[Trade Rating] The Celtics reshuffle the Hawks strengthened. The Nets are holding up their ultimate moves?

After completing Holiday's transaction, the Celtics continued to be active in the trading market. Today, they reached a three-party deal with the Hawks and the Nets and sent out Porzingis. The following is a detailed explanation of the ratings of this deal.

Trading plan

Celtics get: Nian, future second round pick

Hawks get: Porzingis, future second round pick

Nets get: Mann, 2025 22 first round pick

Boston Celtics: Rating B

After Holiday left Boston, Porzingis also followed, and the Celtics' salary space has been alleviated. Although Porzingis stopped and stopped due to injury, his space, rebounds and basket protection performance helped the Celtics win the NBA championship in 2024.

In addition to leg injuries, illness was also a problem faced by Porzingis last season. An unknown disease caused him to play only 42 games in the regular season, which was the least number of appearances in his career except for missing the entire season due to a torn ACL in the 2018-19 season. After the disease recurred, Porzingis averaged only 4.2 points per game in the second round of the series losing to the New York Knicks.

Judging from his past performance, Porzingis is indeed a "luxury" for the Celtics - the team has supported his absence with the depth of the lineup (he only played 57 games in the 2023-24 season). With the implementation of the repeated tax payment rules and the restrictions on the second tyrant line, Porzingis is an obvious trading goal in order to pursue a more balanced salary structure.

The salary of $30.7 million for the last year of Porzingis contract was exchanged for Nian's salary of $8.2 million, which was enough to lower the Celtics' salary to the threshold of the second tyrant line. According to ESPN reporter Bobby Max, the deal alone saved Boston about $150 million in taxes, and the total savings reached $180 million, plus the deal between Holiday and Anfini Simmons.

The Celtics still have work to do in the center position, and currently there are only two players in the team, Quita and Tilman. Long-term starter Horford has been free, as has Cornet, who has just experienced a breakthrough season. It is not possible to determine whether money is the biggest factor in Horford's free agent choice, but paying any player that exceeds the veteran's basic salary could make Boston surpass the second rich line again.

For the Celtics, the good news is the most severe punishment related to the tycoon line, based on the team's salary at the end of the season. The Celtics may now slightly surpass the second rich line, but they can return to the offline line by trading Nian and other means before the trading deadline.

When Tatum recovered from a ruptured left Achilles tendon and the Celtics completed the lineup reorganization, they would be completely new without Holiday and Porzingis. Boston still retains the strong core of Tatum, Brown and White and nets a second-round pick while clearing the cap space (they got two second-round picks from the Trail Blazers trading Holiday).

This allows the Celtics to retain almost all future first-round picks, allowing them to create a new champion-level supporting cast around Brown, Tatum and White.

Atlanta Hawks: Rating B

In the short term, Porzingis is very suitable for the Hawks' young frontcourt lineup, which has better athleticism than shooting ability. Jaylen Johnson averaged a career high in 36 games last season (18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists), but as a power forward, his three-point shooting percentage was only 31%. When Okonggu replaced Capela as center, he did show his three-point shooting range, and his number of hits doubled from his previous career high, with only 48 three-pointers.

Head coach Snyder can allow Porzingis to partner with any current starting lineup, while 2023 second-round pick Guye can provide depth to deal with Porzingis' potential injury problems.

Ideally, if Porzingis can stay healthy and fit with Trae Young and other young Hawks starters. If the plan doesn't work, the Hawks can also reset the roster next summer, when Porzingis will be a free agent, while Young has a $49 million player option. Mann's three-year, $46.5 million contract was a headache for the Hawks, which weakened the team's flexibility. Now they have gotten rid of this situation at the cost of a first-round pick.

Essentially, this deal allows the Hawks to have up to 5 roster spots in a "three for one" way. The team's salary is expected to be $28.5 million lower than the luxury tax line, including part-time guaranteed contracts for Guy and Witt Creich. In addition to bringing free agent defender Carris LeVer back to the team, they may also be able to use some of the non-luxury tax middle class exceptions.

Brooklyn Nets: Rating A

As the only team in the NBA with a considerable salary space, the Nets were able to claim a premium by taking over Mann's contract. They now hold five first-round picks and 36th picks in the upcoming draft, which could allow Brooklyn to actively seek an upward traded draft pick.

In fact, no team in NBA history has had five first-round picks in the draft. Since ESPN began tracking draft picks that were traded immediately after confirmation, only three teams have earned four first-round picks in the draft: the Sacramento Kings in 1990, the Trail Blazers in 2006, and the Houston Rockets in 2021.

Given this historical background, the Nets are more likely to exchange signs through trades before the draft rather than directly obtaining a certain sign. In addition, the Nets may also reshape Mann’s value. Mann was the key bargaining chip in the trade when the Clippers tried to get James Harden early in the 2023-24 season. As a starter of that season, Mann lost his starting position last season, but his performance improved after joining the Hawks on the trade deadline.

Assuming that the Nets retain restricted free agents Sharp and Cameron Thomas, they can still create $30 million to $35 million in cap space after completing the deal. This gives Brooklyn the option to chase a young free agent or take advantage of the cap space through a deal to undertake more contracts.