The Celtics traded Noah Vonleh to the Spurs on Thursday, Shams Charania reported. The move will clear a spot on the team’s active roster they don’t need to fill, though another decision looms on Justin Jackson ahead of his full contract guarantee on Saturday.
Boston would’ve owed Vonleh $2.5-million then, and he would’ve counted as a $1.2-million hit on Boston’s luxury tax bill if they waived him prior. Jackson, similarly, earned his $1.8-million guarantee already that’ll escalate to $2.1-million.
The Celtics effectively saved $7-million in salary and luxury tax, and MassLive reported they’ll receive a top-55 protected Spurs pick, unlikely to convey, to complete the deal. San Antonio will waive Gorgui Dieng to receive Vonleh, then waive the former Celtics big man to clear their own roster spot, Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
The Celtics signed Vonleh after a successful training camp and preseason, integrating him for 20 minutes on opening night with Robert Williams III and Luke Kornet injured, before he made a spot start against Orlando while Al Horford rested. He averaged 12.2 minutes per game with 2.3 points and 3.2 rebounds through six games, but fouled nearly 2.8 times in those appearances. Kornet recovered and passed him in the front court, Blake Griffin became a spot starter on nights Horford missed and Williams III returned last month.
That made Vonleh expendable as 10-day contracts become permitted this week. The Celtics don’t need to fill the roster spot anytime soon, and Mfiondu Kabengele remains available on a two-way contract having only played in one game for Boston so far. He’ll likely play for Maine on Thursday and Friday, then join the pro team for its upcoming home stand. The Celtics proactively rested Williams III on Tuesday against Oklahoma City.
Boston can do anything from sign another free agent to grant a 10-day tryout to signing Kabengele to a full deal. It’s more likely they maintain the flexibility to bring back two players for one in a trade deadline deal, for example.
Jackson’s status, whether he stays with the Celtics as an emergency wing or gets waived or traded like Vonleh, should be decided in the coming days. He played 4.6 minutes per night in 16 appearances. After the Celtics saw thinning production from their bench in recent weeks, it’s unsurprising to see them potentially pursue some bench consolidation.
The team maintains a $6.9-million trade exception from the Juancho Hernángomez trade they can use to absorb a contract that size or smaller until Jan. 19. The $5.9-million Dennis Schröder TPE works similarly (until Feb. 10), as does the $3.2-million disabled player exception received for Danilo Gallinari’s injury (exp. Mar. 10).
Gallinari’s contract, worth $6.5-million this year and $6.8-million next (player option), stands as a feasible trade piece to aggregate with other contracts to match larger deals. He continues to recover from an August ACL tear and likely won’t play this season. Multiple TPEs cannot combined or added to other salaries in trades.
Boston’s team salary sits at $173.7-million, $23.5-million over the luxury tax, according to Spotrac. That entails a $58.2-million tax bill.
