The Juancho Hernangomez era is over in Boston. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics are sending Hernangomez to the San Antonio Spurs as part of a 3-team deal with the Denver Nuggets. The Celtics are acquiring Bol Bol and PJ Dozier as part of the deal. Bryn Forbes is being sent to Denver.
This is a straight salary dump for the Celtics.
Hernangomez makes $6.9 million. Bol Bol, who has an injured foot and will miss most of, if not all of, the rest of the season, makes about $2.1 million. Dozier, who has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season, makes $1.9 million.
The Celtics began the day $3.7 million over the tax line (not counting any potential Jaylen Brown contract incentives). The result of this trade will get them to less than a million over the tax.
They can flip both of them in separate trades to other teams with cap space or smaller traded player exceptions with some cash to waive them and save even more money. Teams do each other favors like this all the time, and a team like the OKC Thunder, which is $20 million under the salary floor (the minimum amount required to pay a roster), would have financial incentive to help.
A small deal to take a guy plus cash costs them nothing and it actually counts against the OKC cap. It sounds kind of nasty, but if they complete two separate trades with Boston now for Bol and for Dozier, they can knock $4 million off that floor without actually paying any money to anyone (a team that ends the season under the floor has to pay that difference to its players). Boston is allowed to send $5.2 million in cash for a trade, but it doesn’t count on the cap, so it comes as no cost to the Thunder. This, of course, is purely theoretical, but it's a logical next step.
In a pinch, the Celtics can waive either, or both, to create roster spots, though Wojnarowski reports there are no plans for Boston to do so.
The obvious question is “why not just go for Forbes and get a shooter?”
My best answer is that Boston will use this move to make subsequent salary clearing moves and then they’ll either use a Dennis Schröder trade to bring in some short-term shooting help. If the Celtics clear Schröder’s salary and flip Bol/Dozier separately, then they’ll have empty roster spots and multiple Traded Player Exceptions to become participants in three-team deals.
Make no mistake, this is NOT the only deal Brad Stevens is going to make. This is the beginning of a lot of maneuvering.
For now, all you need to know is Juancho Hernangomez is gone. Bol and Dozier are likely never going to even come to Boston. The luxury tax concerns are assuaged for a bit.
Now we’ll see what’s next.