Boston Celtics Offseason Preview Series Primer

The 2020 offseason for the Boston Celtics has a lot of moving parts. Here at CelticsBlog, we’re going to tackle each piece of the offseason for Boston, in the rough order they will occur. We’re going to deviate from that a bit right off the top, because nothing is more important than what happens with Gordon Hayward and his player option. In order, here the topics we’ll cover in this offseason preview series:

· The Gordon Hayward Question – Monday, October 19

· The Boston Celtics and the 2020 NBA Draft – Tuesday, October 20

· Celtics player/team options, guarantees and qualifying offers –Wednesday, October 21

· Realistic Celtics 2020 offseason trade ideas – Thursday, October 22

· Celtics and Mid-Level Exception – Monday, October 26

· Celtics and Minimum Exception – Tuesday, October 27

· Jayson Tatum’s contract extension – Wednesday, October, 28

· Celtics final roster scenarios – Friday, October 30

As of this writing, the 2020 NBA Draft is the lone offseason date that is locked in. The draft will occur on Wednesday, November 18. Everything else, including the start of free agency and all corresponding option, guarantee and qualifying offer deadlines are still up in the air. The NBA and NBPA are meeting to set the salary cap for the 2021 season. Once that is set, they’ll come to an agreement on the remainder of the outstanding items and set dates.

The projections for the salary cap and luxury tax we are using during these previews are:

· Salary cap stays flat at just over $109 million

· Luxury tax goes up to the last projection of $139 million

· Luxury tax apron, where the hard cap occurs, is at $145 million

These are the lines that most teams are projecting the NBA and NBPA to settle at. The flat cap allows for player movement and doesn’t create a drastic cap spike when things normalize again. The increase to the luxury tax will allow teams the necessary wiggle room to work under the tax line. To lower the tax to this year’s $132.6 million would unfairly put teams in a tough position to dodge the tax.

Here are the picks the Celtics currently own at the 2020 NBA Draft:

· #14

· #26

· #30

· #47

In future seasons, for the first time in forever, the Celtics only own their own picks. Boston has all of their own future first and second round picks, with no extras in the stash.

Here is what Boston is working with on the cap at the start of the 2020 offseason:

Guaranteed Contracts

· Jaylen Brown - $23,735,119

· Carsen Edwards - $1,517,981

· Gordon Hayward - $34,187,085 (if player option is exercised)

· Enes Kanter - $5,005,350 (if player option is exercised)

· Romeo Langford - $3,631,200

· Vincent Poirier - $2,619,207

· Marcus Smart - $13,446,428

· Jayson Tatum - $9,897,120

· Kemba Walker - $34,379,100

· Grant Williams - $2,498,760

· Robert Williams - $2,029,920

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

· Javonte Green - $1,517,981 – fully non-guaranteed

· Semi Ojeleye - $1,752,950 (if team option is exercised) – fully non-guaranteed

· Daniel Theis - $5,000,000 – fully non-guaranteed

Pending Free Agents

· Tacko Fall - $1,445,697 cap hold – restricted Two-Way

· Gordon Hayward - $38,199,000 cap hold – unrestricted

· Enes Kanter - $5,720,400 cap hold – unrestricted

· Semi Ojeleye - $2,023,150 cap hold – restricted

· Brad Wanamaker - $1,820,564 – restricted

· Tremont Waters - $1,445,697 – restricted Two-Way

Dead Money

· Demetrius Jackson - $92,857

· Guerschon Yabusele - $1,039,080

Draft Pick Cap Holds

· #14 - $3,458,400

· #26 - $2,035,800

· #30 - $1,936,440

We look forward to you joining us here at CelticsBlog over the next two weeks as we get you ready for a critical offseason for the Boston Celtics!