Here’s what Danny Ainge has to work with during the Celtics’ crucial offseason Draft picks? Check. Affordable contracts? Check. Free agents? Check.

BOSTON.COM

–Barry Chin/Globe Staff

By Brian Robb May 10, 2016

It’s shaping up to be a busy summer for Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. Possessing a roster of young players on promising contracts and armed with ample salary cap space and an array of draft picks, Ainge knows it is time for his latest Boston rebuild to take major steps forward.

“We look forward to every offseason. This offseason is bigger,” Ainge acknowledged at his end-of-season press conference. “My expectations are high this offseason. And yet I also know that it takes good fortune.”

In order to get a better sense of the task Ainge has ahead of him, it’s important to understand the tools at his disposal and the limitations facing him. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the Celtics’ roster situation, list of pending free agents and array of draft picks.

Celtics Contracts

While the Celtics may not have a superstar on the roster just yet, Ainge has managed to assemble some of the best value contracts in the NBA for the 2016-17 season. Isaiah Thomas has one of the league’s most affordable deals for an All-Star at $6.6 million, while Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder are highly capable two-way players making below market value.

The remainder of the team’s guaranteed money is tied up in rookie scale contracts, giving Ainge the option of having up to $51 million in salary cap space in the summer, thanks to a skyrocketing cap that’s expected to top $92 million.

Guaranteed contracts for the 2016-17 season

Avery Bradley: $8.3 million
Isaiah Thomas: $6.6 million
Jae Crowder: $6.3 million
Marcus Smart: $3.6 million
Kelly Olynyk: $3.1 million
Terry Rozier: $1.9 million
James Young: $1.8 million
Jordan Mickey: $1.2 million
R.J. Hunter: $1.2 million
Total guaranteed money: $34 million

Non-guaranteed contracts for 2016-17

Amir Johnson: $12 million
Jonas Jerebko: $5 million
John Holland: $875,000

In order to maintain the necessary cap space to hand out two maximum contracts free agents during the offseason, the Celtics would have to part ways with a couple key role players in Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko. Both players are signed to deals for next season that don’t become guaranteed until July 3, giving Ainge the valuable option of using them as salary filler for a blockbuster trade, or keeping them if a major signing does not look likely after the start of free agency on July 1. John Holland’s contract is fully non-guaranteed, making him merely a salary trade chip for the team to use this summer, if needed.

Besides Johnson and Jerebko, the other part of the roster Celtics fans should keep an eye on is the youngsters. With more draft picks in tow and a crowded depth chart in the backcourt, players like R.J. Hunter and James Young could be on the trade block if Ainge needs to clear out some roster space for talent upgrades.

Celtics Free Agents

Unlike in previous offseasons, Ainge would not comment on the status of any of his pending free agents during his end-of-season remarks, a telling sign that’s representative of the uncertain status those players have with the team moving forward.

Restricted free agents (if tendered qualifying offer by June 30)

Jared Sullinger: $4.4 million
Tyler Zeller: $3.7 million
Most years, it would be an easy decision to bring back a pair of productive players like Tyler Zeller and Jared Sullinger. This offseason could be the exception though, as Ainge has his sights set on far bigger fish, making salary cap space an important commodity. Qualifying offers to both of those players would limit Ainge’s options on that front, especially if the team is targeting upgrades at those positions.

For that reason, don’t be surprised if Ainge rescinds a qualifying offer to either player once free agency begins, a move that would make them unrestricted free agents, taking away Boston’s right to match any offer either would sign. If that happens, it’s a good sign that Boston will be bringing in a better piece.

Unrestricted free agents

Evan Turner (Early Bird Rights)
Evan Turner’s status is far less murky than Sullinger or Zeller: He’s an unrestricted free agent. The team holds his “Early Bird Rights,” but that won’t help the team much in re-signing him. He’s expected to command at least $10 million a year after earning just $6.7 million total over the past two seasons. “Early Bird Rights” only give a team the ability to sign a player to 175 percent of his previous salary if they are over the salary cap, which mean Boston is going to have to cut into its cap space if it wants to re-sign Turner. It’s certainly a possibility, but not probable if Ainge is able to make significant upgrades to the roster via free agency.

Celtics Draft Picks

Most NBA teams rarely carry more than three rookies on an NBA roster, making it a sure bet that the Celtics won’t be keeping all eight of their picks in the 2016 NBA draft. It’s easy to argue Boston’s roster is already overloaded with youth at the bottom of the depth chart, so it’s unclear just how many the Celtics will have room for, especially if the team wants to take a strong step toward contending this offseason.

The first question that must be answered for Ainge is what he plans on doing with the pick acquired from Brooklyn. Thanks to the Nets’ 21-61 record in the 2015-2016 season, third-worst in the NBA, the selection has a 15.6 percent chance of being the No. 1 overall selection and a 46.9 percent chance of being a top-three selection. It cannot fall beyond the No. 6 selection.

Celtics picks in the 2016 NBA draft

Brooklyn’s top selection (guaranteed to fall between No. 1-6)
No. 16 (via Dallas)
No. 23 (own)
No. 31 (via Philadelphia)
No. 35 (via Minnesota)
No. 45 (via Memphis from Dallas)
No. 53 (via Miami)
No. 58 (via Cleveland)

So what are Ainge’s options with all of those selections? They will become much easier to discern after the NBA Draft Lottery on May 17, but he discussed a few possibilities at Boston’s first draft workout.

“It just depends,” Ainge said of how many picks he could realistically keep. “Can we consolidate picks to move up in the draft? Are there some guys we really like overseas or players that we could draft and send overseas, draft and stash players, trade for future picks? I mean there’s a lot of different things that we could do, and we’ll look at all of that, depending on who we like in certain spots.”

Stay tuned.

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Mr. Chin is telling us all only what we have known for at least the last year. Wonder if he has read all the posts here on our forum and then kind of wrote a summary for us?

Yeah, nothing new here. Well less than a week out for the first step! Very sorry Sam isn't here to see this off season.


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Ditto............miss his wisdom and pithy posts! God Bless Sam!

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