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By the time the final buzzer had sounded on game seven of this year’s NBA Finals, crowning the Oklahoma City Thunder as the new kings of the National Basketball Association, the Celtics had already made major personnel changes from their 2023-24 title team.
Gone are guard Jrue Holiday and center/forward Kristaps Porzingis, who were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers and Atlanta Hawks, respectively, as both became victims of salary cap provisions. Holiday, a key contributor to the Celtics’ run to NBA title number 19, was sent to Portland for guard Anfernee Simon and draft picks. Porzingis was shipped to the Hawks for forward George Niang and draft picks
Jrue Holiday was an integral part of the Celtics PHOTO: Boston Celtics /NBA
The fundamental part of both the Holiday and Pozingis deals centered on the Celtics’ salary-dumping strategy to avoid falling into the convoluted tier-2 segment of the league’s salary cap provisions. (Visit the NBA.com website for a further explanation of the salary cap provisions.) The team was able to wipe $181 million off their cap number by jettisoning Holiday and Porzingis, who had both signed lucrative multi-year contracts when they were acquired by the Celtics, via trades before the start of last season.
As previously stated, Holiday played brilliantly for the Celtics last season and was playing at an all-star level until a shoulder injury limited his effectiveness this season. To his credit, he never complained about his injured shoulder, although it was apparent to the naked eye that he was playing through immense pain. He gutted his way through the regular season and playoffs, barely able to raise his injured shoulder, and deserved more consideration for his valiant effort to play.
Another factor in the Jrue Holiday story is his charitable contributions, totaling in the millions of dollars, to the communities of color in the city of Boston. You don’t find many men like Jrue Holiday in today’s world. He will be missed!
Porzingis gave the Celtics little this season, spending much time on the injured list — he played a total of 42 games — and was a shell of himself when he participated.
Seven footer, Amari Williams, the second Celtics pick, averaged 11 points and 9 rebounds for the Wildcats. PHOTO: Boston Celtics/NBA
New Celtics owner Bill Chisholm paid $6 billion plus to purchase the team of his childhood dreams and immediately started to dismantle it. He and his supporters will say, “This is the business of basketball in the NBA today.” That may be true, but the coldness of the business leaves much to be desired.
And while the Celtics look ahead to possible future deals, the team drafted 6’6” wing Hugo Gonzalez from Spain and 7’0” center Amari Williams from Kentucky with its first two selections in the recent college basketball draft.
La Liga star, Hugo Gonzalez is the Green’s first round draft pick. PHOTO: Boston Celtics/NBA
Gonzalez, the team’s first-round pick at No. 28, is rated a solid choice. Some basketball evaluators have stated that he might have been a lottery pick if he had entered last year’s draft instead of opting to play overseas for another year. Williams, the team’s second-round pick at No. 46, is given decent ratings with an outside chance of making the team this upcoming season. Six-foot-four Ukrainian basketball player Max Shulga of VCU was chosen at No. 57 by the Celtics.
The top five lottery picks were as follows:
1. Cooper Flagg (Forward-Duke) to the Dallas Mavericks. And while many believe Flagg is NBA-ready, others think he will struggle against bigger and more physical NBA players.
2. Dylan Harper (Guard-Rutgers) to the San Antonio Spurs. Harper, the son of former NBA player Ron Harper, a four-time NBA champion, is expected to play right away.
3. V.J. Edgecombe (Guard-Baylor) to the Philadelphia 76ers. Edgecombe is ticketed to play significant minutes for the Sixers.
4. Kon Knueppel (Guard/Forward-Duke) to the Charlotte Hornets. Kneuppel raised his value from a mid-first-round pick to a lottery selection by his outstanding play as the second option to Flagg on last year’s Blue Devils team. He is expected to play crucial minutes for the Hornets, who were near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
5. Ace Bailey (Guard/Forward-Rutgers) to the Utah Jazz. Bailey averaged 17.6 points and averaged over seven rebounds a game for the Scarlet Knights.
Flagg, Harper, Edgecombe, Kneuppel and Bailey are all expected to make considerable contributions as the new faces of the NBA. And while they attempt to make names for themselves in the grown men’s league, the free-agent part of the NBA business has gotten off to a flying start.
LeBron James, the oldest player in the league, has decided to play for at least one more year with a second-year option with the Los Angeles Lakers. The 43-year-old, who put up big numbers last season — 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds — will be paid $52.6 million for the upcoming season.
Jaren Jackson agrees to a five-year $240 million extension with the Memphis Grizzlies. Teammate and restricted free agent Santi Aldama, coming off a career year last season, signs a three-year $52.5 million deal to stay with the team. James Harden declines a player option and intends to sign a two-year $81.5 million contract with the L.A. Clippers. The Minnesota Timberwolves will sign center Naz Reid, who declined his player option, to a reported five-year $125 million deal, and forward Julius Randle to a three-year $100 million extension.
On the lower pay scale, Bobby Portis signed a three-year $44 million dollar extension with the Milwaukee Bucks. Center Brook Lopez signed a two-year free agent pact with the L.A. Clippers. Luke Kornet leaves the Boston Celtics, signing a four-year $41 million free agent deal with the San Antonio Spurs.
The Celtics also signed free agent center Luka Garza to a two-year $5.5 million contract to replace Kornet at a much lower price. After the Houston Rockets acquired Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns for Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, they signed forward Dorion Finney-Smith to a four-year $53 million deal and center Clint Capela to a three-year $21 million free agent contract. Look out for this Rockets team.
Finally, the defending NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder re-signs forward Jaylin Williams to a reported three-year $24 million deal. And while the dollars continue to flow, the league has set the salary cap number at $154.6 million for the 2025-’26 season. The tax level for the 2025-26 season is $187.9 million.
The WNBA also made headlines by announcing that Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia are the new expansion locales. Cleveland will begin playing in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030.
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