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ATLANTA — Sitting on the trade block is no different from waiting on a slew of text messages. On the morning of June 25, Kristaps Porziņģis woke up to an onslaught of them.

This was the tell-tale sign. Porziņģis was no longer a member of the Boston Celtics, a moment he understood was inevitable. The Celtics’ teardown, thanks to injuries and untenable finances, was afoot. Porziņģis’ exit would be one consequence.

Home in his native Latvia, Porziņģis reached for his phone to open a group chat with his buddies, assuming they would be discussing his new squad there. But instead of any breaking news tweet, he saw three bird emojis.

Thin

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