NBA Team Salaries

[Fred Ziffel]

Golden State 174,000
Brooklyn 168,000
Philly 146,000
LAClippers 141,000
LALakers 138,000
Milwaukee 137,000
Orlando 136,000
New Orleans 133,000
Utah 133,000
Washington 132,000
San Antonio 132,000
Memphis 132,000
Portland 132,000
Houston 132,000
Cleveland 131,000
Minnesota 130,000
Toronto 130,000
Dallas 128,000
Denver 128,000
Phoenix 128,000
Indiana 127,000
Miami 126,000
Chicago 123,000

Your Boston Celtics 118,000

I have heard on here that it is will go way up next year when Tatum
Kicks in.  No. It goes up slightly next year then way down in the following year.  I'm not a genius but you look at the top 8 or 10 team salaries and you probably will find the NBA champion.  So the Celtics are only a little bit ahead of Detroit at 24th in the league.  If we are hard capped or tapped out at $118,00 with The Nets at $164,000 in the East have we done a great job with our roster dynamics.  Maybe you are not concerned but I look at the bottom 5 teams and there aren't many contenders. Salary is not everything but it matters. We have a 28.5 million dollar TPE a 5 million dollar TPE and a 2.5 million dollar TPE.  If it means paying some luxury tax then so be it. The Celtics have one championship in 35 years. There are a thousand excuses why we can't do this or we can't do that. But unless we do something drastic it will be one championship in the last 36 and then more years.

[tazzmaniac]

Team salary isn't the only thing that matters.  There's also the number of players on the books.  As is, Celtics team salary goes up to 132M next season.  However that's only for 11 players so there are 4 players to replace or re-sign next season.  Two seasons from now the Celtics team drops to 95M but that is only for 3 players (Tatum, Brown and Kemba). 

[Fred Ziffel]

If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck it's probably a duck.  Best teams higher salaries. Not good teams lower salaries.  People can say it doesn't matter. If it didn't matter every team would be where the Celtics are or lower. 

[Fred Ziffel]

If Kemba plays like he is now move him.  Get the salary off the books. The big thing I am seeing is he can't get to the rim anymore. His shooting is coming but a short guy that has lost quickness and isn't that good on the defensive end is not a starter.  Allen Iverson was done went he couldn't get to the rim anymore. IT lost quickness not in the league.  That knee isn't getting better. Don't worry about players not wanting to come here if you get rid of a player that wanted to come here. Boston isn't Siberia.  It's a business.  The knee won't get better. Move him.

[Vermont Green]

I look at this a little differently.  The Tax Threshold is $138,928,000.  There are only 4 teams over that value, Warriors, Nets, Sixers, Clipps.

If the Celtics stay at $117M or $118M, criticism is fair but I expect that they are going to put some of the TPEs in play and by the end of the season, the team salary will be in the $132M to $138M range.  That would put the Celtics in the top 10 potentially. 

It is actually a good thing that we have this flexibility.  We are a pretty good team anyway, we have Kemba getting back up to speed hopefully, and we have the mechanism and the space to bring a key player or two.  I would rather be at $118M right now than be like say Orlando at $134M, isn't any good, and can't really do anything about it.

It is too early to start criticizing this season in my opinion so going as far as starting to criticize next season and beyond is just silly to me.

[td450]

Boston is a high profit franchise with two cornerstone superstars, and it appears it will have one more foreseeable opportunity to use salary to add a proven talent to the roster. If they get a shot at someone they think will really compliment Tatum and Brown, there is no financial excuse for not doing it.

If, for example, they could get Collins for a bargain because Atlanta doesn't think he's a cornerstone guy, the only excuse has whether he fits, and wants to fit the team basketball wise, not whether he fits financially.

They have to use salary to improve.

[nickagneta]

I look at this a little differently.  The Tax Threshold is $138,928,000.  There are only 4 teams over that value, Warriors, Nets, Sixers, Clipps.

If the Celtics stay at $117M or $118M, criticism is fair but I expect that they are going to put some of the TPEs in play and by the end of the season, the team salary will be in the $132M to $138M range.  That would put the Celtics in the top 10 potentially. 

It is actually a good thing that we have this flexibility.  We are a pretty good team anyway, we have Kemba getting back up to speed hopefully, and we have the mechanism and the space to bring a key player or two.  I would rather be at $118M right now than be like say Orlando at $134M, isn't any good, and can't really do anything about it.

It is too early to start criticizing this season in my opinion so going as far as starting to criticize next season and beyond is just silly to me.

I think you are mixing things up. The tax apron is $138,928,000. That is the number the team can't exceed under any circumstances due to being hardcapped for using the full non-taxpayer MLE on Thompson.

The luxury tax threshold is $132,627,000. That is the number the Celtics will decide to stay under to stop the repeater tax.

Knowing these numbers, it's easy to see why so, so many teams in the league are below the $132,627,000 number. They don't want to be taxed. It also goes to explain why certain other teams stay below the $138,928,000, because they are hard capped.

Also, team salary during the season matters not. It's your team salary at the end of the season. The Celtics can still make trades while absorbing over $14 million in salary, whether by using the TPE or not. If the Celtics do this, the team would be right into the top 10 area of salary.

The Celtics have been in the luxury tax 7 times, all in playoff years. That's the 5th most times being in the luxury tax of all NBA teams. The Celtics spend money when they think it necessary, but let's be clear, they aren't going to go into the luxury tax every year, especially if they feel they can't contend.

And, they have pretty much decided to go into the tax and have high team salaries for the next three years minimum. So they will be spending considerably more over the next few years as their core reach their prime.

[Fred Ziffel]

When was the last time the Celtics made a deal during the season. YEARS !

[nickagneta]

When was the last time the Celtics made a deal during the season. YEARS !

I wasn't aware that making trades during the season was a prerequisite to winning a title.

[Donoghus]

Yonkers, good to see you again.

[jambr380]

Nick has it right. For better or worse, when we ‘traded’ Hayward, we just were never going to go into the tax this year. What we do have is a very valuable asset that we can still used this offseason, but based on the early results of this team, it would probably be a mistake not to restart the clock on the repeater tax.

Just be patient. If we acquire someone like Collins, I can see us letting the TPE go unused (since he will cost so much to retain), but otherwise, we should have another useful starting level player making big money on this team soon.