In just two days, the two key champions have been sent away! The Celtics have no choice but to dismantle the team.

As anticipated, the Boston Celtics have "dismantled" their roster.

Two major trades:

First, yesterday, they traded Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks.

And that's not all!

Today, the Celtics, Nets, and Hawks reached a three-way trade:

The Hawks received Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick. The Nets got Terance Mann and the 22nd pick in the 2025 first round (from the Hawks). The Celtics acquired Georges Niang and a second-round pick.

In other words, within two days, the Celtics have parted ways with two key players from last season's championship team. In the early stages of the offseason, the Celtics have become the most active and aggressive team.

Why these two players?

One is aging, and the other is injury-prone.

Although there are reports that the Celtics have received offers for Jaylen Brown, players like him are significant assets and difficult to trade.

What is the main goal of the team? To save money.

If the Celtics retain their starting five (Tatum, Brown, Holiday, White, Porzingis), their total salary is expected to exceed $220 million, with the total salary plus luxury tax potentially surpassing $513 million.

This would trigger the second luxury tax threshold (estimated at $188 million) for the next two years, leading to severe restrictions.

As previously mentioned about NBA rules, teams exceeding the second luxury tax line cannot utilize the full mid-level exception, mini mid-level, or bi-annual exception, and can only sign players to minimum contracts; they cannot package multiple players to trade for one player; nor can they sign players in the buyout market whose original contracts exceed the full mid-level.

This new rule in 2023 aims to restrict super teams and promote overall competitive balance in the league.

As for the Celtics, Tatum's five-year, $315 million contract extension will begin next season.

His salary for next season will be $54.13 million, while Brown's salary will be $53.14 million, meaning the two stars' combined salaries will exceed $100 million next season.

Even if the owner is willing to spend, there will still be restrictions.

However, the current issue is that the owner does not want to make a huge investment, as it seems pointless.

After the team is valued at $6.1 billion in 2025, the new management is cautious about bearing high luxury tax costs, increasing the motivation to trade high-salary players to reduce expenses.

With Tatum's serious injury, he may miss the entire next season, and without him, the Celtics won't be able to contend for the championship, so frugality is quite normal.

The Celtics' motives are extremely clear.

Therefore, I greatly admire the ability of the helm, Stevens; these two trades were quick, precise, and ruthless.

There are many types of presidents/general managers in the league:

1. They don’t know what to do, so they take a passive approach.

2. They know what to do, but lack the practical ability.

3. They don’t know what to do, and in an attempt to change, they make reckless moves.

4. They know what they want to do and succeed in doing it.

Stevens must be the fourth type.

By trading Porzingis and Holiday, and acquiring Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang, the luxury tax penalty was reduced by nearly $210 million.

So far, they have saved a total of $238 million, and their salary is currently $4.5 million below the second luxury tax line.

Whether it’s Simons or Niang, both are expiring contracts for next season, and we’ll see how they perform in this transition season.

If Simons, who averaged 19.3 points this season with the Trail Blazers, proves his value, he could be traded again...

The draft starts tomorrow, but over a third of the teams, including the Rockets, Suns, Magic, Grizzlies, Celtics, Pacers, Trail Blazers, Wizards, Pelicans, Hawks, and Nets, have already made trades.

It’s worth noting that the Pelicans sent CJ McCollum, Olynyk, and future second-round picks to the Wizards in exchange for Poole, Saddiq Bey, and the 40th overall pick.

Poole will be teaming up with Zion...

Additionally, the Brooklyn Nets, after completing their trades, now hold six draft picks this year, including five first-round picks: the 8th, 19th, 22nd, 26th, 27th, and 36th picks.

Team general manager Sean Marks, you either need to bundle and trade up.

Or you could give a heads-up, so Chinese fans can watch the draft live tomorrow?