NBA trade grades: How can Kristaps Porziņģis help Hawks' offense? Do Nets have new plan?

New York Times

6 hours ago

The big trades preceding draft night continue rolling in, and the Boston Celtics continue to shed payroll to get under the collective bargaining agreement's dreaded second-apron threshold.
They agreed to trade Kristaps Porziņģis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal involving the Brooklyn Nets, less than a day after agreeing to trade Jrue Holiday to Portland for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks. In the Porziņģis deal, Georges Niang and a second-round pick will head to Boston, and Brooklyn will receive Terance Mann and Atlanta's No. 22 selection in the first round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday. ESPN was first to report the deal.
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This is another big Celtics trade during their mini-sabbatical from ring-chasing as Jayson Tatum heals from his Achilles injury. Let's bust out the red ink and throw grades on this big three-team deal:
This is a very interesting and opportunistic move by a new Hawks front office. Porziņģis is on a $30 million expiring deal next season, meaning this could potentially be a rental for the Hawks. It's a great risk for a team that has been stuck in the mud of the East standings since their 2021 Eastern Conference finals appearance. The Hawks have been extremely disappointing for various reasons, as they've swapped out coaches and players around Trae Young since that postseason run. If Porziņģis is able to be relatively healthy for the Hawks this season, he provides a great running mate for Young.
As good as some of the players alongside Young have been, Porziņģis would probably be the best he's had. He can stretch the floor as a career 36.6 percent 3-point shooter, and that number rose to 39.2 percent in his two seasons with the Celtics. He's a pretty special shooter at his size, and he's capable of being a great option going to the basket with pick-and-roll opportunities. For a passer like Young, that provides a phenomenal target. It allows the Hawks to feel pretty easy about moving on from 31-year-old Clint Capela, and it moves Onyeka Okongwu back to his more natural position of playing the 4. And, when adding a healthy Jalen Johnson into the mix, you have a great three-headed big-man rotation.
The issue, though, is Porziņģis misses a lot of time. He hasn't played in 72 games since his rookie campaign. Over the last four seasons, he's missed 40, 25, 17 and 31 games, respectively. He's had injuries throughout his career, so the Hawks must be careful about how they utilize him and manage his physicality. The Hawks also have to make sure they can re-sign him. They aren't giving up too much for him, but you don't want this to be a rental.
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As the Eastern Conference becomes more wide open, the key for Atlanta to reshape its roster is maintaining a $25 million trade exception it can use to be very aggressive in adding talent. The Hawks should be proactive in going for something big under head coach Quin Snyder next season. The East has opened up in a way they couldn't have anticipated even two months ago. This is the time to figure out what they have here, once and for all.
Grade: A
The Celtics needed to shed more salary to get under the aforementioned second apron, and this should do it and then some. The question now is whether they feel they need to save even more money. That probably doesn't mean sending out recently acquired players like Niang or Anfernee Simons (from the Holiday trade), but would they feel the need to part with Sam Hauser via salary dump if it means they can easily keep Al Horford and/or Luke Kornet? The latter players become even more imperative now that Porziņģis is officially off the books.
Niang is a nice addition because his 3-point shooting fits perfectly in their offense. He can really let it fly and flirts with being a 40 percent 3-point shooter for his career. Finding him in the corner or on the wings will have high upside for a good result. The key for Niang, who enters a contract year during an era where elite shooting is quite invaluable, will be fitting into the team defense.
Boston's next step is making sure its frontcourt has enough size to remain relatively competitive.
Grade: B-
I love this opportunistic approach by the Nets. They didn't really give up anything of value in this deal, and they ended up with a solid rotation wing and a fifth first-round pick in this year's draft. Take that, Sam Presti! I can't imagine the Nets are going to utilize all five of those picks because that would just be ridiculous. Developing five such players at once is asking a lot. But the Nets are in a position to package those picks to either move up or add selections for teams that need cost-effective depth on rookie deals.
Brooklyn is doing what proper rebuilding teams often do, which is stockpiling draft assets by using its cap space to acquire contracts. And then, we'll see what happens with those resources.
Grade: A+
( Photo: David Butler / USA Today Network via Imagn Images )