Boston Celtics Offseason Primer - 2024

Run it back! A Boston Celtics offseason primer

https://www.celticsblog.com/2024/6/20/24181290/run-it-back-a-boston-celtics-offseason-primer-nba-draft-free-agency

Key offseason dates and decisions for the Boston Celtics

By Jeff Clark  Updated Jun 20, 2024, 1:01pm EDT  254 Comments / 254 New

The NBA champion Boston Celtics can (and will) bring back the core of their team next season. The biggest difference will be championship experience and the extra confidence boost that comes with it. Based on that information alone, I’m not worried at all about this offseason.

With that said, Brad Stevens (the magnificent wizard that he is) still has a good deal of work to do before he can go on vacation and really enjoy himself.

If you are a sicko like me, there’s always next year and the year after that. So here’s a quick primer on some decisions and deadlines ahead for the Celtics this offseason.

The NBA Draft is next week! (June 26-27)

This draft is being talked about as one of the worst drafts in recent memory. There’s going to be quality players in any draft, but the top end is supposedly devoid of any sure-fire top prospects. Oh well, the Celtics pick is number 30 and the lottery is someone else’s problem.

Now, with the salary constraints (more on that later), you could make an argument that nailing draft picks is critical to maintaining a talent pipeline on the team. That’s fair, but I wouldn’t rule out the Celtics dumping their first round pick because it is a guaranteed multi-year contract for a guy that got passed over 29 times.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Brad pulls a Belichick and trades back into the 2nd round or for future picks. I do think that they may try to take a swing or two on 2nd rounders or undrafted free agents. Finding the next Sam Hauser would be pretty neat.

Give Tatum all the money



No brainer. I hope Jayson Tatum will be a Celtic forever.

Extend Derrick White

The Celtics want to extend White’s contract to keep him in Boston. White seems to like it in Boston. They just have to come to terms on a number that makes sense for everyone. Get it done.

Our Free Agents

A new rule allows NBA teams to begin negotiating with their own free agents as soon as the NBA Finals are over.

Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman are unrestricted free agents. Oshae Brissett has a player option. The Celtics have team options on Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta.

In short, there are some moving pieces at the back end of the roster. Some decisions will be easier than others.

Look for ring-chaser free agents willing to play for peanuts

The Celtics won’t have much money to throw at free agents. So they’ll have to rely on high upside projects and ring chasers. The only name I can think of off the top of my head is Gordon Hayward. Perhaps his old coach will convince him to take a spot on the bench backing up his former teammates. He didn’t seem to fit in that role in OKC. Or perhaps injuries have just taken a cumulative effect on him. Still, it might be worth a flyer for the minimum.

Throw out some other names in the comments below if think they’ll be (reasonably) available for the minimum. No, I don’t think LeBron is coming here, even if we draft Bronny.

Assistant Coaching Staff

In case you missed it, Mazzulla’s lead assistant Charles Lee is taking a new job to coach the Charlotte Hornets. Also, Jeff Van Gundy had been serving as a consultant and is now joining the Clippers staff. My guess is that Sam Cassell will move into the lead assistant role. They’ll probably still try to add to the staff at some point.

Summer League (July 12-22)

Jordan Walsh! Jaden Springer! J.D. Davison! Draft picks that you’ve never heard of before! Get excited!

The Olympics (July 26-August 11)

Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday will be there. There’s a rumor that Derrick White could replace Kawhi Leonard on the roster. USA! USA! USA!

Long-term CBA impacts

John Hollinger has a detailed look at this topic over at the Athletic. Here’s a blurb.

Boston is in great shape to withstand the worst depredations of the most recent collective bargaining agreement, at least for one more season. While revisions in the 2023 agreement make it increasingly difficult to keep together championship-caliber rosters like this one, Boston has positioned itself for a multi-year run via smart contracts and timely trades, despite having two of the league’s most expensive players at its core.

What happens in the future? In short, really, really high tax bills for the owners and ever restricting penalties to teams in the 2nd apron (frozen draft picks, restrictions on trades and free agents, etc.).

But that’s a problem for another day because banners fly forever and we have a chance to run it back again.

In the meantime, enjoy the parade on Friday!

Oshae Brissett has declined to exercise his player option.  This surprised me.

This creates an opening/need on our roster for a wing.

Can Walsh fill this spot?  Is he ready?  I would bet he's more ready than any wing Brad would draft at the bottom of the 1st round in a weak draft.

If I could ask for some clarity on this from GYSO:  Now that Oshae is an unrestricted free agent can Brad sign-and-trade him for more money than he would if he was staying?

Bob


.

Bob,

He came here as a free agent signing, not in a trade. Therefore, no Bird Rights, which is the mechanism to inflate a salary going out in a sign and trade.

It looks like he wants to get more playing time and make some more money. Both options are limited for him if he stayed here.

Too bad, I liked him. I think you are onto something with your Walsh question. He just may step into the Oshae position. Time will tell.

Unlikely scenario:

If Oshae doesn't get an offer, he can come back here on a similar deal as last summer: 2 year contract with the second season being a player option at the vet minimum. Then, after the first season, we will have Early-Bird rights. (105% League Average Salary, I believe)

I do not understand how that helps him. We are not going to show up with the Brinks truck for him, luxury tax penalty and all.

Deep dive into Celtics’ offseason options

https://www.celticsblog.com/2024/6/23/24183794/deep-dive-boston-celtics-offseason-options-brad-stevens-derrick-white-sam-hauser-luke-kornet

A breakdown of what Brad Stevens and the front office can do this offseason under the new CBA.

By Michael Spooner Jun 23, 2024, 8:00am EDT 77 Comments / 77 New

The ibuprofen has been popped, the Gatorade chugged, and the alarm turned off. The championship hangover is well on its way out. While all Celtics fans, including me, will be basking in this win for years, the NBA turns the page quick and we’ve got an offseason to prepare for.

As I’ve detailed in the past, the new CBA has substantial limits on high spending NBA teams. The Celtics are very much one of those teams. I put together a cheat sheet of the new rules, which you can see here:



It’s a lot. I will only bring them up if they are relevant to each particular section, but there will be a quiz at the end, so please take notes. Ok, now that we’ve got that covered, let’s jump into the fun.

Re-signing our players

The Celtics have a few players that are unrestricted free agents (“UFA”), which means any team could offer them a contract in free agency and they could take it. There’s no functional control for the current team, unlike restricted free agency (“RFA”) where the current team has matching rights. Essentially, these guys are much more likely to leave than an RFA.

Before we dive into the players, let’s talk about Bird Rights really quickly. There are two types, Early Bird and Full Bird. As a Celtics fan, you will be happy to know that we always want to go Full Bird because that means we can offer that free agent as much money as we want, up to the max contract amount, regardless of our salary cap situation. In other words, the cap doesn’t limit your ability to bring your own players back, even if you are 10s of millions over it, which the Celtics are. A player has Full Bird Rights if he’s been on the same contract for 3 or more years or with the same team for 3 years consecutively, and Early Bird if he’s been on that contract for 2. Importantly, Bird Rights transfer with trades.


So, if we wanted to offer a UFA with Full Bird Rights three years for $70 million, we could. This would have severe implications on Wyc Grousbeck and Co.’s checkbook in the form of absurd luxury tax payments, but it is possible. Early Bird Rights allow you to try to retain your pending free agents in a similar manner, but you are limited to offering 175% of the player's previous contract or 105% of the league average salary. But you can ignore this because we don’t have anyone with Early Bird Rights this offseason.

Ok, let’s jump to our RFAs because they are easy (most of the cap information is coming from Spotrac.com, which is an incredible source). Both Drew Peterson and JD Davison are RFAs this offseason. We have to offer them the “Qualifying Offer” prior to 6/29 if we want to retain our restricted rights. I’m not sure what the Cs will do with either of these guys and they are pretty unimportant. I expect we will work something out with both, and they’ll be back on minimums. But also, maybe not.

The UFAs are far more interesting. We have four this offseason now that Oshae Brissett declined his player option for next year. Most importantly is Xavier Tillman Sr., who we acquired via trade at the deadline. Importantly, X-Man’s Full Bird Rights transferred in that trade, so we can offer him just about any contract we want. I’m not sure what X’s market value is, but I could see him getting at least taxpayer MLE offers, which would be about $5.2m annually. I expect the Cs to beat that and retain X somewhere in the $7-$9m annual value range. However, there exists a possibility of him getting a crazy offer in free agency, one that we wouldn’t be willing to beat, and there’s not much we can do about it.

Next, we’ve got Luke Kornet. Similar to X, we have Luke’s Bird Rights because he’s been with us for three seasons straight now (they don’t have to be full seasons). As with X, Luke will likely see taxpayer MLE offers, and I’m not sure what the Cs do with him. They might pick one of Luke or X, or Luke may have a more tepid market than I’m anticipating. Either way, we can offer him whatever we want, it’s just a matter of how deep into the luxury tax ownership is willing to go to retain his services. He also may want to sign for less elsewhere for a bigger role, it’s very difficult to predict what happens with Kornet, but I hope he’s around next year.

Finally, we’ve got Svi Mykhailiuk and Brissett. We don’t have any Bird Rights for either, which means we are limited to offering them a veteran minimum contract. I don’t think either has done enough to earn anything more than that in the open market, but Svi was strongly considering a move to Europe last offseason. I expect he will either re-up with the Cs at the minimum or head over to Europe. Brissett has, at times, been a real positive for the Celtics and previously the Pacers. It makes sense for him to test the open market and see if he can find something more than the minimum the Celtics can offer him. I’m not convinced he will, but he may want to find a path to more playing time to earn himself a raise after next season.

Now, on to the most important stuff.

Extension season

There are some very, very important players that are up for an extension. A player is extension eligible if they have one year left on their current contract. We have three players eligible for extensions this offseason: Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Sam Hauser. I will take them up in order of how complicated they are.

Generally, you can offer an extension that is 140% of the player’s previous salary. That is, unless they qualify for the super-max extension, which is what happened with Jaylen Brown last offseason. This probably isn’t surprising, but Jayson Tatum qualifies for the super-max extension. We will offer it; he will sign it. Pleasure doing business, Jayson.

Derrick White is a bit more complicated. He had a wonderful season, but his market value is difficult to gauge. Because he does not qualify for the super-max, the most the Celtics can offer White is 140% of the last year of his current contract. That number is then the salary for the first extension year, and he will get raises off of that number. In other words, the most we can offer Derrick White is about $32 million average annual value (“AAV”), which is a lot. That said, the max contract value for someone with Derrick’s years of service in 24-25 would be about $42.3 million.


Does Derrick want to test the waters for one more year on the Cs and drive up his value? Would any other team even offer him that much money? Push comes to shove, even if Derrick doesn’t extend, the Celtics would still have an opportunity to retain him next offseason because they’ve got his Bird Rights, so don’t fret too much if he doesn’t sign the extension. If I had to guess though, I’d say Derrick will sign a 4-year extension at $32 million AAV mentioned above.

Finally, we’ve got Sam Hauser. Who, unlike Derrick, would never consider the 140% raise on his current salary. That would be about $3.5 million AAV, well below his market value. All is not lost though.

That’s not the only way to extend. You can extend 140% of the average annual salary across the league. That’s obviously irrelevant for White because he already makes more than that, which is roughly about $12m. For Sam, that means the Cs could offer him anywhere up to a shade under $80m for 4 years, depending on where the average salary lands. I highly doubt the Cs would offer him anywhere near that, but they can offer anything below that too.

*Note: thanks to Dangercart for the heads up on this provision.*

That might not be the most beneficial option for both sides, however. Sam actually has a team option, which the Celtics could decline. That would make him an RFA, which has some downsides. It means, in theory, he could field offers from other teams. The Cs would have matching rights on anything, so if ownership was willing to spend, they could retain him. The flip side is that those offers might exceed what the Celtics are willing to pay meaning he’s out the door.

There is additional nuance here though. The option deadline is 6/29, between then and now, the Celtics and Hauser’s camp could work out a handshake agreement. This would include two things, first, the Cs would decline the option and, second, they’d immediately give him a new contract using Bird Rights. This would give Hauser a raise a season early and buy him some long-term certainty and insurance against potential injury next season.


It’s not without risk though. There’s nothing binding in that type of handshake agreement, and it has happened where a player has gone back on a similar arrangement and fielded offers in restricted free agency (although I highly doubt that would happen here). It really comes down to whether Hauser is willing to bet on himself and test unrestricted free agency next offseason for potential bigger gains or wants long-term security a year earlier. The downside for the Celtics here is that this team gets even deeper into the luxury tax a season earlier than anticipated. Lots to balance with this option.

That said, even if a handshake agreement or a more traditional extension can’t be worked out, the Cs will have his Bird Rights next offseason and could still come to an agreement then. Things will be getting very dicey with the luxury tax and repeater tax at that point, so it’s not a no brainer. I’ll be honest, I have no idea where things are headed with Hauser, but worst case, we’ve got one more year of Sammy in Boston.

Free agency

This will be a very brief section. Because the Celtics are above the second tax apron, every limitation in the CBA applies. Many of those are trade-related, but it also means we don’t have access to any of the free agency exceptions either. In other words, the only mechanism we have for signing other teams’ free agents is minimum contracts.

A nice benefit of winning a ring is that you immediately become the top destination for many ring chasing veterans, who are often willing to sign below market minimums to, well, chase a ring. There are some interesting names out there like Robert Covington, Andre Drummond, and Wes Matthews who might be convinced to join the team. I expect at the Cs to lure at least one vet who can be a contributor on a minimum this offseason.

What about trades?

I’m going into this section with the assumption you have some understanding of the NBA’s trade rules. If you need a refresher, I detailed them here.

https://www.celticsblog.com/2024/1/25/24048022/a-boston-celtics-trade-deadline-primer-brad-stevens-joe-mazzulla

There are two significant changes, however. At that time, the Celtics could have taken back 110% of outgoing salary (so if they trade a player making $1.0 million, they could take back someone making $1.1 million). Now, the Celtics cannot take back any more salary than they send out. We either have to send more salary out than we are getting back, or it needs to match exactly. This means we cannot trade with any team above the 1st tax apron, which is a lot of teams, because they are also prohibited from receiving more salary than they send out. Quite a pickle.

Second, and this is a big one, the Celtics can no longer aggregate two players together to match incoming salary. This was absurdly common in NBA trades under previous CBAs and is an unprecedented change. No longer can the Cs pair two players making $1 million each and get back a player making $2 million. This, combined with the prohibition above really undermine the Celtics’ ability to make trade. The new CBA also extends this prohibition to TPEs that were created by sending out more than one contract at the time of creation.

If we are going to make a trade, I anticipate it will be to team that has cap space, so think San Antonio, Detroit, and Utah. They can easily absorb additional salary that gets sent out, which makes it functionally much simpler. With that said, the Cs don’t have a whole lot of tradeable salary. Most of the guys making enough money to match in a trade are guys you have no interest in trading.

There are only two players you’d consider moving that make more than a couple of million, one of which is Payton Pritchard, and I don’t see a viable upgrade who makes similar money to him. The other is Jaden Springer. If we do make a trade that doesn’t involve Brad Steven’s moving down in the draft for future picks (which will almost certainly happen due to the nature of 2nd round contracts versus 1st), it will probably be something very small and it will almost certainly involve Jaden Springer. His $4 million contract might be able to find you a decent wing or a depth big if one of Kornet or Tillman leave in free agency.

Long story short, there are a ton of limits on the Celtics’ ability to make a trade. Other than a potential Springer move, it should be very quiet on the Celtics trade front this offseason.

To sum all of this up, I think we can evaluate the Cs’ offseason priorities in the following manner:

1. Extend Tatum and White
2. Hire someone to mind control Sam Hauser into signing a below market extension
3. Re-sign Kornet and/or Tillman
4. Find a ring chasing vet on a minimum
5. Fill out the roster with Svi or other similar level free agents on minimums/trade for someone with Springer’s contract
6. Decide what to do with Peterson and Davison

I think BobH asked a question in another thread about the TPEs left over from last season. From what I've read, there is a new rule for 2nd Apron teams.

TPEs created in one season do NOT carry over into the next season.

To sign or not to sign.   That will be the big decision for Derrick White.  If he decides to wait it out until next summer, the Celtics would really have to consider moving him.  Even at $32 mill per, the tax penalty will be significant for the 2025-26 season.  I do not see them paying him much more than that.  I think a Jrue level deal seemed more than fair.

I do not think he will play games with some guaranteed money on the table.  DW is a core player and a significant part of this team.  However he is the 4th sometimes 5th best scorer on the team.  If he went FA next year who is going to give him $40+ million at age 30 to basically be a complimentary piece?

If you can bring Tillman and Kornet back for pretty much the same money and on one year deals, I think that would work.  Kornet is the guy that could see some interest.  Luckily the Celtics can still keep Queta.

Off subject.

I have a friend up in Boston, a big time Celtics fan.  His Son and wife had a new baby boy on 6/17.   The boy was born at 6:17 PM and they live in the 617 area code.  To top things off they named him Jrue before the championship game was complete.  There was an article in the Boston Globe about him.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/18/sports/boston-couple-celtics-baby-jrue-holiday/

I'll be heading up to Boston in 2 weeks and spending time with them.

dboss wrote:https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/18/sports/boston-couple-celtics-baby-jrue-holiday/

Unfortunately, the Globe insists on $$$ for access.

ClutchPoints
@ClutchPoints
·
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Reporter: “There’s nothing like Boston. Now that you’ve experienced the parade what’s it like?”

Xavier Tillman: “That is like [the] top 5 best experiences in my life.”

Reporter: “How badly do you want to repeat?”

Xavier: “Very badly.”

(via @RochieWBZ)

https://x.com/i/status/1804241348972659110


Bob


.

gyso wrote:

dboss wrote:https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/06/18/sports/boston-couple-celtics-baby-jrue-holiday/

Unfortunately, the Globe insists on $$$ for access.

I recently signed up for the first six months at a penny or a dollar mostly to see the playoff coverage.  



CELTICS
After these Celtics fans welcomed their son at 6:17 p.m. on 6/17, they made a ‘game-time name change.’ Meet Baby Jrue.
By Shannon Larson Globe Staff,Updated June 19, 2024, 9:46 a.m.



53
Rashaan and Annabel Powell with their son, Jrue.
Rashaan and Annabel Powell with their son, Jrue.RASHAAN AND ANNABEL POWELL
Rashaan and Annabel Powell are big Boston Celtics fans. With their second child on the way, the couple watched their beloved team power through the playoffs and take a 3-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks.

Just days away from their due date, the Powells didn’t want to miss seeing their team clinch the title. But after a Game 4 loss in Dallas, the Celtics came home to play Game 5 on June 17, the same date the franchise won its last championship in 2008.

The baby must have known. On Monday afternoon, the Dorchester residents headed to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. It was time, and the game was still a few hours away.

“We weren’t quite sure when it was going to happen. We were hoping before tip-off because we’re both big fans,” said Annabel Powell, 32. “Once I got in, everything ended up progressing on its own pretty quickly.”

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“They knew that we were Celtics fans, and one of the nurses who was supporting the delivery process ran in and said he came at 6:17 p.m.,” added Rashaan Powell, 30.

“That’s a good sign,” the couple said happily in unison.

Their newborn son cradled in their arms, the Powells made a “game-time name change.” The couple had settled on “Crew,” but in that moment, the amazing coincidences took on new meaning.

They decided to name him Jrue, after one of their all-time favorite Celtics, Jrue Holiday.

Jrue Powell.
Jrue Powell.RASHAAN AND ANNABEL POWELL
“The day before, jokingly, I said to Rashaan, ‘If Jrue Holiday makes the winning shot, we should just change his name to Jrue,’” Annabel said. “It just has to be this.”

Even before Holiday was traded to the Celtics, the couple admired not only his skill on the court but the way he carries himself as a teammate, Rashaan said. And just a couple of hours after his namesake entered the world, Holiday played an excellent all-around game as the Celtics rolled to the title.

“I think any young kid coming up should definitely pay attention to the way Jrue Holiday plays. He does everything, all the little things, in order for the Celtics to win,” he added.

Because of Jrue’s exquisite timing, the Powells didn’t even miss a second of the Celtics triumph. They watched the first half in the delivery room and the second half in the postpartum room.

“When we had him and the game hadn’t started yet, and we went with Jrue, we’re like, ‘Hopefully this is a good sign and he can bring some luck.’ And the Celtics went out and got it done,” Annabel said.

Kai Powell, the couple's first son.
Kai Powell, the couple's first son. RASHAAN AND ANNABEL POWELL
With their own Jrue, the couple got to see Holiday and his teammates become champions.

“We’re just glad that we were able to clinch the title, [and] have a healthy baby, of course. Just a very historic moment for Jrue to come into this world and the Celtics win the 18th title,” Rashaan added. “It was great all around.”

Their 2-year-old, Kai, is also a devoted fan and met his little brother for the first time Tuesday. Every game, he wears either his Jayson Tatum jersey or a Celtics T-shirt. Now, Jrue will be wearing his brother’s old Celtics onesie.

“We’re just riding a high right now,” Annabel said.

dboss wrote:I'll be heading up to Boston in 2 weeks and spending time with them.

dboss maybe we can pick up Rosalie and have lunch one day while you’re in the Boston area?

Bobc33

Thank you for posting the content of the globe article.

It would be great to meet you and Rosalie.  I do not know how my schedule will flow.  My wife is also from Boston like me and she has her list of things to do.  But if you asked her what she planned to do she could not tell you.  I am going to send you a private message with my contact number.  At the very least I will call you when I get up there. 7/10 to 7/17.

Hi guys, I leave for York, Me on 7/13 and come back on 7/20. If there is any way we can squeeze in an hour or two I would love it.. Just let me know.

The Celtics are in a great situation entering the draft.

Brad Stevens talked about it.  He is as cool as a cucumber.   I have a feeling he will look to continue the organic development of this team.  I think if there is a player at 30 that is worth development, he will be drafted.  I think that he wants to emphasize that and I think he wants to see the usage rate of some of our young guys ramp up a bit.

He seems uncertain about KP.  There is likely to be surgery and rehab but it was unclear as to how that process will play out.

I do not think they will keep both Kornet and Tillman.  I expect them to pick up the club option for Hauser and Queta on 6/29/2024

If the Celtics draft Kyle Filipowski, both Tillman and Kornet will be gone (maybe)

Predictions:  Drew Peterson will be elevated to a regular contract.

Svi is gone and Brissett will not be back either.

Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
about 6 hours ago
Stevens: “Last year was the time to trade”


Bob


.

So, NoTrade.

Wasn't he a guy from BDC, back in the day?

Brad Stevens envisions minor tweaks for title defense:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40431770/celtics-brad-stevens-envisions-minor-tweaks-title-defense

How latest collective bargaining agreement impacts salary cap, team spending

Here is a link to a very good article about aprons and such. I just posted it elsewhere, but it really should go here. It loses a little bit of formatting in the copy-paste, so click on the link to see it in a better way.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/nba-second-apron-explained-salary-cap-team-spending/efo6htjzzmzrswoncvvlbmhi

Author Photo
Stephen Noh
06-30-2023


One of the biggest changes in the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is the introduction of the second apron.

This second apron was designed to make penalties more punitive for teams that spend well above the luxury tax, thus theoretically shrinking the gap between the big spenders and the small market teams when it comes to roster building.

Here's what you need to know about the second apron and the salary cap heading into the 2023-24 season.

How much is the NBA salary cap, luxury tax, first apron, second apron in 2023-24?

Here are the big financial figures for the 2023-24 season:

Salary cap: $136 million
Luxury tax: $165 million
First apron: $172 million
Second apron: $182.5 million

The salary cap is the amount of money that every team has available to spend on their roster. Teams below the $136 million cap create cap room that they can spend on incoming free agents.

Teams can go over the salary cap by using cap exceptions. For instance, the league has created Bird exceptions to make it easier for a team to retain its own free agents. Most teams go well over the $136 million salary cap using these exceptions but try to stay under the $165 million luxury tax line.

Penalties begin at that luxury tax line. The first are simply financial fines, which are distributed to the non-taxpaying teams at the end of the year.

As teams go further into the tax, they approach the apron where roster-building penalties are added in.

What are the penalties for the first apron?

The first apron hits when a team's payroll exceeds $172 million. At this point, the following restrictions are triggered:

Teams cannot acquire a player in a sign-and-trade if that player keeps them above the apron
Teams cannot sign a player waived during the regular season whose salary was over the $12.2 million midlevel exception
Salary matching in trades must be within 110 percent, rather than 125 percent for teams not above the apron

What are the penalties for the second apron?

All of the penalties for the first apron apply to the second apron as well, which is triggered when a team's salary exceeds $182.5 million. For the 2023-24 season, one additional penalty is added when crossing the second apron:

No access to the $5 million taxpayer midlevel exception

Starting at the end of the 2023-24 season, even more restrictions will be added to the second apron. These include:

Teams cannot use a trade exception generated by aggregating the salaries of multiple players
Teams cannot include cash in a trade
Teams cannot use a trade exception generated in a prior year
First-round picks seven years out are frozen (unable to be traded)
A team's first-round pick is moved to the end of the first round if they remain in the second apron for three out of five seasons

These penalties are much more stringent than under the old CBA. Previously, owners with deep pockets could go well into the luxury tax as long as they were willing to pay. Now, teams who enter the second apron will have difficulty adding any sort of new talent via trades or free agent acquisitions.

The Celtics lead the NBA in 3PA and makes last season.  I expect to see their attempts increase again.

They took 42.5 3 pointers.  Time to get that number up to 45.  Of course CJ would like to see that number closer to 50 per game.

The biggest difference YOY on offense was a more consistent pacing and spacing.  That is what opened up all those 3 pointers.  They can do better by reducing their ISO possessions.  The value of having 2 centers that can stretch the floor was a significant element in how they played.  AH and KP combined for around 9 3P attempts per game.

Finding guards and wings that can shoot the 3 ball is easy.  As the NBA shifts to embrace the 3 point metric, the Celtics can remain ahead of the curve by adding to their 3 point shooting weapons at the 4 and 5 spots.

Having a great 3 point shooting team is not enough to win.  However if you combine an elite offense with an elite defense you have an above average chance to win the championship.

Defense is what made this team what they are. Offense was the result of the great defense

Defense is what made this team what they are. Offense was the result of the great defense

Defense wins championships

Mavs averaged under 100 PPG over the 5 contests.

Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
about 36 minutes ago
Interesting path to keeping Hauser long-term if the #Celtics want to try it. He has a $2.1M team option due for 6/29, which seemed like a slam dunk to pick up. I didn't realize he becomes a RESTRICTED FA if BOS declines that. Would inevitably make more this year, but do you save


Bob


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