So Saric finally joins the Warriors.
That does not disappoint me all that much. Saric may bounce back, he is still young enough, but he has not really done much of anything for several injury riddled seasons.
I think a trade for a bench PF/C (with the TPE and picks) is the more likely avenue to fill this role at this point, although I would not be against bringing in Wood on a min contract. He will probably end up in MIA or LAL though. So be it.
We aren’t using the TPE and picks to get someone this year. Not happening. If a trade nets us another bench player, it will be because we traded Brogdon for two players. We’re not going above the second apron.
We don’t need to use the full TPE. We could get someone for around $5 million then cut either Champagnie or Kornet. The net would be only adding about $3 million. Not suggesting, we just add $6 million to the cap.
It is not likely. But this is something that can be worked out.
But that’s what the MLE is for, not the TPE.
If we use some or all of the MLE, we hard cap ourselves. If we use the TPE, we are not hard capped. Both are options. I see a few options we could go after with the TPE that seem to me more likely than getting a useful bench PF at this point the the MLE:
Isaiah Stewart $5.3M
Jalen Smith $5.0M
Jaden McDaniels $3.9M
Precious Achiuwa $4.4M
Jon. Kuminga $6.0M
Again, my idea is to trade for them using picks and the TPE, but also waive Champagnie or Kornet to stay at 14 roster spots and reduce the net impact to the cap. To me, this is a perfectly viable option. They probably won't do anything with it but to me, swapping Champagnie in particular for an actual useful PF, for the cost of some picks, would be a really good value transaction.
If I was Brad, I would see if Detroit would trade Stewart for Pritchard+a 2024 first. Then just look to add a 3rd string PG to replace him (and keep under the 2nd apron). Stewart would be a great fit here.
I like Vermont Green’s deal better because Pritchard is an ok 3rd guard. Really like the idea of Beef Stew on this team, with Jaden McD my 2nd choice from VG’s list of PFs.
It'd be very hard to keep a team like that under the 2nd apron, which seems like a non-starter for Brad. Pritchard making ~$4 million means he probably has to go to bring in salary above whatever our MLE max is
I don't think that is necessarily true although I will admit that the exact figures are hard to confirm. The consensus of the experts on here is that based on our current 14 signed players, two of which are non-guaranteed, we have between $3M and $4M of room before we get to the second apron. Again, I admit that I don't know the exact value. So if we waive Champagnie or Kornet, that fees up $2.0M to $2.5M more or in the range of $5M-$6m. That space can be used either with a MLE signing (which would hard cap us) or could be used by trading using the TPE (which would not hard cap us). Trading Pritchard ($4M) and replacing him with a vet min contract is another way to free up additional salary in the event that we hard cap ourselves by using the MLE or if we decide not to exceed the second apron.
So I believe that a trade, using a portion of the TPE, along with waiving Champagnie and/or Kornet would work and allow us to stay under the second apron. But keep in mind that if we don't use the MLE, we are not forced to stay under the second apron. There is an unresolved debate as to whether or not there is a benefit to the Celtics to stay under this. And even if we are over it to start the season, salary can be manipulated during the season to get back under before the end of the season.
There have been several posts that attempt to break down how much of the $5M MLE we could use and stay within the hard cap limitation. If we can do something with the MLE, then we could also do something with the TPE, but again, using some or all of the TPE does not hard cap us. The Celtics can choose to stay under the second apron, but would not be forced to. The MLE options are very limited at this point. Considering using the TPE opens up more options, and in my mind, some better ones. If you want to trade Pritchard too, that is fine, I would prefer to try and keep Pritchard, and I would prefer not to be hard capped.
Only if we drop to 13 players, which would be a bad idea. Even if you replace them with a rookie minimum contract, you still can't reach the $5.3 million that Stewart makes.
Actually, it's worth considering that we wouldn't need to be under the 2nd apron all year, just at the end of the year. So we could bring in someone like Stewart with the TPE, then wait until the trade deadline to see if Brown/White/Rob are on track to miss any of their incentives to help push us back under the apron (and deal Pritchard if we aren't).
The worst case scenario I see for us this year is letting Grant walk despite a reasonable contract, and then going over the second apron anyway. If we're gonna go over the apron, we should go as far over it as (reasonably) possible. Only the financial penalties increase the further over you go.
Topic: Free agency starts / reported signings (merged) (Read 127152 times)