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This summer has been all about avoiding the second apron for the Boston Celtics. In late June, they traded two key members from their 2024 title run — center Kristaps Porzingis and guard Jrue Holiday — because of the new CBA's punitive tax penalties. And on Thursday afternoon, they cut point guard JD Davison to duck back under the second apron officially.
Thank you, JD ☘️ pic.twitter.com/KBbmpiOa3u
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 24, 2025
Boston didn't need to shed much more salary after dumping Porzingis and Holiday, so losing Davison's smaller contract was the logical course of action. Davison, who will turn 23 years old in October, is no longer eligible for a two-way contract with the Celtics. He was the Green Team's lone selection in the 2022 NBA Draft and only played in 36 games over the course of three seasons.
That doesn't mean he won't attract suitors, though. The Alabama alum became the G League MVP last season, averaging an impressive 25.1 points per outing on 48% shooting from the field with the Maine Celtics.
The high-flying guard had the talent to hang with the C's, yet finding playing time was another story. Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard was ahead of him on the depth chart, making it very difficult for Davison to leave the G League and crack the rotation.
JD DAVIDSON ONE-HANDED OOP 🤮 STOP IT (via @nbagleague) pic.twitter.com/ujh8rtnQCW
— Overtime (@overtime) December 11, 2022
What's next for the Celtics?
With Davison gone, the Celtics have one open 15-man roster spot. They could fill this vacancy before training camp or start the 2025-26 campaign with it still up for grabs. Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens would potentially prefer the latter, given how the Celtics have entered the last two seasons.
No matter what the C's do, they're still missing their go-to guy, as Celtics star Jayson Tatum is out indefinitely with an Achilles injury. His lengthy rehab process puts Boston in a precarious spot and seriously jeopardizes their chances of competing for a title.
Even without Tatum, Stevens expects his guys to battle. The Celtics still have 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown at the helm and a plethora of young players eager to take advantage of the opportunity for more minutes.
Whether or not that'll be enough to compete in an unpredictable Eastern Conference remains to be seen. Regardless, the Celtics won't have to worry about the second apron for now, which is likely a huge relief for Stevens, who mentioned how the current CBA has loomed large for a while.
“I think that the reality is that we knew going into this year, regardless of how it ended, that we were going to have some really hard decisions to make because of the penalties,” Stevens told the media during a press conference in early July. “We've known for a long time that hard decisions were coming, and I think that the agents and players have known that, too.”
