Celtics cap/roster reset and key offseason dates to watch

The Boston Celtics kicked off their offseason about a month early, when they swapped Kemba Walker and the #16 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft for Al Horford and Moses Brown. That move was actually made in the middle of a leadership shakeup that saw Danny Ainge step down at President of Basketball Operations. Ainge was replaced by Brad Stevens, which opened up the head coach position for the Celtics. After making the Horford-Walker trade, Stevens hired Ime Udoka to replace him on the sidelines.

Whew! What a summer!

Wait...the offseason hasn’t even really started yet!

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

With Udoka in place, Stevens can turn his eyes towards rebuilding the Celtics roster as he sees fit. Over a series of articles, we’ll look at the key decisions Stevens is facing from which free agents should be re-signed to the draft to free agents and trades. The topics we’ll cover are:

· Cap/Roster Reset

· The big free agents: Evan Fournier

· The other free agents: Semi Ojeleye and Luke Kornet

· The Two-Way free agents: Tacko Fall and Tremont Waters

· The non-guarantees: Jabari Parker and Moses Brown

· The Draft: Is Yam Madar this year’s pick? And targets at #45

· The Exceptions: MLE, BAE and TPEs

· Trades: Who stays and who goes?

Let’s start with a reset of who is on the roster, their cap hits and some key dates to watch!

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Fully Guaranteed Contracts – 11 players

· Jaylen Brown - $26,758,928

· Carsen Edwards - $1,782,621

· Al Horford - $27,000,000

· Romeo Langford - $3,804,360

· Aaron Nesmith - $3,631,200

· Payton Pritchard - $2,137,440

· Marcus Smart - $14,339,285

· Jayson Tatum - $28,103,500 (will be finalized when cap is set in early-August)

· Tristan Thompson - $9,720,900

· Grant Williams - $2,617,800

· Robert Williams III – $3,661,976

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Partial/Non-Guaranteed Contracts – 2 players

· Moses Brown - $1,701,593 – $500,000 guaranteed

· Jabari Parker - $2,283,034 – fully non-guaranteed

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Free Agents – 5 players (all values listed are cap holds, not actual salaries)

· Tacko Fall - $1,489,065 – restricted free agent – Two-Way

· Evan Fournier - $26,175,000 – unrestricted free agent – Bird

· Luke Kornet - $2,925,000 – unrestricted free agent – Early Bird

· Semi Ojeleye - $1,669,178 – unrestricted free agent – Bird off Minimum

· Tremont Waters - $1,489,065 – restricted free agent – Two-Way

Dead Money – 2 players

· Demetrius Jackson - $92,857

· Guerschon Yabusele - $1,039,080

Projected Exceptions

· Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception - $9,536,000 (will be reduced to Taxpayer MLE at $5,890,000 if Boston goes over Tax Apron)

· Bi-Annual Exception - $3,732,000 (will be removed if Boston goes over Tax Apron)

· Gordon Hayward Traded Player Exception - $11,050,000 – expires in 8/16/21

· Enes Kanter Traded Player Exception - $4,767,000 – expires 8/2/21

· Vincent Poirier Traded Player Exception - $343,873 – expires 7/30/21

· Jeff Teague Traded Player Exception - $370,564 – expires 2/11/22

· Daniel Theis Traded Player Exception - $5,000,000 – expires 2/11/22

· Kemba Walker Traded Player Exception - $6,879,100 – expires 5/1/22

(Note: Traded Player Exceptions can only be used to acquire a player via trade or off waivers. They cannot be aggregated together or with outgoing player salary.)

2021-22 Salary Cap/Luxury Tax Projections

· Projected Salary Cap - $112,414,000

· Projected Luxury Tax - $136,606,000

· Projected Tax Apron (Hard Cap) - $143,095,840

Celtics Salary Cap Picture

· All inclusive (with cap holds) - $162,421,882 - $50,007,882 over the cap

· Under contract only - $128,674,574 - $16,260,574 over the cap

· Guaranteed contracts only - $126,115,205 - $13,701,205 over the cap

Celtics Luxury Tax Picture

· Under contract only - $128,674,574 - $7,931,426 under the tax

· Guaranteed contracts only - $126,115,205 - $10,490,795 under the tax

Celtics Tax Apron (Hard Cap) Picture

· Under contract only - $128,674,574 - $14,421,266 under the apron

· Guaranteed contracts only - $126,115,205 - $16,980,635 under the apron

Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

Dates to Watch

· 7/23/21 - 8/8/21 – Summer Olympics – Jayson Tatum will play for Team USA as they look to bring home the gold

· 7/29/21 – 2021 NBA Draft – Boston picks at #45 in the second round

· 7/31/21 – Jabari Parker’s contract becomes $100,000 guaranteed

· 8/1/21 – Qualifying offer deadline for Tacko Fall and Tremont Waters. If no qualifying offer is tendered, both will become unrestricted free agents

· 8/2/21 6:00 PM ET – Free agent negotiations can begin

· 8/6/21 12:00 PM ET – Contracts and trades can be made official

· Early-August (date TBD) – Traded Player Exceptions for Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter and Vincent Poirier expire

· 8/8/21 - 8/17/21 – NBA Summer League (Las Vegas)

· 9/28/21 – Training camps open

· 10/18/21 – Deadline to sign Robert Williams III to a contract extension

· 10/19/21 – Opening Night for 2021-22 NBA season

· 10/31/21 – Deadline to pick up 2022-23 Rookie Scale Team Options for Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith, Payton Pritchard and Grant Williams