NBA Rumors: How Much Celtics Saved After Blockbuster Trades

Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics were expected to make trades in an effort to cut payroll this offseason. And they accomplished their initial goal — to get under the second apron — within a 24-hour span ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.

The Celtics traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers late Monday night and followed it up by dealing Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal Tuesday evening. Holiday has $104.4 million remaining on the four-year, $134 million deal he signed with the Celtics while Porzingis enters his final year under contract and will earn $30.7 million next season.

According to ESPN NBA analyst Bobby Marks, the Celtics are under the second apron following those two deals. The trades save Boston a projected $180 million (!) in tax penalties, Marks wrote on X.

Marks provided a rundown after each of the two trades:

Here are the salaries going out

To Boston

Anfernee Simons: $25.9M, $27.7M (UFA, 2026)

* The Celtics get off the combined $72M owed to Holiday in 2026-27 and 2027-28

* Projected $40M in tax savings in 2025-26

* $18M over the 2nd apron

* Simons is extension eligible

To…

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 24, 2025

Here are the contracts (as of the 2025-26 season)

To Atlanta

*Kristaps Porzingis: $30.7M, UFA 2026

To Brooklyn

*Terance Mann: $15.5M, $15.5M, $15.5M, UFA 2028

To Boston

*Georges Niang: $8.5M, UFA 2026

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 24, 2025

In trading Holiday and Porzingis, the Celtics acquired Anfernee Simons, Georges Niang and three second-round draft picks.

The biggest win for the organization, though, is financial.