Celtics receive praise after making $150 million Kristaps Porzingis decision

The Boston Celtics have made some bright moves to begin the offseason.

The Celtics entered their offseason with a rocky financial situation and clearly needed to make moves to sustain their place among the Eastern Conference’s elite. However, their moves were never going to be about going all-in from a talent perspective.

Considering Boston’s financial situation entering the offseason, its top priority was to avoid the second apron and the possible long-term repercussions of it. So, Brad Stevens began the offseason by dealing Jrue Holiday to Portland, but he might have made his most surprising deal thus far when he dealt Kristaps Porzingis on Tuesday night.

Although Porzingis was always on the short list of likely trade options for Boston, his return seemed like a heist of sorts from the Celtics' perspective. Porzingis landed in Atlanta alongside a future second-round pick, Boston added Georges Niang and a future second-rounder and Brooklyn added Terance Mann and the No. 22 pick in the three-team transaction.

As ESPN’s Kevin Pelton admitted in his recent trade grades article, this wasn’t an amazing return for the Celtics in terms of actually replacing what Porzingis brings on the court. However, with Niang making only $8.2 million next season, the deal saved Boston around $150 million in luxury tax, almost single-handedly solving the Celtics’ cap issues.

That aspect of the deal is likely what secured the Celtics a B on the trade. While Boston has so many more moves to make and issues to address, it can feel comfortable about where it sits financially after this deal.

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Of course, there will still be some movement needed on the financial front as the Celtics make signings and trades, but they are in a much better position now than they were with Porzingis on the roster.