The Boston Celtics Made Another HUGE Trade
the Celtics have traded Chris Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks i’d have been different if it weren’t for the Jason Tatum injury that’s it’s incredibly unfortunate of getting under the second apron and out of this financial situation that they’ve been in less than 48 hours the Boston Celtics went from defending NBA champions to completely dismantling their championship core and I’m not talking about a typical rebuild i’m talking about a financial crisis that was about to cost them over half a billion dollars but here’s the crazy part it gets so much worse than you think and by the end of this video you’ll understand why even championship teams can’t escape the brutal reality of the new NBA because the Boston Celtics just made another trade their second trade within a day so before we get to the content this is our third video in a 24-hour span so make sure you’re subscribed and have our notifications on so you can stay up to date with the latest NBA news throughout the offseason and now that we got all that out of the way cue the intro [Music] [Music] mic check 1212 what’s going on everybody let me paint you a picture of what just went down literally hours before the NBA draft Sham Shiranya drops this absolute bomb on Twitter breaking Boston Atlanta and Brooklyn are finalizing a three-team trade that sends Kristoffs Porzingis and a second round pick to the Atlanta Hawks terrence man and Atlanta’s number 22 pick to the Nets and George Niang and a second rounder to the Boston Celtics now on the surface you might be thinking “Okay this seems like a pretty standard pre-draft trade.” But guys this is so much deeper than that this is the culmination of a financial nightmare that was about to absolutely destroy the Boston Celtics future and here’s what’s absolutely insane about this situation and I need you to really pay attention to these numbers because they’re going to shock you before these trades happened the Boston Celtics were facing a total cost of $513 million for the 2025 to 26 season that breaks down to a $233 million payroll plus a $280 million luxury tax bill to put that into perspective that’s more money than some NBA franchises are worth but here’s where it gets even crazier and this is what some people don’t understand about the new CBA now I know I sound like a broken record in my videos but it’s so important that you understand what the Second Apron is this was designed to stop teams from going absolutely bonkers with spending and the penalties are absolutely brutal i’m talking about draft picks getting frozen trading restrictions and penalties that would a franchise for years and guess what before this trade the Celtics were $23 million over that line but hold up because I mentioned there were two trades in a day and the first one’s going to make you understand how desperate Boston was getting so stay with me especially if you missed our Drew Holiday video because this timeline is about to get really crazy less than 24 hours before the Porzingis trade Boston made another move that sent shock waves throughout the league they traded Drew Holiday a guy who literally helped them win championship number 18 just last year to Portland for Anthony Simons and two second round picks now Holiday is just 35 years old but this dude was solid for Boston he was making $32.4 million for the 2025 to 2026 season and that single trade saved Boston $40 million in luxury tax payments alone but here’s the thing that makes this even more dramatic and this is where the human element comes in the timing of these moves wasn’t random jason Tatum to his Achilles in the playoffs and is expected to miss most or all of the 2025 to 26 season so Boston’s championship window it’s temporarily slammed shut so let me blow your mind with the financial impact of these moves between the holiday trade and the Porzingis deal Boston saved approximately $180 million in projected tax penalties they went from being $23 million over the second apron to $4.5 million under it and here’s where Celtics Governor Wick Grubzbeck’s comments from March become absolutely prophetic he said and I quote “It’s not the luxury tax bill it’s the basketball penalties the new CBA was designed by the league to stop teams from going crazy you can’t stay in the Second Apron nobody will.” I predict for the next 40 years of the CBA no one’s going to stay in the Second Apron for more than 2 years and this man literally predicted his own team’s future and when you pay attention to what the Second Apron penalties really are you’d understand these are absolutely devastating to a franchise teams in the Second Apron can’t aggregate salaries and trades meaning you can no longer package multiple players together to make deals work they can’t use the mid-level exception to sign free agents and here’s the killer their draft picks get moved to the end of each round but the worst part is that Boston’s 2032 first round pick was already frozen if they stayed in the second apron for a third year that pick would permanently move to pick number 30 essentially they’d lose a first round pick forever and this is exactly what the league wanted and it’s working teams literally cannot sustain these payrolls anymore now let’s break down why each team made this move because this is where the basketball strategy gets really interesting the Atlanta Hawks are in a fascinating position right now they desperately need a second star next to Trey Young and Chris Porzingis when he’s healthy gives them exactly that his 41.2% 2% three-point shooting last season was a careerhigh and his 1.5 blocks per game addresses Atlanta’s biggest weakness which is rim protection atlanta can absorb Porzingis’ $30.7 million expiring contract by using their massive $25.3 million trade exception from the Dejonte Murray deal earlier this season they’re basically betting that Porzingis’s elite production which was 19.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game when healthy outweighs his injury concerns and those injury concerns well Kristoffs missed 40 games this past season due to foot surgery and some mysterious illnesses brooklyn’s strategy is absolutely brilliant they now hold five first round picks in the 2025 NBA draft number 8 19 22 26 and 27 that’s the most in the entire NBA plus they have $91 million in cap space terren man gives them veteran leadership at 28 years old yeah his production dipped this season just 6.3 points per game on career low efficiency but his $47 million over three years is reasonable and Brooklyn can flip him later if needed now for the Celtics this is where it gets really interesting obviously money is the motivation here and George’s Niang might seem like a massive downgrade from Porzingis but check out these numbers the 32-year-old Massachusetts native averaged 9.9 points per game on 40.6% three-point shooting last season at just $8.2 $2 million that’s $22.5 million less than Porzingis for similar floor spacing production nyang fits Boston’s system perfectly he’s got a career 39.9% three-point shooting percentage and a high basketball IQ there’s a reason they call him the minivan he’s reliable and hustles hard whenever he plays now Celtic fans I want to be very real with you guys this certainly makes Boston worse next season but here’s the thing with Jason Tatum sideline for most or all of 2025 to 26 that might not even matter the real question is whether they can rebuild a contender around Jaylen Brown and Derek White while maintaining financial flexibility and historically the numbers aren’t that great teams making major changes immediately after championships have just a 15% chance of making it back to the NBA finals but Boston didn’t have a choice here their hand was forced by the new CBA as one Capologist told the Steinline they’re going to have to trade some guys at some point so if you break this down Boston achieved exactly what they wanted to achieve before the trades Boston faced $513 million in total costs for 2025 to 26 after the trade that number is down to 405 million it’s still massive but manageable they save over $60 million in luxury tax savings and they go from $23 million over the Second Apron to $4.5 million under the Second Apron this trade signals a completely new era in the NBA teams have at most a 2-year window in the second apron before being forced to restructure brooklyn’s patient accumulation of assets contrasts sharply with teams mortgaging their futures for immediate success for Atlanta this is their shot with Trey Young eligible for a $229 million extension they need to prove that they can build a winner around him and Porzingis gives them that chance for Boston this is about sustainability they’ve shown they can win a championship now they’re proving they can navigate the new financial landscape while remaining competitive but if you’re a Celtic fan let me know in the comment section down below what you guys think about this trade aside from that I don’t know if you guys heard the Celtics did trade Drew Holiday we did a complete deep dive in this video last night and Jordan Pool got traded earlier today as well i’m going to leave both of those videos at the end screen i’ll meet you guys there i’m your boy Mike and I’m dropping our mic until our next upload
Mike Mafia Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQo7Kkt6UOnPP114Xwi5Qeg/join
Instagram: http://instagram.com/theflightmike#
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theflightmike
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Mikerophone
Discord: https://discord.gg/sHexntZpSZ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFlightMike
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Theflightmike
Snapchat: FlightMikeSnap
MUSIC BY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5CEQDOtEb9UftqMWwoJXrL
https://www.instagram.com/winterfreshmusic/
30 comments
He didn't play until the finals and was absent all this post season.. we all seen this coming.
As a Celtics fan, I hate see them go.
But at the same time, they were brought in to win a Championship, and that is what they did!!!!
Now it is time to say good bye and thank them both.
We will see if Brad can do it again, if he can he will be a legend.
Mike's LITERALLY counter survives another day
32 Mil paid to Holliday? 😅😅😅
NBA players aren’t taking discounts like they used too ITS simple Mike check kid
They aren’t done
Cut intro for short man
I want to know who are the fools who agreed to this CBA. It was very short sighted even when it was first discussed
The NBA was desperate for parity and we got it. We will probably never see a repeat champion
What are you talking about? There is no NBA team worth less than 3 BILLION dollars. In what world is a team worth $500 mill? Your drunk and talking out of your ass Mike.
Besides the financials, Boston is moving a 34 year old trending down player with $75 millions in upcoming salary in Jrue an an injury prone center that served his purpose and helped them get a ring. These are also basketball moves, not only money moves.
Online gambling was legalized to target young black men and take their money
Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Jrue Holiday, Kristopz Porzingis…The Boston Celtics are the most cut-throat team in the NBA. Its all about money and championships. Period.
Stevens has been a wizard in his trading skills. The Celtics will most likely be contenders again next year.
Is Niang also a center
Kristaps is ass now who cares
The owners wanted a draconian hard cap and that's what they got in the second apron.
It's going to be borderline impossible for teams to compete for longer than 2 to 3 years at a time under this new CBA.
I personally LOVE these two trades as a Celtics fan. We get two elite shooters to play around brown and white, and we get under the second apron.
Starting Lineup:
PG- pritchard
SG- d white
SF- brown
PF- horford
C- queta/kornet
6th man will be simons
Mike you a capoligist
Payton Pritchard is about to be the best contract in the NBA
one of the best intros I've watched in my life
This is payback for the player entitlement era. The owners are always 2-3 steps ahead of the players.
They’re basically saying, you can have a max contract but you won’t sniff the playoffs or achieve any NBA relevance unless you can carry a team by yourself.
When players outperform, it will be obvious to everyone. But when a player negotiates more in salary than he can deliver in value on the court, it’ll blow up the team.
I like it.
The nets can do something massive this offseason and in a way that’s not redoing the KD experience
How is this a huge trade? Lmaooo
I am so curious if Tatum is in on these conversations or not, I mean he must be right?
everybody calm down. celtics got anfernee simons from portland. celtics just got better. simons is ligit as fuq.
I’m not mad at this trade.
He had that mysterious illness towards the end of this season. Was injured a bit too much and we relied heavily on Horford.
They traded my favorite player man. Granted he was injured a lot but it was fun while it lasted 😭
But like the dude that purchased the Lakers and Dodgers. Can’t somebody just dump money into the Celtics
georges is a dirty player wtf