While Kristaps Porzinģis might be changing teams this summer, don’t expect him to reunite with Luka Dončić in Los Angeles, even if they have been linked with him.
The Celtics are not wasting any time making moves this offseason. With Jayson Tatum tearing his Achilles during the playoffs, effectively ruling him out for all of next season, they are making trades to retool rather than rebuild.
On Monday, it was reported that they traded Jrue Holiday to the Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two second-round draft picks. And on Tuesday, we got an article by Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints indicating that Boston is focused on trading Kristaps Porzinģis and Los Angeles was one of the teams that has reached out.
“The next order of business in Boston is trading Kristaps Porzingis, sources said. As he enters the final year of his contract, Porzingis has drawn interest from several teams in both conferences. The Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, and Toronto Raptors are a few of the 10-12 teams that have been in contact with the Celtics on Porzingis and others, sources said.”
On paper, Porzinģis makes a lot of sense. Even as a nine-year veteran with a lengthy injury history, he can still crawl out of bed and drop 20 points, which is basically what he did last season while dealing with a mysterious illness.
He has the size you want to space the floor and, last season, he shot a career-high 41% from 3-point range.
The problem is Porzinģis has a not-so-great history with Luka Dončić. The two tried to be the alphas on the Mavericks, and it didn’t work out.
Then, podcaster and now Lakers coach JJ Redick asked Porzinģis if he and Luka were having a “p—— contest” on his podcast, “The Young Man and the Three,” and he agreed that they did.
“Early on, for sure. But I think we both tried to make it work. I think, communication and maturity on both our parts should have been better.”
Redick played with both Luka and Porzinģis briefly during the 2020-21 season, so he knows more than most about how those two actually acted around each other behind the scenes. Porzinģis was ultimately traded in the middle of the 2021-22 season to Washington, and Luka went on to become the superstar we all know and love.
Even now, with years having passed, it doesn’t appear that Porzinģis and Dončić have mended things. According to a piece also on Tuesday by Dan Woike of The Athletic, we’ve likely seen the last of that dynamic duo.
“One thing that won’t happen — another Dončić-Kristaps Porziņģis pairing. There’s no indication that anyone wants to see that sequel.”
Building a team is an imperfect science. Even though Porzinģis could be a great pickup for the Lakers, the itch isn’t worth the scratch if your most important player is against it.
The Lakers have shown an effort to make Luka feel welcomed and heard. Once he joined the team, he reportedly asked the team to trade for a center and they acquired Mark Williams soon after.
Now, that deal was ultimately rescinded, but it demonstrated that Luka did have sway and influence.
There’s also the Porzinģis perspective to consider. While he isn’t a superstar by any means, if he doesn’t want to be a rotation player in the mix on Luka’s team, then it doesn’t make sense to trade for him either.
Porzinģis also has numerous injuries that have impacted his availability on the floor throughout his career. Most recently, he suffered a torn medial retinaculum in the 2024 NBA Finals and then battled an illness this year, which limited his availability in the playoffs. Over the last seven seasons, he’s only once played more than 60 games.
So, unless we hear reports indicating that the two players are open to a reunion in Los Angeles or that the Lakers have made an offer for Porzinģis, don’t expect him to end up in a purple and gold jersey next season.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.