It’s been a summer of change for the Boston Celtics. Just over a year removed from winning the franchise’s 18th NBA Championship, several members of the 2023-24 roster have already left town, or will be leaving.
Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis were traded away in a pair of cost-cutting trades, Luke Kornet joined the San Antonio Spurs as a free agent, and Al Horford appears ready to take a similar route, perhaps to the Golden State Warriors.
Though the roster shake-up has been substantial, it doesn’t appear to be over just yet. Spotrac’s Keith Smith detailed a discussion he’d had with a member of Boston’s front office, where he was informed that the team hopes to make more moves before training camp.
“Still figuring it all out,” The executive told Smith of the team’s plans for the remainder of the summer. “As you’ve noted, we’re still above the second apron. We won’t finish there.”
Second-apron penalties are real. They’ve got a vice grip on the Celtics and the NBA’s other big spenders. Even with the Holiday and Porzingis trades, the Cs still sit $332,000 above that threshold, and roughly $12.2 million above the first apron.
It simply doesn’t make sense for Boston to remain above both aprons with Jayson Tatum sidelined with an Achilles rupture.
“It sucked to trade Jrue and KP, because we loved those guys and they loved Boston. But it was being brutally honest that we aren’t the same level of team without Jayson. We’ll be good. We’ll be a playoff team, but…you know. It’ll come for every team that lands where we did. You can’t be over the second apron and not a title contender. It’s just poor management for both the short- and long-term. The frozen pick and pick dropping stuff is real.”
The Celtics' financial goals cast doubt on trio's future with the team
The Celtics’ clear goal of getting below the second apron puts a question mark next to the futures of new acquisitions like Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang, as well as returning sharpshooter Sam Hauser.
Simons is set to make $27.6 million in the final year of a four-year, $100 million contract, while Niang and Hauser are owed $8.2 million and $10 million, respectively.
The buzz surrounding the team makes it sound like the former Portland Trail Blazers guard is the player they’d most like to part ways with. It makes sense. He takes up a significantly greater chunk of the salary cap than the other two, and would enable Boston to perhaps avoid the luxury tax if they were to make the right trade.
The problem is that Simons’ market is likely pretty dry. The point guard position may be as deep as it’s ever been, meaning teams aren’t desperate to add the offense-first creator. Sure, Simons can shoot it, but he’ll be targeted on defense in any big game scenario.
Meanwhile, Niang and Hauser are much easier pieces to move. Just about any contending team in the NBA would show interest in the pair of sharpshooters, simply because you can never have enough shooting. That sentiment is especially true when each guy’s career average is 40% or higher. Of course, the Celtics understand this and would probably like to have one, if not both Hauser and Niang, on the roster when Tatum is healthy.
At this point, nothing is guaranteed other than the Celtics doing whatever they can to avoid being above the second apron once again.