Celtics are now under the cap.

by **kdp59** Thu Jul 02, 2015 7:32 am

as expected after the Amir Johnson signing.

http://www.celticsblog.com/2015/7/1/8881435/whats-next-for-the-celtics-after-signing-amir-johnson-and-jonas

Boston Celtics Report - ESPN

Boston is committed to roughly $61.4 million for 13 players. That doesn't include restricted free agent Jae Crowder, whose $1.2 million qualifying offer will linger on Boston's books until he signs a long-term deal or accepts another team's offer sheet. The Celtics must balance a desire to bring back Crowder at a reasonable number while maintaining enough salary flexibility to pounce should an opportunity to fetch a big-name star on the trade market moving forward. Remember, Boston's offseason philosophy has been to stay opportunistic, and by electing to go under the cap with the signing of Johnson, it is losing a bit of flexibility while picking a path.

My Take:

If the numbers reportedly from ESPN above are true, we lost those TPE's now. we also have about $7M left in cap space for additional salary.

IF we are going to sign Crowder to a long term deal, that will take up at least half of that if not more.

which means we are down to signing players on E. Turner type discount deals or trades to improve the roster.

this was the reason my immediate response to Johnson getting a deal at $11-12M this year was as negative as it was/is.

Danny has hamstrung himself for a player that is a slight upgrade over Bass. though to his credit for only one year.

I'll still hold out hope for a trade for a player like Noel from philly to farther balance the roster, but at this point I seriously doubt It will happen.

by **gyso** Thu Jul 02, 2015 12:36 pm

kdp,

My take:

ESPN ignores reality and doesn't think the whole thing through.

ESPN just uses salaries for the 13 players as its base and ignores cap holds.

Danny Ainge does not throw away his biggest TPE's. The Rondo $12M TPE can bring us a nice player. Trades may bring us another nice player.

Cap space (this year) means nothing to DA. Cap space (next year) will be important to DA. Wallace will be gone, no guarantee for Johnson and Jonas next year. That is proof enough for me.

We will be over the cap and under the apron this season. The following season, DA goes all in.

gyso

by **kdp59** Thu Jul 02, 2015 2:16 pm

I would agree Gyso, except how did Danny get $10-11M to sign Johnson, without going UNDER the cap.

by **bobheckler** Thu Jul 02, 2015 2:28 pm

kdp59 wrote:I would agree Gyso, except how did Danny get $10-11M to sign Johnson, without going UNDER the cap.

kdp,

When was he over the cap?

bob

.

by **tjmakz** Thu Jul 02, 2015 2:34 pm

bob,

Boston has been over the cap and is currently over the cap with the cap holds.
If the Amir Johnson signing is not a sign and trade, Boston will have to be under the cap.

by **gyso** Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:41 pm

Boston has until the 9th to figure it out. Until then, it's a nod and a wink kind of thing between Amir (or his agent) and Danny. The moratorium allows for no verbal or written agreements to be made, and certainly no actual contracts can be finalized for the duration of the moratorium.

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q14

"Note: During the July Moratorium (see question number 104), teams may not enter into verbal or written agreements. Therefore any agreements that are struck during the moratorium are still characterized as negotiations, and do not count toward team salary."

I read elsewhere that Amir was renounced by the Raptors in order to sign whoever they signed. Until I read the Larry Coon FAQ just now, I believed it to be true and the following bit to be untrue:

So, in reality, no one gets renounced yet. Conjecture was that a sign-and-trade will happen between the Celtics and the Raptors. We get Amir and they will get the Rondo TPE and cap relief. We may have to add some sweetener, because the Raptors could just renounce him. Since I believed Amir was renounced, I thought the whole thing was BS and I did not share my discovery here. Now I believe it can happen:

The Rondo $12M TPE can bring us a nice player. Amir Johnson.

gyso

by **gyso** Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:57 pm

One more thing:

Amir was overpaid for his first year, sure. It may have been the cost of having him agree to Danny's plan of the second year being non-guaranteed. It was pure genius on DA's part. He takes a TPE that runs out on the anniversary of Rondo's trade, cannot be added to anything else in a trade and turns it into a possible 2-year $12M asset that can be mixed and matched with other assets in order to get a really big fish.

The Amir Johnson contract will be an expiring contract that:

1. Is an expiring contract this season
2. Is non-guaranteed early next summer
3. Could be an expiring contract next season if his second year is picked up

Likewise, Jerebko's contract, except his is of the smaller variety.

gyso

PS: If anyone complains about Amir contract being too high, cost per quality delivered, they should try to think outside of the box. Danny does. Effing right, he does. I am so glad he does.

by **tjmakz** Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:00 pm

gyso,

All true points.
I really don't think many Celtics fans care about the $12m, especially with the contracts that are going to be signed next week.
I think the people that have issues with Ainge is that Boston hasn't improved much at all on paper via the draft or thru free agency.

by **gyso** Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:15 pm

tj,

What you say is true enough, except for the part about many Celtic fans not caring about "X" player getting paid "Y" money.

It was a constant irritant in regards to Scal's contract. It was much of the complaint with Jeff Green's contract. It was brought up recently with Bradley's contract. There were so many more salaries discussed between Scal and Bradley.

Cost of Player vs. Quality of Services Provided. It's like the money was coming out of the fan's pocket! (LOL)

There is also the fan who looks at team salary and suggests that the team is screwed out of getting a better player because of one player's salary.

I like Sam's perspective; let Danny figure out the money part and hope that the TEAM assembled gels well together (or something like that)

gyso

by **kdp59** Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:27 pm

so correction...the Celtics WILL be under the cap when they officially sign Johnson on July 9th or after.

until then he can use the TPE's for another player in trade.

unless they get Toronto to agree to a sign and trade with Johnson first.

then we can stay over the cap and keep the TPE's until they expire.

is that about it?

by **sinus007** Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:27 pm

Gyso,
In regards to Amir Johnson for Rondo's TPE: a) how does it work with the second year and, b) why's it better than just sign him as a FA?
Thanks,
AK

by **swish** Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:39 pm

I don't think that Danny is deeply concerned about the short term improvement of the team. I think that he is much more focused with accumulating the necessary chips that it will take in the future to land at least 2 All League players. It took him 5 years to create the foundation that led to the fantastic incoming class of 2007-08. This is a slow cooker recipe for success at the championship level. Give it time.

swish

by **gyso** Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:51 pm

kdp59 wrote:so correction...the Celtics WILL be under the cap when they officially sign Johnson on July 9th or after.

until then he can use the TPE's for another player in trade.

unless they get Toronto to agree to a sign and trade with Johnson first.

then we can stay over the cap and keep the TPE's until they expire.

is that about it?

The Celtics will have to be under the cap by $12M if they sign Amir as a free agent. Signing a FA cannot take you over the cap (no more than 100-125K over, not exactly sure of the exact figure). If they use most of the TPE's, they may not be under enough for that to happen. Staying over the cap and using the Rondo TPE to get Amir makes more sense to me.

IMO, Danny's goal is to be over the cap but under the apron. No need to start the luxury tax clock in this season.

gyso

by **gyso** Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:51 pm

sinus007 wrote:Gyso,
In regards to Amir Johnson for Rondo's TPE: a) how does it work with the second year and, b) why's it better than just sign him as a FA?
Thanks,
AK

a) Only the next (or in this case, first) season of any contract is considered when a trade is made.

b) If we stay over the cap, a s&t is needed to get him. That way, we don't have to renounce everything that isn't nailed down in order to get under the cap enough to make the trade and still be under it after the trade. I think we still have a medium TPE and a bunch of useless smaller ones left after the Rondo TPE is used up.

gyso

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