Current Status of Roster and Cap:
Jayson Tatum $54,126,450
Jaylen Brown $53,142,264
Derrick White $28,100,000
Anfernee Simons $27,678,571
Sam Hauser $10,044,644
Georges Niang $8,200,000
Payton Pritchard $7,232,143
Hugo Gonzalez $2,783,880 (This is an estimate)
Baylor Scheierman $2,619,000
Xavier Tillman $2,546,675
Luka Garza $2,461,463
Neemias Queta $2,349,578
JD Davison $2,270,735
Jordan Walsh $2,221,677
Josh Minott $2,378,870
Total $208,155,950
2nd Apron $207,825,000
2nd Apron Space $330,950
Tax Threshold $187,900,000
Tax Space -$20,255,950
A common question is can we sign Horford. Yes, we can sign him for whatever the team deems the right price. We can go higher than any other team likely. But Horford may retire, he may play just one more season, or maybe he plays 2 seasons. If BOS were to sign him now for say $5M, we would be over the 2nd Apron but that could likely be fixed by the end of the season. I can say with a high level of confidence that BOS will be under the 2nd apron by the end of the season, no matter what. I don't think they sign Horford. Expect a nice tribute night when he comes to town with another team.
What I am less sure about is how aggressively BOS will work to get under the tax. They have nearly $36M in expendable, expiring contracts (Simons and Niang). Plus some other incidental expiring and/or non-guaranteed contracts. So if in aggregate, BOS sends out Simons and Niang and takes back two players in the $7M-$8M range, we would be under the tax and able to reset for at least one season. That may not accomplish all that much if we go right back over in 2026-27. As I understand it, you have to be under for 2 seasons in a row or 2 of 3 or something in order to fully reset.
Assuming that the 2nd apron is being treated by the team as a hard red line but not the tax, there is no rush to do anything with Simons or Niang. Either player could be packaged with some picks and traded for players that could be part of the mix for 2026-27 and beyond. So long as BOS stays below the 2nd apron, BOS can combine players and get 1 more expensive player, but I don't see that. BOS could also determine that Simons has a role for 2026 and beyond and extend or sign him. I think a trade is more likely but who knows.
