Kristaps Porziņģis will enter a new chapter of his career next season as he suits up for the Atlanta Hawks after being traded by the Boston Celtics this summer. Though he was injured for most of Boston’s title run in 2024, Porziņģis had pivotal moments — like his 20-point outing in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Mavericks — to help get the Celtics across the finish line.
But Boston’s outlook for the future changed when Jayson Tatum suffered a torn Achilles in the second round of the playoffs against the Knicks. That, coupled with Boston wanting to avoid the second tax apron, forced the front office to make some tough decisions with the roster this summer. That meant trading Porziņģis to the Hawks and Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers to avoid the harsh tax penalties that come with having an expensive roster. It also meant not bringing back Al Horford, who is currently an unrestricted free agent.
While leaving the team he won a championship with was difficult, Porziņģis sees this new opportunity with the Hawks as a better situation than the one with the Celtics.
“I think expectations are high,” Porziņģis said while talking to reporters ahead of EuroBasket. “Atlanta’s been on the edge of the playoffs the last few years, sometimes getting through the first round. It’s a great situation for me to come in and contribute. Maybe even better than Boston, where it was championship or bust.”
Porziņģis added that Atlanta presents a situation with less pressure than Boston, which could make managing expectations easier.
“Here, the pressure isn’t the same — it’s easier to exceed expectations,” Porziņģis said. “That’s a better position to be in. It’s in our hands now, and I think we can surprise some people in the East.”
How did Jayson Tatum injury affect Celtics’ offseason? Brad Stevens says ‘hard decisions’ were coming anyway
James Herbert
What’s next for Celtics, Hawks?
That might be a tough pill to swallow for Celtics fans, but when looking at the short-term future, Porziņģis isn’t entirely wrong. Next season will be a major step back for the Celtics, and while there’s a chance they could prove some people wrong and nab a top six seed in the East, without Tatum that’s going to be increasingly difficult. Throw in the fact that they won’t have Porziņģis, Holiday and Horford and the chances of that fall even further.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White can certainly carry the load on both ends of the floor, but the reason this Celtics team has been so dominant in the past is because of its depth. With so many guys missing next season, that depth now becomes a weakness.
Meanwhile for the Hawks, they’ve upgraded around Trae Young by adding Porziņģis. They also added defensive stalwart Nickeil Alexander-Walker to a trio of young, impressive defensive assets in Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher. This could very well be the best roster the Hawks have had around Young since drafting him in 2018. And with the Eastern Conference being so wide open next season, Atlanta has an opportunity to exceed expectations.
Trae Young is out of excuses as Hawks surround their star with perfect support staff
Brad Botkin
The biggest thing that will hold this team back, though, is health. Porziņģis himself has struggled with injuries throughout his career, and Johnson was sidelined for the rest of the season in January with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. But if this team can remain relatively healthy, the Hawks should have no difficult finishing as a top six team.
In terms of long-term outlook, though, we’ll have to see which team is the better situation in the end. The Celtics did have a very small championship window and now must retool to get back to contender status even when Tatum comes back. The Hawks are an up-and-coming team that in theory could have the longer runway to contend with so many of their core pieces under the age of 25.
But having a young roster doesn’t immediately translate to success. If the Hawks keep taking steps toward becoming a consistent contender, this could be a team that is in the mix for a title for years to come.
