Deal or No Deal: Kristaps Porzingis

Welcome again to the Deal or No Deal sequence the place we break down if the Celtics ought to carry again a sure participant for the 2025-26 NBA season. If a participant is beneath “Deal” then the participant shouldn’t be introduced again. If “No Deal” then the participant needs to be introduced again.

The following participant is Kristaps Porzingis. In 42 video games this season, Porzingis put up 19.5 PPG, 6.8 REB, and a pair of.1 AST on 48% capturing from the sphere, 41% from three, and 81% from the free throw line.

Coming off the Celtics championship run the place he solely performed in seven playoff video games as a consequence of accidents, Porzingis was set to overlook the beginning of the 2025 season recovering from the damage he sustained within the NBA Finals. When he did come again on November twenty fifth towards the Clippers, everybody was excited to see how Boston would look once more as a totally functioning unit.

This unit didn’t final lengthy. Porzingis can be dominated out with an sickness on February twenty eighth that will end in him lacking the following seven video games in March. We later realized that this viral sickness and the submit viral syndrome that adopted would have an effect on his play to some extent that he couldn’t be on the courtroom for greater than two minutes with out struggling to breathe within the Celtics second spherical playoff sequence towards the New York Knicks.

Kristaps Porzingis is a really contentious subject in terms of Celtics followers relying on who you ask however most individuals will let you know this season was disappointing to say the least. The dearth of affect on the courtroom within the playoffs began to show individuals bitter, however nobody was extra annoyed together with his play than Kristaps himself.

In his exit interview following the Celtics loss in Sport 6, Porzingis was requested how tough the previous few months have been for him. He mentioned, “As irritating as you possibly can think about. Simply to not be capable of assist this workforce extra. Particularly with JT going out, simply not being an excessive amount of of a assist simply hurts deep inside.”

In Brad Stevens’ finish of season interview he echoed an analogous assertion when requested about Porzingis’ sickness, saying, “I don’t assume anyone was extra annoyed than him… I believed he had actually turned a nook there in direction of the tip of the common season after we went to Madison Sq. Backyard and even within the first spherical after which for no matter purpose, he simply didn’t really feel nearly as good there within the Knicks sequence and by no means felt nice.”

In terms of pondering of trades for Kristaps Porzingis this summer time, there are a few totally different variables the Celtics are going to must account for. The primary is well being. Porzingis has a fame of being damage susceptible all through his complete profession and I’m positive opposing groups will surprise what number of video games they’re really going to get out of him.

The second factor is his contract. Porzingis is projected to make somewhat over $30 million subsequent yr and with the Celtics being within the second apron, they must discover a workforce that has sufficient items to match the wage. In keeping with Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Warriors are concerned with a doable Porzingis commerce as they’ve appreciated the thought of him since 2023.

The Warriors lack of property means the spine of a Porzingis to Golden State commerce would most probably have to incorporate Moses Moody, Buddy Hield, and one in all Trayce Jackson-Davis or Gui Santos to make the cash work plus perhaps a draft choose. Are the Warriors prepared to explode a number of their depth for a man in Porzingis that isn’t essentially the most dependable?

After laying out the commerce parameters, is there a world the place Porzingis can stay on the Celtics subsequent season? Sure. Porzingis goes into the ultimate yr of his two-year, $60 million extension that Boston gave him once they first traded for him and will probably be an unrestricted free agent within the 2026 offseason. Might Brad Stevens and Celtics administration simply let Porzingis play out his remaining season in Boston and let him depart for nothing if the commerce packages usually are not fascinating sufficient?

Verdict: Deal

As a lot as I’m a fan of Kristaps Porzingis and can all the time cherish his Sport 1 efficiency within the 2024 Finals, I don’t see a world the place he’s on the Celtics to begin subsequent season. Though his worth is at an all-time low, a number of groups within the NBA are on the lookout for middle depth, particularly within the Western Convention. The aforementioned Warriors, Lakers, Suns, and lots of extra are on the lookout for a giant man out west, so I really feel assured that Brad Stevens will be capable of discover a transfer that may assist the Celtics transferring ahead.

Boston can be specializing in shedding wage and out of their top-five paid gamers on the workforce, Porzingis is the one which has produced the least within the final two seasons and it makes essentially the most sense to maneuver off of him. This additionally opens the door for the Celtics to probably carry again Al Horford and Luke Kornet who’re each free brokers this offseason.