Kristaps Porzingis Sends Message After Former Teammate Leaves Celtics

Kristaps Porzingis Sends Message After Former Teammate Leaves Celtics originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The offseason is still young, but the Boston Celtics have already made numerous moves and changes to their roster. Most notably, they traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers and Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks.

Heading into the offseason, it was widely anticipated that Holiday and Porzingis would be on the move as the Celtics looked to get under the second apron. However, there were still a few other players on the roster whose future with the team was uncertain. This included backup big man Luke Kornet, who was a free agent.

On Monday, Kornet officially left Boston to join the San Antonio Spurs on a four-year, $41 million deal. After the news broke, Porzingis shared a message to his former teammate on social media.

Prior to his departure, Kornet spent parts of five seasons in Boston and is coming off the best season of his career. The Texas native also played a big role in the Celtics’ championship victory in 2018.

After Kornet officially signed with the Spurs, Porzingis sent a message to showcase his support.

“Happy for this guy! One of the best teammates, well deserved Luuukee,” Porzingis wrote.

In addition to their time together in Boston, Porzingis and Kornet were also briefly teammates on the New York Knicks during the 2017-18 season. With Kornet now officially off the roster, the Celtics are slim at the center position, and this will especially be true if Al Horford also leaves in free agency.

Though next year will most likely be a gap year for the Celtics due to Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury, they still have a bright future. However, they also have some major roster problems they need to address by the end of the offseason, especially following Kornet’s exit.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 1, 2025, where it first appeared.

Kristaps Porzingis Sends Message After Former Teammate Leaves Celtics

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