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Brooklyn trades Shake Milton

Boston trades Jaden Springer + 2030 second round pick

Shake Milton is having a surprising effective (offensively anyway) age 28 season. His per 36 numbers are basically 12 pts, 5 assists shooting over 40% from 3PTA. Shake is signed $3 million this year, $3 next at team option, and then again $3.3 for 2026-27 at team option. His salary and production is appealing from a lux tax perspective for the Celts.

For Brooklyn, they add a second to the pick cabinet to move off a player not in their long term plans. According to fanspo, Brooklyn stays under the tax after this deal.

It makes some sense for both teams I guess.
I’d rather give any extra minutes to Walsh though.

Makes sense. Celtics might not want Shake on the roster moving forward though for the same reason they cut Lonnie Walker out of camp.

White is signed for 3 more years plus a player option for a 4th. Holiday and Pritchard have 3 years left. Jordan Walsh who they’ve been giving some time to and they like his potential has 2 years left at rookie minimum. They drafted a guard/wing in Scherierman who has 3 years left on his deal after this and is playing well in the G league.

The only two players on their 14 man roster NOT signed for next year are Springer and Kornet. They have their first rounder to replace one of them and they also have a pick from WAS I believe projected to be high in the 2nd round.

I use the Lonnie Walker example because he probably deserved to be on their roster but they wanted to keep the cheaper guys and leave a spot open to save money. They might have a similar attitude about Shake in the future of his deal on those options, which is a big part of his value. I’m not sure they want to be locked into that extra cost over filling the spots for the minimums. In their tax bracket, even small dollars are multiplies many times over.

This works, but would have to be a last minute deadline deal. The Nets have very little breathing room under the tax, and won't use all of it for a distant 2nd.

What the Nets need to do is find an initial deal to free up some space under the tax to increase flexibility in deals that will return more valuable assets (e.g. DFS, Schroder, etc). I don't see Bogdanovic or Simmons taking a reduced buyout, so moving Milton to a team that can send no salary back might be the most realistic option.

TheNetsFan wrote:This works, but would have to be a last minute deadline deal. The Nets have very little breathing room under the tax, and won't use all of it for a distant 2nd.

What the Nets need to do is find an initial deal to free up some space under the tax to increase flexibility in deals that will return more valuable assets (e.g. DFS, Schroder, etc). I don't see Bogdanovic or Simmons taking a reduced buyout, so moving Milton to a team that can send no salary back might be the most realistic option.

Yea, I guess BRK has to figure out their big deals first.

I AM starting to wonder what will be the market for teams selling their vets with so many teams trying to do the same thing, get future assets, get off productive players, and tank for a top four pick. And in the Nets case, if they want to stay under the tax, second apron teams are most likely to pursue players for a playoff run, but any deals with 2nd apron teams, the 2nd apron team HAS to send out more $$$ than they take in. So it’s gonna be interesting.

And the Nets don’t even have an easy road to tank. Like they have some interesting players and are winning games enough to be a low seed in the East. So I guess we’ll see, a lot of the league is trade eligible come December 15 … but if Nets gonna sell, the sooner y’all sell the better, or you could just end up an 8th seed against your wishes, lol

The East right now
Boston
Cleveland
Orlando
New York

Are 1-4 …

and then Miami, Milwaukee, Indiana, Atlanta, and Brooklyn are all within 2 games either way of .500.

You do figure Milwaukee, Indiana, Atlanta are committed to get into he playoffs. But Miami, I’m not so sure, rumors they could start shedding pieces and hope for a lottery pick. if Miami trades Butler and Herro they could start the tank job out right. Brooklyn could easily end up in the playoffs, even if they move Schröder and Finney-Smith.

hugepatsfan wrote:Makes sense. Celtics might not want Shake on the roster moving forward though for the same reason they cut Lonnie Walker out of camp.

White is signed for 3 more years plus a player option for a 4th. Holiday and Pritchard have 3 years left. Jordan Walsh who they’ve been giving some time to and they like his potential has 2 years left at rookie minimum. They drafted a guard/wing in Scherierman who has 3 years left on his deal after this and is playing well in the G league.

The only two players on their 14 man roster NOT signed for next year are Springer and Kornet. They have their first rounder to replace one of them and they also have a pick from WAS I believe projected to be high in the 2nd round.

I use the Lonnie Walker example because he probably deserved to be on their roster but they wanted to keep the cheaper guys and leave a spot open to save money. They might have a similar attitude about Shake in the future of his deal on those options, which is a big part of his value. I’m not sure they want to be locked into that extra cost over filling the spots for the minimums. In their tax bracket, even small dollars are multiplies many times over.

I agree, Celts may just want another guard for this upcoming playoff run without committing a roster spot next year. Milton gives you that flexibility. Because next year he is not guaranteed you could also use his salary in a trade at the time of the draft, taking back another player $3 million or less contract and then the receiving team gets to waive Shake, or keep him, they’d get the option. Or the Cs could like what he brings and pick up his option to be a next year bench guard, they’d have options and I like that flexibility.

Shake Milton has had an interesting career. When the Cs swept the Sixers in the bubble, Shake was a starter and averaged 15 pts in 32 minutes on good shooting. So he has had good playoff moments. At his highest ups he’s looked like a fifth starter and his lowest lows he’s looked like a fringe NBA player. In the 2025 playoffs I think Shake Milton would be more valuable than Jaden Springer as a depth guard, for sure, and he’s only 28 years old, so he may just be a little bit undervalued right now.

And in the trade I proposed I may be selling Jaden Springer a little short, you might see the deal amended that it’s Springer plus a future second for Milton and the least favorable of Brooklyn’s 2025 seconds, which is currently 47 from Miami. So maybe BOS can bring back a late pick in this upcoming draft, which presents some uncommon stash options because of the overall depth of 2025 class

redslastlaugh wrote:

TheNetsFan wrote:This works, but would have to be a last minute deadline deal. The Nets have very little breathing room under the tax, and won't use all of it for a distant 2nd.

What the Nets need to do is find an initial deal to free up some space under the tax to increase flexibility in deals that will return more valuable assets (e.g. DFS, Schroder, etc). I don't see Bogdanovic or Simmons taking a reduced buyout, so moving Milton to a team that can send no salary back might be the most realistic option.

Yea, I guess BRK has to figure out their big deals first.

I AM starting to wonder what will be the market for teams selling their vets with so many teams trying to do the same thing, get future assets, get off productive players, and tank for a top four pick. And in the Nets case, if they want to stay under the tax, second apron teams are most likely to pursue players for a playoff run, but any deals with 2nd apron teams, the 2nd apron team HAS to send out more $$$ than they take in. So it’s gonna be interesting.

And the Nets don’t even have an easy road to tank. Like they have some interesting players and are winning games enough to be a low seed in the East. So I guess we’ll see, a lot of the league is trade eligible come December 15 … but if Nets gonna sell, the sooner y’all sell the better, or you could just end up an 8th seed against your wishes, lol

The East right now
Boston
Cleveland
Orlando
New York

Are 1-4 …

and then Miami, Milwaukee, Indiana, Atlanta, and Brooklyn are all within 2 games either way of .500.

You do figure Milwaukee, Indiana, Atlanta are committed to get into he playoffs. But Miami, I’m not so sure, rumors they could start shedding pieces and hope for a lottery pick. if Miami trades Butler and Herro they could start the tank job out right. Brooklyn could easily end up in the playoffs, even if they move Schröder and Finney-Smith.

I also wonder what the market will be like at the TDL

I think there is a really good chance that most deals at the TDL will have a focus on the cap sheet and the financials: any team that doesn't look like a contender should want to get below the tax line if at all possible. Too many teams that will be contending at the TDL will also be hamstrung by the apron rules as well, making it very hard to add vets that come with salary.

redslastlaugh wrote:

TheNetsFan wrote:This works, but would have to be a last minute deadline deal. The Nets have very little breathing room under the tax, and won't use all of it for a distant 2nd.

What the Nets need to do is find an initial deal to free up some space under the tax to increase flexibility in deals that will return more valuable assets (e.g. DFS, Schroder, etc). I don't see Bogdanovic or Simmons taking a reduced buyout, so moving Milton to a team that can send no salary back might be the most realistic option.

Yea, I guess BRK has to figure out their big deals first.

I AM starting to wonder what will be the market for teams selling their vets with so many teams trying to do the same thing, get future assets, get off productive players, and tank for a top four pick. And in the Nets case, if they want to stay under the tax, second apron teams are most likely to pursue players for a playoff run, but any deals with 2nd apron teams, the 2nd apron team HAS to send out more $$$ than they take in. So it’s gonna be interesting.

And the Nets don’t even have an easy road to tank. Like they have some interesting players and are winning games enough to be a low seed in the East. So I guess we’ll see, a lot of the league is trade eligible come December 15 … but if Nets gonna sell, the sooner y’all sell the better, or you could just end up an 8th seed against your wishes, lol

The East right now
Boston
Cleveland
Orlando
New York

Are 1-4 …

and then Miami, Milwaukee, Indiana, Atlanta, and Brooklyn are all within 2 games either way of .500.

You do figure Milwaukee, Indiana, Atlanta are committed to get into he playoffs. But Miami, I’m not so sure, rumors they could start shedding pieces and hope for a lottery pick. if Miami trades Butler and Herro they could start the tank job out right. Brooklyn could easily end up in the playoffs, even if they move Schröder and Finney-Smith.

The Nets lack ball handling/shot creation beyond Schroder and Thomas (out 1 month). After those 2, it's Simmons and Watford as point forwards. Trade Schroder or Thomas, and the team won't be able to sustain anything offensively.