Why the Celtics are looking to move Aron Baynes' contract on draft night

Aron Baynes exercised his $5.4 million player option earlier this month but after watching Kyrie Irving and Al Horford head out the door, Danny Ainge appears poised to pivot towards a full youth movement. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports Thursday morning that the Celtics have been shopping around the 32-year-old's contract to teams with cap space, which could open up additional salary cap room for Boston when free agency kicks off on June 30th.

Currently, the Celtics have $27.8 million in cap space if they keep all of their draft picks and renounce all of their free agents including Terry Rozier and Marcus Morris. That number could jump all the way up to $33.2 million if Baynes was dumped with no returning salary. That gets the Celtics in the neighborhood of a max contract money for free agency or gives the ability to absorb a huge contract without having to match money. The Celtics will undoubtedly be exploring both of these routes on draft night and in the weeks leading up into free agency.

As for Baynes, BostonSportsJournal.com reported last week after he opted into his contract, the team had not given him any promises about his future standing. The $5.4 million salary for 2019-20 was probably higher than anything Baynes could have received on the open market this summer in a crowded center field and that was the impetus for him to opt in more than anything else. It's still not a bad contract at all and Baynes provides valuable defense in the middle. The Celtics are hoping some team would prefer one year of him at that money and perhaps give the C's a minor asset in the process, which should help Boston pivot more towards youth and maximize their salary options.

This whole process should begin what is expected to be a busy draft night for Boston. They have three first-round picks at No. 14, 20 and 22 that will be leveraged, the possibility to get creatives with trades with newfound salary cap space and no clear direction to take for their future with Irving and Horford gone. It is a night that could set the tone for the franchise's future for years to come.