Thursday’s NBA Trade Deadline wound up being busier than many Boston Celtics fans would’ve expected. After saving roughly $7 million in salary when they traded Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls for Nikola Vucevic, the Celtics shifted into luxury-tax-avoidance mode.
They moved Chris Boucher, Josh Minott, and Xavier Tillman Sr. in three one-for-zero trades (with the exception of Boucher, who garnered the Celtics two-way guard John Tonje from the Utah Jazz). In doing so, they managed to put themselves $842,292 below the luxury tax line.
The series of salary-cap-oriented trades achieved the team’s financial goals, but left them with just 12 players on their full-time roster. According to league rules, all teams must have at least 14 players rostered. In cases like this, with Boston’s roster size being cut down mid-season, they’ll be allowed a two-week grace period to add personnel.
What's next for the Celtics?
When Brad Stevens spoke with reporters on Friday morning, he shared exactly what he and the organization will be looking for when they fill the open spots.
"What we will be looking for will not be somebody that we're going to ask to come in and be a part of the everyday rotation when we're fully healthy,” Stevens told reporters at the Auerbach Center, via CLNS Media. “But we also need people who can come in, accept that, and be ready to help us move this thing down the hill and forward.”
In terms of how the Celtics can fill their final two openings, they’ve got a few different options.
The one that fans will immediately gravitate towards is the buyout market. Each year after the trade deadline, tanking teams that traded for players on more expensive contracts will buy them out of said deals to allow them to join a contender.
It’s not always the most helpful route, as those guys rarely end up being difference-makers, but it gets the people going, for sure.
The more realistic pathway is for the Celtics to promote from within (kind of how most companies operate, lol). As of Friday, they’ve got Ron Harper Jr., Max Shulga, and now Tonje on two-way deals, which enable those guys to play in both the NBA and G-League.
Boston can choose to convert any of those players to a full-time contract, as they did Thursday with Amari Williams, to fill one or both roster spots.
We’ve got three good two-ways that we feel really good about,” Stevens explained. “That gives us a lot of flexibility here.”
He praised all three men, but emphasized how great Harper Jr. has been in the G-League this season.
“He’s a stud.”
Stevens added that the team will add at least one more ball-handler in the coming weeks.