Potential three-party transaction: Holiday goes to the Mavericks, Nets take poison contract, and the Celtics saves 230 million

The unexpected exit of the Celtics undoubtedly put the team in an embarrassing passive situation. Tatum's serious injury directly affected the competitiveness of the Celtics next season. Jaylen's single-core leadership team was not trusted. The most important thing is that it is obvious that the boss is no longer able to support the Celtics' spending of up to $500 million next season. The contract of the Double Tanhua accounted for $107 million. Pozin's contract became a negative asset, and Holiday is also likely to be cleaned by the team. According to a large-scale three-team trading plan proposed by Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, the Boston Celtics will not only save up to $230 million in wages and luxury tax expenses, but will also continue to form a competitive lineup in the 2025-26 season. In this trading plan, the Mavericks and the Nets were involved. The Mavericks could only strengthen the point guard position when Kyrie Irving was not injured. The Nets used this to gain young players and draft picks and took the poison contract!

The potential trading plan is as follows:

Dallas Mavericks: Get Holiday from Celtics, $3 million in trade specials

Boston Celtics: Get Gafford, PJ Washington from the Mavericks, Drew Tim from the Nets, and at the same time, get $32.4 million, $2.5 million, $2.4 million, $2.4 million, and $2.2 million in total, four trading specials

Brooklyn Nets: Get Porzingis, Old Xavier Tillman, Nimias Quita from the Celtics, Dwight Powell, Olivier-Maxens Prosper from the Mavericks, and 2026 The protected first-round draft pick (Celtics) in 2027 first-round draft pick exchange rights (Celtics)

For the Mavericks, this move is to strengthen the No. 1 position. As Kyrie Irving is expected to miss most of next season's games, the Mavericks urgently need to strengthen their defender position. Holiday's joining solves the Mavericks' urgent need. He is not only the top outside defender in the NBA, but also a highly respected and experienced veteran. Even if Irving returns from injury later this season, Holiday will be able to switch flexibly between shooting guard and point guard positions, or take on the sixth man role as in Boston.

Mavericks previously obtained Anthony Davis through a trade, and are likely to use the first pick in the first round to select Cooper Flag. In this way, the Mavericks have a crowded frontcourt position and they have to use the depth of the frontcourt to make up for the shortcomings in the backcourt. At that time, Davis can play the starting fifth position and Flag play the fourth position. Holiday's arrival built a defensive barrier for the team's backcourt to ensure that they are still competitive in the West. Although the loss of Gafford and Washington will have some impact, with Davis and Flagg's strength in the frontcourt, it is enough to become an excellent and competitive team in the West.

For the Celtics, this transaction is a killing of two birds with one stone, not only greatly saving luxury taxes, but also improving the team's inside strength. As mentioned earlier, the Celtics face a total salary expenditure of up to $532 million (including luxury tax). Given that Tatum may miss next season due to a torn Achilles tendon, it is obvious that the team will pay the championship-level luxury tax in the absence of core players.

The deal allows Boston to cut costs significantly while maintaining competitiveness. Gafford and Washington have experience in the finals, and although they do not have the star power of Porzingis or Holiday, they are cost-effective and stable. The multiple trading exceptions obtained by the transaction also provide flexibility for the team's subsequent operations, and sending away Holiday and Porzingis greatly alleviated the salary pressure. Boston retains Jaylen Brown and a strong supporting cast. Even if Tatum is absent, the lineup is expected to rank 5-8 in the East. After Tatum returns, the team can reevaluate the salary structure and use trading special cases to adjust around the core lineup.

For the Nets, it is to use the relatively easy salary space to eat poison contracts and continue to hoard and rebuild assets. The Nets are in the reconstruction stage. Although the team has salary space, they have few free agents worth signing with high salary. The deal allowed the Nets to receive some salary and acquire future draft picks, while adding several rotation players such as Tillman, Quita and Prosper. Porzingis' stay and leave is full of variables. The Nets can choose to buy out his contract, or let him play back his own value at the Nets, send him away before the transaction deadline, and then exchange for the first round pick. After all, as long as you keep your shots as a space-type insider like Bojin, you won’t have to worry about your next home as long as you stay healthy. If this potential tripartite transaction plan is achieved, it is expected to achieve a win-win situation, and it will also cause a certain shock in the league. The most important thing is to successfully save Boston nearly $230 million in spending. What do you think about this?