Eddie House reacts to Malcolm Brogdon coming and what it means for Marcus Smart, particularly in crunch time minutes.
The Boston Celtics added two impact players last weekend -- and they have a resource that could help them acquire a third.
The Celtics own a $17.1 million traded player exception generated from their trade of Evan Fournier to the New York Knicks last summer. The TPE expires July 18, however, so president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has less than two weeks to utilize the asset in a deal before it vanishes.
What are the chances Boston swings a trade using the TPE? According to The Athletic's Jared Weiss, they're low ... but not zero.
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"The Celtics are still exploring opportunities to utilize the $17.1 million Evan Fournier trade exception (TPE) that expires on July 18," Weiss reported Thursday, citing team sources.
"But considering how deep the roster already is and their luxury tax situation, it’s likely that would be used either as part of a trade to send out a rotation player or to acquire someone on a relatively small salary."
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The former scenario seems unlikely unless the Celtics want to swing a blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant. Stevens doesn't have much incentive to break up a core group that just came within two wins of a championship -- especially given the Brooklyn Nets' astronomically high asking price for Durant -- so the more realistic path is trying to add veteran depth while keeping the core intact.
Boston could use a backup big man behind Robert Williams, Al Horford and Grant Williams, however, and the options on the free-agent market are slim. So, Stevens likely will keep an eye on the big man trade market over the next 11 days to see if a relatively cheap target becomes available.
It would have to be a cheap target, too, as the Celtics are already $20 million over the luxury tax threshold after adding Danilo Gallinari and Malcolm Brogdon to the roster.
As our Chris Forsberg detailed earlier this week, it's hard to imagine the C's using the TPE to go further into the luxury tax, even to acquire a player making around $10 million.
But it sounds like the C's are still keeping their options open and could pounce if the right player becomes available.
