Latest Kristaps Porzingis Report Should Encourage Celtics Fans

The FIBA World Cup gave Celtics fans fears again that a key acquisition would miss time, but there seemed to be remarkable progress made Thursday.

Kristaps Porinzgis suffered a foot injury while preparing for Latvia’s run in the FIBA World Cup. The injury was reminiscent of Danilo Gallinari tearing his ACL while playing for Italy in a World Cup qualifying game. Gallinari missed the entire 2022-23 season and didn’t play a single minute for the Celtics.

Boston shut down Porzingis for the rest of the summer, and there were concerns over his status for preseason and the beginning of the regular season despite president of basketball operations Brad Stevens expressing very little concern.

That lack of worry was realized Thursday when the Celtics played their first scrimmage, and Porzingis took part in it with no issues, according to The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach.

Porzingis played over 60 games for the first time since his sophomore campaign last season as the big man struggled with injuries since his ACL tear in the 2018-19 season.

The Celtics hope Porzingis can raise their ceiling, especially since Marcus Smart was dealt in the trade. Boston also reportedly is interested in acquiring Jrue Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers after he was dealt as part of the blockbuster that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.