Outside of a potential blockbuster trade for Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Boston Celtics’ best path towards improving their roster has to be their $15 million mid-level-exception. This will be Boston’s first time having some extra cash to throw around at free agents in a while.
Fans who’ve opened spotrac or any other player tracking site and checked the free agents tab probably noticed a few former Celtics who will be available. Kristaps Porziņģis and Robert Williams III will hit the market once the new league year starts. Al Horford and Marcus Smart will be able to opt out and choose to do so as well.
Porziņģis’s name has been mentioned in fan threads quite often. Regardless if Boston trades for Giannis or not, his floor-spacing skillset and rim protection would make him a valuable fit -- when healthy of course.
It’s probably best for fans to curb their dreams of a reunion, though. NBA Insider Marc Stein reported early Friday morning that KP and the Golden State Warriors are progressing in talks towards a new contract.
“Golden State's Kristaps Porziņģis is [negotiating a new contract to stay with Golden State] and league sources say that the sides are indeed progressing in talks on a new deal after the Warriors acquired Porziņģis and his expiring salary of nearly $31 million on Trade Deadline Day in February,” Stein wrote.
Bringing back Porziņģis would've been risky for the Celtics
How lucrative Porziņģis’s new deal would be remains a mystery. The idea of bringing him back was always more of a swing for the fences than anything else. Boston’s former No. 8 has an incredible ceiling. His 57 appearances in the championship season were magical. Porziņģis gave the Celtics’ offense an important extra layer.
Whenever the Cs needed a bucket, they could get KP the ball at the free-throw line and let him play what looked like Nerf ball. His face-up game from the half circle was like a super power.
Not to mention how well he functioned in the pick-and-roll game as the roll man, or flaring out for a three.
Of course, the reason why it was even feasible to think Boston could bring him back on a team-friendly deal, beyond the fact that he enjoyed his time at North Station, is because of how inconsistent his availability has been.
Porziņģis appeared in just 32 games last season during his stints with Golden State and the Atlanta Hawks. His health was a significant concern in the 2025 playoffs, too, when a mystery illness (which we now believe was POTS) made it difficult for KP to make an impact for Boston. He seemingly continued to battle said illness throughout the 2025-26 campaign, with plenty of his absences coming because of it.
Even if the Celtics were to somehow bring him back, his availability feels less favorable than a coin flip.
Add us as a preferred source on Google