Latest news with #KristapsPorziņģis
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How experts are grading the Celtics offseason
The Boston Celtics' 2025 offseason was always going to be complicated—but Jayson Tatum's devastating Achilles injury turned it into a full-scale reset. With their franchise cornerstone likely sidelined for the year, the Celtics prioritized long-term financial flexibility over short-term contention, moving on from veterans Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday in cost-cutting deals. Experts across the league agree: while the front office made smart moves to avoid the second apron and retain future assets, the roster took a significant hit in talent and depth—especially in the frontcourt. ESPN Grade: C The upside is the Celtics managed to balance their books without giving up any future first-round picks, getting under the second apron with a plausible path to avoiding the tax altogether in a gap year following Jayson Tatum's Achilles rupture. The downside is Boston shed a massive amount of talent, including everyone taller than 6-foot-8 who played at least 13 minutes in the 2025 playoffs. The Celtics will be challenged to replenish their frontcourt depth and, crucially, the versatility lost with Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. — Kevin Pelton Pro Football Network Grade: C The Boston Celtics entered the 2025 offseason reeling from a heartbreaking playoff exit and a devastating Achilles injury to Jayson Tatum, who had been delivering some of the best basketball of his career. With Tatum expected to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season, Boston's championship aspirations took a significant hit. The front office, led by Brad Stevens, responded by executing bold moves to reset the roster and regain financial flexibility for future runs. The Celtics parted ways with veterans Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis, moves primarily driven by the financial pressures of the league's second apron and looming luxury tax penalties. In return, Boston acquired Anfernee Simons, a scoring guard with upside, and Georges Niang, a versatile role player. Additional roster depth came in the draft with the selection of Spain's Hugo González, whose athleticism and international experience make him a promising project, though his immediate impact remains uncertain. The team also brought in Luka Garza and Josh Minott to bolster the frontcourt, but neither is projected to be a game-changer this season. Boston should remain competitive with defensive standout Derrick White and All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown still on the roster. However, there are valid concerns about the team's short-term depth, especially in the frontcourt, and its overall ceiling without Tatum. Bleacher Report Grade: C The cost-cutting talent drain was probably on the table before Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles in the playoffs, but that deeply unfortunate injury made the Boston Celtics' demolition inevitable. Knowing there was no sense in spending $500 million in payroll and tax on a Tatum-less roster that couldn't contend, the Celtics shipped off Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday, netting Anfernee Simons from the Portland Trail Blazers for the latter. Boston is now under the second apron and could duck the tax if it finds a taker for Simons' expiring $28 million salary at the trade deadline. None of this has been any fun for Celtics fans, who are probably experiencing whiplash with a championship and a teardown separated by 13 months. But Boston had to do this. The costs and restrictions associated with keeping the roster together were too great, particularly in the wake of a Tatum injury that might keep him from returning to full form until 2027. — Grant Hughes USA Today Grade: C+ They absolutely needed to shed salary to prevent apron triggers, so trading Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday had to happen. Anfernee Simons is a nice player in return, and No. 28 overall selection Hugo González is an intriguing project at guard, but can Boston say it is better now? That's magnified significantly with Jayson Tatum (Achilles) expected to miss the entire season. — Lorenzo Reyes & Jeff Zilligitt Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How experts graded Celtics drafting Hugo González
The Boston Celtics made their first pick of the 2025 NBA Draft and selected Hugo González in the first round at No. 28 on Wednesday night. The 6-foot-6 wing out of Spain will be brought over to Boston by the Celtics rather than be a draft stash, a source told ESPN's Jonathan Givony. González averaged 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds off the bench with Real Madrid this past season. Advertisement Here's what those around the NBA are saying about the Celtics' first and only pick of Round 1, as well as grades given. New York Post Intense, hard-nosed and physical wing who plays with max effort. He attacks the basket well, but will need to improve significantly from beyond the arc. Grade: C CBS Sports Gonzalez had a big early reputation in the Real Madrid system. He's a big wing with solid size and a high motor and defensive upside, especially on the ball. The defense is the intrigue here as his best offense is in transition. The shooting is the swing skill -- he shot just 29% last year. Boston shoots a lot of threes, so he'll need to show improvement there to really stick with the Celtics. Advertisement Grade: B- Bleacher Report The Celtics now have some runway in front of them. Jayson Tatum's Achilles tear cast a cloud of uncertainty over their 2025-26 campaign and subsequently led to the cost-cutting subtractions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis. Without so much win-now pressure on their shoulders, they just took one of draft's more intriguing developmental projects in Hugo González. Since floor time proved hard to come by for him in Spain, there are mystery-box elements at play here. His motor and physical tools should both translate to the NBA, but there are questions about what kind of shooter and shot-creator he'll become. Advertisement He plays hard enough that it's tempting to wager on him figuring everything out, but if he's a space-killing non-shooter, that will make it far more difficult for him to navigate the NBA. Grade: C+ Yahoo Sports He fits nicely in the Celtics' culture. He plays hard, but is more than a hustler and strong defender. He's a high-motor wing with great defensive tools and a slashing style on offense. If his jumper and handle develop, he could be a versatile two-way starter, though he didn't get a lot of playing time overseas. Grade: A Sports Illustrated Gonzalez saw his stock fall throughout the year after failing to secure consistent playing time at Real Madrid, but a year ago at this time he was considered perhaps the best international player in this class. His motor is elite, as is his versatility on the defensive end. This is a strong buy-low bet for a Celtics team looking for value on affordable contracts. Advertisement Grade: A- The Athletic Sam Vecenie: His quick reaction to what's happening around him is awesome on defense, and I think he can play on that end of the court at an NBA level. Ultimately, it's going to come down to his shooting. Can Gonzalez turn into an NBA shooter? That's the swing skill here, as it is for many teenagers as they turn toward the highest level of competition. Given his work ethic and willingness to be coached, you want to buy into it. There's also just not enough of a track record. I like him as a later first-round pick because if the shooting does come around, he's almost certain to be useful as a rotational wing. Advertisement John Hollinger: Gonzalez isn't good enough yet offensively, but he's a tough defender and a plus athlete at the wing position with a strong frame. If he can figure out the shooting and become a reliable offensive contributor, he has a chance to help the Celtics after Boston's 'gap year.' More Celtics content Read the original article on MassLive.
USA Today
25-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Lakers dodged a bullet when Kristaps Porziņģis was traded to Atlanta
Just two days after the conclusion of the NBA Finals, it seems as if trades are happening at a frantic pace across the NBA. On Sunday, the Phoenix Suns agreed to trade future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets, and on Sunday, another All-Star got moved. The Boston Celtics, who have already moved point guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers, agreed to send center Kristaps Porziņģis to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. They will receive forward Georges Niang and a second-round draft pick in return, and it is believed that this trade is essentially a salary dump for Boston. Porzingis was named to the All-Star game during the 2017-18 season and has consistently put up strong numbers. He averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 41.2% from 3-point range this season. The Los Angeles Lakers were reportedly one team that reached out to the Celtics about getting Porzingis, per Brett Siegel. Via ClutchPoints: 'The next order of business in Boston is trading Kristaps Porziņģis, sources said. As he enters the final year of his contract, Porzingis has drawn interest from several teams in both conferences. The [New Orleans] Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, and Toronto Raptors are a few of the 10-12 teams that have been in contact with the Celtics on Porzingis and others, sources said.' It is safe to say that the Lakers dodged a bullet by striking out on Porzingis. There is no doubt that he is a very good and effective player on both ends of the floor. He could've given them another legitimate offensive threat and 3-point sniper while helping them protect the rim and giving them a nice defensive anchor. But the risks outweigh the benefits with him. He has always been injury-prone. He appeared in just 42 regular-season games this year and in 57 games last season, and in his 10 NBA seasons, he has played in a grand total of 501 contests. He missed all of the 2018-19 campaign after tearing his ACL in February 2018, and he dealt with a mysterious illness during this year's playoffs that limited his playing time and production. After the injury risk that Anthony Davis always presented for the Lakers, and after dealing with other key players over the years who were injury-prone (remember Andrew Bynum?), relying on someone as fragile as Porzingis to plug their massive hole at the 5 would've been asking for trouble.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NBA Playoffs: Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis hang on late to lift Celtics past Magic in Game 4
The Boston Celtics didn't make it easy, but they are now just a single game away from closing out their opening-round playoff series. The Celtics held on late to grab a 107-98 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 4 of their series on Sunday night at the Kia Center. That gave Boston a 3-1 series lead and will send it back home with the opportunity to close out the series at TD Garden on Tuesday night and keep its quest to defend last season's championship alive. The Magic kept things close for much of the night. They tried several times to mount a comeback, and nearly did so late in the fourth quarter, too. The Magic tied things up late in the final period after a huge Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 3-pointer and then a tip-in from Wendell Carter Jr. It marked the first tie in the game since late in the second quarter. But that was as close as the Magic got. The Celtics rattled off a quick 10-1 run, and only gave up the single free throw after an Al Horford technical foul, to pick up the nine-point win. Kristaps Porziņģis kicked that run off with a huge and-one dunk and then Jayson Tatum drilled a fadeaway jumper over Paolo Banchero. TATUM'S GOT 30 🔥🔥 Couldn't come at a bigger time for Boston! BOS-ORL | 4Q | Game 4 | TNT — NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2025 From there, Boston hit several free throws and kept the Magic's offense largely stagnant in the final few minutes to grab the win. Banchero led Orlando with 31 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Franz Wagner finished with 24 points and seven assists, and Cory Joseph added 12 points and six assists. Tatum finished with 37 points and 14 rebounds despite shooting just 3-of-10 from behind the arc. He now has 32 career playoff games with at least 30 points, which is the second-most in team history, and he went a perfect 14-of-14 from the stripe. Jaylen Brown added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Derrick White finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Boston went just 9-of-31 from the 3-point line as a team, but it only missed two free throws as a group. The Celtics were without Jrue Holiday once again on Sunday. Holiday, who also missed Game 3, is dealing with a right hamstring injury. It's unclear how long he'll be sidelined. Is Kristaps Porziņģis OK? Porziņģis' health may be something to watch for the Celtics in the near future. Porzingis did not take the floor with the Celtics to start the second half, and was instead riding the stationary bike in the tunnel just off of the court. He was spotted with a wrap on his right calf on the bench, too. Porziņģis ended up returning to the game. He finished with 19 points and five rebounds, and was in foul trouble all night, but he appeared to be fine. The Celtics seemed to have a big spark when he came back off the bench in the fourth quarter, too. The injury, though, is just the latest he's faced so far this series. He was on the wrong end of a flagrant foul in Game 2 when he took an elbow to the forehead, which left him bloodied and bandaged. The Celtics are undoubtedly better when Porziņģis is both healthy and out of foul trouble. If they're going to close the series out on Tuesday night, it'll be much easier with Porziņģis fully available.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Celtics vs. Thunder: Who would win a Finals matchup?
With a month to go in the regular season, the Boston Celtics will host the Oklahoma City Thunder in a marquee matchup on Wednesday between the league's top two title favorites. While neither team will be at full strength (OKC's Jalen Williams is out with a hip strain, Boston's Kristaps Porziņģis is doubtful with an illness), this could be a preview of the NBA Finals. How do the heavyweights match up? What obstacles stand in their way? And who would win if they met on the NBA's biggest stage? Our writers weigh in. Vincent Goodwill: Styles make fights, and although they have similar personnel, these teams don't play the same way. Would Jaylen Brown guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and hound him the way he did Luka Dončić? Would Lu Dort be all over Jayson Tatum? Chet Holmgren and Kristaps Porziņģis in a battle of skinny vs. formerly skinny? The league has become a battle of wings and usually whoever wins the Finals takes the mantle of the supreme style and build for everyone else to follow. Tom Haberstroh: Experience. The Celtics have eight players who have played in multiple NBA Finals; the Thunder have zero. Inexperienced teams have won titles before (see the '23 Denver Nuggets), but these Thunder are greener than the Celtics' away jerseys. The only Thunder player to have ever played in an NBA Finals is Alex Caruso, who will be making his first postseason appearance with the Thunder, so he's not exactly a tenured elder statesman. I don't think experience would entirely determine the fate of this matchup, but it's going to be on my mind anytime either team hits a spell of adversity. Dan Devine: Broadly: Whether Oklahoma City's remix of the Boston build — the ability to toggle between 5-out/drive-and-kick and double-big looks that still have plenty of offensive juice, great positional size across the perimeter, two All-Star-level big wing creators, ace defenders at damn near every position — is good enough to beat the genuine article. More specifically: How will the Celtics guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and how will OKC react to it? We saw the Thunder run aground in the second round last season when Dallas packed the paint to neuter the drive-and-kick and worked to force the ball out of SGA's hands; he still got his 32 a night, but his teammates shot a combined 42.3% from the floor and 31.1% from 3-point range in a six-game loss. On Monday, the Nuggets brought aggressive doubles and traps aimed at turning SGA into a passer; both Luguentz Dort and Isaiah Hartenstein finished with more shots attempts than Shai, which just about any defense is probably going to consider a win. Would Jalen Williams (who'll miss Wednesday's matchup with a hip strain) be up to the task of making Boston pay for loading up on Shai? Can Chet Holmgren (shooting just 29% from 3 since returning from his hip fracture) seize that opportunity? If not, does a Thunder team that ranks just behind Boston in offensive efficiency this season have enough firepower to beat the C's four times? [Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem is back: Enter for a shot to win up to $50K] Morten Stig Jensen: The game-to-game adjustments, as both teams have so many varying instruments they can play. The Celtics, despite common conception, aren't just a 3-point shooting team. It's their biggest weapon, yes, but both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can create in isolation, and they can play through the post when Kristaps Porziņģis is healthy. The Thunder, while not a dynamic outside shooting team, do have plenty of role players who can get in on the action from long range, and even SGA has begun embracing the long ball as a complement to his elite slashing game, predicated on acceleration and deceleration. With Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein also in place, the Thunder can play very post-centric, too. From a schematic perspective, Thunder-Celtics would be enormously fun. Devine: I hope you won't find it insufficiently clever for me to say 'the team that's 55-10 with an eight-game lead over Boston, that has a top-10 defense and one of the five best offenses of the last 50-plus years, and that split a four-game season series with the Celtics.' I've been saying it for months: The Cavaliers really are that good. I believe Boston can beat them, because I believe Boston can beat anybody. But I also believe that this year's iteration of the Cavs is going to be a much tougher out than its predecessors, and represents the highest hurdle for the C's to leap between now and June. Goodwill: You wonder if the Celtics' age will make them more ripe for competition this time around. They weren't challenged at all last spring. And it's funny what a difference a year makes. Al Horford, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis are veteran pieces you may wonder about in a playoff run. Do they have the stamina to stay effective for four rounds? Of course, Dan's point about Cleveland being really good matters, especially with home-court advantage. And Cleveland isn't old where it matters positionally. All the pieces, and all the ages, matter. Jensen: The easy answer is the Cleveland Cavaliers. That's also the complicated answer, because getting past them won't be a walk in the park. Head coach Joe Mazzulla will need to dig deep in his bag of tricks to drag the Celtics through a best-of-seven series against one of the best two-way forces in the league. The Cavs, not unlike the Thunder, can play in many different ways, as they field elite perimeter playmaking and elite interior defense. The key to it all will be the play of Evan Mobley, who seems to be the offensive x-factor for these Cavs. If he gets it going concurrently with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, Boston's defense will have to stretch its limits significantly. Haberstroh: Cleveland. This team is having the best regular season in Cavs history. Kenny Atkinson has them playing like juggernauts on both ends of the floor. I'd pick Cavs in seven with home-court advantage being The Diff. Jensen: Dare I be simplistic and say the best player in all of basketball might present the biggest obstacle to the Thunder? Nikola Jokić is currently playing the best basketball of his career, by his own admission, and it's reflected in the numbers. 29/13/10 is outrageous, especially when you factor in that the Serbian is also hitting nearly 58% of his shot attempts. Also worrying, for the Thunder, is that Jamal Murray is finally returning to the state of which he used to play (23.2 points over the last 40 games), and MIP-candidate Christian Braun is seemingly locking in his starting spot over the next decade. The Nuggets are good, but given their poor start to the season, it seems not everyone has caught up to that fact. Haberstroh: The Golden State Warriors. With Jimmy Butler in the fold, the Warriors don't turn the ball over nearly as much as they did before. The Thunder's defense preys on mistake-prone teams like the pre-Butler Warriors, but Mike Dunleavy did well to sharpen their attack. The Finals-tested Dubs have the confidence and skills to dethrone the Thunder, but it'll take a perfect performance from aging vets to rattle the peerlessly disciplined Thunder. Goodwill: The fat man in Denver (we say fat with affection here) because nobody has a matchup for him. But could the Lakers or even Warriors provide the challenge? Not that either would be favored to knock off the Thunder, but could the collective body blows do the trick? In the East, it feels like a collision course between two teams. In the West, it feels like an ATV ride through muddy and choppy terrain for everybody. A refreshed Steph and Jimmy? Don't want to see them. A healthier LeBron and rounding-into-health Luka? Nah, I'd rather someone else knock them off. Devine: Sometimes the simplest answer is the best one: Nikola friggin' Jokić. I don't think it's recency bias to say that a Nuggets team that's been championship-caliber whenever it's had both Jokić and Jamal Murray healthy — and that just flambéed OKC's league-best defense to the tune of 1.42 points per possession on the second night of a back-to-back — is a threat worth taking seriously. (Ditto for the new-look, Jimmy Butler-infused Warriors. And If LeBron James' groin heals up, a Lakers team that can use him and Luka Dončić to create mismatches on offense and switch everything on defense could be pretty dangerous, too.) Haberstroh: Thunder. I'm trusting OKC's record-setting point differential of +12.6 every 100 possessions. By acquiring Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso this offseason, they filled in two of their biggest weaknesses: rebounding and experience. Unlike most teams, the Thunder boast the same lineup flexibility as the Celtics and I'm worried about Kristaps Porziņģis' health (and not just the mysterious viral infection). The Thunder are vulnerable to Boston getting hot from downtown just like the Mavs were last playoffs, but you can say that for every team facing the Celtics. Devine: Thunder. I took OKC over Boston in our preseason roundtable; I am nothing if not a man of deep, abiding principle, so I will stick with it. (The fact that the Thunder have literally been one of the most dominant regular-season teams we've ever seen doesn't exactly hurt here.) Jensen: Thunder. We've heard the cries of inexperience, but eventually teams figure that out and move on to another level. OKC seems to be hitting that stride. The collective confidence level is sky-high, the team is deep as heck, and we can hardly use last season's playoff disappointment as anything given that the team replaced Josh Giddey, who Mark Daigneault couldn't keep on the floor, with Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. Boston will put up a fight, especially if healthy. And as tiring as it sounds, given that this narrative has certainly played out, perhaps a Thunder matchup in the Finals will be the exact setting for Tatum to raise his game and lean into his vast scoring skills. Goodwill: Celtics. Someone has to repeat, right? It's been so long and it's good to have continuity, historically with this stuff. Have the Thunder suffered enough? One playoff heartbreak in the second round last year is the only bruise on that body. Do they know how precious these trips are? You wonder if this is a last dance for Boston's group en masse with aprons and tax implications. So if that's the case, they have experience and urgency and two supreme players to match up with OKC's firm of SGA and Williams. Gimme the ornery Celtics if they make it that far.
