NBA Draft: Catching up on all the trades leading up to the draft
We had a flurry of transactions since the Jrue Holiday trade sending him to Portland. Here is a recap of those moves and notable salary cap mechanics to look at.
Celtics savings
The Celtics followed up the Holiday trade by sending Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks. This framework is exactly what has been preached on Third Apron for the Celtics: a multi-team trade. The more teams get involved, the less money the Celtics have to take back.
If this were just a two-team trade, the Celtics would’ve only reduced their tax penalty by $70 million. The Hawks sent out the minimum required salary with Terance Mann and Georges Niang, but the $3.4 million salary for the 22nd pick doesn’t count. So they’d be looking at marginal savings similar to the Holiday trade.
Instead, the Nets are taking back Mann with the 22nd pick as an incentive. So all the Celtics are getting back for Porzingis’ $30.7 million salary is Niang’s $8.2 million. That clears an extra $18 million against the Celtics' payroll, leading to over $210 million in tax savings between this and the Holiday trade.
As discussed in the Holiday trade, they saved $41 million by dropping from the eighth tax level to the seventh. Now they are in the fourth, which costs $6.75 per $1 for repeat taxpayers. So they’re paying $66.8 million for maxing out the first three levels, and an additional $2.1 million for being just $313,013 above the fourth level.
They are now $18.4 million above the tax. They could get below it by trading a combination of players like Simons, Niang, or Sam Hauser. They could also get there by trading Jaylen Brown or Derrick White, but that would take a significant haul to interest them in that.
They’ll also create trade exceptions worth $22.5 million and $4.7 million.
Nets cap space
The Nets now project with $43 million in cap space by taking on Mann and 22nd. However, they may do this trade after spending their $60 million in cap space. It would mean that this trade got expanded to one featuring Nicolas Claxton or Cameron Johnson going to a fourth team. That’s because both players make more than Mann.
Don’t be surprised if the Nets make some type of move-up trade. Not necessarily to move up from 8, but at least consolidate some of these picks in the 20s. Four years ago, the Rockets selected and kept four first-round selections. It would be surprising but not entirely unprecedented if the Nets keep all five.
Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta
The Hawks are using an expanded trade exception to acquire Porzingis. They need to get within $8.5 million of his $30.7 million salary, and they do so with Mann’s $15.5 million and Niang’s $8.2 million. They are now hard capped to the first apron as a result of this, but that shouldn’t matter to them.
The more applicable threshold for them is the $187.9 million luxury tax line. They barely increased their payroll in this trade since they also included the 22nd pick. They are now $28.9 million below the tax with 11 players on the roster and a stacked top six.
This is notable because they still have a multitude of ways they can supplement this roster. They could use the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to pursue a top free agent. They could also use it as a trade exception to acquire a player making that much or less. They also have a $13.1 million trade exception.
But the main vehicle to acquire a difference maker is the $25.3 million trade exception they created in last year’s Dejounte Murray trade. That could be used to acquire a player earning just as much under contract. They could also use it to acquire a free agent in a sign-and-trade.