Kristaps Porzingis is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, but it sounds like both he and the Boston Celtics hope he doesn’t get there.
The 7-foot-3 big man opted in to his $36 million player option with the Wizards late Wednesday night before Washington dealt him to the Celtics as part of a three-team sign-and-trade. And as that deal came together, Porzingis’ camp reportedly made its desires clear to Boston’s front office.
“When the three-team deal for Porzingis was being finalized last week, there was nothing stopping Porzingis’s camp from expressing its desire to be in Boston long term; according to a league source — and they did,” The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach reported Sunday.
Porzingis is eligible to sign a two-year, $77 million contract extension with Boston as early as July 6, and veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein reported last week that such an extension is “expected.” As our Chris Forsberg pointed out Sunday, it’s possible that last week’s trade included an understanding that Porzingis would sign an extension with the Celtics in July.
A two-year, $77 million extension for Porzingis is a logical next step for Boston. While the 27-year-old comes with injury concerns — he hasn’t played more than 66 games in a season since his rookie season — he’s coming off a career campaign with the Wizards in which he averaged 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. The Celtics didn’t trade the heart and soul of their team (Marcus Smart) for a rental, and it’s clear they believe Porzingis can help them past the 2023-24 season.
There’s an inherent risk in extending Porzingis: If the Celtics give Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum supermax contract extensions this offseason and next offseason, respectively, Boston’s new “Big Three” would account for 82.4 percent of the team’s payroll in 2024-25 and nearly 90 percent of its payroll in 2025-26. Stevens would have to do some serious roster juggling to avoid exceeding the second tax apron in the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement.
Then again, Porzingis should make the Celtics a legitimate title favorite if he remains healthy, and it sounds like Stevens and the C’s are all in on Banner 18 in the short term, with long-term financial ramifications to be worked out at a later date.
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