The NBA has changed a lot in recent years, especially in terms of team-building. The new CBA has created a world of relative parity, and it seems like the days of loading up on stars may be over. Depth is more important than ever, and even having one or two bad contracts on a roster can be extremely detrimental.
On a recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast, Bill brought back one of his most iconic bits, the worst-contract draft. He, Joe House, and Wosney Lambre took turns drafting players with the worst contracts in the league.Â
The draft saw a lot of usual suspects get picked, like Joel Embiid, Paul George, Zach LaVine, and others, but one team that was notably absent from the conversation was the Boston Celtics, who didn’t have a single player selected, or seemingly even considered.
That’s what sets this Celtics franchise apart, as Brad Stevens and crew have derived every shred of value possible. They’re winning on the margins and eliminating any waste, which has created a deep, well-balanced, hyper-competitive roster, despite spending below the luxury tax this season.
Celtics have no bad contracts on their roster
Boston has been extremely smart with the way they have, and continue to build this roster. Of course, you have the two superstars in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum making big money, then you’ve got Derrick White on a four-year, $118 million deal. Each of those contracts is extremely reasonable, and if anything, looking team-friendly.
After that, it’s truly valuable deals up and down the board. Sam Hauser is on a bargain deal, Payton Pritchard is on a bargain deal, and everyone else is either on a minimum or a rookie-scale contract.Â
The only other player on the roster is Nikola Vucevic, who makes $20.48 million this season. But that deal is expiring, and the Celtics only took it on at the trade deadline to move off of a bigger contract in Anfernee Simons.
Hilariously, the Celtics were thought to be selling in the offseason and taking a gap year because of the players they traded away in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. But even aside of the Jayson Tatum injury and obvious financial savings, those proved to be solid basketball moves as well.Â
Neither Holiday nor KP has been able to stay on the floor this season, and neither has come close to living up to the lofty contracts they signed with the Celtics. Jrue has played well this season when available, but his deal was selected in the worst-contract draft because of his age and the wear and tear on his body.
It may seem like I’m wearing green-colored glasses or being an unapologetic Celtics homer, but this is just the reality of the situation. Every move that Stevens has made has looked good in retrospect. So while the team’s success this season has been a surprise, maybe it shouldn’t have been, because this front office appears to be staying one step ahead of the competition.