How will Brad approach free agency and fill out the bench?

[Who]

I believe that BS will make a run at Will Barton for a bargain signing. He hasn't played a significant roll on a contending team in a while, but he has good size for the guard/wing and can create his own shot.

Barton has good height and length but he is so skinny. Gets pushed around on defense too easily. That height and length doesn't translate well to strong defense due to the lack of physical strength.

Not really a big wing or even big SG due to his lack of muscle. 

[gouki88]

I guess I don't really get the point. If championship teams are using 7-9 man rotations in the deep playoffs, why does the 11th and 12th man matter?

In my opinion the really basic best way to build a winning roster is...

Strong versatile 8 man rotation for the playoffs.

Your best 5 players should be able to close out the game on the court together.

Spots 9,10, and 11 should be inferior but redundant to players 6,7 and 8. They provide injury insurance in the playoffs and depth to win in regular season in case of injury/load management to top 8.

Spots 11-15 should be developmental players or specialists

2-ways should be high ceiling swing players or reinforce potential weaknesses in the 9-11 spots.

How I see the current roster (really guessing on 2ways)

1. White
2. Brown
3. Tatum
4. KP
5. Rob

these are the likely starting 5

6. Brogdon (likely replaces Rob to create the end of the game 5)
7. Al (can play along side KP or Rob and also play as sole big)
8. ? (with Grant likely gone the Cs really need a 3-D wing)

9. PP (good enough to stretch the Cs playoff rotation to 9, hopefully eats up reg season min for Brogdon)
10. ? (a 4th big who can play in case of injuries will be important this season, maybe Blake comes back?)
11. Hauser (I don't think he is good enough to be 8th man but still excellent bench piece)

12. Walsh (time will tell but I'm optimistic he cracks top 8 in 2nd/3rd season)
13. Kornet (seems like a well liked teammate who is a nice fit as 5th big)
14. JD (I'm high on him long term and think he has earned full roster spot, can change dynamic of game with his ability to push pace of game, future spark plug guard?)
15.

2-way. Juhann Begarin (maybe the Cs stash him for another year but Id like to see him come over and develop along side JD and Walsh)
2-way. Balcerowski (big mobile center on summer league team)
2way. Vincent Valerio-Bodon (he had some late buzz going into the draft, will be interesting to see in SL)

Bu my count that leaves the Cs needing to bring in an 8th man in the form of a wing and a 4th big to spell KP,AL, and Rob. Grant could effectively fill both roles but is likely to be to expensive.

I really have no idea what these players will command as FAs and have a very loose understanding of this off-seasons cap. I believe the Cs will likely has a 5mill exception to use.

8th man targets

Vasilije Micic* (not a 3-D wing but at 6'5 210+ I think he and Brogdon would work well as 6th/8th combo)
Josh Richardson
Derrick Jones Jr
Terrance Ross
Torrey Craig
Jae Crowder
Will Barton
Javonte Green

*trade target

10th man targets

Blake Griffin
JaMychal Green
Tyey Lyles
Robin Lopez
Frank Kaminsky
Dewayne Dedmon

From your list, I would love Josh Richardson + Trey Lyles.

Roll out with the team of below, which I think would be super strong & versatile.

White / Pritchard
Brown / Brogdon
Tatum / Richardson / Hauser
Horford / Lyles
Porzingis / Williams 3

[Celtics2021]

So I've had the time to go through our roster and the new cap now, and the C's are arguably still a bit short of room for the $5 million TPMLE and staying under the second apron.  They technically but they are faced with some imperfect choices.

The general assumption has been that the Celtics will do the following:

1) Release Champagnie
2) Release (and maybe resign) Kornet
3) Sign Walsh to the rookie minimum
4) Sign Davison to the minimum
5) Sign two vets to 1-year minimum deals (maybe including Kornet as mentioned above)
6) Use the $5 million TPMLE
7) Go through the season with 14 players on the roster

Unfortunately, that series of roster choices leave the Celtics over the second apron (by an amount less than we've still got on the books for Demetrius Jackson, but that's another story).

So that means the Celtics will have to do at least one of the following to get access to the TPMLE:

1) Keep Champagnie (because his deal was signed last year, his minimum is less than the free agent minimum)
2) Sign someone to less than the full TPMLE -- possible, but we're already going to have a tough time competing in free agency with just $5 million, and even slicing off $80k wouldn't be great
3) Forego signing either Davison or a second vet and instead sign either Begarin or Madar

All this assumes that the salary cap does rise a full 10% this year -- the NBA hasn't committed to that yet, as the estimated number last week fell slightly short of the max, which would cause us to lose another ~$300k in space.  (Meaning that #1 is no longer an option and #2 makes us that less competitive).

Accordingly, I think we've got one more trade coming, excluding any sign-and-trade options involving Grant.  Alternatively we will eschew the second apron this year and keep Grant, since that also permits us to have a better deep bench (one more player, and also presumably an upgrade over Champagnie).

[Vermont Green]

So I've had the time to go through our roster and the new cap now, and the C's are arguably still a bit short of room for the $5 million TPMLE and staying under the second apron.  They technically but they are faced with some imperfect choices.

The general assumption has been that the Celtics will do the following:

1) Release Champagnie
2) Release (and maybe resign) Kornet
3) Sign Walsh to the rookie minimum
4) Sign Davison to the minimum
5) Sign two vets to 1-year minimum deals (maybe including Kornet as mentioned above)
6) Use the $5 million TPMLE
7) Go through the season with 14 players on the roster

Unfortunately, that series of roster choices leave the Celtics over the second apron (by an amount less than we've still got on the books for Demetrius Jackson, but that's another story).

So that means the Celtics will have to do at least one of the following to get access to the TPMLE:

1) Keep Champagnie (because his deal was signed last year, his minimum is less than the free agent minimum)
2) Sign someone to less than the full TPMLE -- possible, but we're already going to have a tough time competing in free agency with just $5 million, and even slicing off $80k wouldn't be great
3) Forego signing either Davison or a second vet and instead sign either Begarin or Madar

All this assumes that the salary cap does rise a full 10% this year -- the NBA hasn't committed to that yet, as the estimated number last week fell slightly short of the max, which would cause us to lose another ~$300k in space.  (Meaning that #1 is no longer an option and #2 makes us that less competitive).

Accordingly, I think we've got one more trade coming, excluding any sign-and-trade options involving Grant.  Alternatively we will eschew the second apron this year and keep Grant, since that also permits us to have a better deep bench (one more player, and also presumably an upgrade over Champagnie).

I guess it is hard to dial this in exactly as you don't know the exact cap number and there are so many permutation of signing vet mins.  I have come to the same conclusion that you have that it might be possible to stay under the second apron but once you are that close to the apron, you can't do anything more to improve the team anyway.  We would be hard capped.  If we sign Grant and don't use the MLE, we are over but then can sign vet min contracts or our rookies as much as we need.  In either case, we would face restrictions on trades.

To me, the only other option is to trade Brogdon and get back a couple of players, maybe even 3, whose aggregate salary is about $20M (to match Brogdon).  Then we could use the MLE and we would only need to sign maybe one other vet min or Walsh.  Or we could swap Champagnie or Kornet and get a little better players.  You could get to 14 or 15 roster spots but still have some room under the apron.  We wouldn't have Grant, and we wouldn't have Brogdon but we would delay starting the repeater clock for one season and we would have some flexibility to add a vet min or do a trade to address a need along the way.  (I am not advocating for this, I think we should just sign Grant, but it is another option)

[boscel33]

Bruce Brown is in Boston practicing, while wearing Tatum signature shoes. 

C'mon, that has to be a sign right?

[RJ87]

Bruce Brown is in Boston practicing, while wearing Tatum signature shoes. 

C'mon, that has to be a sign right?

He's legit wearing Nuggets gear.

He's in Boston because he's from Boston. Much ado about nothing.

[boscel33]

Bruce Brown is in Boston practicing, while wearing Tatum signature shoes. 

C'mon, that has to be a sign right?

He's legit wearing Nuggets gear.

He's in Boston because he's from Boston. Much ado about nothing.

Yep, he is, but he's wearing Tatum shoes!  I can have fun with this if I want!

[gouki88]

Bruce Brown is in Boston practicing, while wearing Tatum signature shoes. 

C'mon, that has to be a sign right?

If you ignore everything else he's wearing, then I guess it could be a sign.

[hodgy03038]

I just got a Smart News message saying that if the Bulls don't sign Vukevic that the Celts would be favorites to sign him @ +300, Is that even possible. What a frontcourt that would be.

[gouki88]

I just got a Smart News message saying that if the Bulls don't sign Vukevic that the Celts would be favorites to sign him @ +300, Is that even possible. What a frontcourt that would be.

I would feel that he could command a lot more money than we could offer. But, if for some reason he is an TMLE candidate, that would be unbelievable. Team below is super deep and versatile.

White / Pritchard
Brown / Brogdon
Tatum / Hauser
Porzingis / Horford
Vucevic / Williams 3

[hodgy03038]

Yeah that would be a monster lineup and maybe add Bruce Brown in there somehow.

[Who]

I just got a Smart News message saying that if the Bulls don't sign Vukevic that the Celts would be favorites to sign him @ +300, Is that even possible. What a frontcourt that would be.

I would feel that he could command a lot more money than we could offer. But, if for some reason he is an TMLE candidate, that would be unbelievable. Team below is super deep and versatile.

White / Pritchard
Brown / Brogdon
Tatum / Hauser
Porzingis / Horford
Vucevic / Williams 3

I was wondering about a sign and trade of Rob Williams for Vucevic at one point. Doesn't seem to make sense anymore now that Porzingis is here. Although there is still some temptation. Three bigs as skilled as Horford, Vucevic and Porzingis is darn impressive.

[goCeltics]

I was thinking that perhaps the Isaiah Stewart talk, could be based on a potential Grant Willams trade and sign, it would be

Grant + Pritchard + Champagnie for Hayes + Stewart.
 
With a trade like this, The Pistons could, I calculated offer a salary starting at around 13.5 million to Grant(even with BYC), They may be happy to sacrifice Stewart and Hayes if the C's added a pick or two. perhaps second-rounders. Also by trading they preserve their cap space

With this trade it should keep the c's below the 2nd apron

[Roy H.]

So I've had the time to go through our roster and the new cap now, and the C's are arguably still a bit short of room for the $5 million TPMLE and staying under the second apron.  They technically but they are faced with some imperfect choices.

The general assumption has been that the Celtics will do the following:

1) Release Champagnie
2) Release (and maybe resign) Kornet
3) Sign Walsh to the rookie minimum
4) Sign Davison to the minimum
5) Sign two vets to 1-year minimum deals (maybe including Kornet as mentioned above)
6) Use the $5 million TPMLE
7) Go through the season with 14 players on the roster

Unfortunately, that series of roster choices leave the Celtics over the second apron (by an amount less than we've still got on the books for Demetrius Jackson, but that's another story).

So that means the Celtics will have to do at least one of the following to get access to the TPMLE:

1) Keep Champagnie (because his deal was signed last year, his minimum is less than the free agent minimum)
2) Sign someone to less than the full TPMLE -- possible, but we're already going to have a tough time competing in free agency with just $5 million, and even slicing off $80k wouldn't be great
3) Forego signing either Davison or a second vet and instead sign either Begarin or Madar

All this assumes that the salary cap does rise a full 10% this year -- the NBA hasn't committed to that yet, as the estimated number last week fell slightly short of the max, which would cause us to lose another ~$300k in space.  (Meaning that #1 is no longer an option and #2 makes us that less competitive).

Accordingly, I think we've got one more trade coming, excluding any sign-and-trade options involving Grant.  Alternatively we will eschew the second apron this year and keep Grant, since that also permits us to have a better deep bench (one more player, and also presumably an upgrade over Champagnie).

Can you show me where I've gone wrong with the math here?

$173,274,420 in current salaries and dead cap

-Kornet ($2,413,304)
-Champagnie ($1,927,896)
-------------------------------------
$168,933,220 for 9 players

+$5,000,000 MLE
-------------------------------------

$173,933,220 for 10 players

+ JD Davidson ($1,801,491)
-------------------------------------
$175,734,711 (11 players)
+ Jordan Walsh ($1,102,929?)
-------------------------------------
$176,837,640 (12 players)
+ two vet minimums ($2,019,395 x 2)
------------------------------------------

$180,876,430 (14 players)

Second apron:  $182,500,000 estimated

Room under second apron:  $1,623,570

[BitterJim]

So I've had the time to go through our roster and the new cap now, and the C's are arguably still a bit short of room for the $5 million TPMLE and staying under the second apron.  They technically but they are faced with some imperfect choices.

The general assumption has been that the Celtics will do the following:

1) Release Champagnie
2) Release (and maybe resign) Kornet
3) Sign Walsh to the rookie minimum
4) Sign Davison to the minimum
5) Sign two vets to 1-year minimum deals (maybe including Kornet as mentioned above)
6) Use the $5 million TPMLE
7) Go through the season with 14 players on the roster

Unfortunately, that series of roster choices leave the Celtics over the second apron (by an amount less than we've still got on the books for Demetrius Jackson, but that's another story).

So that means the Celtics will have to do at least one of the following to get access to the TPMLE:

1) Keep Champagnie (because his deal was signed last year, his minimum is less than the free agent minimum)
2) Sign someone to less than the full TPMLE -- possible, but we're already going to have a tough time competing in free agency with just $5 million, and even slicing off $80k wouldn't be great
3) Forego signing either Davison or a second vet and instead sign either Begarin or Madar

All this assumes that the salary cap does rise a full 10% this year -- the NBA hasn't committed to that yet, as the estimated number last week fell slightly short of the max, which would cause us to lose another ~$300k in space.  (Meaning that #1 is no longer an option and #2 makes us that less competitive).

Accordingly, I think we've got one more trade coming, excluding any sign-and-trade options involving Grant.  Alternatively we will eschew the second apron this year and keep Grant, since that also permits us to have a better deep bench (one more player, and also presumably an upgrade over Champagnie).

Can you show me where I've gone wrong with the math here?

$173,274,420 in current salaries and dead cap

-Kornet ($2,413,304)
-Champagnie ($1,927,896)
-------------------------------------
$168,933,220 for 9 players

+$5,000,000 MLE
-------------------------------------

$173,933,220 for 10 players

+ JD Davidson ($1,801,491)
-------------------------------------
$175,734,711 (11 players)
+ Jordan Walsh ($1,102,929?)
-------------------------------------
$176,837,640 (12 players)
+ two vet minimums ($2,019,395 x 2)
------------------------------------------

$180,876,430 (14 players)

Second apron:  $182,500,000 estimated

Room under second apron:  $1,623,570

Where's that estimate from? I've seen lower than that by a a couple million, which would certainly explain the difference