According To Shams The Rest Of The NBA Is Bracing Themselves For The Celtics To Explore Trade Options This Offseason

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

When the beautiful brain of Brad Stevens put this current iteration of the Boston Celtics together, anyone with a brain knew that the clock was ticking for them to maximize this current window before tough decisions were going to have to be made.

In Year 1, they won the title and immediately extended every main rotation player who was eligible before the new CBA restrictions started. A brilliant move to get all that squared away before the new rules began and the team was sold. Pay everyone now, figure the details out later. 

In Year 2, the Celts just completed their second season as a 2nd apron team. Given these new rules and the restrictions that come with being a repeat 2nd apron offender, you really can't expect a team to be above the 2nd apron for 3 years in a 5 year span. You have to reset the clock at some point within the first 3 years. The team building restrictions are too restrictive. Wyc himself pretty much told us that

“It’s not the luxury tax bill, it’s the basketball penalties. The new CBA was designed by the league to stop teams from going crazy. They decided that it’s not good enough to go after the wallets because the fans can be like, ‘Hey find someone who can afford to spend $500 million dollars a year or whatever it is, like the English Premier League...

“The basketball penalties mean that it’s even more of a premium now to have your basketball general manager be brilliant and lucky. Because you have to navigate because you can’t stay in the second apron, nobody will, I predict, for the next 40 years of the CBA, no one is going to stay in the second apron more than two years.”

Which brings us to where the Celts currently are as they enter the 2025 offseason. Basically, they have 2 choices to make

1. Say fuck it, punch the ticket now and have 2025-26 as your Year 3 being in the second apron. This all but guarantees getting under in Year 3 (2026-27)

2. Get under the 2nd apron this summer, reset the teambuilding asset restrictions, and use those to go back over the apron in the summer of 2026-27

That's what we are all trusting our lord and savior, Brad Stevens (and Mike Zarren), to figure out. Given he's never made a bad decision in his life when it comes to building this juggernaut of a champion, my guess is whatever path he chooses will be the right one. 

So when Shams goes on TV today and tells the world that the rest of the NBA is bracing for potential trades/moves this offseason, that's not even really "news" to anyone who has been paying attention. 

What those trades end up being is anyone's guess. Things are so complicated with the 2nd apron restrictions, it's impossible to know what might be out there on the market. What we do know is that someone like Kristaps Porzingis has 1 more guaranteed season after this year before he hits UFA. If Brad decides he doesn't want to extend KP, he's a prime candidate to potentially be moved, since he comes with a $30M price tag. Granted, you'd be trying to move him on an expiring deal, so that limits you to some degree, because remember, 2nd apron teams can't participate in sign and trades. 

Where things get tricky is that this could all be an order of operations thing. If the Celts want to get under the apron before moving their big contracts, they can. Offloading depth pieces can help you get there, and then once you're under, you can now combine salaries, do sign & trades etc. If that's not an option, then you have to move your big contracts by themselves, which probably means KP's $30M or Holiday's 4/134M deal, which would have 3 years left ($32M, $34M, $37M).

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The simple reality is that at some point, changes will happen. This isn't a situation where Shams is maybe pushing fake news or trying to push a narrative, it's something that we as fans have all known was going to happen since the summer of 2023. That's why winning that first title was so important and why their run this season is equally as important. You never know how many swings at this you're going to get with this current group, so make the most of it.

So really, this isn't an "if" situation, it's a "when" one. The first domino is Brad picking which season will be their third year as a 2nd apron team. If they win again this year, there's something to be said about making that be 2025-26 and then dealing with this all next summer. There's also a case to be made that even if they do win, use this summer to reset so you can have a full complement of options to maximize the Jays' prime NBA years. 

In the meantime, we can worry about this in a few months. Just trust Brad until he gives us a reason not to.

For now, the only thing that matters is winning Banner 19.