2019-2020 Boston Celtics Salary Cap Thread

[gyso]

There are many moving parts that add up to Team Salary.  I'll try to cover all of them in this thread, as well as review some of the options that may allow us to add players under certain circumstances.

I'll be using the spotrac website to get my information.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/cap/2019/

You can also use Larry Coon's NBA Salary Cap FAQ for further details.  It contains a lot of info.  Don't let it intimidate you, the more you use it, the easier it becomes.

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

Current Situation (aka: Roll it forward):

$122,698,314   Current player contracts
$        92,857   Dead Cap (We stretched Demetrius Jackson' contract)
$      500,000   Marcus Smart - Likely Incentives
___________

$123,291,171   Total Taxable Salaries


Here are some projected numbers that may change a little after the bean counters tally up the last season in early July:

$109,000,000   2019 NBA Salary Cap Max

$132,000,000   2019 NBA Luxury Tax Threshold

$138,000,000   2019 NBA Apron (Luxury Tax + $6M)


Here are our current Cap Holds:

$27,538,725   spotrac number from Salary Cap Totals (bottom of page when using the spotrac link above)
$24,361,100   My math from spotrac's Cap Hold schedule (I do not know why this is different)

Part of the Cap Hold number is a category called Incomplete Roster Charge.  That is a penalty for not carrying a minimum of 12 players.  It is $897,150 per open slot.

It also says:

Cap holds represent "placeholders" for pending free agents, unsigned draft picks, offer sheets, etc... Since the Celtics are currently over the league salary cap, these cap holds do not count against their Total Cap figure. Denouncing these cap holds will NOT afford the team any new cap space. These figures are not counted toward a team's Luxury Tax Allocation.

Here are a couple assumptions: (please correct me if I am wrong)

1. Salary Cap numbers effect how trades are constructed.  Teams that are below the cap after a trade do not have to match salaries in a trade.  Teams that are above the cap after a trade do have to match salaries, using a formula not discussed here at this time.

2. Luxury Tax and Apron numbers effect extra money owed by the team to the league after the season is completed.  They also effect some exceptions that are available to teams when they try to sign free agents, etc.

One item I have not listed here is 2019 draft pick cap amounts.  We will know more after the lottery tomorrow.  Please understand that once these are finalized, the Total Taxable Team Salary will increase and the Incomplete Roster Charge will be removed if we keep at least two draft picks.  First round pick rookie salaries are not yet calculated for next season, but past season numbers can be found here:

http://www.cbafaq.com/scale17.htm

In the next post, I will discuss most people's favorite situation going forward; Letting Kyrie Irving walk and changing Al Horford's contract.

[gyso]

If we remove Kyrie Irving's salary and change Al Horford's salary, here is where we are at:

From above:

$122,698,314   Current player contracts
$        92,857   Dead Cap (We stretched Demetrius Jackson' contract)
$      500,000   Marcus Smart - Likely Incentives
___________

$123,291,171   Total Taxable Salaries


$ 21,329,750   Kyrie's salary
$ 15,000,000   Assumed savings from Al's contract.  ($30M - $15M = $15M)
___________

$ 36,329,750   Total Salary Savings

Then:

$123,291,171   Total Taxable Salaries
$ 36,329,750   Total Salary Savings
___________

$ 86,961,421   New Taxable Salaries

Now I feel that I need to add the estimated first round draft pick cap amounts.  As I said above, we will know more tomorrow night, but here are some numbers if our picks do not move much after the ping-pong balls drop:  (using last year's rookie scale)

$3,116,600   Memphis pick at #9
$2,411,800   Sacramento pick at #14
$1,800,600   Clipper's pick at #20
$1,659,600   Our pick at #22
_________

$8,988,600   Total draft pick salaries (estimate only)

I will use $9.5M because the 2019-2020 salary cap most likely will be more than last season.

Then:

$ 86,961,421   New Taxable Salaries (from above)
$   9,500,000   Estimated draft pick salaries
___________

$ 96,461,421   Estimated Total Taxable Salaries


$109,000,000   2019 NBA Salary Cap Max
$  96,461,421   Estimated Total Taxable Salaries
___________

$12,538,579   Amount left over to sign a free agent.

So, after making lots of assumptions, we have about $12.5M left over for a free agent.  That is not anywhere close to max money.

This is a very fluid situation and many things can change over the next couple of months.  Al's final restructured salary may be more than my estimate.  The Sacto pick could move up and cost more.  The Memphis pick may move up and carry over to next season.  On and on.

I am sure that I am missing something, big or small, that will change my numbers.  I really doubt that it will be enough to greatly increase the amount we will have to sign a free agent.

So, lets discuss what I may have missed and see if it helps or hurts us.

gyso

[gyso]

This was posted earlier by Bob Heckler.  It was suggested that we make it a sticky, but instead, I will just add it here:

NBA offseason lingo and how it relates to the Celtics

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/nba-offseason-lingo-and-how-it-relates-celtics?cid=Yahoo&partner=ya4nbcs

NBA offseason lingo and how it relates to the Celtics

By A. Sherrod Blakely

May 10, 2019 9:08 PM

BOSTON -- There’s no telling how different the Celtics will look at the start of the 2019-20 season, but make no mistake about it...

Change is coming.

You’ll see it on the bench for sure with the departure of Micah Shrewsberry, who returns to the college basketball world as an assistant at Purdue.

And there’s a good chance you will see it with a roster that, at a minimum, will undergo some level of tweaking.

But within that process, there will be terms thrown around describing the moving pieces that are sure to be part of the Celtics' lexicon as they try and regroup after what was a disappointing season.

Let's take a look at some of the common verbiage you'll hear this offseason and how that relates to the Celtics in what’s sure to be a summer of change.

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT
Simply put, this is the status of a player who can sign with any team they want to, with no restrictions, once their contract expires. For the Celtics, Marcus Morris falls into this category on July 1. Kyrie Irving, who will opt out of the final year of his contract, will become an unrestricted free agent, who, as we’ve seen, read and heard about all season, will be the target of a number of teams. Al Horford and Aron Baynes have player options that will allow them to test the unrestricted free agent waters as well, although it’s unclear at this point if one or both will go that route.

QUALIFYING OFFER
This is the amount that teams can offer a player selected in the first round of their respective draft class, who has just completed his fourth NBA season, to ensure that they become a restricted free agent. It’s essentially a one-year deal for a bump in pay that’s at least 30 percent more than they made the previous season, all depending on where the player was drafted. In the case of Terry Rozier, as the 16th overall pick in the 2015 draft, his qualifying offer from Boston will be worth 40.5 percent more than his salary this past season which was $3.05 million. If the Celtics decided to not make him a qualifying offer, Rozier then becomes an unrestricted free agent.

RESTRICTED FREE AGENT
A player can sign an offer sheet to play for another team (provided they have enough salary-cap space to absorb the deal), but his most recent team will get an opportunity to match the offer. This is common among first-round picks who do not sign extensions prior to the start of their fourth season. In addition to Rozier, Boston’s other restricted free agents include Daniel Theis (restricted Early Bird), Jonathan Gibson (restricted non-Bird) and Brad Wanamaker (restricted non-Bird).

"BIRD" RIGHTS
Teams are allowed to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents at an amount that’s equal to the maximum salary allowed relative to that player. It is named after Celtics great Larry Bird because the Celtics were the first team allowed to utilize this rule which they did in retaining the services of Bird. Players must spend three or more consecutive seasons with the same team without being waived or without joining another team via free agency. The Celtics have the Bird rights to Kyrie Irving, who they acquired via trade from Cleveland. Because he was acquired by trade, his Bird rights also came with him to Boston. The “Early Bird” exception applies to players who have been with the same team for two consecutive seasons. They can be re-signed up to 175 percent of their salary or the average NBA salary, whichever is greater. Daniel Theis, a player Boston hopes to re-sign, falls under the Early Bird category.  

NON-"BIRD" RIGHTS
Players who don’t meet the criteria for the Bird exception or early Bird exception, fall under the non-Bird exception crew. Teams can sign these players to up to 120 percent of their salary from the previous season, or 120 percent of the league’s minimum salary, whichever is the higher amount. Aron Baynes would fall under this category. He can opt-out of his contract and be a free agent, but all indications are that he will play out the final year of the two-year, $10.6 million contract he signed with Boston last summer.

SALARY CAP
It is the amount of money teams are allowed to pay their players. The NBA has a “soft cap” which allows for exceptions so that teams can exceed the cap which for 2019-20 will be around $109 million. Like most teams, the Celtics have utilized the exceptions at their disposal to add talent and by doing so, exceed the salary cap with this upcoming season being no different.

LUXURY-TAX THRESHOLD
The whole point of being able to exceed the salary cap is to add talent, even if it means increasing the amount of salary spent. Still, the NBA doesn’t allow teams to have just a blank checkbook, either. There is a luxury-tax threshold that kicks in for teams once they exceed a certain amount in salary. For the 2019-20 season, that figure will be $132 million. Teams that exceed that amount will pay tax amount for every dollar spent above the luxury-tax threshold, depending on how far over the luxury tax they go, and whether they are a “repeat offender” which involves an even higher tax rate. The Celtics are expected to be among the teams paying a luxury tax for the just-concluded season, although their tax bill - just under $4 million according to Spotrac.com - is relatively modest compared to there fellow luxury tax-paying franchises.

[gyso]

Back to Cap Holds:

Here is where we stand:



If we resign either Rozier or Morris, that $12.5M is gone.
If we resign Theis or Wannamaker, the $12.5M is reduced.
If we use the MLE and/or any other exception (Vet Min) the $12.5M is reduced or gone.

gyso

[dbrown4]

gyso,

Thank you so much for this! This is perfect for the technically challenged like myself! Can you explain (just whenever, no rush) how the Sign and Trade works and when's the best time to use it?

db

[gyso]

dbrown,

From Larry Coon's NBA Salary Cap FAQ (#92):

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q92

scroll down or use this link for more (#94):

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q94

#92 details the rules for sign-and-trades and #94 details some of the reasons that (for the most part) sign-and-trades are not used much any more because most of the advantages for the players have been removed.

There were also some "penalties" written in the rules for the teams that receive a player in a sign-and-trade.

A team that receives a player in a sign-and-trade is hard capped at the Apron.  We are already over the Luxury Tax Level this season, so we may not be too far from the Apron after all is said and done this season.

I don't know if Danny Ainge wants to hard cap us again by receiving a player in a sign-and-trade.  He hard capped us a couple years ago when we were rebuilding, but we are contenders now and he may want the flexibility to spend on players as he sees fit.

I guess that we could sign-and-trade Kyrie away, but why would he do this?  He can already get the same contract if he just signs with a team that has cap space.  He would be helping us with a sign-and-trade, but why would he want help us?  He is more likely to give us a California Howdy on his way out the door.

It is probably the same with Rozier.  I don't think there is any love lost between him and the Celtics.  He is just looking for a starting position and the money that comes with it.  Maybe he will help us or maybe he will not.  I believe he is only looking at this from his own prospective, what he thinks is best for him.  

Morris may want to help us out in order to maximize his next contract.  He was (for the most part) a good soldier as a Celtics player.  I can see where he would consider it to be mutually beneficial, a win-win for both sides.

As I said, the 2017 CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) pretty much removed all the advantages with sign-and-trades for the players.  In my opinion, sign-and-trades for players at max or near-max contract levels are a thing of the past.  Maybe for players in the middle range there is still a reason to sign using a sign-and-trade.  We can pay attention to how things shake out this season for the Celtics and the league to see if this is true.

gyso

[NYCelt]

Excellent summary by gyso, capologist to the masses.

Here's how SBNation summarizes it...

Boston Celtics
•Biggest Free Agents: Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier (RFA)
•Guaranteed Salary: $56,843,750
•Stretch Provision Salary: $92,857
•Player Options: Al Horford ($30,123,015), Kyrie Irving ($21,329,750), Aron Baynes ($5,453,280)
•Non-Guaranteed: Jayson Tatum ($7,830,000), Robert Williams ($1,937,520), Semi Ojeleye ($1,618,520)
•1st round cap hold: 14th ($2,878,400), 20th ($2,149,000)
•Potential FA Cap Hold: Rozier ($9,151,170)

Projected Salary Cap Space: $3,340,688

Reports indicate that Kyrie might be headed elsewhere. I’m guessing Horford picks up his option and all the young players’ options are picked up as well. I anticipate Baynes opting out and looking for a little more money. I’ve got them holding onto Rozier’s cap hold here as well.

So, taking gyso and SBNation's numbers into consideration, you want to do something to sign a FA, you can. Just do something about Kyrie (g'bye) and Horford (restructure) first. Not really looking at a max type unless further moves are made, which certainly could be a possibility as well.

[tjmakz]

There are many moving parts that add up to Team Salary.  I'll try to cover all of them in this thread, as well as review some of the options that may allow us to add players under certain circumstances.

I'll be using the spotrac website to get my information.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/cap/2019/

You can also use Larry Coon's NBA Salary Cap FAQ for further details.  It contains a lot of info.  Don't let it intimidate you, the more you use it, the easier it becomes.

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

Current Situation (aka: Roll it forward):

$122,698,314   Current player contracts
$        92,857   Dead Cap (We stretched Demetrius Jackson' contract)
$      500,000   Marcus Smart - Likely Incentives
___________

$123,291,171   Total Taxable Salaries


Here are some projected numbers that may change a little after the bean counters tally up the last season in early July:

$109,000,000   2019 NBA Salary Cap Max

$132,000,000   2019 NBA Luxury Tax Threshold

$138,000,000   2019 NBA Apron (Luxury Tax + $6M)


Here are our current Cap Holds:

$27,538,725   spotrac number from Salary Cap Totals (bottom of page when using the spotrac link above)
$24,361,100   My math from spotrac's Cap Hold schedule (I do not know why this is different)

Part of the Cap Hold number is a category called Incomplete Roster Charge.  That is a penalty for not carrying a minimum of 12 players.  It is $897,150 per open slot.

It also says:

Cap holds represent "placeholders" for pending free agents, unsigned draft picks, offer sheets, etc... Since the Celtics are currently over the league salary cap, these cap holds do not count against their Total Cap figure. Denouncing these cap holds will NOT afford the team any new cap space. These figures are not counted toward a team's Luxury Tax Allocation.

Here are a couple assumptions: (please correct me if I am wrong)

1. Salary Cap numbers effect how trades are constructed.  Teams that are below the cap after a trade do not have to match salaries in a trade.  Teams that are above the cap after a trade do have to match salaries, using a formula not discussed here at this time.

2. Luxury Tax and Apron numbers effect extra money owed by the team to the league after the season is completed.  They also effect some exceptions that are available to teams when they try to sign free agents, etc.

One item I have not listed here is 2019 draft pick cap amounts.  We will know more after the lottery tomorrow.  Please understand that once these are finalized, the Total Taxable Team Salary will increase and the Incomplete Roster Charge will be removed if we keep at least two draft picks.  First round pick rookie salaries are not yet calculated for next season, but past season numbers can be found here:

http://www.cbafaq.com/scale17.htm

In the next post, I will discuss most people's favorite situation going forward; Letting Kyrie Irving walk and changing Al Horford's contract.

Gyso,

The $3,177,625 difference between the Spotrac cap hold number and your cap hold number is the three trade exceptions that Boston has.
($1,378,242 for Nader, $450,000 for Nader and $1,349,383 for Bird)
If Boston goes under the salary cap or renounces the trade exceptions, they are no longer listed as cap holds.

[gyso]

NYCelt,

Do you have a link?  I am curious as to who came up with this info and if there is any supporting work.

I don't believe the Guaranteed Salary number.  Guaranteed salary is actually over $123M [edit: minus Semi O's salary].  The salary for the three players that have player options is still guaranteed.  Even if all three players opt out, the remaining salary is close to $66M.

I do not see where salaries for Tatum and Williams is non-guaranteed.  The salaries for Tatum and Williams are guaranteed next season and they are under a team option the following season.  There is a team option for Semi O next season, so I guess in that way it is not guaranteed.

I used the HoopsHype site to determine what the various team and player options were, but the info on that site is extremely incomplete.  The spotrac site is a much better source of info.  Here is the link to the HoopsHype site, for what it is worth:

https://hoopshype.com/salaries/boston_celtics/

The actual cap holds for 1st round picks are not yet finalized and won't be until after the season is over, according to Larry Coon.  That's okay, maybe they are using projected numbers, like I did for some of my numbers.  They are higher than the numbers that I used, as is expected.  They also only listed two 1st round picks instead of the possible four.  Picks #20 and #22 are locked in.  The Sacto pick starts out at #14, that is the pick number that I used.  They did not list the Memphis pick.  I believe that sits (pre-lottery) at #8, but all it takes is one team to leap frog over them to push it back to #9.

I agree that Kyrie leaves and Horford restructures his contract for a longer one.  I doubt that Baynes leaves.  This is all opinion based, so we will have to wait and see for this part.

Holding on to Rozier's cap hold is a no-brainer.  He is an asset and Danny and Co. will force another team to overpay to get him.  We have leverage and if he wants to leave, we may be able to get something back in trade.

I don't think we can get much of a free agent with their projected salary cap space of $3,340,688.  My number is a little higher, but it will be whittled down very easily.  It is my opinion that other than a peanut size salary, the only way currently to get a free agent is by using an exception (MLE, Bi-Annual or vet min).

gyso

[gyso]

TJ,

Thanks, I see it now.  You have to add the spotrac 2019-20 Cap Holds numbers with the spotrac Exceptions (Trade Exceptions) numbers to get the total Cap Holds.

They all act as Cap Holds.

gyso

[NYCelt]

gyso,

Here's the link to the article I cut and pasted earlier. It's from one of the SBNation sites. I did not check against Spotrac or Basketball Reference.

https://www.slcdunk.com/nba-free-agency/2019/5/7/18531323/projecting-2019-salary-cap-space-for-all-30-nba-teams

[gyso]

gyso,

Here's the link to the article I cut and pasted earlier. It's from one of the SBNation sites. I did not check against Spotrac or Basketball Reference.

https://www.slcdunk.com/nba-free-agency/2019/5/7/18531323/projecting-2019-salary-cap-space-for-all-30-nba-teams

NYCelt,

Thanks.

The author (Tavan Parker) said he used basketball-reference.com and spotrac.com for the info on contracts. I followed the link he provided for basketball-reference.com and found nothing there in regards to salary (or anything else) for the 2019-2020 season. The only salary info was down at the bottom on the 2018-2019 Celtics page and it was for last season.

I would consider his article to be a nice capture of the sal-cap situation for all 30 teams. That being said, there is too many errors in just the Celtics portion of it for it to be considered very useful. I used spotrac and it just doesn't agree with all his bullet points.

gyso

[kdp59]

NBA rookie scale

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/rookie_scale/2020

[gyso]

NBA rookie scale

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/rookie_scale/2020

kdp,

Larry Coon's Salary Cap FAQ says,

"In the current CBA only the 2017-18 salary scale was determined in advance. Starting in 2018-19 they determine the salary scale for the upcoming season on or before June 30. The scale is calculated by applying the percentage change in the salary cap to all dollar amounts in the previous rookie salary scale."

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q47

In other words, the rookie scale contracts increase (and I imagine, decrease) according to the percentage of the increase (or decrease) in the salary cap for that year.

The numbers on RealGM for future rookie scale contracts (2019-2020 season and beyond) should be shown in pink with a note that says they "indicate a projected/estimated value".  Other items that are determined by the salary cap in the future (shown on the salary_cap page for RealGM, for example) include this pink shading and note.

It is either that, or Larry Coon's FAQ is wrong (which I doubt).

The link that you provided does have value to me (Thanks!) because now I can use a projected/estimated value listed by RealGM (and supply the link to said page) instead of just using last season's numbers and merely stating that the numbers will get bigger.

gyso

[kdp59]

sure thing,

just a good place to find some ideas of what the rookie salarys will affect the salary cap overall once they are drafted. Or just wait until after the draft as my history using sportrac says they will  add the first round picks to the cap calculations soon after the draft also.

I assume that rookie scale is just like the 2019 Salary cap and Tax lines...all projections right now still.

thanks for posting /sticking this to the top for us to have a quick place to review for this off-season.

[gyso]

kdp,

Your welcome.

I started this yesterday because I had the time and I was also curious as to how dropping Kyrie and having Horford renegotiate would affect our team salary.  It was all well and good until I got to the draft pick cap holds.  I then remembered the lottery was set for Tuesday night and I would have to revisit that part.  I decided to forge ahead and get it out there anyway, for discussion's sake.

There's a saying in the engineering world, "There's never time to do it right, there's always time to do it over".  Oh, well.

Thanks again for bring RealGM into the light for me.  I haven't used that site for a while and in the past, I only used it to check trades.

As for spotrac, I have found them to be very responsive to events; like the draft lottery, free agent signings and so forth.  spotrac also is the most complete site when it comes to the nitty gritty details. (dead cap, likely incentives, cap holds, etc.)

I can make adjustments to the numbers as we get new information over the summer.  If any of the other cap-smart members on this board get to it first, great.  This is going to be a very busy summer, no moss grows on Danny Ainge.

gyso

[kdp59]

since it looks like Horford is moving on this may come into play for us:

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2019/02/early-mid-level-bi-annual-projections-for-201920.html


Mid-Level Exception
Year Standard MLE
Taxpayer MLE Room MLE
2019/20 $9,246,000 $5,711,000 $4,760,000
2020/21 $9,708,300 $5,996,550 $4,998,000
2021/22 $10,170,600 $6,282,100 –
2022/23 $10,632,900 – –
Total $39,757,800 $17,989,650 $9,758,000
The standard mid-level exception is available to over-the-cap teams that haven’t dipped below the cap to use room and don’t go over the tax apron at all. It can run for up to four years, with 5% annual raises.

The taxpayer mid-level exception is for in-the-tax teams, or teams that want the flexibility to surpass the tax apron later. It can run for up to three years, with 5% annual raises.

The room exception is for teams that go under the cap and use their space. Once they’ve used all their cap room, they can use this version of the mid-level exception, which runs for up to two years with 5% annual raises.

Bi-Annual Exception
Year BAE Value
2019/20 $3,619,000
2020/21 $3,799,950
Total $7,418,950
The bi-annual exception is only available to teams that over the cap and under the tax apron. It can also only be used once every two years, which will disqualify the Bucks, Pelicans, Knicks, and Spurs from using it in 2019/20 — they all used their BAE in 2018/19.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


someone help me here?

IF we stay OVER the cap we can use the $9.2M MLE for up to 4 year contract?

but if we renounce Morris and Rozier (along with Horford and Irving leaving) and we get up to $15M in cap space in that case, the MLE will be  $4.7M for only two years max?

in other words:

We can keep Rozier and Morris and  have no cap space but can offer a MLE  4year deal starting at $9.2M?

OR

renounce Both and have $15M in cap space   AND a 2 year MLE starting at $4.7M?

[gyso]

Since most of the heavy lifting is done, I'll put this thread in the Ongoing Threads and More forum.

Please continue to post on this thread if you find any new info and/or news regarding the Celtics salary cap.

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