RealGM

Zeller's 8M/8M contract is unguaranteed in 2017-18 and can be waived by 7/2/17. Does this mean he's tradeable at/after draft night (6/22/17) and can still be waived to save a different team 8M? Wondering whether this flexibility is still there or if we have to guarantee his 17-18 salary in order for him to be tradeable?

Yes, he can be traded with contract exactly as is, and then waived and paid (or not) according to what guarantees exist in his contract. This sort of vanishing contract has been a fairly-commonly exploited trade-matching loophole.

The 2017 CBA is changing the way such contracts can be used in trade matching beginning in July. But the ability to trade Zeller or a contract like his, with the contract intact, is still going to be the same.

What is changing in terms of salary matching in trades is that only the guaranteed portion will count. So, in Zeller's case, if this were a new deal under the new CBA, he would count for $0.00 in trade, because his contract is fully non-guaranteed.

But that doesn't start until new contracts signed this summer. So, Zeller can still be dealt, count as $8M in trade and then be waived prior to becoming fully guaranteed.

Also, last summer, the Celtics and Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko agreed to amend their dates and made the fully guaranteed date about a week later. This was when the Celtics were in the running for some major FAs and may have needed the cap space. So, that could play out again with Zeller this summer if necessary.