Will the courts and NBA finish stuff up before the Celtics have to figure out whether Bird is part of their team payroll to determine if and how much they are into the tax?
I believe the deadline on that is June 30. That's what I think it is anyway.
Everyone thinks the C's need to make a deal by the trade deadline if they're going to avoid the tax this year, but I'm under the impression that they can trade any player not on an expiring contract (so Bird, Yabu, Semi, Williams) any time after their season ends but before July 1 to get below the tax.
Theoretically the team could trade Bird (and/or Yabu, Semi, Williams) on June 30th for a heavily protected 2nd round pick, and none of their salary would hit the C's books for 2018. So no rush yet, he should be easy to move if they have to.
A couple of notes on this per the CBA faq, though not spelled out specifically:
"When the trade deadline has passed. Teams are free to make trades again once their season has ended4, but cannot trade players whose contracts are ending or could end due to an option or ETO."
"Playoff teams can trade players during the playoffs who are not on their playoff roster."
"When a player is traded, his full season salary is transferred to the team salary of his new team, and he counts $0 toward his old team's team salary."
