The last few days have been an emotional rollercoaster for Boston Celtics fans. They've had to sit back and watch as the team traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, both of whom where key members of the 2024 championship team.

Boston's 18th title banner wouldn't be hanging in the TD Garden without Holiday and Porzingis. Both will be remembered fondly and never have to buy a beverage in town again despite spending just two seasons in Green. 

So why would Boston trade two important players? There are a lot of factors, but it mostly has to do with the salary cap and second-apron restrictions that would haunt the Celtics for years to come.

We get it: Fans don't want to hear about saving an owner money. They want more banners, not a break for a rich guy. But the Holiday and Porzingis trades saved the Celtics a lot more than a lot of money.

Boston's massive payroll had the team in the second apron last season as the C's went after a second straight NBA title. Had the Celtics at least made the Finals this summer, and had Jayson Tatum's Achilles not ruptured against the Knicks, chances are we wouldn't be talking about a second-apron reset right now.

But with Tatum likely out for all of next season, chances are the Celtics would not be competing for an NBA crown. With that in mind, the goal this summer was to get under the second luxury tax apron, which is essentially a hard salary cap set at $207,825,000.

With the Holiday and Porzingis deals, the Celtics are now roughly $4.5 million under the second apron. A second season above that threshold would have ushered in even more restrictions -- and yes, a massive tax bill -- for Boston.

It hurts to say goodbye to guys like Holiday and Porzingis, both of whom loved being in Boston and were embraced by the fanbase. Holiday was the consummate pro on and off the court, and his game-saving steal in Game 3 of last year's Eastern Conference Finals will forever live in Celtics lore. Porzingis was a cheat code for the team when healthy and genuinely loved everything about Boston.

But the moves were imperative for Brad Stevens to be able to get the team back into contention when Tatum returns. Remaining in the second apron for the upcoming season would have had some serious ramifications for the Boston Celtics.

Second Apron restrictions

The second apron was introduced in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2023. It's purpose is to promote parity in the league, but it's starting to hurt teams developing and investing in their homegrown talent, like the Celtics.

It hardly seems fair, but those are the rules. And with those rules come some really wild restrictions for teams sitting in the second apron:

• Second apron teams can't include cash in a trade
• Second apron teams can't use a trade exception generated by aggregating the salaries of multiple players
• Second apron teams can't use a trade exception generated in the prior year 
• Second apron teams can't sign a waived player making more than $14.1 million (taxpayer mid-level exception)
• Second apron teams are unable to trade their first-round picks from seven years out 
• Teams will have their first-round pick moved to the end of the first round if they remain in the second apron for three out of five seasons.

For now at least, the Celtics have escaped those restrictions. And as long as they remain under the second apron, Stevens can now aggregate players in trades instead of the 1-for-1 deals he was limited to.

In dipping under the second apron, Boston has also begun the the process of "thawing out" its first-round pick in 2032. If the Celtics stay under the second apron in three of the next four seasons, the pick will be eligible to be traded when the 2028-29 league year tips off. 

So you can see why getting below the second apron is beneficial to a mad scientist like Stevens. He's now got some trade flexibility and future draft capital could soon improve.

Unfortunately, it's leading to a summer of emotional whiplash for Celtics fans.  

Yeah, it's about the money too

Of course it's also about the money. And we're talking about a lot of money. 

Last week, the Celtics were set to receive a $540 million invoice for team salaries and a luxury tax bill. It's down to $280 million following the trades of Holiday and Porzingis.

Again, no one wants to hear about the owner of a pro sports franchise saving money. But with the Celtics, every dollar saved in salary is essentially $7 or $8 saved toward the tax bill. When it comes to building a team, it's pretty significant.

The CBA doesn't make life easier for teams hoping to contend for extended periods of time. Especially those who dish out a lot of money to their homegrown talent, as the Celtics did with Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Celtics are dealing with that reality this summer, and Stevens is doing a pretty good job at escaping the ramifications.

What's next for the Boston Celtics?

Stevens did a pretty good job getting under the second apron with the Holiday and Porzingis deals, and didn't have to surrender a first-round pick to do so. That's a win in itself.

His return for Holiday was pretty solid too, with talented scoring guard Anfernee Simons coming to Boston along with two second-round picks. Simons is only signed through next season, and will either be playing for a contract with the Celtics or could be used as a trade chip this summer. 

Stevens' return for Porzingis is a little less exciting, with big man Georges Niang coming to the C's with a second-round pick. After seeing what Stevens was able to get for Holiday, the hope was he'd get something a little better for Porzingis, even with the big man's injury history.

But he got the team out of the second apron, so mission accomplished. At least for now.

Stevens' work is far from done. Al Horford and Luke Kornet are both free agents, and re-signing them would throw Boston right back into the second apron. The easiest way to avoid that is to deal off Sam Hauser, who is set to start his four-year, $45 million extension next season. Trading either Simons or Niang would also help the process.

There is a lot of chatter that teams are calling Boston about Brown and Derrick White ahead of Wednesday's NBA Draft, and are ready to offer some real outrageous packages for them. But trading Brown would be a total teardown, which would be a hard sell to fans and even Tatum when he returns from his injury. (We won't even touch on the riots a White trade would cause).

But if the Celtics get one of those Godfather offers for either, would Stevens bite and usher in a total rebuild? It's the time of the year when anything is possible -- no matter how silly the rumors or how hard the outcome would be to to digest or accept.

The offseason work is already in full swing for Stevens and the Celtics. Now we'll wait and see just how drastic the changes will be ahead of the 2025-26 season.

• Boston Celtics
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