Brad Stevens apparently doesn't believe in offseasons.
The Stevens perpetual motion machine kept churning on Monday when news dropped of a surprise extension with newly acquired Josh Richardson.
Richardson opted into the 2021-22 season ($11.6M) prior to his trade from Dallas to Boston, and now tacks on another year with the Celtics. https://t.co/TlVfCfnxvk
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 23, 2021
The added year will be for about $12.4 million.
So why would Stevens do this?
At first blush, it seems to signal that there is less confidence from the Celtics that an in-season trade is in the works -- at least a big one that would be helped by big expiring contracts. If that doesn't happen, then the Celtics will need contracts next summer to help facilitate trades, and having an extra deal around at $12.4 million will go a long way in helping match salary.
Even if they still try to go for a mid-season trade, one extra year of Richardson doesn't entirely rule out his inclusion. It's still a reasonable salary that the acquiring team could use in a separate trade of its own, so the one-year extension doesn't rule anything out, either.
At the same time, the Celtics have to be open to keeping Richardson, and part of this signing is a hedge against a big resurgence this season. Should Richardson be able to rekindle some of the magic he found in Miami, then he'd be a tremendously valuable piece for the future. Adding the one year now gives Boston a couple of avenues with Richardson in this scenario.
The first is simply to keep him should he get back to being good. There's a universe in which Richardson shines under Ime Udoka and next to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. By extending his contract now at a reasonable price, they have him in the fold for next season. He's 27-years old and it can easily be argued that COVID-19 irreparably derailed last season. Steven could simply trust his gut right now and think Richardson at $12.4 million next season would be a steal.
Secondly, the Celtics have full Bird rights on Richardson after the first year of his contract, so they will have two years of evidence to see where Richardson sits in terms of value. Meanwhile the salary cap continues to rise, so he can make more money later without being too big of a cap hit percentage-wise.
We don't know how good Richardson will be, but Boston now at least has some options in terms of keeping him should they want to. If he's not good, then he can be jettisoned next summer as an expiring deal and everyone moves on. But when it comes to team building, the more options you have, the better.
In the meantime, Richardson just turned perhaps the most disappointing season of his career into a guaranteed $24 million. There's no analysis necessary there. His agent is probably doing backflips right now.
It's hard to say if there's an exact plan here with the signing. Stevens seems to simply be hedging a lot of bets and giving himself a lot of options depending on what scenario plays out. Richardson's contract has gone from only tradeable this season to tradeable next summer or next season as well. The Celtics protected themselves against another key departure should Richardson turn things around and even gave themselves a competitive chance to go longer term if that scenario plays out. And if he's terrible, the contract is still moveable. We've seen infinitely worse deals get moved with relative ease.
So it seems Stevens has taken advantage of Richardson's situation to give the team options and Richardson has some impressive steady income over the next two years. Seems like a win-win.
This article was edited to fix a miscalculation in Bird Rights. The previous version did not have the full Bird rights Boston will have after the first year of the contract