Kristaps Porzingis Sends Message After Former Teammate Leaves Celtics

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Elie Deglaoui | Last updated Jul 1, 2025 5:41 PM ET

The offseason is still young, but the Boston Celtics have already made numerous moves and changes to their roster. Most notably, they traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers and Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks.

Heading into the offseason, it was widely anticipated that Holiday and Porzingis would be on the move as the Celtics looked to get under the second apron. However, there were still a few other players on the roster whose future with the team was uncertain. This included backup big man Luke Kornet, who was a free agent.

On Monday, Kornet officially left Boston to join the San Antonio Spurs on a four-year, $41 million deal. After the news broke, Porzingis shared a message to his former teammate on social media.

Free agent center Luke Kornet has agreed to a four-year, $41 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs, sources tell ESPN. Key frontcourt addition for the Spurs, who negotiated a contract tonight with Kornet's agent Max Wiepking of Gersh Sports. pic.twitter.com/cLnXxWJ2cv
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2025

Prior to his departure, Kornet spent parts of five seasons in Boston and is coming off the best season of his career. The Texas native also played a big role in the Celtics' championship victory in 2018.

After Kornet officially signed with the Spurs, Porzingis sent a message to showcase his support.

"Happy for this guy! One of the best teammates, well deserved Luuukee," Porzingis wrote.

Kristaps Porzingis shares Luke Kornet’s new contract on IG:

“Happy for this guy. One of the best teammates.” pic.twitter.com/rSi7ZQyDnT
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) July 1, 2025

In addition to their time together in Boston, Porzingis and Kornet were also briefly teammates on the New York Knicks during the 2017-18 season. With Kornet now officially off the roster, the Celtics are slim at the center position, and this will especially be true if Al Horford also leaves in free agency.

Though next year will most likely be a gap year for the Celtics due to Jayson Tatum's Achilles injury, they still have a bright future. However, they also have some major roster problems they need to address by the end of the offseason, especially following Kornet's exit.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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