The Boston Celtics have two All-Stars with a high risk of being moved this summer.
As Boston’s GM Brad Stevens navigates his club’s exorbitant payroll, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday are both possible trade chips.
Porzingis’s expiring deal ($30.7 million owed in 2025-26) makes him an easier guy to move, although his injury history won’t likely fetch an amazing return.
One idea for Stevens is to deal Porzingis in a 1-for-1 swap for another expiring player with a smaller 2025-26 salary, thereby creating some immediate cap space for Boston.
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons proposed such a move on Sunday during a new episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.
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Simmons wondered whether the Celtics should ship Porzingis off to the Utah Jazz in exchange for 27-year-old power forward John Collins, who is set to earn $26.6 million next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
“John Collins was in one of my get-the-Celtics-under-the-second-apron trades,” Simmons said.
“Yeah. (You) weren't expecting that. (Kristaps) Porzingis for John Collins ... saves the Celtics $4.1 million.”
A Porzingis-for-Collins swap isn’t a bad idea for Boston.
When healthy, Collins is a legitimate stretch big who can jump out of the gym. He shot 39.9 percent from three in 2024-25 and has always been an elite lob threat. Then again, Collins only played 40 games this past season. When healthy, he’s valuable (the same can be said about Porzingis).
While this deal is interesting, $4.1 million probably isn’t a large enough number in savings for Boston to trade Porzingis for Collins just for one season.
KP is already familiar with Boston’s offensive and defensive systems.
From Boston's perspective, it would be more prudent to just hold onto Porzingis for one more year rather than swap him out for another big man (with a lower ceiling) for the same timeframe.
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