The first thing the Celtics have to do this summer is to immediately bring in a real point guard for the team. This season and in the Finals, we have seen the Celtics bury victories because of mistakes and no one combing the ball at key moments.
The three of them averaged 10 errors per game during the finals
While the Celtics' main players will all be on contract next year, this summer they will need to face a renewal from Al Horford and an early renewal from star Jaylen Brown, who has explicitly rejected the Celtics' proposed $3-year, $111 million contract extension, and brown may sign a five-year, $273 million contract with the Celtics next year due to Brown's strong performance during the Finals.
Salary status of the Celtics' current main lineup:
Jason Tatum: $163 million over 5 years, early renewal in 2020, due in 2026, salary for the current year: $28.1 million
Jaylen Brown: $106 million for 4 years, effective in 2020, due in 2024 Salary for the current year: $24.63 million
Marcus Smart: $77.1 million for 4 years, early renewal in 2021, due in 2026, salary for the current year: $13.84 million
Robert Williams: $54 million for 4 years, early renewal in 2021, due in 2026, $3.66 million for the current year
Al Horford: $109 million for 4 years, signed in the summer of 2019, due summer of 2023 Salary for the current year: $27.83 million
Derek White: $70 million for 4 years, early renewal in 2020, due in 2025, salary for the current year: $15.18 million
Group photo of the Celtics Eastern Conference Finals champions
Next year's luxury tax payment line is expected to be 150 million, and the Celtics' total salary is 155 million, which is a very well-controlled salary space for a team that focuses on winning the championship, the Warriors won the championship in 2021-2022, but the boss paid a salary of $180 million and a luxury tax of 170 million. This summer the Warriors are going to renew Wiggins, Poole, Payton, Rooney early, imagine that next year the Warriors' salary and luxury taxes will be historically astronomical, and if winning the championship is all worth it, after all, the boss can make more commercial gains from the team's victory.
The Warriors won the NBA championship
The Celtics averaged more than 17 turnovers per game during the Finals, and neither Doubles Nord nor Smart were good organizers, so if the Celtics wanted to continue to maintain their strength to win the championship, they had to bring in a quality organizational defender. I had an article before suggesting that the Celtics could find a way to trade Paul and Harden, but it was very difficult to operate in practice.
2 top master players
If the Celtics don't want to lose their existing Finals team, they can fully consider the Pacers' Malcolm Brogdon, a tall vacancy that is perfect for playing next to the double probing flower, both in strength and temperament.
Clever Brogdon
Malcolm Brogdon's salary:
Malcolm Brogdon: $85 million for 4 years, signed in the summer of 2019, due in 2023 Salary for the current year: $19.76 million
Brog averaged at least 19 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds this season, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of less than 2.5, and only two players in the league have won the award, the other being Heat star Jimmy Butler.
Now that the Pacers have begun to rebuild around Teres Halliburton, the team is actively discussing the value of the Malcolm Brogdon and Miles Turner deals, and the Pacers have recently rejected the Lakers' offer of Westbrook + Tucker + future first-round signings for Brogdon.
The Celtics need to seize the moment to trade Derek White + role players + future draft picks to Brogdon, a deal in assets that are clearly much better than the Lakers.
Brogdon has a humble personality, but his excellent leadership is very suitable for the Celtics, interestingly he and Jaylen Brown, Iguodala are now the vice presidents of the players' union, these 3 people are highly educated player representatives, Malcolm Brogdon's temperament is very similar to the Warriors' Iguodala, smart and natural leadership, he is currently the most capable of operating space and suitable for the double probe of the organizers.
NBA summer trading hours are about to begin, we'll see!
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