Could Celtics get involved in Ben Simmons trade talks as a third team?

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2021/09/could-celtics-get-involved-in-ben-simmons-trade-talks-as-a-third-team.html



Could Celtics get involved in Ben Simmons trade talks as a third team?



Updated: Sep. 22, 2021, 11:41 a.m. | Published: Sep. 22, 2021, 11:41 a.m.



Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0) and Philadelphia 76ers' Ben Simmons (25) battles for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)AP


By Brian Robb | brobb@masslive.com



Just two years ago, Ben Simmons was a franchise cornerstone for the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a five-year max rookie extension. However, as 2021 training camp approaches, the All-Star forward has told the Sixers that he plans to hold out of training camp and intends never to play another game for the franchise, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

Simmons is signed through 2024-25 and is owed a total of $146 million over the next four seasons. He also has a 15 percent trade kicker as a part of his deal, an intriguing provision of his extension given his current stance on being moved (Simmons could waive the trade kicker to help facilitate any deal). However, for Sixers general manager Daryl Morey, moving Simmons will not be a simple task. The 6-foot-11 guard is coming off a disastrous postseason that highlighted his biggest weaknesses and made his pricy deal less appealing. Meanwhile, the Sixers are in win-now mode with superstar center Joel Embiid in the midst of his prime, which should limit the type of returns the Sixers are interested in. A bunch of future first-round draft picks or unproven players with upside aren’t going to do much for Philadelphia in the present unless they have another deal lined up to use those for more win-now talent.


Brad Stevens and the rest of the Celtics front office probably don’t mind seeing a division rival in such a conundrum. They also, in all likelihood, won’t be getting involved in any of the potential bidding for Simmons directly. However, that doesn’t mean they will be sitting on the sidelines for any potential Simmons deal. So how exactly could Boston get involved in negotiations as a potential third team or facilitator in an eventual Simmons deal?


Serving a facilitation role with trade exceptions?

Stevens spent his first offseason at the helm of the Celtics cleaning up the team’s cap sheet for the present and positioning the franchise to be active on the trade market in the years to come. He extended the life of the Gordon Hayward trade exception by sign-and-trading Evan Fournier to the Knicks. He also created new trade exceptions in the Tristan Thompson and Kemba Walker deals that will be available until next summer.


Notable Celtics trade exceptions

$17.1 million (Evan Fournier sign-and-trade


$9.7 million (Tristan Thompson trade)

$5.1 million (Kemba Walker trade)

The Fournier TPE is the second biggest trade exception in the NBA at the moment and that could come in handy in a potential deal for a big contract like Simmons. A hypothetical suitor for the All-Star may have a pricy player they need to send out to make the salary matching work but it’s possible the Sixers wouldn’t have interest in said player or don’t want to carry him other payroll.

That’s where Boston could slide in to take advantage as a third-team facilitator. It’s unlikely the Celtics would want any player outright that the Sixers aren’t interested in given the team’s similar trajectories, however, Boston has the flexibility to take on substantial money with the TPE and send no financial return if they are given some additional incentive. That type of scenario could open the door to Boston landing an extra draft pick or two by just taking on a contract needed to make a bigger Simmons trade work under NBA rules.


There are some limitations from Boston’s standpoint with the team’s current payroll and luxury tax penalties in terms of how much money they might be willing to take on (the team’s current projected tax bill is $10.7 million per Spotrac but that includes non-guaranteed deals). However, the Celtics would still have a full regular season to maneuver their payroll and reduce potential steep tax penalties if they are given enough incentive (via draft or player compensation) to help facilitate a trade now that adds payroll.


Could current Celtics players be included in a three-team Simmons deal?

In theory, Boston could get involved from a player standpoint as a third team as well. However, the odds of that happening are fairly low when you look at the team’s current personnel and trade restrictions. We all know Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown aren’t going anywhere in the present and a number of the team’s other veteran players aren’t eligible to be dealt for several months still after signing free agent or extension deals.


Dates Celtics are eligible to be traded

Juancho Hernangomez Oct 24

Dennis Schroder Dec 15

Enes Kanter Dec 15

Josh Richardson Jan 7

Marcus Smart Jan 17

That leaves Boston’s young, low-cost talent (Payton Pritchard, Aaron Nesmith, Grant Williams, Romeo Langford) and Al Horford as the only players with any real trade value. Horford is very much a part of Boston’s plans for the current season according to league sources and the rest of this list aren’t the type of win-now players that the Sixers will likely be looking for in an Embiid swap.


Final Thoughts

The Celtics are far from the only team in the NBA that could serve as a third-team facilitator in any potential Simmons deal. The Thunder, Pelicans and Magic all have trade exceptions worth over $12 million and a team like the 76ers might be more open to working with them instead of a division rival in Boston. The Thunder and Magic are also in full rebuild mode as well so they will certainly be in the market to acquire more draft picks for taking on an unwanted contract that’s part of the deal. However, the amount of payroll that those owners are willing to take on could limit them and allow Boston to swoop in at the right price.

All things considered, Boston may have other plans for their bigger TPEs and could potentially value the long-term flexibility they provide for later this season over anything they could get out of a potential Simmons deal as a third team. Still, this is a situation that is worth monitoring closely for the front office since there are limited teams that could help in such a scenario. The Celtics should remain active on the trade front this year and the same could be true here if the compensation tradeoff is appealing.


Bob



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As was said in Saving Private Ryan, "Don't shoot them, let them burn"

The roof the roof the roof is on fire, we don’t need no water let the….

cowens/oldschool wrote:The roof the roof the roof is on fire, we don’t need no water let the….

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