After purchasing Jrue Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers, the Boston Celtics have likely completed all of their summer negotiations.
After Boston acquired Jaylen Brown in a supermax contract extension and traded Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis in a three-team deal, it was reasonable to think the same. Yet the Milwaukee Bucks sent Holiday to Portland last week as part of a massive trade for Damian Lillard, and the Boston Celtics pounced on the chance to acquire him on Sunday.
The Celtics have a lot of money on the books — now and for the future — which could prevent another sizable splash. But ESPN NBA insider Kevin Pelton raised an interesting point Sunday in grading the Celtics-Blazers trade that could reveal Boston’s next offseason target.
Here’s what Pelton wrote:
The Celtics could also fill the roster spot created in this trade with a free agent, but will be subject to new restrictions preventing teams above the first luxury-tax apron from signing players waived midseason who previously were making more than the value of the non-taxpayer midlevel exception ($12.4 million).
Notably, those restrictions don’t apply to Reggie Bullock after the veteran wing agreed to a buyout with the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. Bullock doesn’t qualify because the move will come before the start of the regular season, and also because his salary was below that threshold. The battle to sign Bullock could be an interesting pivot point in the title race, with both Boston and Milwaukee surely in the mix.)
Reggie Bullock, a seasoned wing, just agreed to a buyout with the San Antonio Spurs, so such limitations don’t apply to him. Bullock is ineligible because his salary was below the cutoff and because the move will occur before the start of the regular season. Boston and Milwaukee are undoubtedly contenders for the crown, so the struggle to sign Bullock might be an intriguing turning point in the race.)
Aldridge then pondered whether the Washington Wizards’ Delon Wright may be a viable option for the C’s. Boston still has resources to use in the trade market, even though it could be challenging to match salaries.
