After missing a majority of the Celtics’ playoff run last season, Kristaps Porziņģis returned for the NBA Finals briefly and made his impact felt on both ends. Along with Karl-Anthony Towns, he is one of the best shooting bigs ever and also provides elite rim protection making him a nightmare on both ends of the floor.
Porziņģis was dealing with a very unique injury, a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg that required surgery. After undergoing the procedure on June 27, Porziņģis was expected to miss up to six months which makes a return in early 2025 the most likely outcome. In the meantime, Al Horford, Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman will need to hold down the fort at center.
