Wednesday's NBA draft has apparently spurred teams across the league into making some major trades, and the Boston Celtics have been smack at the center of the action. The 2024 champs traded Jrue Holiday for Anfernee Simons on Monday before completing the demolition of their title core with a big three-team trade involving Kristaps Porzingis on Tuesday.
With about 24 hours to go before the draft, the Celtics reportedly agreed to trade Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks. The Brooklyn Nets also got in on the action. The final tally: the Hawks acquire Porzingis and a future second-round pick, the Nets receive the No. 22 pick in the draft along with Terance Mann, and the Celtics get Georges Niang and a future second-rounder.
This move isn't earth-shattering but certainly comes with heavy implications for the three teams involved. With that in mind, let's grade the trade from the perspective of the Celtics, Hawks, and Nets.
Boston Celtics
Trade Grade: C+
The Celtics pulled off a pretty big win with the Holiday trade. The Porzingis trade... not so much. They accomplished their primary objective of shedding his salary, and through that lens the trade cannot be considered a failure by any stretch. But Boston, because of the financial pressure and Porzingis's bizarre end-of-season illness, was working without much leverage. This was made clear in the return for the big man: a second-round pick unlikely to be used for anything except extra trade fodder. Niang is a low-end rotation player whose most famous moment came during the 2023 playoffs when he yanked Jaylen Brown's knee from the bench during play.
The fact that the Celtics didn't have to give anything up to move off Porzingis's salary is a victory for the franchise through a certain lens. Some fans might even be feeling triumphant given his unreliability health-wise. But a 7-foot center who can shoot like a guard and still guard the rim is one of the most valuable assets in the NBA right now. To trade such a player for an eighth man off the bench and a nothing draft asset is pretty rough, regardless of the context surrounding the situation.
Could they have done better? Probably not. Technically the team could've kept Porzingis to rehabilitate his value in the first half of the season and send him out at the trade deadline, which would achieve the same financial goals as trading him now did. But for a player who missed 40 games last year that's a huge risk. This was the right deal for right now.
Nevertheless, this has to sting for the Celtics. They're trading a good player for a worse player for no reason other than money. The trade is a success through the lens of their goals but through the lens of talent given up versus talent acquired, it's a tough result.
Atlanta Hawks
Trade Grade: B+
This is, in many ways, a no-risk bet for the Hawks. Porzingis is on an expiring contract so they are not committing themselves to the injury-prone center right off the bat. Atlanta owns the No. 13 pick in Wednesday's draft so giving up No. 22 pick is no real loss. Mann is a competent rotation player but is owed $47 million over the next three seasons and averaged 9.8 points per game in 30 appearances for the Hawks last year. All that along with a second-round pick isn't very much to give up.
In exchange, they take a smart bet on Porzingis. In a contract year he could prove both motivated and dangerous. Even if he doesn't give the extra effort often seen in impending free agents he still averaged 19.5 points and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 41.2% from three-point land. Trae Young has never played with a pick-and-pop partner that dangerous, and Onyeka Onwenu could benefit enormously from playing next to a floor-stretching five. And if it doesn't work? If Porzingis can't suit up for more than half the season? They can just let him walk without much impact on their future.
The Eastern Conference is wide-open as things stand with the superstar injuries littering the landscape and a lack of a true powerhouse. The Hawks saw an opportunity to force themselves into the conversation by swinging for the fences with Porzingis. That should always be applauded, and in this instance they did so without mortgaging the future or harming the on-court product in the present.
Brooklyn Nets
Trade Grade: A
The Nets are the easiest team to grade here. They got Mann and the No. 22 pick in the first round of the draft... for nothing. Brooklyn's only contribution to the trade was to take in Mann's salary so Atlanta could add Porzingis to the books. The Nets received a first-round pick for their troubles. No smart GM would let such an opportunity pass by and Sean Marks acted accordingly.
Now, there is a valid question in here as far as optimal allocation of resources. By acquiring the Hawks' pick in this trade Brooklyn has collected a grand total of five first-round picks in this year's draft. The highest of those picks is their own at No. 8. This is not a depth-filled draft and even if it was NBA teams never pick five players in the same draft. That's just too many new faces to add to the roster and it's not great roster-building to spend that many selections on one draft class.
But, while that's true, in the simple evaluation of this trade the Nets are big winners because they got something for nothing. A very difficult feat in the NBA.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kristaps Porzingis Trade Grades: How Did Celtics, Hawks, Nets Fare?.
