Examining an underrated element of the Celtics' offseason

Savvy salary cap management is a pivotal necessity for any team in the NBA. For the Celtics, it’s been a trademark of the franchise during Danny Ainge’s tenure as president of basketball operations.

The Celtics were tested on this front over the past few weeks, however as Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier all left Boston without compensation (beyond a likely late second-round pick for Rozier) putting the Celtics’ future in flux. Ainge let some of those pieces go (Morris, Rozier) in order to open up the necessary cap space to sign Kemba Walker but losing key contributors without an equal return is never ideal.

Boston could have gone in several different directions once Irving and Horford’s departures were all but certain (mid-June) but they stayed on a win-now timeline by offering a 29-year-old Walker a four-year max contract without their newfound max cap space.

The Celtics could have taken a step back and rented out that cap space (for first-round picks) but the appeal of adding an All-Star guard that was hungry to win was a better alternative from both a competitiveness and optics perspective. After seeing two stars say thanks, but no thanks to Boston, landing Walker was a nice recovery.

While bringing aboard Walker is a ‘win in the present’ move, it’s evident that this team is still short of being a title contender for the time being. If everything goes right with the supporting cast, they could compete with the Bucks in the East, but they would still be a heavy underdog in that series and against some Western Conference juggernauts. Ainge still has another move to make to get this team back towards being considered a contender yet again and he has some assets left to help him on that front with the Grizzlies pick, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams and three new rookies (two of which impressed at summer league in Carsen Edwards and Grant Williams).

What exactly the Celtics can land with that collection of assets isn’t yet clear, but with no significant cap room expected this summer, trade appears to be the best path to add another key piece for Boston. If Gordon Hayward opts in for his $34.1 million player option, the Celtics are going to have no clear path to significant cap room in 2020, even if they don't bring re-sign Brown.

Ainge has been hesitant on the trade front in the last two seasons but that’s likely to change in the coming 12 months with the clock ticking on his best assets retaining value (Brown, Tatum, MEM pick). To prepare for this, the Celtics maneuvered in free agency well in one department to open up some more possibilities on the trade front: Adding movable mid-level contracts.

The Celtics started building in this department last summer by inking Marcus Smart to a four-year contract that already looks like a bargain one year into the pact.

The work continued this summer with Daniel Theis, who signed a two-year, $10-million deal last week. The second year of that contract is fully unguaranteed until July 3rd, 2020 for $5 million, which gives Boston a lot of flexibility to work with when it comes to trade talks next winter and summer.

Once Theis and other Celtic signed free agents are eligible to be dealt (December 15th), Theis or one of his fellow three centers on the depth chart can be easily used as salary in a trade without any notable drawbacks for the team acquiring them. Theis is very reasonably priced at $5 million for this season and could be used in a trade next summer as well if his $5 million for 2020-21 is guaranteed by Boston.

Adding Enes Kanter on what essentially is a one-year contract for $4.7 million gives the Celtics additional flexibility as well. His player option ($5 million) for 2020-21 is not likely to be exercised if traded, so he essentially functions as a cheap expiring contract (he will surely opt-out and look for a bigger deal as long as he stays healthy). The Celtics clearly hope he thrives in Boston but they can use his salary in a far bigger deal if the fit isn't there without any worry that his contract is a liability. Vincent Poirier ($2.5 million each for next two years) and Robert Williams ($7.6 million over next three years) are team-friendly deals as well.

Using three picks in the top-33 of the draft also provided the Celtics some new long-term bargain contracts. It remains to be seen how much trade value guys like Grant Williams, Romeo Langford and Carsen Edwards garner in their rookie season but they will be affordable pieces for the long-term for whatever team they play for (Boston or elsewhere). A full look at the cap sheet for Boston shows no bad deals outside of Hayward.