The Boston Celtics got themselves under the dreaded second apron, while picking up a helpful frontcourt reserve. The Atlanta Hawks made a big bet that Kristaps Porzingis will help them take the next step. The Brooklyn Nets got a good wing on a good contract, while picking up yet another 2025 first-round pick.
Here are the particulars:
Atlanta Hawks acquire: Kristaps Porzingis, future second-round pick
Boston Celtics acquire: Georges Niang, future second-round pick
Brooklyn Nets acquire: Terance Mann, 2025 #22 first-round pick
Let’s dive in!
(Note: We’re going to look forward starting with 2025-26 salaries for the analysis of the deal.)
Incoming salary: $30.7 million in 2025-26
Kristaps Porzingis (C/PF, one year, $30.7 million)
Outgoing salary: $23.7 million in 2025-26
Terance Mann (SG/SF, three years, $47 million), Georges Niang (PF, one year, $8.2 million)
The Atlanta Hawks are making a bet that they can get Kristaps Porzingis to stay moderately healthy for next season. If so, the Hawks will go into the year with a very solid rotation, despite giving up two rotation players in this trade.
When healthy for the Celtics over the last two seasons, Porzingis was terrific. He was a force on offense, with his ability to space the floor, finish at the rim and to punish mismatches in the midrange game. On defense, Porzingis was able to impact games with his excellent rim protection, while also holding his own on perimeter switches.
Sadly, the Celtics only got that version of Porzingis for about half of his time in Boston. In Year 1 in green, Porzingis missed time with various maladies, including a serious ankle injury that required surgery after the 2024 NBA Finals. Year 2 saw the big man beset with a mysterious illness that persisted for months, on top of missing the first part of the season while recovering from the aforementioned ankle surgery.
The 2025 Playoffs were not kind to Porzingis, as he really struggled to find his rhythm. It got to the point that Joe Mazzulla resorted to bringing him off the bench, as Porzingis continued to battle the illness.
If healthy, the Hawks will get one of the more unique weapons in the NBA. Porzingis is a floor spacing big man to the extreme. He doesn’t just spot up behind the arc, he regularly spots up five feet behind the arc. He can also be a ferocious finisher at the rim. And if you put a small on him, Porzingis is content to work his way to 10-15 feet and shoot over his man with ease. And all of that comes with some solid rim protection on the other end of the floor.
How Quin Snyder approaches lineups will be interesting. The Hawks have a pretty good starting group with Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu. The early assumption here is that Porzingis will come off the bench. That gives Snyder the ability to go with Porzingis behind Okongwu, but to also play them together a lot too. And by bringing Porzingis off the bench, Atlanta should be able to manage his minutes and hopefully keep him on the floor for more games.
To take this gamble on Porzingis, Atlanta had to give up Terance Mann, who is a solid wing player. But the Hawks were dealing from a position of strength here. Johnson, Risacher and Daniels are going to play a lot as wings. Mann would have helped in the rotation, but Atlanta still has enough room to use the full Non-Taxpayer MLE. That’s $14.1 million to spend, and this offseason there are a lot of veteran wings available for backup spots. Georges Niang was traded in this deal too, but his role is effectively being replaced by Porzingis, so there’s no form of downgrade there, minus availability-wise.
The Hawks also gave up a first-round pick in this trade, but they retained the better of their two picks by keeping the 13th overall pick. That’s also a spot where Atlanta could add a wing.
This is a major gamble for the Atlanta Hawks. There’s no guarantee that Kristaps Porzingis will be healthy. If he is, Atlanta will push themselves into the mix for a top-six seed and a guaranteed playoff spot. But even if Porzingis isn’t healthy, the Hawks have an expiring $30.7 million salary to move by the trade deadline to patch roster holes.
Incoming salary: $8.2 million in 2025-26
Georges Niang (PF, one year, $8.2 million)
Outgoing salary: $30.7 million in 2025-26
Kristaps Porzingis (C/PF, one year, $30.7 million)
This trade for the Boston Celtics was about getting under the second apron. Mission accomplished. And they got a potentially helpful backup forward too, which is a nice bonus.
Much like it stung to trade Jrue Holiday, this deal stings too. Despite all of his absences, Kristaps Porzingis was a huge part of Boston winning the 2024 NBA title. It’s not easy to say goodbye to guys who were part of a title team.
But in order to get under the second apron, and to start the process of “thawing” out their frozen 2032 draft pick, the Celtics had to get off a lot of money. In the Holiday and Porzingis trades combined, Boston shed over $27 million in salary, which is enough to get them to about $4.5 million under the second apron. In addition, in terms of real dollars in salary plus tax penalties, the Celtics saved roughly $200 million. That’s nothing to sneeze at, considering this team isn’t a title contender while Jayson Tatum rehabs.
Does this trade weaken the Celtics on the court? Yes. When healthy, Porzingis is a lot better than Georges Niang. He’s a far more dynamic offensive player and has a far greater impact defensively. The challenge is you don’t know how often Porzingis would be healthy.
Niang is a pretty rugged and reliable guy. He rarely misses games and Niang is a 40% three-point shooter for his career. That fits in well in Boston’s five-out, bombs-away offense. He’s also a pretty good ball-mover and decent screener. Niang isn’t going to offer any rim protection, but he’s an ok positional defender.
Even with Kristaps Porzingis’ unreliability factored in, this is a big downgrade on-court for the Boston Celtics. But this trade wasn’t really about that. By getting under the second apron, the Celtics have now created considerably more flexibility for themselves this year, and moving forward. That was the goal, and Brad Stevens and the front office met it.
Incoming salary: $15.5 million in 2025-26
Terance Mann (SG/SF, three years, $47 million)
Outgoing salary: $0.0 million in 2025-26
The Brooklyn Nets picked up a helpful wing in Terance Mann, while renting out some of their 2025 cap space for yet another 2025 first-round pick. This is Sean Marks playing the game the way he did when he rebuilt the Nets the first time around.
Mann is a good player, and he’ll help a Nets team that is very much in transition. As it stands right now, Mann would very likely be a starter. He’s a pretty solid defensive player and decent playmaker. Mann has also become a good outside shooter and very good finisher inside the arc. He uses his size to get to his spots quite well, and has improved as a spot-up shooter too.
Most importantly for the Nets, as they rebuild: Mann is on a very movable contract. It’s pretty unlikely the veteran wing will play out the three years he has left on his deal while in Brooklyn. If a contender in need of a wing comes calling, the Nets will be able to move Mann’s fair-value deal with ease. That could mean getting a pick for him coming in, while also getting a pick for him going out. That’s the kind of smart move you have to make when you are starting over as a franchise.
Brooklyn picked up the 22nd pick in the 2025 NBA Draft in this deal to take on Mann’s contract. That gives Marks five selections in the first-round of this draft. There’s no chance that the Nets make all five of those selections for themselves. Look for Brooklyn to be very active in moving up the draft board, and possibly out with some of the picks, while picking up future selections.
As it stands right now, the Brooklyn Nets still have over $37.5 million in projected cap space available this offseason. That means that Sean Marks is nowhere near done retooling this roster. The Nets will be one of the most active teams this summer, as they’ll be a part of more trades, both at the draft and when free agency opens in next week.