Inside an overlooked benefit for the Celtics surprise cap room

The Celtics are operating with a bit of mystery as they head into free agency. Unlike past seasons when the team was preparing to have significant salary cap room, their targets when free agency begins on June 30th are not quite as clear. There is a top tier of names that the C’s will surely try to get meetings with aren’t considered top contenders for their services. From there, Danny Ainge could go in several different directions.

There is going to be a glaring hole in the frontcourt after the expected departures of Al Horford and Aron Baynes, along with a less prominent absence in the backcourt due to the team’s draft and talent leftover. A strong case can be made for adding an elite big man or point guard to fit the team’s needs.

While the doom and gloom of losing Kyrie Irving and Al Horford is understandable and certainly not the team’s first choice, it does create a window of opportunity for the team. It’s safe to say the C’s will be opening up significant cap room this summer but only the team knows at this point just how much it will be. All of the various scenarios were outlined over the weekend here at BSJ.

When a team opens up cap room, their anticipated open cap room is not the only method they have to add talent. The Celtics will also gain access to the room-level exception upon using up their cap room.

The room-level exception is essentially a replacement for the mid-level exception for teams that start free agency under the cap. The Celtics used it with plenty of success two years ago by landing Aron Baynes with the room-level exception after the team signed Gordon Hayward with their max cap room.

Over the past two years, the value of the room-level exception has increased in accordance with the rising salary cap. For the 2019-20 season, it is worth $4.76 million in starting salary with a maximum length of two years on a contract. Five percent annual raises can also be included as part of the deal.

With nearly half of the NBA heading into some form of free agency this offseason, the Celtics’ ability to use this exception will be a valuable weapon in the coming weeks. While there won’t be enough max contract-worthy free agents to go around to keep everyone, the supply of role players free agents, especially at center, is going to exceed the demand. The top tier players are going to be well compensated but once big cap room gets eaten up, there will be plenty of players jockeying for the leftovers.

That is especially true in the center market. Take a look at the sampling of veterans that will be available this summer at a position that teams are putting less of an emphasis on.

Dewayne Dedmon
Ed Davis
Robin Lopez
Trey Lyles
Zaza Pachulia
Kevon Looney
Thomas Bryant (restricted)
DeAndre Jordan
Jonas Valanciunas
Nikola Vucevic
Willie Cauley-Stein
Brook Lopez
Khem Birch (restricted)
Jordan Bell (restricted)
DeMarcus Cousins
Kenneth Faried
Ivica Zubac (restricted)
JaVale McGee
Joakim Noah
Taj Gibson
Noah Vonleh
Nerlens Noel
Boban Marjanovic
Richaun Holmes
Enes Kanter
Kosta Koufos

Some of these guys (Vucevic, Valanciunas, Brook Lopez, Looney, Bryant) will be getting good money regardless of what happens with the max guys. However, it shouldn’t take very long for the money to dry up for the mid-tier names on this list. With the Celtics offering up plenty of opportunity in the middle, they could land a nice veteran with the room level exception at the center spot, or perhaps even for the veteran’s minimum if they look further down the list.

All of this serves as a further explanation for the Baynes trade from the C’s front office perspective. The Celtics likely wanted to open up more flexibility with their cap room (by clearing Baynes' $5.4-million salary) with the knowledge that would give them more ammo in free agency with cap room. The backdrop of a crowded center market with the ability to use the room-level exception should have made Ainge confident that the team would be able to find an adequate replacement in the middle at a fraction of the price that Baynes would have cost.

Between potential cap room ($34.2 million) and the room-level exception ($4.7 million), the C’s could have nearly $39 million to spend this summer. They could even keep Rozier's cap hold and still have $30 million in cap space.

With the volume of talent available, this is an ideal summer for any team to have significant cap room. Even though the Celtics would prefer to be in a situation where they didn’t have it, expect them to maximize the situation to the best of their ability. Moving on from Baynes to better allocate resources and flexibility was the first step in the process and using the room-level exception will be a big part of the plan as well.