What Brad Stevens ‘Admires’ About This New Celtics Addition

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has had plenty of time to watch Georges Niang, who’s played for four Eastern Conference teams in nine seasons.

It ultimately prompted Stevens to seek out and acquire Niang in the three-team trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks. Niang played the second half of the 2024-25 campaign in Atlanta after previous stops in Indiana (2016-17), Utah (2017-21), Philadelphia (2021-23) and Cleveland (2023-25).

“Niang has just added value to winning on each team he’s been on,” Stevens told reporters at The Auerbach Center on Tuesday, as seen on NBC Sports Boston. “He’s a pain to play against, which I very much admire.

“And he knows what he does well and knows how to bring out the best in his group. It’s not a coincidence he was part of the rotation on those really good Philly teams, he was part of the rotation in Cleveland before the trade. The guy’s a winner. He knows how to play and knows how to bring out the best in people. So, happy he’s here.”

Niang averaged 7.4 points on 40% from long range during his nine-year career. He second half with the Hawks saw Niang average a career-best 12.1 points in 28 games (two starts). His 41.3% from 3-point range also represented a career-best mark.

Another factor which likely attracted the Celtics to Niang is the fact he’s got one year left on his contract. Niang is set to earn $8.2 million next season, a significant savings as Porzingis was scheduled to earn more than $30 million in 2025-26.