porzingis trades save the C's up to $180 million in luxury tax penalties.