The Boston Celtics were celebrating an NBA Finals victory twelve months ago. Now, the Boston Celtics traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers late on Monday night and they have dealt Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks. What once was an unstoppable megateam is now being dismantled.

Here are the deals executed by the Boston Celtics.

Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers deal

• Celtics receive: Anfernee Simons and two 2nd-round picks
• Blazers receive: Jrue Holiday

Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, and Brooklyn Nets deal

• Celtics receive: Georges Niang and one 2nd-round pick
• Hawks receive: Kristaps Porzingis and one 2nd-round pick
• Nets receive: Terance Mann and Atlanta’s #22 overall pick

Here are three things we can learn from the Boston Celtics’ trades in the last 24 hours.

JAYSON TATUM’S INJURY

It’s hard to believe the Celtics won the NBA Finals last year and were in pursuit of a return when Jayson Tatum went down with a torn Achilles in the playoff series against the New York Knicks. The Celtics would lose the series in six games, but one can only imagine how the series goes if the Celtics were at full strength with their superstar.

Tatum likely won’t be back until 8-12 months. Could Tatum return for a potential playoff run? Perhaps, but it’s very likely we won’t see Jayson Tatum until the start of the 2026-27 season. Tatum’s injury likely has the Boston Celtics looking more ahead to when Jayson Tatum returns and putting the team in the best position to contend two years from now. This upcoming 2025-26 campaign might be a lost year for the Celtics. Tatum’s injury does that, and trading away both Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday confirms that.

SHEDDING CAP SPACE

The Celtics are spending major money on both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum is due $54 million and Brown is due $53 million next season. When more than $100 million is allocated to two players, you can’t pay Jrue Holiday his $32 million and Kristaps Porzingis $30 million. Holiday and Porzingis are both great players, and the Celtics likely don’t win the championship without these two players, but no team can consistently play their third and fourth options at those salaries.

What makes them expendable is their salaries, but combined with the reason they can’t be paid that much. Kristaps Porzingis played in 42 of the 82 regular-season games this year. Health hasn’t been his strong suit, and you can’t justify paying anyone $30 million if they’re available for half of your games. As for Holiday, he just turned 35 years old. Paying Holiday when you have younger options on your team is not feasible for the future.

These contracts served their purpose to bring a championship to Boston. This wasn’t a long-term solution financially to begin with, but coupled with Jayson Tatum’s injury, the Celtics need to clear the books now.

THEY AREN’T DONE YET

The next highest salary left on the Celtics is Derrick White, due $28 million next season and $30.3 million the following year. White turns 31 in July and the Celtics have to make a choice whether to keep White around or clear even more space. If someone had to make an educated guess, White might want to pay attention to X.

The only other player due an eight-figure salary is Sam Hauser. Hauser played a vital role off the bench for Boston in their championship run, but he’s never averaged double-digit points in a season. Hauser could be used as a bridge while Jayson Tatum recovers, or the Celtics could go ahead and let Hauser go to clear even more cap space.

Boston fans have to be sick to their stomach how the last couple of months have gone. From Jayson Tatum’s injury to the recent trades of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics will have a very different roster on Opening Night than they had in the NBA Finals.

What is your reaction to the Boston trades this week? Let us know in the comments section your expectations for the Celtics the next couple of years.