I'd be okay with Day'Ron Sharpe this year if Zubac/Claxton/Vucevic aren't available.
BKN feels like an ideal trade partner regardless because they do have interest in Simons and have the cap space to facilitate things even if it's some sort of a 3-teamer
Then maybe in the offseason you can use the Porzingis TPE to acquire a big man via trade.
Is this true? What is this based on? It seems reasonable but not sure what "interest in" really means.
As to drafting a big, sure, if there is a decent big available at 15 or wherever BOS picks in 2026, why not. But I think you still take the best player available, at whatever position. Or trade the pick (maybe with Simons) to bring back a known commodity big. Drafting is always going to be hit or miss, no matter the position or where in the draft you are picking.
And like hwangjini_1 says, at best, it takes a few seasons for a rookie to make an impact. Not always, but usually.
They were talking Simons trade in the offseason and according to Scotto and Stein over the past few weeks they said they could revisit it. And apparently when BKN was in town, there were pics of Stevens and Marks (Nets GM) sitting and speaking in the seats behind the benches.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/report-nets-celtics-discussed-anfernee-143920846.html
The Celtics window is now and in the next 5+ years with Tatum and Brown firmly entering their primes. It's fine to draft some depth and potential long term pieces along the way to groom but they also need to be a little aggressive. If someone like Zubac becomes available for real, Brad's gotta pounce. They don't need a superstar addition, but any above average starter or star-caliber PF/C would be nice to go along with PP-White-Jaylen-Tatum and the bench.
You just said what Brad's challenge is. He has to look at the entirety of the Jays' prime, while most of us fans live in the here and now. I would imagine Brad doesn't want to be in the second apron AND be paying the luxury tax repeater rate, say 2-3 years from now, which is going to be the bulk of the Jays' primes AND when some of our low-cost role players are going to have to get paid. He would want to push those penalties as far forward as possible so he has maximum flexibility when he needs it. So I would imagine his goal is to reset the luxury tax repeater rate by 2027-28, which would mean having to be under the luxury tax for two consecutive seasons. Right now we are above it by approx. $12m.
If he is frugal, he can reset that rate and keep us out of the second apron for the next couple of seasons, so that the team can be primed for what will probably having to pay higher salaries for some players that right now are dirt cheap for us and/or outperforming contracts, like PP (expiring in 2028-29), Queta, Walsh and Minott (2027-28). That's a lot of salary Brad has to budget for the season 2027-28, keeping in mind if he wants to reset the repeater we can't be over the luxury tax in 2025-26 and 2026-27. Strictly speaking, he doesn't have to reset the repeater rate, since we're below the second apron already so have avoided the roster building penalties, but why sit in the tax when you don't have to and pay a fortune 3 years from now when you might have a really expensive team? When you think your team is a serious contender, that's when you should be willing to exceed the tax and the aprons, especially the second.
(click to enlarge)
Then you have the KP TPE which is about $22.5m if I remember correctly...they could ship out Simons for Brooklyn to absorb into their cap space, create a new TPE with his salary to spend next season, and use the KP TPE but only take back $8m in salary and just write off the rest, while creating a new TPE for $27m, which, all things being equal, should get them below the luxury tax for this season. Then they're in a better position to stay below the luxury tax next season, because any of the extensions for the "cheap guys" (PP, Walsh, Minott, Queta) won't hit until 2027-28.
This is the stuff that's not exciting for any of us...none of us want to think about that boring second apron, luxury tax, financial mumbo-jumbo, we want trade fireworks like we felt when we got Jrue and KP, [dang it]
Personally I hated it when I started to learn more about this stuff (and I'm still learning about it)
But I think Brad is thinking (and has to) in a horizon of 5+ years, because that's the window we have with the Jays in their prime.
