Report: Celtics still looking to utilize trade exception?

[td450]

How about using the TPE to get Saric? Suns have been considering moving him to cut salary for a while, and he could fit into the Theis role very nicely. He should be ready to go now after his acl recovery. It's been over a year since his surgery.

Saric isn't worth $80 million for one year. Sorry.

Is any bench player worth $80M for one year? Celtics biggest need is probably a backup for Rob, assuming that Brogdon gets minutes at SF. Al and Kornet can’t be the only backups at Center.

They absolutely can be the only backups at center to start the year, although there will be someone else brought in on a minimum as well.  Al plays the bulk of his minutes at center as is, so when Rob is out he’d shift there full-time while Grant and Gallo get extra minutes at the 4.  And you can get by with a small 5 in either Grant or Gallo for a chunk of the game in the regular season, because it does create advantages in spacing on offense.

This board’s panic about a 3rd string center is silly.  If we don’t get one now, we’ll get one in January or February for the stretch run.  If Rob or Al go down for a long stretch, they might make a move earlier, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

I get confused by the "third string center" argument.  Things get dicey when your backup center is really your starting power forward.  The team is already planning on sitting Horford on back to backs and will cut his minutes.  Having him as the primary backup center seems...  misguided?

And, having an actual backup center is important because Timelord is an injury waiting to happen.  At the very least, he needs load management.  The team can probably safely assume that he's going to miss 15 regular season games or so.

So, who does this team rely upon at center when Timelord is out?  Sure, we can go small, with Grant / Gallo / Tatum at PF while Horford slides over to center.  But, it's not ideal.  It puts more wear and tear on Horford.  Plus, there will undoubtedly be games where both Horford and Timelord are out.  What's our lineup then?  Kornet / Grant?  Gallo / Tatum? 

It's important to have a competent center on this team.  Sure, it's possible to wait until January or February, but in doing so the team is probably costing itself wins.  Celtics fans should realize how important a competent backup is, after Timelord had to sit out against the Nets.  Without Theis stepping up, we could have lost that series.

That said, there's no real need to talk about the Olynyks, Sarics and Favors of the league.  We don't need an $10 million backup (although that would be nice).  Rather, we just need to pick one of the competent backup bigs out there.  Cousins, Howard, Whiteside, and Zeller would all fill a need better than Kornet, who Brad seemingly wasted a roster spot on (while paying him more than necessary, which is an odd decision for a team in the luxury tax).

This logic makes sense, but not the names. I would think we would focus on defense, and Howard and Whiteside, while still shot blockers, couldn't be expected to support our defensive scheme at all. I'd rather find an athletic guy who could fit our defense better, but was offensively challenged. I don't know much about how much Cauley Stein's game has deteriorated these days, but he would seem to be more what we would want.

For a 3rd string guy, Kornet isn't that bad. At least he rotates quickly and can block some shots.

[Roy H.]

This logic makes sense, but not the names. I would think we would focus on defense, and Howard and Whiteside, while still shot blockers, couldn't be expected to support our defensive scheme at all. I'd rather find an athletic guy who could fit our defense better, but was offensively challenged. I don't know much about how much Cauley Stein's game has deteriorated these days, but he would seem to be more what we would want.

For a 3rd string guy, Kornet isn't that bad. At least he rotates quickly and can block some shots.

I'd be fine with an athletic, almost purely defense center.  I just don't know how many names out there that fit that description. 

[Moranis]

How about using the TPE to get Saric? Suns have been considering moving him to cut salary for a while, and he could fit into the Theis role very nicely. He should be ready to go now after his acl recovery. It's been over a year since his surgery.

Saric isn't worth $80 million for one year. Sorry.

Is any bench player worth $80M for one year? Celtics biggest need is probably a backup for Rob, assuming that Brogdon gets minutes at SF. Al and Kornet can’t be the only backups at Center.

I'm glad you get my point: The $17M TPE is not likely to be used, certainly not at that number.

But that number can be a lot less with other moves throughout the year.  For example, what if it is looking like there are only going to 10-15 mpg for both White and Pritchard.  I could absolutely see the team moving on from White for a cheaper player, thereby reducing the luxury tax. 

There are always ways to reduce salary, but there aren't always ways you can add a 17 million dollar player to your lineup without trading a person.  In fact, those aren't going to exist in a week or so.  Letting the TPE expire when there are players out there that would help the team, is just not sound management. 

[Vermont Green]

This logic makes sense, but not the names. I would think we would focus on defense, and Howard and Whiteside, while still shot blockers, couldn't be expected to support our defensive scheme at all. I'd rather find an athletic guy who could fit our defense better, but was offensively challenged. I don't know much about how much Cauley Stein's game has deteriorated these days, but he would seem to be more what we would want.

For a 3rd string guy, Kornet isn't that bad. At least he rotates quickly and can block some shots.

I'd be fine with an athletic, almost purely defense center.  I just don't know how many names out there that fit that description.

I think we all agree that the Celtics will add another big to fill one of the open roster spots but I don't expect it is going to be bringing in someone on an actual contract via the TPE.  I will be stunned if we spend say $10M on this insurance big.  It will be a min contract vet that gets dropped off a roster or some other low cost option.

Now if we get into the season and RWill is hurt and Horford has declined, then we will probably consider trying to trade Derrick White for an actual starting or rotation big to fill the gap.  At that point a decision will be made to borrow from Peter (guard depth) to pay Paul (add big depth).

But I suspect plan A is to manage the minutes of RWill and Horford so that they are on the court for the playoffs.  If we can do that, we don't need another rotation big and the insurance big is fine to get us through the regular season.

You could hedge your bet and acquire the $10M big now (for example) and not trade White but with the understanding that someone will be traded to get the team salary back down before the end of the season (the point when the tax is calculated).  This gives you more options going into the season but carries the risk if you are not able to unload salary at the trade deadline or otherwise.  Say for example White gets injured and they can't trade him, they would be stuck.

I expect the Celtics to just pick up the best available vet, min contract big as some insurance and then let things play out.  Then do what they need to do at the trade deadline based on the status of the roster.  I also expect (hope) they are keeping their options open and if a good value $10M or whatever big becomes available, that they grab him and worry about getting the salary down later.  Based on what is out there, I don't see the latter as all that likely.

[Celtics2021]

How about using the TPE to get Saric? Suns have been considering moving him to cut salary for a while, and he could fit into the Theis role very nicely. He should be ready to go now after his acl recovery. It's been over a year since his surgery.

Saric isn't worth $80 million for one year. Sorry.

Is any bench player worth $80M for one year? Celtics biggest need is probably a backup for Rob, assuming that Brogdon gets minutes at SF. Al and Kornet can’t be the only backups at Center.

I'm glad you get my point: The $17M TPE is not likely to be used, certainly not at that number.

But that number can be a lot less with other moves throughout the year.  For example, what if it is looking like there are only going to 10-15 mpg for both White and Pritchard.  I could absolutely see the team moving on from White for a cheaper player, thereby reducing the luxury tax. 

There are always ways to reduce salary, but there aren't always ways you can add a 17 million dollar player to your lineup without trading a person.  In fact, those aren't going to exist in a week or so.  Letting the TPE expire when there are players out there that would help the team, is just not sound management.

White is not going to be a 10-15 minute player.  He’ll be 7th in minutes when everyone is healthy, maybe even 6th if they manage the minutes of Horford or Time Lord.

Also, there aren’t always ways you can reduce salary, especially when everyone knows you want to reduce salary.  Then you have to send out picks, get less return for a player than you should, or wind up paying $50-80 million more in payroll so you could add someone in the 8-10 spots of the rotation.  That doesn’t preserve an asset — it costs one down the road.

The Celtics went into the off-season looking to add $10-15 million in salary for a player who could be a starter or 6th-7th man. The most likely way to do this was via the TPE, but it wasn’t the only way.  They made the trade they wanted for the budget they have.  They might have a little more budget room to get someone who’s making $3-5 million rather than the minimum, and if someone they like comes along in the next week or so while they have the TPE, then they’ll use the TPE for it.

The TPE is a sunk cost.  It didn’t get optimally used, oh well. 

[Moranis]

How about using the TPE to get Saric? Suns have been considering moving him to cut salary for a while, and he could fit into the Theis role very nicely. He should be ready to go now after his acl recovery. It's been over a year since his surgery.

Saric isn't worth $80 million for one year. Sorry.

Is any bench player worth $80M for one year? Celtics biggest need is probably a backup for Rob, assuming that Brogdon gets minutes at SF. Al and Kornet can’t be the only backups at Center.

I'm glad you get my point: The $17M TPE is not likely to be used, certainly not at that number.

But that number can be a lot less with other moves throughout the year.  For example, what if it is looking like there are only going to 10-15 mpg for both White and Pritchard.  I could absolutely see the team moving on from White for a cheaper player, thereby reducing the luxury tax. 

There are always ways to reduce salary, but there aren't always ways you can add a 17 million dollar player to your lineup without trading a person.  In fact, those aren't going to exist in a week or so.  Letting the TPE expire when there are players out there that would help the team, is just not sound management.

White is not going to be a 10-15 minute player.  He’ll be 7th in minutes when everyone is healthy, maybe even 6th if they manage the minutes of Horford or Time Lord.

Also, there aren’t always ways you can reduce salary, especially when everyone knows you want to reduce salary.  Then you have to send out picks, get less return for a player than you should, or wind up paying $50-80 million more in payroll so you could add someone in the 8-10 spots of the rotation.  That doesn’t preserve an asset — it costs one down the road.

The Celtics went into the off-season looking to add $10-15 million in salary for a player who could be a starter or 6th-7th man. The most likely way to do this was via the TPE, but it wasn’t the only way.  They made the trade they wanted for the budget they have.  They might have a little more budget room to get someone who’s making $3-5 million rather than the minimum, and if someone they like comes along in the next week or so while they have the TPE, then they’ll use the TPE for it.

The TPE is a sunk cost.  It didn’t get optimally used, oh well.

Playoff rotation

PG - Smart 36, White 12
SG - Brown 26, Brogdon 22
SF - Tatum 38, Brown 12
PF - Horford 8, Grant/Gallo/Tatum 40
C - Rob 28, Horford 20

Where are the other minutes for White coming from and that is assuming Brogdon doesn't take all of them anyway, which is possible.

In the regular season those minutes will be lower from the starters, but I also think Pritchard is going to play and you could argue Brogdon needs more than 22. 

In other words, there is absolutely a potential roster crunch issue with White (and obviously Pritchard) getting the squeeze.  And Boston pretty clearly could use a Swing type player and probably a back-up center (though a good enough PF and Al is the back-up center). 

[Bobshot]

Didn't they just announce Horford will not play in most back to back games?
That pretty much guarantees they will sign a 3rd big body.
So who can they get the cheapest? Howard? Whiteside? Somebody else?
Some say Baynes, but I don't see him as a backup to Horford or Robert Williams
in terms of skill set. Plus he's coming back from serious injury.

[Roy H.]

The TPE is a sunk cost.  It didn’t get optimally used, oh well.

Yeah, and I'd even put an "if" there.

Even with the benefit of hindsight, I'm not seeing a ton of trades we should have done utilizing the TPE -- either the Hayward one, or the Fournier one -- that we passed on.  At least, not trades that would have left us in a better position than we're in now.

I guess there are a handful of possibilities that we know about:

1.  Presumably, the Celtics could have taken White into the TPE, and kept Richardson.  While keeping Richardson would have put us over the tax, several teams were interested in him at the deadline.  Perhaps we could have shipped him to a third team and picked up a draft asset?  Or, without as much salary coming back, maybe SAS accepts less draft compensation?

2.  We could have added Burks, Noel or Fournier at no cost.

3.  We may have been able to trade for Christian Wood.

If we'd done #3, there's no guarantee we land Brogdon.

[ozgod]

This logic makes sense, but not the names. I would think we would focus on defense, and Howard and Whiteside, while still shot blockers, couldn't be expected to support our defensive scheme at all. I'd rather find an athletic guy who could fit our defense better, but was offensively challenged. I don't know much about how much Cauley Stein's game has deteriorated these days, but he would seem to be more what we would want.

For a 3rd string guy, Kornet isn't that bad. At least he rotates quickly and can block some shots.

I'd be fine with an athletic, almost purely defense center.  I just don't know how many names out there that fit that description.

I think we all agree that the Celtics will add another big to fill one of the open roster spots but I don't expect it is going to be bringing in someone on an actual contract via the TPE.  I will be stunned if we spend say $10M on this insurance big.  It will be a min contract vet that gets dropped off a roster or some other low cost option.

Now if we get into the season and RWill is hurt and Horford has declined, then we will probably consider trying to trade Derrick White for an actual starting or rotation big to fill the gap.  At that point a decision will be made to borrow from Peter (guard depth) to pay Paul (add big depth).

But I suspect plan A is to manage the minutes of RWill and Horford so that they are on the court for the playoffs.  If we can do that, we don't need another rotation big and the insurance big is fine to get us through the regular season.

You could hedge your bet and acquire the $10M big now (for example) and not trade White but with the understanding that someone will be traded to get the team salary back down before the end of the season (the point when the tax is calculated).  This gives you more options going into the season but carries the risk if you are not able to unload salary at the trade deadline or otherwise.  Say for example White gets injured and they can't trade him, they would be stuck.

I expect the Celtics to just pick up the best available vet, min contract big as some insurance and then let things play out.  Then do what they need to do at the trade deadline based on the status of the roster.  I also expect (hope) they are keeping their options open and if a good value $10M or whatever big becomes available, that they grab him and worry about getting the salary down later.  Based on what is out there, I don't see the latter as all that likely.

Especially if that $10m for a guy sitting the pine leads to an additional $38m in tax. Since the Cs are over the tax line they would pay $3.75m in tax for every $1m spent. So that $10m guy ends up costing a total of $47.5m. If he was that good he would need minutes...at which point you may as well trade for him rather than try to carve out even more minutes when the number of rotation players has increased as it is.

Then again...it's not my money, if Wyc wants to spend big more power to him 

[ozgod]

The conventional wisdom around the NBA after the Boston Celtics elected to trade for Indiana Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon was that the team was unlikely to use its $17.1 million traded player exception to take on more salary after the Brogdon deal pushed them well into the league’s luxury tax range. But, new reporting from The Athletic’s Jared Weiss suggests that might not be the case.

“The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18,” writes Weiss, who notes that any such use would likely be part of a trade sending out a rotation player “or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary.”

The team still needs a sturdier presence in the paint as a style of reserve big man not currently on the roster who might also be able to play big regular-season minutes.

Such a trade might be a possible way for the team to roll some of the utility of the TPE forward without losing all of the resource — and without incurring a monstrous tax bill with Boston already about $20 million into the tax.

With Weiss’ sources suggesting we’ll be seeing much less of Al Horford in the regular season to preserve him for the playoffs, using that TPE might prove a critical tool.

Does anybody have access to Weiss's original article?  I'm wondering what he's envisioning here.  Does he see us trading (for instance) Derrick White to a team with cap space?  We then take a player in making much less money via the trade exception, and create a new trade exception in the process?

To me, the only use of the trade exception I want to see is taking back Seth Curry after we trade Brown, Grant and PP for Durant.  Lol.

Here's the part of Jared's article that talked about the TPE. It's a long article and the TPE is only a small part of it but here it is.

The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18, team sources told The Athletic. But considering how deep the roster already is and their luxury tax situation, it’s likely that would be used either as part of a trade to send out a rotation player or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary.

Boston is currently around $20.2 million above the luxury tax line with 12 players rostered, per The Athletic’s Danny Leroux, which gives them a luxury tax bill of about $45.8 million. That makes taking on another player making eight figures a major challenge to ownership’s commitment to opening up the checkbook. Just adding another $17.1 million in salary would nearly triple the bill due to the escalating luxury tax penalties. It’s more likely the Celtics would just use the Fournier TPE to bring in a low-salary player making somewhere above the minimum.

Considering Kornet never broke into the rotation, Boston is likely to target another capable big with a rim presence on both ends to complement Grant Williams’ versatility as an undersized but effective big. Daniel Theis was acquired last season to provide that depth in the event of injury or rest, which proved necessary when Rob Williams tore his meniscus late in the season.

They will certainly need center depth, as Al Horford is expected to sit out most back-to-backs and have his minutes limited even further next season, according to team sources. So acquiring another center who can play above the rim with power and aggression will be key. Kornet has shown an ability to rotate across the paint to block layups and space the floor in pick and pops, but being a commanding presence in the paint is not quite his style.

https://theathletic.com/3405000/2022/07/07/celtics-summer-league-brad-stevens/

I could see them using it as part of a trade to get a rotation player, shipping out someone who currently is taking up minutes. I don't see it likely they will sign an end of bench guy with it due to the tax implications. Pay a total of $48m for a guy sitting on the bench as an insurance guy? Can't see that happening. If it was my money I probably wouldn't. But thankfully it's not my money 

[liam]

The conventional wisdom around the NBA after the Boston Celtics elected to trade for Indiana Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon was that the team was unlikely to use its $17.1 million traded player exception to take on more salary after the Brogdon deal pushed them well into the league’s luxury tax range. But, new reporting from The Athletic’s Jared Weiss suggests that might not be the case.

“The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18,” writes Weiss, who notes that any such use would likely be part of a trade sending out a rotation player “or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary.”

The team still needs a sturdier presence in the paint as a style of reserve big man not currently on the roster who might also be able to play big regular-season minutes.

Such a trade might be a possible way for the team to roll some of the utility of the TPE forward without losing all of the resource — and without incurring a monstrous tax bill with Boston already about $20 million into the tax.

With Weiss’ sources suggesting we’ll be seeing much less of Al Horford in the regular season to preserve him for the playoffs, using that TPE might prove a critical tool.

Does anybody have access to Weiss's original article?  I'm wondering what he's envisioning here.  Does he see us trading (for instance) Derrick White to a team with cap space?  We then take a player in making much less money via the trade exception, and create a new trade exception in the process?

To me, the only use of the trade exception I want to see is taking back Seth Curry after we trade Brown, Grant and PP for Durant.  Lol.

Here's the part of Jared's article that talked about the TPE. It's a long article and the TPE is only a small part of it but here it is.

The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18, team sources told The Athletic. But considering how deep the roster already is and their luxury tax situation, it’s likely that would be used either as part of a trade to send out a rotation player or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary.

Boston is currently around $20.2 million above the luxury tax line with 12 players rostered, per The Athletic’s Danny Leroux, which gives them a luxury tax bill of about $45.8 million. That makes taking on another player making eight figures a major challenge to ownership’s commitment to opening up the checkbook. Just adding another $17.1 million in salary would nearly triple the bill due to the escalating luxury tax penalties. It’s more likely the Celtics would just use the Fournier TPE to bring in a low-salary player making somewhere above the minimum.

Considering Kornet never broke into the rotation, Boston is likely to target another capable big with a rim presence on both ends to complement Grant Williams’ versatility as an undersized but effective big. Daniel Theis was acquired last season to provide that depth in the event of injury or rest, which proved necessary when Rob Williams tore his meniscus late in the season.

They will certainly need center depth, as Al Horford is expected to sit out most back-to-backs and have his minutes limited even further next season, according to team sources. So acquiring another center who can play above the rim with power and aggression will be key. Kornet has shown an ability to rotate across the paint to block layups and space the floor in pick and pops, but being a commanding presence in the paint is not quite his style.

https://theathletic.com/3405000/2022/07/07/celtics-summer-league-brad-stevens/

I could see them using it as part of a trade to get a rotation player, shipping out someone who currently is taking up minutes. I don't see it likely they will sign an end of bench guy with it due to the tax implications. Pay a total of $48m for a guy sitting on the bench as an insurance guy? Can't see that happening. If it was my money I probably wouldn't. But thankfully it's not my money 

The Warriors are spending money, and so should The Celtics! They've been raking in cash since 2008 and it's time to put this team in a position to win it all! Management can stop with the " we'll spend when we think the team is ready"... Well it's time!!!

[ozgod]

The conventional wisdom around the NBA after the Boston Celtics elected to trade for Indiana Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon was that the team was unlikely to use its $17.1 million traded player exception to take on more salary after the Brogdon deal pushed them well into the league’s luxury tax range. But, new reporting from The Athletic’s Jared Weiss suggests that might not be the case.

“The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18,” writes Weiss, who notes that any such use would likely be part of a trade sending out a rotation player “or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary.”

The team still needs a sturdier presence in the paint as a style of reserve big man not currently on the roster who might also be able to play big regular-season minutes.

Such a trade might be a possible way for the team to roll some of the utility of the TPE forward without losing all of the resource — and without incurring a monstrous tax bill with Boston already about $20 million into the tax.

With Weiss’ sources suggesting we’ll be seeing much less of Al Horford in the regular season to preserve him for the playoffs, using that TPE might prove a critical tool.

Does anybody have access to Weiss's original article?  I'm wondering what he's envisioning here.  Does he see us trading (for instance) Derrick White to a team with cap space?  We then take a player in making much less money via the trade exception, and create a new trade exception in the process?

To me, the only use of the trade exception I want to see is taking back Seth Curry after we trade Brown, Grant and PP for Durant.  Lol.

Here's the part of Jared's article that talked about the TPE. It's a long article and the TPE is only a small part of it but here it is.

The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18, team sources told The Athletic. But considering how deep the roster already is and their luxury tax situation, it’s likely that would be used either as part of a trade to send out a rotation player or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary.

Boston is currently around $20.2 million above the luxury tax line with 12 players rostered, per The Athletic’s Danny Leroux, which gives them a luxury tax bill of about $45.8 million. That makes taking on another player making eight figures a major challenge to ownership’s commitment to opening up the checkbook. Just adding another $17.1 million in salary would nearly triple the bill due to the escalating luxury tax penalties. It’s more likely the Celtics would just use the Fournier TPE to bring in a low-salary player making somewhere above the minimum.

Considering Kornet never broke into the rotation, Boston is likely to target another capable big with a rim presence on both ends to complement Grant Williams’ versatility as an undersized but effective big. Daniel Theis was acquired last season to provide that depth in the event of injury or rest, which proved necessary when Rob Williams tore his meniscus late in the season.

They will certainly need center depth, as Al Horford is expected to sit out most back-to-backs and have his minutes limited even further next season, according to team sources. So acquiring another center who can play above the rim with power and aggression will be key. Kornet has shown an ability to rotate across the paint to block layups and space the floor in pick and pops, but being a commanding presence in the paint is not quite his style.

https://theathletic.com/3405000/2022/07/07/celtics-summer-league-brad-stevens/

I could see them using it as part of a trade to get a rotation player, shipping out someone who currently is taking up minutes. I don't see it likely they will sign an end of bench guy with it due to the tax implications. Pay a total of $48m for a guy sitting on the bench as an insurance guy? Can't see that happening. If it was my money I probably wouldn't. But thankfully it's not my money 

The Warriors are spending money, and so should The Celtics! They've been raking in cash since 2008 and it's time to put this team in a position to win it all! Management can stop with the " we'll spend when we think the team is ready"... Well it's time!!!

The Warriors are really top heavy though...$150m of their $185m salary spend is in 4 players - Steph, Klay, Wiggins and Draymond. I suspect ours will look more like theirs when Brown gets extended, though we do have Al's salary dropping off next year.



As I mentioned its not my money so if Wyc chooses to spend more I won't be complaining. Kind of like playing NBA2k and removing the salary cap just for your team  I think the issue is more that if you pay someone that much you have to carve out minutes for them and there's only 240 minutes to portion out to everyone then you run the risk of ego and unhappiness issues like what happened in 2018. But that's what Ime gets paid for to handle after all 

[liam]

The conventional wisdom around the NBA after the Boston Celtics elected to trade for Indiana Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon was that the team was unlikely to use its $17.1 million traded player exception to take on more salary after the Brogdon deal pushed them well into the league’s luxury tax range. But, new reporting from The Athletic’s Jared Weiss suggests that might not be the case.

“The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18,” writes Weiss, who notes that any such use would likely be part of a trade sending out a rotation player “or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary.”

The team still needs a sturdier presence in the paint as a style of reserve big man not currently on the roster who might also be able to play big regular-season minutes.

Such a trade might be a possible way for the team to roll some of the utility of the TPE forward without losing all of the resource — and without incurring a monstrous tax bill with Boston already about $20 million into the tax.

With Weiss’ sources suggesting we’ll be seeing much less of Al Horford in the regular season to preserve him for the playoffs, using that TPE might prove a critical tool.

Does anybody have access to Weiss's original article?  I'm wondering what he's envisioning here.  Does he see us trading (for instance) Derrick White to a team with cap space?  We then take a player in making much less money via the trade exception, and create a new trade exception in the process?

To me, the only use of the trade exception I want to see is taking back Seth Curry after we trade Brown, Grant and PP for Durant.  Lol.

Here's the part of Jared's article that talked about the TPE. It's a long article and the TPE is only a small part of it but here it is.

The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18, team sources told The Athletic. But considering how deep the roster already is and their luxury tax situation, it’s likely that would be used either as part of a trade to send out a rotation player or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary.

Boston is currently around $20.2 million above the luxury tax line with 12 players rostered, per The Athletic’s Danny Leroux, which gives them a luxury tax bill of about $45.8 million. That makes taking on another player making eight figures a major challenge to ownership’s commitment to opening up the checkbook. Just adding another $17.1 million in salary would nearly triple the bill due to the escalating luxury tax penalties. It’s more likely the Celtics would just use the Fournier TPE to bring in a low-salary player making somewhere above the minimum.

Considering Kornet never broke into the rotation, Boston is likely to target another capable big with a rim presence on both ends to complement Grant Williams’ versatility as an undersized but effective big. Daniel Theis was acquired last season to provide that depth in the event of injury or rest, which proved necessary when Rob Williams tore his meniscus late in the season.

They will certainly need center depth, as Al Horford is expected to sit out most back-to-backs and have his minutes limited even further next season, according to team sources. So acquiring another center who can play above the rim with power and aggression will be key. Kornet has shown an ability to rotate across the paint to block layups and space the floor in pick and pops, but being a commanding presence in the paint is not quite his style.

https://theathletic.com/3405000/2022/07/07/celtics-summer-league-brad-stevens/

I could see them using it as part of a trade to get a rotation player, shipping out someone who currently is taking up minutes. I don't see it likely they will sign an end of bench guy with it due to the tax implications. Pay a total of $48m for a guy sitting on the bench as an insurance guy? Can't see that happening. If it was my money I probably wouldn't. But thankfully it's not my money 

The Warriors are spending money, and so should The Celtics! They've been raking in cash since 2008 and it's time to put this team in a position to win it all! Management can stop with the " we'll spend when we think the team is ready"... Well it's time!!!

The Warriors are really top heavy though...$150m of their $185m salary spend is in 4 players - Steph, Klay, Wiggins and Draymond. I suspect ours will look more like theirs when Brown gets extended, though we do have Al's salary dropping off next year.



As I mentioned its not my money so if Wyc chooses to spend more I won't be complaining. Kind of like playing NBA2k and removing the salary cap just for your team  I think the issue is more that if you pay someone that much you have to carve out minutes for them and there's only 240 minutes to portion out to everyone then you run the risk of ego and unhappiness issues like what happened in 2018. But that's what Ime gets paid for to handle after all 

You should've compared last year's Celtics/Warriors for the imbalance in spending. I also think The Warriors will have more than 11 players when all is said and done.

[gouki88]

Robinson is a mystery.  I have no interest in him on the Celtics in any case but he stared 68 games in the regular season and then doesn't play in the playoffs?  That makes no sense.

They did get Oladipo back I guess.  He played about 8 games at the end of the season and then pretty regular minutes through the playoffs.  So I guess the call was bench Robinson and play Oladipo.  It still seems strange that you go from starter to not playing.

It is very strange and frankly I think Spo made a mistake.  Robinson played 3 playoff games of at least 20 minutes (2 were against Boston), in all 3 games he was a + and the team was better when he was in the game then when he was on the bench.  He was +2 overall against Boston in the 5 games he played.  I think Spo was worried a bit too much about defense and not enough about offense that he was playing lesser overall players like Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Caleb Martin rather than the guy who had been starting all season long and who when he gets going can alter the outcome of a game.  Those 3 guys are fine consistent players, but they aren't going to win you a game.  Robinson can win you a game and he is a guy that needs time to get into that groove.  I'm glad Robinson didn't play more against Boston, otherwise Boston might have lost the series.  Was happy to see guys like Vincent out on the floor. 

Heat didn't play Dedmon enough either.  Spo just didn't coach that Boston series very well.  He played right into Boston's hands instead of making Boston adjust.

I think Spo made a mistake too. Especially with how poor Strus and Herro were down the stretch.

[Celtics2021]

Robinson is a mystery.  I have no interest in him on the Celtics in any case but he stared 68 games in the regular season and then doesn't play in the playoffs?  That makes no sense.

They did get Oladipo back I guess.  He played about 8 games at the end of the season and then pretty regular minutes through the playoffs.  So I guess the call was bench Robinson and play Oladipo.  It still seems strange that you go from starter to not playing.

It is very strange and frankly I think Spo made a mistake.  Robinson played 3 playoff games of at least 20 minutes (2 were against Boston), in all 3 games he was a + and the team was better when he was in the game then when he was on the bench.  He was +2 overall against Boston in the 5 games he played.  I think Spo was worried a bit too much about defense and not enough about offense that he was playing lesser overall players like Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Caleb Martin rather than the guy who had been starting all season long and who when he gets going can alter the outcome of a game.  Those 3 guys are fine consistent players, but they aren't going to win you a game.  Robinson can win you a game and he is a guy that needs time to get into that groove.  I'm glad Robinson didn't play more against Boston, otherwise Boston might have lost the series.  Was happy to see guys like Vincent out on the floor. 

Heat didn't play Dedmon enough either.  Spo just didn't coach that Boston series very well.  He played right into Boston's hands instead of making Boston adjust.

I think Spo made a mistake too. Especially with how poor Strus and Herro were down the stretch.

While I’m not sure whether or not Spo made the correct decision, I would note that Duncan Robinson’s plus games against the Celtics all came from garbage time.

In Game 2 he was -13 before the Js were taken out, and +7 after, for -6 total.

In game 4 he was -2 before the Js were taken out, and +11 after, for +2 total.

In game 5 he was -1 before the Js were taken out, and +4 after, for +3 total.

Overall he was -20 outside of garbage time and +22 in garbage time.  The Heat weren’t, for the most part, terrible when he was in the more competitive portions of games, but his +/- was absolutely padded when he was on the court against the guys who were just traded for Brogdon.