The start of free agency is almost here and the Celtics will enter the proceedings without making any significant moves to their core ahead of July 1st. The question now as free agency kicks off is what exactly do the Celtics have to work with as they add a piece or two to their well-stocked roster.
“It’s easier when you have three guys already that you've gotten from the years before and you got some budding stars in younger players that are progressing,” Danny Ainge said Friday of free-agent priorities. “First of all, we don't have the cap space and, second of all, we don’t really have a need. We have really good players. And so we need to surround them with role players with the rest of our roster that have a chance to win.”
The Celtics have a couple of different options to chase role players of varying quality and the choices will largely come down to whether they decide to consolidate other sections of the roster. Here’s a closer look at what the Celtics have to work with as free agency begins.
Guaranteed contracts for the 2018-19 season
Gordon Hayward: $31.2 million
Al Horford: $28.9 million
Kyrie Irving: $20.1 million
Jayson Tatum: $6.7 million
Marcus Morris: $5.3 million
Jaylen Brown: $5.1 million
Terry Rozier: $3.1 million
Guerschon Yabusele: $2.7 million
Robert Williams: $1.6 million
Daniel Theis: $1.4 million (fully guaranteed if not waived by 7/10/18)
Semi Ojeleye: $1.4 million ($900,000 guaranteed before 7/15/18)
Brad Wanamaker: $800,000
Abdel Nader: $1.4 million (450,000 guaranteed (candidate to be cut))
Total guaranteed money estimate: $109-110 million (including two-way deals and previous stretched contracts)
Luxury tax threshold: $123 million
Apron: $129 million
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