Younger and cheaper. Younger and cheaper. Younger and cheaper. That’s the mantra coming out of the Celtics front office after a bombshell trade that was the worst-kept secret in the league. After a little less than two years in Boston, Jrue Holiday is on his way to Portland, and the Celtics brought in Anfernee Simons. Younger and cheaper.
With the Holiday trade, the Celtics save a little cap space and have the option to move off Simons’ contract after this season, which would bring significant cap savings in 2026-27. It also allows some flexibility if the Celtics want to move him either this summer or at the trade deadline. From a basketball perspective, it keeps the backcourt rotation in a good place. Simons can easily absorb Holiday’s minutes, or Payton Pritchard can be elevated into the starting lineup with slightly more minutes coming Pritchard's way.
Simons is a more offensively oriented version of Holiday. It’s unlikely that Simons will ever reach Holiday’s defensive capabilities, but at this point in his career is far and away a better shooter and creator than Holiday. With Jayson Tatum out for most, if not all, of next season, there was a need to replace some of his offensive capabilities. Overall, the move makes a ton of sense financially and basketball-wise, and Celtics fans should be very pleased with this move.
This was step one in the offseason overhaul, though. With the current collective bargaining rules, moving some of the Celtics' larger contracts is not going to be as easy as it sounds. Trades will likely look more like the framework of this trade, with the outgoing salary being slightly higher than the incoming one. So, what’s the next move for the Celtics?
Sam Hauser Is Officially on the Clock
It’s going to be difficult to find a way to move Kristaps Porzingis’ contract without some real financial maneuvering. The Celtics still seem to be looking to move Porzingis. Per a report from Heavy.com, an NBA source believes that keeping Porzingis is the right move, stating "Unless they (the Celtics) know something about Porzingis that we don’t, I don’t see how they can let him go. When Boston was right, he was a major factor and they won."
So, where can the Celtics turn? If they get an outrageous offer, they could offload Derrick White or Jaylen Brown, but that seems unlikely. The Celtics are still capable of contending in the East next year after some of the early moves this offseason. Plus, the Celtics have the returning Jayson Tatum to consider in a year, so moving off of their next-best players would not be in the Celtics' best interest.
Realistically, that leaves Sam Hauser or Payton Pritchard. Pritchard has a higher upside and already plays a near-starter workload. Hauser, on the other hand, is a nice rotation piece.
Hauser can provide excellent three-point shooting and is solid defensively, places where teams are always looking to add. While his contract isn’t one that screams “financial burden,” it is one of the more palatable contracts for other teams to work with. Hauser can be moved to almost any team, where Porzingis, Brown, and White’s contracts are extremely limited in what teams can take those on.
Considering the rotation up front that currently has Porzingis and Neemias Queta, the Celtics can’t really afford to move Porzingis anyway. Moving Hauser could bring back a young, expiring big (maybe out of Utah) and allow for the Celtics to limit the impact of Porzingis’ injury history.
No matter what, the Celtics aren’t done reshaping their roster. If the Holiday-Simons trade tells us anything, it’s that the mantra “younger and cheaper” is at the forefront of any deal.