Celtics trade Holiday & Porzingis, shedding $180m tax penalties

June 25, 2025

The Boston Celtics will save nearly $180 million in luxury tax penalties after trading Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.

It was no secret the Celtics were preparing for big changes this offseason and general manager Brad Stevens has wasted no time in making the necessary adjustments.

To avoid harsh second apron penalties, the 2024 champions needed to shave the salary bill down from $228 million to below $207.8 million.

Moving Holiday (owed $32.4 million in 2025-26) and Porzingis (owed $30.7 million in 2025-26) means the Celtics are now around $4.6 million under that mark.

Staying below the second apron means Boston are no longer at threat of having future first-round picks frozen or moved to the back of the first round and the team can also use the mid-level exception and cash in trades.

Stevens is working to give the Celtics roster as much flexibility as possible and there’s even a chance Boston could get below the first apron with more trades on the horizon ahead of Wednesday’s NBA Draft.

Late on Monday night, Boston traded Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two second-round draft picks – acquiring Simons’ expiring contract (free agent in 2026) and shifting the $72 million owed to Holiday over the next two years.

Around 24 hours later, the Celtics, Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets agreed to a three-team deal that saw Porzingis head to Atlanta as Boston landed Georges Niang’s expiring contract worth $8.2 million and a second-round pick.

In the space of a day, Boston saved $180 million in luxury taxes on a roster that was expected to cost in the region of $500 million next season.

Many are expecting 2025-26 to be a rebuild year for the Celtics following Jayson Tatum’s devastating achilles tear in the playoffs, priced at 16/1 to win the title with the top betting sites in Ireland.

What are the NBA’s luxury tax penalties?

The NBA has a salary cap of around $156.4 million but it’s a soft one, meaning you can overspend the mark if you wish to increase talent on your roster – however it comes at a price.

When you go over the cap, teams pay what are called luxury takes – generally an extra $1.50 to $5 for every dollar that exceeds it.

Most teams in the league exceed the cap and the Celtics were so deep that they faced second apron penalties if they continued to operate in that fashion.

The Celtics were happy to be a second apron team for a short while as they contended for championships – culminating in last year’s triumph – but it isn’t a sustainable business model.