For those wondering whether or not the Boston Celtics have a realistic chance of landing Reggie Bullock in free agency this offseason, MassLive’s Brian Robb recently gave his input and, well, it doesn’t seem all too likely Bullock will be bringing his talents to Beantown.
Bullock, an unrestricted free agent this offseason, will be highly sought after this summer after scorching nets to a 44/41/90 shooting split. His 41% 3-point conversion rate came with over six attempts per game.
Postseason contenders like the Los Angeles Lakers (who employed him in 2018-19) and Philadelphia 76ers–both of whom Robb mentions specifically by name–could use the spacing Bullock provides with his marksmanship. He’s the perfect complement to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Joel Embiid.
He’d serve the same purpose on the Boston Celtics around the isolation talents of the Jays, and he’d be an upgrade over Jabari Parker or Semi Ojeleye on the wing. The only issue is, Brad Stevens might not be able to give him the salary he’d be looking for:
"Bullock is not expected to break the bank wherever he signs at age 30, but there are several challenges the Celtics will be facing in trying to attain the wing. Boston is currently projected to only have the $5.8 million taxpayer mid-level exception to spend in free agency if they plan on retaining Evan Fournier and maintaining the team’s current veteran core.Additionally, the Knicks have Bird Rights on Bullock and plenty of cap space to bring him back. It’s certainly possible that the Knicks elect to use their significant cap space on some bigger fish in free agency (which would force them to renounce Bullock’s Bird Rights). However, until that happens, New York will have the inside track on re-signing him since they can offer him more than any team on the open market."
Bullock is no one to bend over backwards clearing cap space for. While he’d be a nice addition to the Cs, Stevens isn’t going to acquire him and have a hard cap imposed in his first season in charge of player movement.
The Knicks may end up paying a pretty penny to keep their first-round gentlemen’s swept squad together with Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, Frank Ntilikina and Bullock all due for an extension this summer. Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and Kevin Knox are all due for their raises next summer, if one is coming of course.
Bullock is a key component to what they do, and he started in 64 of the 65 games he appeared in last season. The odds are good that he’ll be welcomed back to the Big Apple or be overpaid by somebody with more disposable spending money than the Boston Celtics have.