On Tuesday, the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and Brooklyn Nets made a three-team trade.
The Celtics traded center Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick to the Hawks. In return, Terance Mann and the Hawks’ No. 22 pick went to the Nets, while Georges Niang and another second-round pick moved to the Celtics, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
This was the Celtics’ second big trade in less than a day. On Monday night, they traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported that through these trades, the Celtics saved $180 million in luxury taxes from what was expected to be over $500 million in combined payroll and tax for next season.
As part of the agreement, Boston will receive Cleveland’s second-round pick for 2031, which the Hawks previously controlled. In exchange, Atlanta will take Boston’s least favorable second-round pick for 2026.
Boston is currently under the second luxury tax threshold and may have a chance to completely avoid the luxury tax this season. The Celtics are expected to make cuts this summer following Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury during the playoffs against the New York Knicks.
The new ownership group is likely to finalize their purchase of the team in the coming weeks.
Porzingis is coming off two solid seasons in Boston, where he achieved a career-high 41.2% shooting from 3-point range and averaged more than 19 points per game. If he has recovered from the illness that made him miss games during the last months of the regular season and Boston’s playoff journey this spring, he should fit well into Atlanta’s frontcourt with Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and last year’s top pick, Zaccharie Risacher.
The Hawks may have a lot of salary cap space next summer if they let go of Mann’s $15.5 million salary for the next three years. Porzingis is on a $30 million contract that is ending soon and could stay with the Hawks for the long term.
Meanwhile, All-Star guard Trae Young has a player option, and guard Dyson Daniels, who was last season’s Most Improved Player, is also due for a contract extension this summer.
For Brooklyn, taking on Mann’s contract for the last three years means they received the No. 22 pick in the draft from Atlanta. This pick originally belonged to the Lakers but came to the Hawks as part of last summer’s trade deal involving Dejounte Murray and the New Orleans Pelicans.
Now, Brooklyn has five picks in Wednesday’s first round: Nos. 8, 19, 22, 26, and 27. They also have plenty of salary cap space left this summer. However, since the Nets are using their cap space to complete this deal, it cannot be finalized until the new league year starts on July 6.
