Other exchanges of Celtics coming? Post-2025 exploration options NBA Draft-Nbc Sports Boston
The revision of the Boston Celtics roster that many expected began seriously. And it will probably continue.
The first domino fell at the beginning of this week, when the Celtics separated with the veterans Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis Porzingis in two reported operations that freed about $ 27 million in the limit space for the next season and helped them immerse themselves under the second apron of the NBA luxury tax.
Starting from Friday, however, Boston is located only $ 4.5 million below the second apron and cannot exceed that threshold for the rest of the offseason and regular season. So, if the Celtics want to retain free agents waiting for Al Horford and Luke Kornet – or make any remarkable moves, really – they must cut even more salary.
Therefore, it should not surprise that Boston should “remain active in the commercial market” in the future, as Brian Robb of Masslive reported on Friday.
So when these exchanges could happen and who could be involved? We explore a temporal sequence for possible agreements, followed by three hypothetical scenarios on how the Celtics can “regain flexibility”, a phrase president of the Basketball Bred Stevens operations mentioned several times in its press conference following the draft of the 2025 NBA.
Chronology for potential operations
The free NBA agency starts unofficially on Monday 30 June, when the teams can start negotiating with free agents of other clubs. If the Celtics have a strong desire to maintain Horford and/or Kornet and believe that there will be significant interest from other teams, they could be motivated to complete the offers within or before next Monday to free the space of the limit necessary to sign their big men again.
Another factor to note: holiday operations and Porzingis will not become official until July 6, when the new year of the championship officially begins. So, if the C wants to move Amphernee Simons (acquired in the holiday trade) or Georges Niang (acquired in the Porzingis trade) before July 6, they could simply expand the existing picture of these agreements to bring further teams.
Scenario 1: Trade Simons and/or Niang
As mentioned above, Boston can get further limits to the limits if he finds a commercial partner for Simons or Niang.
The first is destined to earn $ 27.7 million in the last year of his contract and has value as a microwave marker (20.7 points per game in the last three seasons), while the second is with an agreement expiring of $ 8.2 million and could appeal to a contender in search of a versatile veteran with a strong 3 -point blow (40.6 percent of last season).
An agreement that involves Niang could be a direct salary landfill, while a Simons trade would probably involve the Celtics that bring the salary back, since few teams can absorb a success of $ 27.7 million. The C needs depth in front of before the couple after treating Porzingis, so perhaps they would try to bring a great man back to a Simons agreement.
Scenario 2: Exchange Sam Hauser
According to reports, the commercial market for Hauser was “robust” in the project and, although no agreement has materialized, there are many teams that could benefit from a 3 -point shooter of 42 % in a career which is destined to earn $ 10 million in the first year of a four -year extension of 45 million dollars.
With Jayson Tatum put aside for the most part or throughout the 2025-26 season, Hauser could provide a lot of value if he remains in Boston. But if the Celtics believe that the second year’s wing Baylor Scheierman can give them some value at a lower cost ($ 2.6 million caps of $), then it makes sense to explore the movement of Hauser and save up to $ 10 million against the limit.
Scenario 3: Multi-player trade
Now that the Celtics are under the second apron, they can aggregate contracts in the operations, which means that both Hauser and Niang could deal, for example, in a single trade with a team with $ 18 million in the space cap.
The great man Xavier Tillman Sr. is another name to look at this scenario. While he has a favorable agreement (contract expiring of $ 2.5 million), he scored on average only 7.0 minutes per game last season as ODD MAN OUT in Boston’s Frontcourt.
If the Celtics have no intention of expanding the role of Tillman, perhaps they would include it in a trade involving Simons, Niang or Hauser as an additional resource.