Boston Celtics: Previewing The Celtics’ 2015 Free Agency

The 2014-15 season was supposed to be another lost year for the Boston Celtics. No one expected them to be any good, and with the way the organization had planned out the rebuilding process, this was just year two of the rebuilding.

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Realizing their situation, the front office very smartly began “loaning” out their cap space. They traded their flexibility this season for draft picks, and general manager Danny Ainge and the Celtics have basically turned into the NBA’s version of “The Hoarders” when it comes to future draft picks.

Their payroll for this season is $65.1 million, but 10 of those contracts are expiring in the upcoming offseason. Translation: the Celtics will enter the 2015 free agency with just $33.5 million in guaranteed contracts.

There is still some uncertainty on what the cap figure for next season will look like, especially with the highly anticipated $2 billion TV deal kicking in in the 2016-17 season. If the league decides to smooth the difference between the two TV deals, we could look at a much bigger salary cap next season than expected.

So how will this affect the Celtics?

Well, assuming they choose not to re-sign any of their expiring contracts or team options, the Celtics will have $33.5 million committed to eight players. The salary floor (the league minimum for team salaries) for this season is $57 million. Doing the math, the Celtics could sign a player to a max deal worth $22 million per season and still be under the salary floor.

Of course, these calculations don’t take into account the rookie salaries the Celtics will have for next season – this year’s first overall pick Andrew Wiggins is on a $5.5 million salary for his rookie season.

But, the message here is still the same: the Celtics have a lot of cap space to offer free agents this summer, and could possibly end up with multiple big-name free agents and still remain under the cap.

The Celtics have earmarked Marcus Smart as their guard of the future, but the rest of the starting lineup is still yet to be determined. Their roster is filled with players that aren’t good enough to be named starters on contending teams, but can be capable role players in the right circumstances.

But, this is good news for Celtics’ fans: if the team can convince two marquee free agents to sign with them during the offseason, and the team drafts well with their lottery pick or flips it for another big name, we could be looking at the Kevin Garnett/Ray Allen/Paul Pierce Celtics super-team 2.0. Throw in the current starters coming off the bench, and the Celtics could return to the top of the Eastern Conference with the blink of an eye.

Now that we’ve gotten the nitty gritty salary cap gymnastics out of the way, what are some big names the Celtics could target? The ones on everyone’s wishlist include: Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love (if he opts out), Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard. The next tier of near-max players are: Goran Dragic, Rajon Rondo, DeAndre Jordan, Greg Monroe, Reggie Jackson, and Draymond Green.

Looking at that list, if the Celtics can land one (or better yet, two) of those free agents, and trade their lottery pick for a superstar on a team which decides to undergo a rebuild – it’s not inconceivable that the Celtics return to their status as one of the powerhouses in the East. The Celtics could choose to go big this offseason, and if they choose to do so, they could change the landscape of the NBA.

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