Where Celtics roster stands after Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday trades

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10 hours ago

The Celtics made their first two big trades of the offseason, shipping out Jrue Holiday to the Blazers then Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks in a three-team trade. The C's were long expected to shed salary this offseason as the front office did just that in anticipation of the 2025 NBA Draft.
While the Holiday deal saved some money, the Porzingis deal slashed the payroll significantly. The Celtics are now under the second apron of the salary cap by $4 million, though they're still $16 million above the luxury tax line. So, further trades could be on the horizon, though the C's have already cut costs.
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In return of the two trades, the Celtics got an interesting, talented guard in Anfernee Simons from the Blazers. They also acquired veteran forward and local product Georges Niang from the Hawks in the three-team deal. From a pure talent perspective, C's fans are seeing massive changes.
Now, let's look at the Celtics roster after these first two trades:
Guards: Derrick White, Anfernee Simons, Payton Pritchard, JD Davison (team option)
Wings: Jayson Tatum (injured, Achilles), Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Georges Niang, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh (non-guaranteed)
Bigs: Xavier Tillman, Neemias Queta
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Immediately, it'll be interesting to see what the Celtics do when it comes to their bigs. Luke Kornet and Al Horford are both free agents, and after the Porzingis trade, that spot is looking bare at this point. Perhaps the Celtics trade enough that they can afford to keep their free agents, but that's a question mark currently.
The fit at the guard spots also feels clunky for now. Holiday brought a lot of defensive versatility, though his offensive game took a step back this past season. Simons is not a great defender and is on the smaller size at 6-foot-3. Considering the Celtics already have a smaller, offensive-minded guard in Payton Pritchard, how that shakes out will be worth monitoring. White is slotted in as a starting piece regardless.
Of course, Tatum will be out for the upcoming season due to his ruptured Achilles tendon. As of now, it's still shaping up to be Brown's team going into next year. Guys like Scheierman and Walsh could also be counted on to absorb more rotation minutes next season considering the state of the roster.
If there is one area Celtics fans can look at positively with the new additions, it's the shooting. Simons is a career 38.1% 3-point shooter while Niang is at 39.9% over the course of his career. Considering how the Celtics play, that's at least a positive sign even if it's not an end-all, be-all statistic.
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Notably, both Simons ($27.7 million) and Niang ($8.2 million) are on expiring contracts. So that gives the C's some flexibility going forward as they were able to slash payroll. Holiday still had three years and $104 million left on his deal while Porzingis was also on an expiring contract that was worth $30.7 million.
The Celtics have the No. 28 and No. 32 picks in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft, so they could draft guys to the roster. There have also been reports that they could trade up in the draft. The Celtics likely aren't done adding to their roster, though they have accomplished their primary goal of cutting costs in the short- and long-term.
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Read the original article on MassLive.