We’re officially in the doldrums of the NBA offseason with almost all league business and transactional news settled. Most teams are as close to done with their rosters as can be, and any moves being made are on the margins. Still, with a little bit of peace and quiet, it’s as good a time as any for the fake trades to come out of the woodwork.
Given the NBA’s announcement of massive punishments for the Clippers, LA has become a hot team for trade machine buffs. In fact, Hardwood Houdini’s own Matt John recently speculated that the Clippers could look to move veterans to try to recoup some assets and that the Celtics could easily pounce on that and exploit the situation further.
Fran Leiva of Fadeaway World was clearly thinking along the same lines (or he’s a Matt John stan), as he published an article on Monday with a trade proposal for the Celtics and Clippers to consider. In the deal, he has LA sending veteran guard Kris Dunn to Boston in exchange for three second-round picks (2028 via Milwaukee, 2030 via Washington, 2031 via Boston).
It’s easy to see why this deal could work for both sides. The Celtics add another ball-handler and defensive ace who can take some of the load off of Payton Pritchard and Derrick White and would offer insurance if Mike Conley falls off a cliff. And for the Clippers, they get three solid draft assets for an expiring rotation player.
Paying luxury tax makes no sense for Celtics
Unfortunately, there’s an obvious problem with this deal: it would put the Celtics over the luxury tax line. Boston has worked furiously over the last year and change to dip all the way from over the second apron to just a hair under the tax altogether. It took a lot of cap gymnastics and brilliant maneuvering from Brad Stevens and the front office, and it has left the team in a great spot to reset the repeater tax next summer and be able to spend big if they so choose.
And in this deal, Dunn’s $5.7 million salary for 2026-27 would go into Boston’s Anfernee Simons traded player exception and put Boston about $5 million over the tax line. To get back under the tax, the Celtics would have to find a way to dump Sam Hauser or any two of their players who are making minimum money.
That just doesn’t seem worth it. If there were an easy salary match here, I’d be on board with the deal. I like Dunn as a player, the positional fit makes sense, and the three seconds is a fair price for a solid rotation player. But realistically, this would only be half the deal. The Celtics aren’t going to go over the tax for a move like this - nor should they - and the cost of parting with Hauser or two of the young guys just doesn’t make sense.
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