3 reasons the Celtics picked up Guerschon Yabusele's 2019 option

In what could be categorized as somewhat of a surprise, the Celtics announced they have exercised the $3.1 million option on Guerschon Yabusele for the 2019-20 season ahead of Wednesday's deadline. The team also exercised rookie contract options for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as well, in what were the two easiest decisions of Danny Ainge's month.

Brown will make $6.5 million in 2019-20, while Tatum will earn $7.8 million in the third year of his deal. While those two contracts are some of the biggest bargains in the NBA next year, Yabusele's number looks a little pricey from afar for a player with no defined role on a team that will be paying plenty of luxury tax next year. Still, the Celtics opted to keep the 22-year-old on the books for at least one more year despite no clear path to consistent playing time for the upcoming year.

So what exactly prompted the C's to roll the dice and keep him under contract anyway? There are a few factors at play here that the front office likely considered:

1. Future big trade possibilities: The Celtics have limited movable salary heading into next season outside of their top talent. They also could have some pretty big aspirations about the types of players they want to trade for (i.e. Anthony Davis) and salary matching will be a must in those situations per CBA rules. With sign-and-trade deals that involve a big name returning to Boston looking like a tricky situation with the Celtics in the luxury tax for the foreseeable future, Ainge will need to rely heavily on players already under contract for next year to make a deal possible next summer. While Marcus Smart's ($12.5 million) salary helps them get close to that range for Davis, they still need a few more pieces of salary filler to get to $20 million (i.e. Davis' salary). Exercising Yabusele's option helps them get there.

2. Cheap labor that has familiarity with the Celtics system: While there is no route for Yabusele to play on a nightly basis this year, the same may not be true for 2019-20, depending on which names are brought back. Marcus Morris is a likely casualty of the looming tax bill and Daniel Theis could be plucked away as well with a bigger offer sheet from elsewhere. The team already has Robert Williams and Semi Ojeleye under contract for next year but Yabusele does provide a big body to bang down low. Whether or not he can contribute to an NBA bench consistently remains to be seen, but the Celtics would have been giving up on him to a degree before he even had a chance to prove it next year if they declined his option now. With two years in the Celtics system, that could have held more value to the team than a rookie coming in.

3. The Celtics believe Yabusele doesn't have negative trade value now: No team likes to carry 'bad' contracts on the books, especially contending ones. The Celtics don't have an overpaid player on the roster right now and Yabusele's $3.1-million salary for next season doesn't qualify as a toxic deal by any means. While it may not net the C's more than a second round pick in any trade of Yabusele on its own, Boston's front office surely believes that they can dump the 22-year-old's contract somewhere next summer, if needed, without losing any assets in doing so. He's still young enough and has enough of a skillset for a big (3-point shooting, good nimbleness on the defensive end) to convince some rebuilding team with money to spend to take a flier on him.

With all that said, the C's could be in a very interesting roster crunch next summer with up to four first-round picks looming. The Grizzlies and Clippers are both off to strong starts, making it look like a solid shot that those protected selections convey to Boston in June. With Yabusele, Williams and Ojeleye all on the books, there probably won't be room for more than two of those youngsters. That's a good problem to have for Ainge though. If ownership isn't worried about saving a couple of millions dollars in the tax, holding onto Yabusele gives the C's more long-term options from a trade standpoint. For that point alone, keeping him under team control for one more year is an understandable play.