It's official: Paul George is the Boston Celtics' newest addition via trade. It's hard to believe that this is actually real, between Jaylen Brown's legacy with the Celtics and George's undeniable decline over the past few years. George becoming a Celtic will take some getting used to, but his decision to waive his trade kicker should win over the fanbase because of what it could mean.
ESPN's Bobby Marks was the first to report that George had waived his $3.9 million trade bonus. Granted, he will still make well over $50 million this season, but that's still good chunk of change to give up.
Paul George waived his $3.9M trade bonus, sources tell ESPN.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 6, 2026
His cap hit in Boston remains at $54.1M and $56.6M (P)
Because of how much money George is leaving on the table by doing this, there has to be something more at play here. No one knows if Boston convinced him to do this, but George likely took the paycut for one of two potential reasons.
Celtics want to get under the tax
Dating back to last year, Boston has made plenty of moves to save as much on their payroll as humanely possible. Trading Anfernee Simons was the last piece of the puzzle that got them under the luxury tax, leading to them stealing Mitchell Robinson from the New York Knicks.
And now that they actually saved a few extra million from swapping Brown for George, all they have to do is waive Dalano Banton or trade Sam Hauser and they're back underneath it. Doing so could give the Celtics to chance to spend heavily next summer if they avoid it, though Neemias Queta's extension will kick in.
Brad Stevens likes keeping his options open, so George waiving his trade kicker helps with that endeavor. Though that doesn't seem like a valid explanation for why George would help him and the Celtics in that regard.
Celtics plan to add someone else
It's very possible that the Celtics are also trying to add one more piece before the season begins, tax ramifications be damned. They still have the Ant Simons TPE, though with Robinson officially on the team too, that limits what they can do with it.
However, they can use a good chunk of it if they decide to waive Banton and trade Hauser, as CBS Sports' Sam Quinn revealed that doing so would allow them to use up to $21.6 million to absorb.
This is potentially significant. The Celtics have minimal hard cap space to potentially use their $27.7 million TPE.
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) July 6, 2026
With PG waiving the trade bonus, Boston is around $8 million below the first apron. If they trade out Hauser and Banton they can take back a $21.6 million player. https://t.co/qu7jk2tRCQ
Boston could trade more players to get their hands on Trey Murphy III, but it seems as though doing that would potentially decimate their depth. It might not be him, but they can still get someone good with it. At the same time, they would have to choose wisely.
There's no telling what Boston's next move is, but regardless, George did them a pretty big favor, which makes it seem as though something is happening. It may not be right away, but it's something Celtics fans should keep an eye on.
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