Boston Celtics: Kelly Oubre, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tabbed as TPE options

The NBA offseason is in full swing, and the Boston Celtics are in the thick of trade rumors as a team that came within two games of the NBA Finals but were exposed for a lack of depth by the Golden State Warriors’ deep roster.

The C’s primary means of getting a deal done are the team’s three traded player exceptions ($17.1 million, $6.9 million, $5.9 million) and Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens has been given the green light from ownership to use them, luxury tax ramifications be damned.

Obviously, the $17.1 million TPE created by the Evan Fournier sign-and-trade to the New York Knicks last summer will be what lands the Cs a legitimate game-changing addition. Their best chance of grabbing a player on the cheap is via a team in desperate need of cap space.

HoopsHabit’s Giovanni Torres came up with three trade targets on teams that could fit the bill: New York’s Alec Burks, Charlotte’s Kelly Oubre, and Washington’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The Boston Celtics would do well to add any of those three wings

All three of the aforementioned NBA franchises missed the postseason in 2021-22, with the Knicks and Wizards both taking a step back from playoff contention the season before. New York is specifically aiming to clear cap space to sign Jalen Brunson (or, though a longshot, Kyrie Irving) while Washington is watching Bradley Beal test free agency, potentially involuntarily ratcheting up their rebuild. In Charlotte’s case, they could be aiming to move salary in order to absorb the expiring contract of Russell Westbrook, who the Los Angeles Lakers could be looking to deal to open up cap space for  a Kyrie Irving pursuit.

In all three scenarios, the Boston Celtics aim to benefit as a team with trade exceptions to spend freely. Boston has both win-now expectations and future draft picks available to make any of these deals possible.