What teams could help the Celtics solve their roster crunch problem this offseason?

Flexibility is a key element to offseason planning for any NBA team. Smart front offices know other team's roster makeup and needs inside and out, which plants the seeds for eventual trade moves down the line.

Currently, the NBA trade season is frozen, as the owners and players association’ negotiate the necessary adjustments that will be needed to the salary cap this offseason in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and a large drop in revenue. Those negotiations are expected to be finalized by the end of October, which should open the door to some wheeling and dealing across the league ahead of the NBA Draft on November 18th.

The Celtics may end up having a quiet offseason when it comes to major moves, but they will be active on the fringes of their roster after a disappointing finish to the 2019-20 season. One issue they will have to work through is currently having too many bodies on the roster, with not enough spots to go around if they want to make other offseason upgrades.

Assuming Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter opt-in, that will be 12 guaranteed contracts on the roster. Semi Ojeleye ($1.8 million) is a candidate to stick around (team option) and the same goes for restricted free agents Brad Wanamaker and Tremont Waters. Throw in four draft picks for Boston (three in the first round for the 2020 NBA Draft) and the Celtics have a numbers problem on their hands even if Ojeleye and Wanamaker are not brought back.

In order to solve this equation, the C’s are going to need to find some trade partners this offseason, ideally ones willing to take back multiple picks or a player without sending one back for next season. One road they will pursue will be finding teams that could be a dumping ground for players with guaranteed contracts (Vincent Poirier, Enes Kanter, Carsen Edwards) at a spot where a potential trade partner is looking to upgrade. The Celtics could also try to cut some of these cheaper contracts outright and just take the monetary loss to open up the roster spot, but with the possibility of luxury tax penalties kicking in, the odds are the front office will heavily pursue other routes to shed salary before adding on to any ownership losses.

The other path that will be worth pursuing for the Celtics ahead of or during the NBA Draft is finding teams that have some roster space and could be in the market for additional draft picks. That combination of needs would help the Celtics dump some excess salary and free up some roster spots while consolidating talent on the roster. It’s hard to pull all of those objectives off in the same deal, but there are a few teams that could check those boxes next month. Let’s take a look at who to keep an eye on:

Detroit Pistons
Own one pick in 2020 Draft (No. 7)
Eight players under contract for 2021
Key FAs: Christian Wood, Langston Gallaway
Expected to have significant cap room in the offseason? Yes
Overview: A rebuilding team with lots of roster spots and cap room is exactly what the Celtics will be looking for when it comes to trade talks. A simple path here would be to offer the C’s first-round picks (No. 14, 26, 30) in order to land a help-now player at No. 7. It will take the right prospect to be available at that spot for Boston to make that kind of offer (something that probably won’t become clear until draft night) but this package falls in line with what it will take to get up to that range.

The Pistons could be a target for a smaller scale deal on draft night as well. They lack frontcourt depth now after trading away Andre Drummond, which makes them a potential landing spot for Enes Kanter or Vincent Poirier if the C’s do something to sweeten the pot (include a second-round pick?). Detroit may want to maintain its own cap room for bigger targets in free agency or simply try to buy low on the center market (plenty of big candidates out there), but netting an asset for taking on a modest salary here could be worth their while.

Atlanta Hawks
Own two picks in 2020 Draft (No. 6, No. 50)
Eight players under contract for 2021
Key FAs: None
Expected to have significant cap room in offseason? Yes
Overview: Good news and bad news here from a Celtics standpoint. The Celtics probably don’t have the draft assets to move up to No. 6 without sweetening the pot with a key rotation piece and the Hawks are well stocked at the center position (Clint Capela, Dewayne Dedmon, Bruno Fernando). That should make Atlanta a tough place to convince to take any excess bigs like Kanter or Poirier without offering up another promising young player, something Ainge shouldn't do just to move one or both of those guys.

The good news for the C’s is that this Hawks team is still very young and doesn’t have a ton of draft capital in their future. If Ainge simply wants to package a first-round pick to get rid of salary (not the best option, but an understandable one), Atlanta’s a great candidate to do it, since they will still have plenty of cap room to use on the open market even after absorbing a deal. The need for a big isn’t there though, so the Celtics will have to move a worthwhile piece on their roster in order to get back anything of value.

New York Knicks
Own three picks in 2020 Draft (No. 8, 27, 38)
Eight players under contract for 2021
Potential Key FAs: Bobby Portis, Elfrid Payton
Expected to have significant cap room in offseason? Yes
Overview: The Knicks loaded up on one-year deals with team options last season, so they will have to make a number of decisions on those pricy deals (Portis, Payton, Taj Gibson, Wayne Ellington) ahead of the start of free agency. The odds are they let most walk in a down market, which would open up plenty of roster space here to absorb contracts. With a new motivated front office in play, I’d expect the Knicks to be active in dealing, but don’t think they will be looking to trade down in the draft for simply more picks — given that they have three already in this draft and plenty of young players left over on the roster. A splashier deal for a veteran star that some cash strapped team is trying to dump (Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook?) might end up being their play to gain more relevancy for next season.

The Celtics could help facilitate that type of a deal with their draft picks as a third party (if they can snag something useful back) but with Mitchell Robinson looking entrenched as the center of the future there, it’s doubtful Kanter holds any appeal here. Maybe the Knicks will take Carsen Edwards for a minimal/no return, but there are probably better options for them to pursue on the open market there.

Charlotte Hornets
Own three picks in 2020 Draft (No. 3, 32, 56)
10 players under contract for 2021
Key FAs: None
Expected to have significant cap room in offseason? Yes
Overview: The Celtics won’t have enough ammo to trade up to No. 3, but after Detroit, this might be the next best place to start trying to move some of the logjam in the frontcourt. The Hornets only have Cody Zeller locked up as a true big right now, with a couple of middling free agents (Bismack Biyombo, Willy Hernangomez) behind him on their depth chart. Bringing back either of those guys (or another free agent) at the minimum could be appealing for Charlotte if they want to spend elsewhere, but the Celtics could certainly float the idea of Kanter (if he opts in) on a one-year deal worth $5 million here along with some sweetener (second-round pick) to provide a short-term fix to Charlotte’s depth issue there.

This is a team that struggled mightily on offense (29th) and on the glass (30th in defensive rebounding) last year, so Kanter can provide some help in those areas despite his defensive limitations. It’s not the perfect fit by any means on a team that has a lot of holes, but Kanter would certainly provide a lot more offensive upside than Biyombo or Hernangomez could. Maybe the C’s offer Kanter and the No. 26 pick for No. 32? A creative deal like that could open a roster spot and provide more payroll flexibility for Boston.

Other East trade candidates with less flexibility

Chicago: 12 guaranteed contracts, three centers on depth chart
Cleveland: 13 guaranteed contracts, too many bigs already on depth chart
Orlando: Have some roster spots open (6) but already have three centers under contract.
Washington: Not a lot of roster flexibility and appear committed to letting Thomas Bryant have a shot at starting center.

We’ll take a look at the Western Conference in greater focus later this week in regards to their roster flexibility. Among East squads, Charlotte and Detroit are two teams that the Celtics should be targeting to help solve their roster crunch.