The NBA’s top team, the Boston Celtics, have no intention of watching their rivals have all the fun as the trade deadline of February 8 approaches.
Before the deadline, the Celtics “have been active,” according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. In order to strengthen their bench going into the postseason, Boston is “looking to package some of their minimum contract players at the end of the rotation and draft pick compensation.”
The players the Celtics have shown interest in include Kelly Olynyk, Delon Wright, and Andre Drummond, according to Scotto.
Wright and Olynyk do not fit within the Grant Williams TPE of the Celtics, but Drummond’s deal does.
To make the $12.19 million salary of Olynyk worthwhile, a deal including Payton Pritchard and four Boston minimum-contract players would be necessary. Wright only earns $8.19, so Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk, Lamar Stevens, and Dalano Banton alone could theoretically get Boston over that mark.
Since Drummond only gets $3.36 million, he could be acquired with merely picks and placed in the TPE.
The rumoured Boston propensity to bundle their bottom players for possible upgrades may indicate a desire to bring in a player whose salary exceeds their TPE. But it’s unclear—and probably unlikely—if that tendency also applies to Pritchard, given that they recently gave him a new contract that renders him immune to trade sanctions.
