WHY CELTICS WON’T SIGN JARED SULLINGER, TYLER ZELLER TO CONTRACT EXTENSIONS NOW

WEEI

By Ben Rohrbach

As expected, the Celtics will not reach contract extensions with big men Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller before Monday’s deadline, according to The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach.

The NBA salary cap is expected to expand $20 million next summer, so Sullinger and Zeller have no reason to sign a team-friendly extension based on the league’s current salary structure. Likewise, the C’s have little incentive to sign Sullinger and Zeller to player-friendly deals now, because of the former’s conditioning issues and the latter’s inconsistent production.

Consider that fellow 2012 NBA Draft first-round pick Jeremy Lamb, who couldn’t crack the regular rotation in Oklahoma City for his first three seasons, is reportedly signing a three-year, $21 million contract extension two games into his Hornets career. Sullinger and Zeller should receive an average annual value of $7 million next summer if they respectively eat a handful of Big Macs for lunch every day and fall to fifth or sixth on the C’s frontcourt depth chart this season.

More likely, both will be seeking double-digit millions per season next summer, and by not offering them that kind of cash flow right now, the Celtics can monitor their progress closely now and maintain significant salary cap flexibility in 2016, when both become restricted free agents and represent $12.2 million in combined cap holds come July 1.

112288

Or they could package one or both of them this year in a trade.

dboss

YEP....That is more of a certain then signing them.

112288

yippy

Ship out flotsam and get jetsam in return.

swish