Can Celtics extend Tatum and White?

[brackdan70]

My updated Math after whites bonuses this season. He can extend for up to 4/127 which starts at 28.3 in 2025/26, or wait for free agency where he could theoretically get more.
I really expect him to extend.

[R-DAWG]

My updated Math after whites bonuses this season. He can extend for up to 4/127 which starts at 28.3 in 2025/26, or wait for free agency where he could theoretically get more.
I really expect him to extend.

I don't see White turning down 4/127 if that's what Boston offers. Maybe he makes the last year a player option and goes back into free agency at 33, but $32MM per year for a 30 year old guard who has never averaged more than 15 points a game is a huge number.

[Fencer reregistered]

I was thinking more in terms of the cap rules even allowing them to do it, not that ownership wouldn't foot the bill.

There's really nothing to stop a team from spending like this on their core guys. The 2nd apron rules will make it difficult for Boston to have any depth behind them.

yeah, hauser's last year will be next summer. Pritchard is signed, They will sign one ring chaser for the taxpayer MLE and ther are always a coupe of vet mins to be had.

No MLE when you're over the 2nd Apron.

The Celtics have access to their own players (including Bird Rights in most relevant cases), guys they draft, minimum salary FAs, and not much else.

[snowman]

White will be extended this summer for his max (4/127) Tatum will get his full max. Kornet and Tillman will be extended also.
Springer and Walsh are on rookie deals. Hauser and Queta's option will be picked up. That will give them these under contract for at least the next two years.
White, Holiday, Brown, Tatum, Porzingis, Pritchard, Springer, Walsh.
and for one year anyway:
Tillman, Kornet, Hauser, Queta, Horford, Brissett (one year player option)

I expect Tillman, Kornet, Hauser, Queta and Horford extended for two years anyway.

The only one I don't expect back off this year's team is Svi Mykhailiuk.

[cl2117]

Could we potentially see a team like the Celtics give one of their own free agents that they have Bird rights on an over the top one year contract to effectively create a trade-able asset?

For example, could they give Luke Kornet a 1 year deal in excess of the MLE thereby giving them the opportunity to go out and trade for an MLE level player after the restrictions on trading a re-signed player expire?

It'd obviously increase what will likely already be an eye-watering tax bill, but would create options that would otherwise be unavailable to a 2nd apron team. Add a couple picks, one to eat the expiring contract of Kornet, the rest to pay for the incoming player and voila, you've just sort of recreated the MLE in a roundabout way.

[Chinook]

Re-signing a guy to a one-year deal gives them veto rights on a trade. I don't know if that's the route I'd want to go if I were Boston.

[brackdan70]

Could we potentially see a team like the Celtics give one of their own free agents that they have Bird rights on an over the top one year contract to effectively create a trade-able asset?

For example, could they give Luke Kornet a 1 year deal in excess of the MLE thereby giving them the opportunity to go out and trade for an MLE level player after the restrictions on trading a re-signed player expire?

It'd obviously increase what will likely already be an eye-watering tax bill, but would create options that would otherwise be unavailable to a 2nd apron team. Add a couple picks, one to eat the expiring contract of Kornet, the rest to pay for the incoming player and voila, you've just sort of recreated the MLE in a roundabout way.

I suppose that is a possibility. I don’t think they would do that though unless they had a couple tangible ideas. An interesting idea though. I could see teams doing this type of thing.

[R-DAWG]

Yes - the Celtics can extend Tatum and White. White should jump all over that 4/$127 if the Celtics offer it - it's a huge number for a glue guy/4th starter type. Tatum is getting the supermax.

This team will run it back next year adding a player with their first round pick.

Roster issues won't come into play until Al retires and Jrue declines as he gets older. The path to replacing those guys while paying Brown, Tatum and potentially White and KP is very limited. But right now, who cares. The Celtics got extremely lucky with how the Jrue Holiday thing played out which is allowing them to be an old CBA team in a new CBA world, in a way similar to how Golden State got lucky with Steph's contract and the cap spike.

But you worry about the future in the future. Between the Celtics roster and the current landscape of the league focus on the now.

[Snakebites]

If they couldn’t they wouldn’t have extended Jrue last season.

He’d be the guy to let go, not one of those two.

[docholliday99]

If they couldn’t they wouldn’t have extended Jrue last offseason.

He’d be the guy to let go, not one of those two.

I'm not sure where you went, Boston gave Jrue his extension at the start of April, 2024 after he waived his player option.

White is an interesting asset, we'll see how serious Boston is about keeping everyone together. Personally, it makes sense that Boston will stay the course as they appeared to have gone shopping for cheap players already, before the last deadline and before they hit the 2nd apron, bringing in Tillman, Springer and a srp.

[Rafael122]

It always felt like they had this season and next and then some decisions need to be made. They got the championship which is what matters. The fact that they have all their first round picks is huge because whatever restrictions they have in free agency they could make up for that in the draft. It's just a matter of hitting on the draft pick.

[Snakebites]

If they couldn’t they wouldn’t have extended Jrue last offseason.

He’d be the guy to let go, not one of those two.

I'm not sure where you went, Boston gave Jrue his extension at the start of April, 2024 after he waived his player option.

White is an interesting asset, we'll see how serious Boston is about keeping everyone together. Personally, it makes sense that Boston will stay the course as they appeared to have gone shopping for cheap players already, before the last deadline and before they hit the 2nd apron, bringing in Tillman, Springer and a srp.

I misremembered when it happened. I don’t see how that materially changes my point though. They would not have committed money to him knowing it would be at the expense of White (we’ll leave Tatum out of this, he’s obviously going nowhere no matter what).

Thanks for the correction. The snark wasn’t needed but no biggie.

[docholliday99]

If they couldn’t they wouldn’t have extended Jrue last offseason.

He’d be the guy to let go, not one of those two.

I'm not sure where you went, Boston gave Jrue his extension at the start of April, 2024 after he waived his player option.

White is an interesting asset, we'll see how serious Boston is about keeping everyone together. Personally, it makes sense that Boston will stay the course as they appeared to have gone shopping for cheap players already, before the last deadline and before they hit the 2nd apron, bringing in Tillman, Springer and a srp.

I misremembered when it happened. I don’t see how that materially changes my point though. They would not have committed money to him knowing it would be at the expense of White (we’ll leave Tatum out of this, he’s obviously going nowhere no matter what).

Thanks for the correction. The snark wasn’t needed but no biggie.

No no, no snark whatsoever and if reads that way, my apologies - I was curious if you were meaning something else and I misread it. I was just thinking that these guys know the cap inside and out, probably for every team in the league. They extended Jrue right before these playoffs knowing they'll max out Tatum and still have White's extension coming - which is why I think they'll extend him. They'll have a 200million payroll in 25-26 but if they add another chip or 2, I think it's worth it. It's crazy to think they have this level of a roster and basically all their frps still (except the 2029)

[Snakebites]

I'm not sure where you went, Boston gave Jrue his extension at the start of April, 2024 after he waived his player option.

White is an interesting asset, we'll see how serious Boston is about keeping everyone together. Personally, it makes sense that Boston will stay the course as they appeared to have gone shopping for cheap players already, before the last deadline and before they hit the 2nd apron, bringing in Tillman, Springer and a srp.

I misremembered when it happened. I don’t see how that materially changes my point though. They would not have committed money to him knowing it would be at the expense of White (we’ll leave Tatum out of this, he’s obviously going nowhere no matter what).

Thanks for the correction. The snark wasn’t needed but no biggie.

No no, no snark whatsoever and if reads that way, my apologies - I was curious if you were meaning something else and I misread it. I was just thinking that these guys know the cap inside and out, probably for every team in the league. They extended Jrue right before these playoffs knowing they'll max out Tatum and still have White's extension coming - which is why I think they'll extend him. They'll have a 200million payroll in 25-26 but if they add another chip or 2, I think it's worth it. It's crazy to think they have this level of a roster and basically all their frps still (except the 2029)

Agreed on all counts.

The only logical thing to do now that this is a proven championship formula is to run it back. The Celtics aren’t fools- they would not have given Jrue such a large deal if they thought it would come at the expense of another starter.

[cl2117]

Re-signing a guy to a one-year deal gives them veto rights on a trade. I don't know if that's the route I'd want to go if I were Boston.

I'm gonna guess that there'd be a gentleman's agreement that if you're giving a guy like Luke Kornet $13m for one season (more than he's made in his 6 NBA seasons combined) that he'll ultimately accept a trade anywhere at the end of the day. Slightly risky, but possibly worth it.

I suppose that is a possibility. I don’t think they would do that though unless they had a couple tangible ideas. An interesting idea though. I could see teams doing this type of thing.

I think with an extension you've got a 6 month trade restriction, which would cause problems in terms of having something specific lined up. That being said, if you give the guy a deal slightly above the MLE at least then you know that's your pool of players, so I'm sure you could have some targets in mind.

For example I'd love Wendell Carter Jr. as an heir to Al Horford, but it's impossible unless they're willing to break down one of the starting pieces into smaller deals (which obviously is a no-go). Give Kornet the MLE, wait 6 months and hope a couple 1sts and 2nds can pry him away. Keep his Bird rights and you can extend him in line with the rest of the team. The tax bill would be immense, but I think it could be worth it when the alternatives are hoping to hit home runs with vet minimum signings and/or late 1sts/early 2nds.

[BK_2020]

Could we potentially see a team like the Celtics give one of their own free agents that they have Bird rights on an over the top one year contract to effectively create a trade-able asset?

For example, could they give Luke Kornet a 1 year deal in excess of the MLE thereby giving them the opportunity to go out and trade for an MLE level player after the restrictions on trading a re-signed player expire?

It'd obviously increase what will likely already be an eye-watering tax bill, but would create options that would otherwise be unavailable to a 2nd apron team. Add a couple picks, one to eat the expiring contract of Kornet, the rest to pay for the incoming player and voila, you've just sort of recreated the MLE in a roundabout way.

NBA can void such a deal under the broad prohibition on circumventing the CBA. Not saying they would, but if something like that becomes a trend (highly unlikely as no team has ever done such a thing despite it being a pretty easily conceivable idea) the CBA allows the NBA to crack down on it.