Shams: Niang to Jazz with SRPs, Celts also sign Boucher

[Devilanche]

I figure that's pretty terrible for Boston having Kuzma on the books for 26-7 when they'll be back trying to win.

Yeah, we'd deal him later this year, or incorporate a 3rd team right now. I just didn't wanna complicate things.

Something like LAL or CHA make sense to me as Kuz destinations. CHA send out Green and Jeffries and BOS ducks the tax completely. LAL doesn't help financially, but splits the burden in 2 (Vincent, Maxi) and either is easier to move, or even waive/stretch if it comes to it.

I figure that avoiding the tax completely is very minor for Boston. Just getting from paying $200-300M in luxury taxes down to $20-30M is fine.

More important for Boston is not having bad money on the books for 26-7 when they're trying again.

Small chance they can duck out of luxury tax this season and next . Will reset clock on repeater tax which is huge cost savings .

[babyjax13]

I am thrilled to have Niang back, the perfect mentor for this team.

[giberish]

Yeah, we'd deal him later this year, or incorporate a 3rd team right now. I just didn't wanna complicate things.

Something like LAL or CHA make sense to me as Kuz destinations. CHA send out Green and Jeffries and BOS ducks the tax completely. LAL doesn't help financially, but splits the burden in 2 (Vincent, Maxi) and either is easier to move, or even waive/stretch if it comes to it.

I figure that avoiding the tax completely is very minor for Boston. Just getting from paying $200-300M in luxury taxes down to $20-30M is fine.

More important for Boston is not having bad money on the books for 26-7 when they're trying again.

Small chance they can duck out of luxury tax this season and next . Will reset clock on repeater tax which is huge cost savings .

IMO repeater tax is overrated as a motivating factor. Just getting from wildly over the luxury tax line to only mildly over it is a bigger cost savings.

It also will be difficult to impossible for the Celtics to be competitive next season while under the luxury tax (that can generally only be done with young rosters). I doubt Boston plans on not competing for two seasons.

[djFan71]

I figure that avoiding the tax completely is very minor for Boston. Just getting from paying $200-300M in luxury taxes down to $20-30M is fine.

More important for Boston is not having bad money on the books for 26-7 when they're trying again.

Small chance they can duck out of luxury tax this season and next . Will reset clock on repeater tax which is huge cost savings .

IMO repeater tax is overrated as a motivating factor. Just getting from wildly over the luxury tax line to only mildly over it is a bigger cost savings.

It also will be difficult to impossible for the Celtics to be competitive next season while under the luxury tax (that can generally only be done with young rosters). I doubt Boston plans on not competing for two seasons.

Yeah, I agree with you on all that. I even made a "Don't Fear the Repeater" thread on our board. It's just options. If you can duck this season without any real cost, why not? Save money now to pay it later. If it was a player I cared about, I wouldn't advocate the trade. But, I don't think Simons has a future in BOS, and would rather play our young guys instead. So, send him out, duck the tax for no cost is a no brainer to me.

Even if you don't duck it the following year, you've given yourself a year of savings, developed the young guys instead of someone who won't be here, and have more room under the aprons to do deals with TPEs / taking back more salary.

[giberish]

Small chance they can duck out of luxury tax this season and next . Will reset clock on repeater tax which is huge cost savings .

IMO repeater tax is overrated as a motivating factor. Just getting from wildly over the luxury tax line to only mildly over it is a bigger cost savings.

It also will be difficult to impossible for the Celtics to be competitive next season while under the luxury tax (that can generally only be done with young rosters). I doubt Boston plans on not competing for two seasons.

Yeah, I agree with you on all that. I even made a "Don't Fear the Repeater" thread on our board. It's just options. If you can duck this season without any real cost, why not? Save money now to pay it later. If it was a player I cared about, I wouldn't advocate the trade. But, I don't think Simons has a future in BOS, and would rather play our young guys instead. So, send him out, duck the tax for no cost is a no brainer to me.

Even if you don't duck it the following year, you've given yourself a year of savings, developed the young guys instead of someone who won't be here, and have more room under the aprons to do deals with TPEs / taking back more salary.

Sure if you can send out Simons and get under the tax without any long-term downside then it's great. But sending out Simons to take back a multi-year bad deal isn't a good idea even if it gets under the tax this season, similarly a plan that involves a waive and stretch to get under the tax leaving dead money for several years going forward is also a bad plan.

[Richard4444]

I am thrilled to have Niang back, the perfect mentor for this team.

I would not be surprised if he is waived.

[djFan71]

IMO repeater tax is overrated as a motivating factor. Just getting from wildly over the luxury tax line to only mildly over it is a bigger cost savings.

It also will be difficult to impossible for the Celtics to be competitive next season while under the luxury tax (that can generally only be done with young rosters). I doubt Boston plans on not competing for two seasons.

Yeah, I agree with you on all that. I even made a "Don't Fear the Repeater" thread on our board. It's just options. If you can duck this season without any real cost, why not? Save money now to pay it later. If it was a player I cared about, I wouldn't advocate the trade. But, I don't think Simons has a future in BOS, and would rather play our young guys instead. So, send him out, duck the tax for no cost is a no brainer to me.

Even if you don't duck it the following year, you've given yourself a year of savings, developed the young guys instead of someone who won't be here, and have more room under the aprons to do deals with TPEs / taking back more salary.

Sure if you can send out Simons and get under the tax without any long-term downside then it's great. But sending out Simons to take back a multi-year bad deal isn't a good idea even if it gets under the tax this season, similarly a plan that involves a waive and stretch to get under the tax leaving dead money for several years going forward is also a bad plan.

Yep, we’re on the same page. Keeping Kuz without a plan of a follow on move wasn’t my intention.

[Daddy 801]

Is Niang gettable or is he probably staying in Utah? He seems Kerr-y

A third of the roster is gettable in Utah.

[babyjax13]

Is Niang gettable or is he probably staying in Utah? He seems Kerr-y

A third of the roster is gettable in Utah.

Probably a larger proportion than that - I'd say a third of the roster probably won't be in the NBA in two seasons.

[Daddy 801]

Is Niang gettable or is he probably staying in Utah? He seems Kerr-y

A third of the roster is gettable in Utah.

Probably a larger proportion than that - I'd say a third of the roster probably won't be in the NBA in two seasons.

Potentially also true.

[jayjaysee]

The value is fine enough, but I would have wanted to keep the TPE complete in hopes of a bigger value dump later…

Good for Boston saving so much for just seconds.

[SkyHook]

I agree. There was bound to be a team at the deadline which was floundering yet deep into the tax from which much greater value could have been extracted. Still, they'll have $18.4MM of the TPE left that will hopefully prove useful.

[Godaddycurse]

Guess this means no more offer sheet from utah

[cl2117]

Solid all around, which I think is unsurprising with Austin Ainge moving over and re-inforcing the Utah/Boston connection. Both sides do well here.

Jazz get the better of Boston/Orlando 2027 2nd and Boston/Cleveland 2031 2nd, plus a solid expiring vet for their TPE and an undrafted kid. They're low level picks but I could even see them flipping Niang to an injured/needy team and landing another 2nd out of it. 2-3 weak 2nds for that cap space is solid value.

Celtics sign a comparable veteran forward in Boucher for the vet minimum making the already expendable Niang even more so. A pair of 2nds likely in the back half of their respective rounds isn't too bad a price to pay to shave just shy of $9m off the books, especially considering the millions more saved in taxes. Take back an undrafted kid who is the same calibre of player as the two guys the C's drafted in the 2nd round of this most recent draft so that you can try to tell yourself you got a little something even if it's just window dressing.

Pleased with the Boucher addition, like the fit for Mazzulla ball. It's an audition for the 2026/27 team but doubt it affects the win/loss column in any signficant way this year (which is a positive) and if I'm wrong on that then they've likely found a rotation piece for when Tatum's back.

[Scoot McGroot]

Small chance they can duck out of luxury tax this season and next . Will reset clock on repeater tax which is huge cost savings .

IMO repeater tax is overrated as a motivating factor. Just getting from wildly over the luxury tax line to only mildly over it is a bigger cost savings.

It also will be difficult to impossible for the Celtics to be competitive next season while under the luxury tax (that can generally only be done with young rosters). I doubt Boston plans on not competing for two seasons.

Yeah, I agree with you on all that. I even made a "Don't Fear the Repeater" thread on our board. It's just options. If you can duck this season without any real cost, why not? Save money now to pay it later. If it was a player I cared about, I wouldn't advocate the trade. But, I don't think Simons has a future in BOS, and would rather play our young guys instead. So, send him out, duck the tax for no cost is a no brainer to me.

Even if you don't duck it the following year, you've given yourself a year of savings, developed the young guys instead of someone who won't be here, and have more room under the aprons to do deals with TPEs / taking back more salary.

Can't emphasize all of this enough.

Boston shouldn't bend over backwards to hurt themselves just to get under the tax line, but if they can do it affordably (by just moving Simons and some lesser, lesser type assets) they absolutely should. Get under one year, and it absolutely could open up other options for the 2nd year. Can't clear the repeater tax if you don't get under it once to begin with, etc...

It's just good team management to ensure that they're doing their best to open up all avenues of team building and roster management.

[SkyHook]

Guess this means no more offer sheet from utah

Was that a threat anyway? They weren't below the cap enough to make any offer of substance nor would they have been inclined to do so even if they were for any of the available RFAs, imo. They can still play the role of facilitator in a S&T for sufficient incentive.

[jayjaysee]

I know it’s too late and Utah probably never uses more than 18 million of the TPE anyways but.. could Utah trade Love for a player making below 5 mil (what’s left of TPE) and use Love’s salary to match Niang? Just to make us/me happy?

Say

Powell+Niang+Prosper+Dallas cash+Boston 2nds to Utah
Love to Dallas

That trims the money needed for Exum. And Love might/could give some minutes as a spacing big?

Or something similar with a team that could use a spot minute big?..

Or

Kyle Anderson to Sac
Saric+Niang+Sac second+Boston 2nds to Utah

[SkyHook]

I know it’s too late and Utah probably never uses more than 18 million of the TPE anyways but.. could Utah trade Love for a player making below 5 mil (what’s left of TPE) and use Love’s salary to match Niang? Just to make us/me happy?

Say

Powell+Niang+Prosper+Dallas cash+Boston 2nds to Utah
Love to Dallas

That trims the money needed for Exum. And Love might/could give some minutes as a spacing big?

Or something similar with a team that could use a spot minute big?..

Or

Kyle Anderson to Sac
Saric+Niang+Sac second+Boston 2nds to Utah

Love for Powell + OMP works as a standard trade without Utah tapping into the balance of their NTMLE or any of their TPEs. Cash alone might get it done, but I imagine that the Jazz would want at least one SRP in return, given that they expect to shed most of Love's salary in a buyout.

I like the SAC deal as it preserves the entire Collins TPE.

[jayjaysee]

I know it’s too late and Utah probably never uses more than 18 million of the TPE anyways but.. could Utah trade Love for a player making below 5 mil (what’s left of TPE) and use Love’s salary to match Niang? Just to make us/me happy?

Say

Powell+Niang+Prosper+Dallas cash+Boston 2nds to Utah
Love to Dallas

That trims the money needed for Exum. And Love might/could give some minutes as a spacing big?

Or something similar with a team that could use a spot minute big?..

Or

Kyle Anderson to Sac
Saric+Niang+Sac second+Boston 2nds to Utah

Love for Powell + OMP works as a standard trade without Utah tapping into the balance of their NTMLE or any of their TPEs. Cash alone might get it done, but I imagine that the Jazz would want at least one SRP in return, given that they expect to shed most of Love's salary in a buyout.

I like the SAC deal as it preserves the entire Collins TPE.

They both should preserve the entire TPE, only reason Utah look at them. Utah still has part of the MLE and a smaller TPE to split the Dallas contracts in as.

I doubt Dallas has any interest in paying anything of real value for that deal though. Cash is about all imo.

[165bows]

I'm a bit surprised that it was Boston who got Boucher on a vet min deal. Thought he'd be a much better fit as a depth piece (9th man) on a contender.

He's been inconsistent his entire career, and you don't want to have to rely on him in your top 7. However, if he comes in and hits a couple shots, he can get hot, play impact D, block shots, and tilt a game. On Boston, he just might win them a few games they'd rather lose -- as he did in TOR before he was benched to help the tank.

There's been a couple of low key reports they have liked him over the past couple of years, seemed like a guy that might land eventually. He porbably gets as many minutes as he can handle and then either plays well and gets dealt or gets a bigger deal next year. Or maybe he ends up as depth in 26/27 when Tatum is back.

Kind of a win/win imo except unless he does as you say wins too many games.