Derrick White Drops Truth Bomb On Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis Trades

The Boston Celtics have been busy this offseason, just not in the way that fans were hoping for. After flaming out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the C’s have torn down their roster in order to avoid the second apron of the league’s new salary cap.

That has resulted in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis getting traded, with Luke Kornet (and likely Al Horford) departing in free agency. Heck, even Georges Niang, who was acquired in the Porzingis trade, has already been moved to another team.

With Jayson Tatum set to miss the entire 2025-26 campaign after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the ECS, the C’s are retooling their roster for the new season. That means that guys like Jaylen Brown and Derrick White are going to have to shoulder a larger load in the immediate future.

Going from the favorite to win a championship to tearing down its roster isn’t what Boston was hoping they’d have to do this offseason. When discussing the team’s moves over the past few months, White admitted he isn’t thrilled to have lost several key teammates, but he understands that’s part of the business side of the NBA.

“Yeah, I mean, that is the tough part about the business,” White said in an interview with Liam McKeone of Sports Illustrated. “But it is a business at the end of the day. Jrue, KP, Luke (Kornet), all of them, it was definitely tough to see them leave.”

“You wish we could play with them forever, but this is kind of the way it is. I always wish them the best. There will be a lot of fun when we see them again, and I’m just excited to play with the people we do have.”

The hope is that by shedding salary now, the Celtics will position themselves to make another title run once Tatum returns from his injury. For now, though, that has resulted in the front office stripping the team down to its bones.

White and Brown are relishing the opportunity to lead the team, but it remains to be seen how much they will be able to accomplish with several of their star teammates playing elsewhere. If there’s one thing you can bet on, though, it’s that they’re going to give it their all, no matter who they find themselves on the court against.