The Celtics could lose another key piece to avoid the luxury tax

After winning the championship in 2024, the **Boston Celtics** have already experienced the departure of three key pieces from that championship team: **Jrue Holiday** and **Kristaps Porzingis** were traded, while **Al Horford** left in free agency. But the departures may not be over yet. According to Michael Pina in *The Ringer*, President of Operations **Brad Stevens** may be forced to trade another beloved player in an effort to reduce payroll and avoid harsh repeated luxury tax penalties. Despite Stevens' reassuring messages, the **Celtics** remain deep in the luxury tax apron, approximately $20 million above. It is likely that more moves will be made during the season to alleviate the salary burden. Among the possible candidates to leave are **Anfernee Simons** and **Georges Niang**, although the departure of **[Sam Hauser](https://www.blogdebasket.com/taxonomy/term/9833)** would be the most painful to see. Simons recently arrived as part of the Holiday trade, so he has not developed an emotional connection with the fans yet. The same goes for Niang, who hasn't even debuted in a Celtics jersey. But Hauser... that's a different story. **The Importance of Hauser for the Celtics** The forward has been a deadly shooter off the bench during his four seasons in Boston, averaging an impressive 42% from three-point range. In the last season, he played 21.7 minutes per game and contributed an average of 8.6 points. Additionally, he has just begun the first year of his 4-year, $45 million contract, averaging $11.25 million annually. His departure would be a significant financial relief for the management. Simons, on the other hand, is in the final year of his contract with a salary of $27.7 million, making it very likely that he will be traded before even debuting at TD Garden.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Los Celtics podrían perder otra pieza importante para esquivar el impuesto de lujo