i believe that given (1) the talent available AFTER this season as compared what is available now, and, (2) the ownership need to avoid three straight years of penalty for exceeding the cap....
celtics are more likely to conserve the TPE this year. so no cavalry to the rescue...which given this season may be the right choice. not my preference, but i understand it.
over on SoSH they are having a big and detailed discussion on this. here is part of what they are saying in terms of salary, budget, cap, etc. and how it affects ainge's decisions. they make a good case for why ainge wont make a TPE this year.
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Saints Rest said:
I started this season on the "Use the TPE mid-season to fill a hole" but am now moving to the "save it for the off-season when they can use it all on one guy." That said, can someone clarify some cap rules for me, if they were to use it this season?
If I understand correctly, unlike other sports, the NBA cap is all predicated on how a team ENDS it's season, not how it starts, nor is there any pro-rating of salaries. So if the Celt's made a trade today of someone like Romeo for a future draft pick, then Romeo's salary for this season (roughly $3.6Mil) would come off the cap, and thus both numbers listed by lexrageorge above would increase by that amount (roughly $3.6Mil in the case of Romeo). Is that correct?
lexrageorge said
The short answer was given by @nighthob , so I will just add some detail.
Because the Celtics are over the soft cap, they would normally have a full $28.5M with which to add a player. Basically, the incoming salaries could be up to $28.6M ($28.5 + $100K) greater than any outgoing salary. Except there are 2 limitations that apply this season:
a.) The Celtics have $13.5M of space under the luxury tax threshold. If they cross it, they pay a repeater tax because they were over it last season, and will also have to pay repeater next season, as their committed salaries are essentially at the tax threshold already.
b.) Because the Celtics used the full MLE to sign Tristan Thompson, they have a hard cap at the apron, which is $139M, giving them $19.8M of usable TPE space. So if the salaries they receive in a trade exceed this, they will have to send out additional salary to stay under the apron.
Once the new league year starts this summer, the Celtics will no longer be hard-capped at the apron, so they would have the full $28.5M available. The same salary matching rules still apply. There are some potential gotchas, however:
1.) The team will be in luxury tax territory, so it will be Wyc's decision as to how much tax dollars they want to pay to bring a player in. I don't believe it will be much of a consideration if the team appears to be on the threshold of contention, but I'm not Joe from accounting either
2.) If the Celtics acquire an RFA or UFA via a sign-and-trade, they will be hard-capped at the apron once again, which gives them only $10M or so available. So they would need to send out the appropriate matching salaries in any such trade.
3.) The Celtics could try to sign RFA or UFA outright, but they would only have the taxpayer MLE available.
4.) The Celtics could try to trade for a player under contract, in which case they have the full TPE available (assuming #1 is not an issue). They just need to find a willing trade partner.
I wouldn't rule out the Celtics making a move this season, but it seems unlikely barring something unforseen.
